Teaching Empowerment

Introducing Barry Ogden

One of our hosts, Greg Hemmings, has had a number of entrepreneurial mentors over the years including one of his high school teachers. Barry Ogden left an impression on Greg going all the way to grade 10 when Greg was a student in his Entrepreneurship class. Not only did Barry inspire Greg, but also his community over the years. Barry is not the type to sit by and let the world fix the problems he sees; he takes action and gets the job done.

This has been proven to be true from the countless initiatives he has taken on in order to inspire pride from the Saint John community. These initiatives include breaking world records with marigold gardens planted by students, reviving interest in the city’s past through rebuilding Loyalist House and creating a replica of the Marco Polo sailing vessel, and developing a football league so that the city could have a team of its own. Barry even painted his own crosswalks after two children were hit and the city was taking too long to find its solution.

Barry’s entrepreneurial spirit has even been recognized by one of the city’s leading businessman, Gerry Pond, so much so that Gerry wrote the book, Ogden’s Odyssey. Check out why it is important for us all to have the entrepreneurial spirit even if we aren’t planning to start a business in this week’s episode of the Boiling Point.

In this episode

• Greg reminisces on high school days.
• Barry lets us in on the history of the Marco Polo and what inspired him to build a recreation without any government money.
• We also hear about how Barry helped rebuild Loyalist House and the Canada Games stadium.
• Barry discusses the millions of dollars he has raised in the city and his motivation for doing so.
• We discuss way pride in where you come from is such an important piece to any community.
• There is a discussion on how entrepreneurs are really just problem solvers with positive attitudes.
• Barry tells us why giving children the gift of empowerment is so crucial in developing the entrepreneurial spirit.
• Greg talks about what fills him with pride of Saint John.
• We hear how painting a few crosswalks got Barry in the middle of a national media story.
• Barry tells us a little bit about his relationship with Gerry Pond and how the idea of a book about him came about.
• Barry also tells us how he achieved a goal of bringing a football team to Saint John and what it meant to the local youth.
• We also hear how the best way to beat poverty is through empowerment.
• Greg talks about how it is empowering to be an entrepreneur and how these skills need to be taught to kids at the youngest age possible.
• Dave is inspired by Barry’s ability to take action to solve societal problems

Links

- Barry on Linked In

- Barry on Twitter

- Ogden's Odyssey on Blurb

- Seawolves Football

- The Atlantic Football League

- The Marigold Project

- The Marco Polo

- The Loyalist House

- National story on Barry painting sidewalks

Wealth for Good

Introducing Bob Manning and Owens MacFadyen Group

Today’s Boiling Point guest says there are three ways you can make a positive impact; you can give of our time, you can share your experience, or you can give of your resources or money. Bob Manning gave us his time and nuggets of experience in this week’s episode. Bob has over 20 years of business experience, working in multi-national, national and regional organizations. He has held executive-level business planning, operations and marketing positions in the information technology sector, and consulted to and helped manage start-up companies in Atlantic Canada. Throughout his career, Bob has achieved success by helping organizations deal with the challenges of growth, through the application of disciplined planning and effective management. 

This positive businessman was upset over a recent Globe and Mail article that seemed to skewer Saint John, New Brunswick and one of its most successful business families, the Irvings. The article seemed to say that the region would have been better off without the billionaire family and also “picked a scab” by writing a very negative outlook for New Brunswick. Bob knows that New Brunswick has its challenges, but he sees a ton of positives as well. In response to the Globe and Mail, Bob penned his own article asking for the region to start ignoring the negative rhetoric and start supporting the positive stories.

Bob is currently working as a Wealth Advisor with Owens MacFadyen Group. The company has a vision of building capacity within a community that embraces a pioneering spirit, is passionate about excellence and the realization of maximum potential, and has the courage to commit to legacy building. Bob’s clientele consist of successful entrepreneurs, senior executives and professionals with the aim of setting them up to achieve personal and community goals.

In this episode

• We hear Bob’s thoughts on the Globe and Mail article about Saint John.
• Bob tells us why and how his opinion differs with the Globe and Mail.
• Greg tells us about a similar article he penned regarding supporting the positive stories of Atlantic Canada.
• We hear about Owen MacFadyen Group and how they differ from larger financial services companies.
• Bob explains why tailored financial management works better than a “cookie cutter” solution.
• We hear about Bob’s past life as an executive in the tech sector.
• We discuss how your ability to give back to a community is tied to how much money you can contribute.
• Bob tells us why he favors small, repeatable gains rather than high risk/high reward investing.
• Dave remembers how his investing in high-risk ventures didn’t work out so well and sees the importance of sound wealth advice so that we can do the things that we are really passionate about.
• Greg thinks about critics of the function of capitalism and how they don’t think of the opportunity for people who are impact driven and that the accumulation of wealth is not necessarily selfish.

