EP43 - CANNADA BRANDS Founder & Creator - Jordan Brooks

Science argues that people are either left brain or right brain thinkers. Left brain people are more likely to analytical, while right brain thinkers tend to be more creative.

However, today’s guest, Jordan brooks, defies this theory by straddling both sides of the spectrum.

A native of Barrie Ontario, music was one of Jordan’s passions growing up, but upon graduating from university he found himself working in the AdTech world. He’s held roles at AdConion, Olive Media, and was one of the early employees at Cadreon’s Canadian office. As a matter of fact if you go through his LinkedIn profile, you’d think he’s completely a numbers guy.

Jordan has taken all of that collective AdTech & data experience and founded CTRL-X, a “cut the crap agency”.

But he hasn’t stopped there. Indulging his creative side, Jordan recently launched CANNADA BRANDS—a new video production studio dedicated to telling the entrepreneurial stories of Canadian cannabis purveyors.

CANNADA BRANDS cannadabrands.ca

Victor Genova IG VicGenova www.mediapeople.ca

EP42 - Pressboard Co-Founder & CEO - Jerrid Grimm

Entrepreneurship is something that was engrained in Jerrid Grim’s psyche from an early age. In fact if you ask Jerrid, he’ll tell that his younger self believed that starting a business was the only way to make money.

A native of suburban, Edmonton, Jerrid’s first job was a local flyer route. But unlike most kids who are stuck spending hours bundling flyers before lugging them out for delivery, young Jerrid outsourced part of the labour to his sisters—essentially turning his first job into his first ever managerial role.

After high school Jerrid enrolled at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology, where he studying marketing.

After graduation he landed a job selling advertising space on bike racks throughout Edmonton. With little structure, it was the type of role that required an entrepreneurial mindset for success.

From there he moved over to Pattison Outdoor, one of the latest outdoor advertising companies in Canada.

Jerrid had planned to take a year off to backpack Europe. The only problem? A senior role at Newad presented itself just as he was getting ready to leave. He convinced Newad to hang onto the job, and returned a year later into a VP position.

It was during his time at Newad where he was handed a massive branded content opportunity. Both the client and the dollars were big, but the process of getting the campaign live proved to be both costly and cumbersome. Jerrid saw these hurdles as a business opportunity. Clients wanted to spend more on branded content, but the ability to scale and report efficiently across multiple partners was difficult. And just like that—the idea for Pressboard was born.

We sit down with Jerrid Grimm, Pressboard CEO and Co-Founder. If you’d like learn more about the company then open up your podcast app and search for ‘The Science of Storytelling’, the official Pressboard podcast that brings together the best minds in the digital publishing space to talk about how stories can change the way we think and feel.

Pressboard www.pressboardmedia.com

Victor Genova IG VicGenova www.mediapeople.ca

EP41 - Wine Renaissance Woman & Entrepreneur - Angela Aiello [pka 'Super Wine Girl']

Wine: It’s one of the few things as old as time. There are different types & colours, and it can range in price from inexpensive to unaffordable. It’s also the one of the few exports many countries aggressively compete to be known for.

Picking the right wine is enough make your head spin, but today’s guest, Angela Aiello, has spent the better part of her career helping young adults make sense of it.

Angela started in hospitality while at university, working in the Four Diamond restaurants at some of the Niagara Region’s biggest wineries. After graduation she relocated to Toronto, continuing in wine retail.

From there she moved into the corporate world, working at XM Satellite Radio before

pivoting into Executive Recruitment.

But Angela continued to pursue her passion for wine on the side. She harnessed the power of social media, uploading self-made wine info videos to YouTube. Those videos laid the foundation for what would eventually become the iYellow Wine Club, Toronto’s premier wine club

Angela sold the iYellow Wine Club after more than a decade, and is focusing her time on covering the wine industry. A dedicated wine journalist, content creator, and influencer, we learn why she is affectionately known as the 'Super Wine Girl'.

Angela Aiello IG @SuperWineGirl www.superwinegirl.com