The Career Guy

This in-depth conversation with Steve Heatherington explores a remarkable journey fueled by curiosity, resilience, and generosity. A graduate of the University of East Anglia with a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences and a graduate of Akimbo’s altMBA and Podcasting Workshop programs. Steve brings a unique blend of scientific discipline, creative expression, and the desire to serve others. Steve shares how his curiosity for the natural world led him to study biological sciences, originally aspiring to become a veterinarian before shifting toward environmental health sciences. Moving to London, he began his career in environmental health with the local municipality, where he learned valuable lessons in public service, safety, and the evolving history of environmental responsibility. Through various roles, Steve developed insights into the impact of this field on community well-being. The conversation turns personal as Steve opens up about a challenging chapter in his life. The stresses of managing a large housing project, traveling to Africa, and exposing his body to vaccinations led to chronic fatigue syndrome. He describes how that changed the trajectory of his career and life. This led to an 11-month sabbatical from work, during which a profound period of self-assessment resulted. He reflects candidly on how that time reshaped his understanding of work, health, and purpose, driving him toward creative renewal. Insightful and fascinating!! We explore how Steve reclaimed his health through curiosity, experimentation, and rediscovery. Channeling his technical skills through volunteer work and how podcasting came to be for him, thanks to his wife's book, “Quiet Disrupters,” is illustrated. His talents for podcasting led to coaching for Akimbo. Why he stepped away and started his podcasting workshop, how it works, and what perspective students can expect are revealed. We go full circle and discuss how Steve's love for animals comes to be through farming Alpacas. There is insight into these animals as Steve discusses his podcast, the Alpaca Tribe. This is an insightful, informative, and thought-provoking interview. It caters to listeners interested in a career in environmental health or public safety. Raising Alpacas and podcasting are covered. Listeners with a desire for entrepreneurship or freelancing will benefit, as Steve and his wife, Sue, are an example of this lifestyle. More importantly, this interview is full of life lessons. It is about trying things, discovering what we are good at and what we want to do, and then figuring out how it can serve others. It is being generous, a quality of a leader, which Steve lives and practices. https://watersidevoices.com linkedin.com/in/steve-heatherington-🌔-54903334 https://thepodcastingworkshop.com https://alpacatribe.com/

In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Ronan Kennedy, a Career Coach who has built a thriving business by combining his passion for psychology, entrepreneurship, and helping others reach their potential. Ronan starts by reflecting on his early years, a time when he lacked clear direction. His journey took him abroad, where he taught English in Japan before returning home to Ireland to work in his brother’s athletic development startup. There, he gained valuable experience in operations, business development, and working within a growing business environment. It was during this period that Ronan discovered his true interest in psychology and human development, which sparked his exploration into coaching. He shares how he learned about coaching as a profession and why it resonated so deeply with him. Ronan tells the story of leaving the family business, moving to Spain, and deliberately taking a less demanding job so he could devote time and energy to building his coaching career. He dives into the courses, books, and self-directed learning that shaped his expertise, and how he carefully mapped out a plan to turn his passion into a business. Throughout the conversation, Ronan discusses the realities of entrepreneurship, including both the ups and downs of starting from scratch. He emphasizes how critical his network of family, friends, and colleagues was in defining his services, streamlining his offerings, and identifying the real issues his clients wanted solved. Listeners will gain valuable insights into what coaching is. It will appeal to anyone interested in coaching as a career or a prospective client. The mechanics of coaching are illustrated in this episode. There is a short coaching session with your host. Entrepreneurship is covered, as Ronan provides a detailed discussion on how he built his business from nothing. We cover strategy to digital marketing. Existence, living a better life, and the importance of aligning values and well-being in both life and career are explored. We all have talents and interests that make us unique. The willingness to explore them and pursue them is a desired quality that Ronan has. He is an example of how he developed his interests, empathy, curiosity, and the drive to support others; qualities of a leader. He is an example of how we should approach life to live better and fuller. https://ronankennedy.ie/ https://ronankennedy.ie/masterminds https://ronankennedy.ie/bookings https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennedyronan/ https://www.youtube.com/@ronankennedy

This interview is with Kait Dinunzio. She is known as a leader in Change Management. Her portfolio includes Executive and Leadership Coaching, Advisor for Operations, and Maintenance and Operational Integrity Management Systems. She is an author and speaker. Kait is a graduate from Mount Royal University and Yale School of Management. In this episode, we cover Kait’s early years growing up in the Yukon. Her involvement in politics, as president of the youth wing of a political party in Canada, which led her to Parliament Hill, and her experiences there are all disclosed. Why she left the Yukon and went about exploring life and figuring herself out is talked about. She discusses some of the career choices she made and how they developed her, which led her to discover her calling, “To Serve Others”. How she discovered change management or how it found her is a conversation. In doing so, we cover her first encounter in this area, where she worked on a complex project for the Department of Justice with the Yukon Government. The lessons gained from this and how that established her for her future endeavors are conveyed. With this experience, Change Management is discussed. Kait provides many examples of how she works with clients. Surprisingly, it’s not about telling people what to do; rather, it’s getting them on board. We cover storytelling, respecting others, empathy, passion, and communication, and how these attributes mix for a successful outcome. Her education, experiences, and the pros and cons of being book smart versus street smart are covered. We talk about her new book, “Unbreakable: From Abandoned to Abundant & the Strength to Lead.” The premise is discussed, and how the book came to be. The movement she is initiating through this and her calling to serve people to make the world a better place is conveyed. This episode will interest listeners pursuing a career in or who are in change management. We cover leadership and how to get people on board in any endeavor. Life and humanity (social engineering) and how to live fully and joyfully are discussed. We cover topics regarding purpose, values, discipline, communication, attitude, success, and, more importantly, Kait’s mission to serve others. This is authentic leadership, and Kait's story has many examples throughout this episode on this topic. She’s an example to follow, as it's not about us but what we can do for others that matters. This is creating a legacy and that’s what Kait is all about. She is motivational, thought-provoking, insightful, and a delight to listen to. Her contact information For Professional services https://pyxisadvisory.com/ For people wanting to connect professionally, linkedin.com/in/kaitdinunzio For more on Unbreakable: https://www.yourunbreakablelegacy.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/unbreakable_legacy/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/people/Unbreakable-Legacy/61575849122753/ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/tag/unbreakablelegacy