Links

- Owens MacFayden Group Website

- Owen MacFayden on Linked In

- Bob Manning on Linked In

- Globe and Mail Article on New Brunswick and the Irvings

- Bob Manning's response

- Greg's article on NB, The Millennial Dream Province

- The Millennial Dream

From Glass Ceiling to GlassSKY

Introducing Robyn Tingley and GlassSKY

We all know diversity and inclusion is important in any workplace. So why do some of our sectors of our economy have such a difficult time recruiting and retaining women. While women have became an important part of the workforce in many industries, there is a serious lack of females in science, technology, engineering, and math.

People like Robyn Tingley are trying to change this dynamic. Robyn was born and raised in New Brunswick, Canada and started her professional career with the province’s telecom company. She was later tasked to a lead role in human resource and public relations for Ingram Micro, a leading distributor of computer and technology products, in both Europe and North America. After having her children, she looked for a change and decided to return to New Brunswick and inspire women and girls through her new organization, GlassSKY.

GlassSKY is dedicated to the empowerment and advancement of women and believes that females should be encouraged to reach their full potential in all industries. They do this through motivation, coaching, and mentorship as well as investments in scholarships, microloans, and in research.

Find out how to inspire the young women in your lives in this episode of the Boiling Point.

In this episode

• Robyn fills us in on the globetrotting path of her career.
• She tells us why she feels so passionate about inspiring women and girls.
• We hear about the three ways that GlassSKY inspires change for women.
• Robyn tells us about the importance of female role models in traditionally male career paths.
• We learn how employer education is a big part in changing male dominated industries.
• We discuss how technology education should be more prevalent for all genders at a very young age.
• Greg discusses a potential documentary about gender inequality in certain industries.
• Robyn discusses the role of school guidance councilors and how they need to make sure they are non-gender specific when suggesting career paths.
• There is a discussion of how we are more enlightened today, but there is a long way to go for equality for all.

Links

- GlassSKY website

- GlassSKY on Facebook

- Robyn on Linked In

- Learn about the Millennial Dream

- Watch HHP's Code Kids

The Business Approach to Giving

Introducing Wendy McDermott and The United Way of Greater Saint John

We all know that there are tremendous social challenges in our communities no matter where you come from. For those of us who seek to be change-makers, it is often be difficult to sift through all of our giving opportunities to see where our greatest impact would be. This challenge can be even more difficult if you are a non-profit organization who funds other non-profits.

Amy McDermott is the executive director of the United Way in Greater Saint John. When she took her post a few years ago, the United Way was going through some changes to make their charity more impactful. Wendy was instrumental in shaking up the United Way so that it was more results driven and donation friendly. She did this by making organizations seeking United Way funding to take a business approach. Each organization would have to write a “business plan” outlining their challenge, the solution, its value proposition, and the risks associated. Those chosen for funding would then need to have deliverable results within 12 months to show exactly how the funding helped the greater community. The United way outlined a few key challenge targets they wished to tackle including (but not limited to) literacy, and independence for women affected by domestic violence. The results have been astounding both from an impact standpoint, and from increased contributions.

Here about how a business approach to giving can help your community in this 100th episode of the Boiling Point.

In this episode

• We hear how Wendy was chosen to lead the Greater Saint John United Way.
• Wendy discusses how everyone knows about the United Way, but very few know what it does and how she went about changing that.
• She discusses how a business approach to giving has helped the United Way and its community.
• We discuss how there is no “silver bullet” in fighting poverty.
• Wendy tells us about specific results with women who left domestic violence to seek independence.
• We discuss the “wealth advisor” model in relation to non-profit giving.
• Wendy tells us how the new model can be a double-edged sword, as results don’t necessarily covey the emotional side of giving.
• Greg shares a story he came across when filming vignettes for the United Way.
• Greg, Dave, and Wendy believe you should give as much thought and attention to your charitable giving as you would your stock portfolio.

Links

- The United Way of Greater Saint John Website

- The United Way of Greater Saint John Facebook

- The United Way of Greater Saint John on Twitter

- The United Way of Greater Saint John's YouTube channel (Featuring Videos from Greg)

- Wendy on Linked In