6:30 A.M.

I fuel up with coffee and a healthy breakfast while skimming the New York Times, Bloomberg and other publications. I flip between having Monocle or Bloomberg Radio on in the background. I check emails and my calendar to prepare for the day’s meetings and tasks ahead.

8:30 A.M.

I arrive at Creative Destruction Lab (Atlantic) at Dalhousie’s Rowe Building for mentor meetings with start-up companies looking to build the next massively scalable company in Canada. In a room buzzing with energy, each founder interacts with more than 50 business mentors who provide guidance. Discussions are provocative and challenging.

12 P.M.

Over lunch I hop on Zoom to mentor two companies—one in Nigeria and one in Vietnam—I encountered through Techstars Toronto, a popular global accelerator. Sometimes I shake my head and wonder how someone like me, who grew up Saskatchewan in the 1970s, is now providing guidance to a new generation of entrepreneurs all over the world. We really do live in a global village.

1:30 P.M.

I lead a MindFrame Connect workshop at Volta, Canada’s east coast innovation hub, on elevating the craft of mentorship and building skills for entrepreneurial resilience. MindFrame Connect is a not-for-profit located at Dalhousie I co-founded to address specific deficiencies we saw in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

3 P.M.

I am interviewed for a podcast discussing financial literacy concepts and the need for a broad societal focus on building these foundational skills.

4:30 P.M.

Time for a run! I lace up for a 10K. I try to workout six days a week to keep my mind clear and body moving.

6 P.M.

My wife and I head to The Bicycle Thief for oysters, cioppino (Italian seafood stew), beef tenderloin, a local IPA and an Italian red wine.

7:30 P.M.

I moderate a panel organized by Treble Victor, a not-forprofit organization focused on assisting military veterans in their transition from the service to civilian employment, education and/or entrepreneurship. I served in the Canadian Naval Reserve in Regina and Halifax and enjoy giving time to this important cause.

9 P.M.

My day ends with preparing questions for a CPA Ontario board meeting. I sit on about 15 boards and need to be ready to help them advance their strategic plans.