This interview is with Scott Ivers, owner and founder of Ivers Guitars. Scott graduated from the Drafting Engineering program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (S.A.I.T). He is also a graduate of Grant McEwan University’s music program. Scott’s story is how he has remained true to himself. He explains that his vision to follow his passion in music was altered due to the deal he made with his dad. This was to follow a more practical career path in construction. He explains that he attended S.A.I.T. first and then, upon graduating, he pursued his desire for music at Grant MacEwan. Detailed discussions illustrate Scott's experience from both of these endeavors. With his education behind him, there are conversations regarding how and why Scott decided to pursue a career utilizing his drafting skills. There are reflections on how computers were making an inroad into organizations and the ramifications for his career. We cover the history of Information technology (IT), providing the listener insight into this sector. Scott's move from Alberta to the interior of British Columbia and how he furthered his IT career is discussed. He highlights his sabbatical from music and how he re-ignites it by experimenting with making guitars. We talk about how he established his knowledge of making this instrument. We cover his research on the schooling for this craft. The path he pursued and how that helped him is conveyed. In essence, there is an inside look at how someone develops their skill in making guitars. Furthermore, we cover the instrument’s components, and functionality. Listeners interested in a career in IT will benefit from this interview as Scott presents his experiences working in this field. History is encompassed in these conversations, which can provide insight into the future of technology and its implications. Audience members considering music as a career would be interested, as Scott conveys his experiences pursuing this career. His knowledge from this and IT can be applied to any facet of career development. For guitars, anyone interested in this instrument, from making them, playing them, or as a consumer, be it off the shelf or custom-made, this episode covers all of this. Above all, this episode will appeal to anyone who wants to hear an inspirational story of how someone like Scott had expectations and passion but learned to vary them as he grew. It is about resilience while maintaining passion and being true to oneself, and Scott is a perfect example of this. In addition, it's about balance, and this is evident throughout this interview, as Scott has maintained his IT career while pursuing his passion in music. This is furnished by his current employment at Kicking Horse Coffee, working four days a week and three days following his passion. There are some valuable lessons in this episode. https://iversguitars.ca/

This interview is with Kurt Villanueva, owner and founder of Audio Dream Distributions and Co-owner of The Audio Room in Calgary, Alberta. The Audio Room has been awarded the People's Choice Award and the Fastest Growing Business from The Calgary Business Commerce. In this interview we cover Kurt's early years. This includes the development of his values, the ability to build relationships, and the discovery of his passion for music and audio equipment. The development of Kurt’s entrepreneurial skills, his knowledge of audio equipment, and his salesmanship are discussed. His experiences from attending post-secondary studies at Mount Royal University are talked about. There are insights into computer science and business, as these were his majors. His story escalates as Kurt explains the development of his first business, Audio Dream Distributions. In building this enterprise, we discuss how he maintained the balance of school life and building this company, while keeping up with his parents' expectations. Kurt highlights the crossroads in his life where he had to choose between school and business, and the elements he considered to follow his passion. Building a business is discussed. We cover bootstrapping, building sales, and developing relationships. More importantly, the obstacles he faced, specifically his younger age and the perception from his business associates. Kurt’s early relationships with the founders of the Audio Room, how that developed, and how he established himself as the co-owner are all conveyed. Kurt illustrates the steps he took as he became the co-owner of The Audio Room. He speaks from his experiences and how he saw opportunities due to changes in the audio industry, creating a vision for the store. Furthermore, we go over the marketing strategies for expanding the store. Kurt provides a heartfelt conversation emphasizing his dad’s experiences as a businessman and, more importantly, developing a business mindset. This interview will interest potential entrepreneurs. There are highlights on both distribution and retail. It will appeal to anyone interested in music, particularly audio equipment, as we cover the history and future of this industry. We cover leadership, as Kurt is an example of someone building communities to give back and create better lives for all. The video link for this episode is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZurJNydeCVU https://www.theaudioroom.ca/ https://www.instagram.com/the_audio_room/ In addition, a big thanks to Sam Tiangha from 404 Creative LBC Graphic for recording and editing the video for this episode. https://www.404creativelbc.ca/