Explore every episode of the podcast Owner's Roundtable
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| From Lab to Leadership: Scaling a Deep-Tech Business with Jack Nicholas of Qdot Technology | 16 Feb 2026 | 00:31:14 | |
Jack shares how his Ph.D. research in cooling nuclear fusion reactors became the foundation for a deep-tech startup tackling one of aviation’s hardest problems: thermal management for zero-emissions flight. Along the way, he opens up about the realities of spinning a company out of a university, the costly mistake of leading with technology instead of customer problems, and why he ultimately stepped aside as CEO to put the right leader in place. This is a candid conversation about the long timelines of deep tech, raising capital in tougher markets, navigating VC relationships, and why finding the right people may be the hardest and most important challenge of all. What You’ll Learn in This Episode
About Jack Nicholas
— Looking for Tools & Support Growing and Managing Your Business? Book a free consultation today: https://calendly.com/jmclarty-focalpointcoaching/30min
Contact Jack Nicholas: | |||
| Turning Scrap into Scale & Spotting Opportunity with Tyson Christiansen | 16 Feb 2026 | 00:18:20 | |
What if the thing everyone else throws away is the foundation of your next business? In this episode of Owner’s Roundtable, Jeff McLarty sits down with Tyson Christiansen, founder of Maverick Metal, to unpack a gritty, real-world entrepreneurial journey built on follow-through, sales grit, and the ability to see value where others see waste. Tyson’s path didn’t start with a polished plan. It started at a tire shop, then behind the counter of a scrapyard, where he unknowingly received one of the best entrepreneurship educations possible. By helping others turn scrap into income, Tyson learned how businesses really work, how middlemen get cut out, and why execution always beats perfection. That early experience led to the creation of Maverick Metal, where Tyson began buying and selling oilfield pipe, eventually realizing that the real opportunity wasn’t brokering, but manufacturing. This episode is a masterclass in doing the work, trusting momentum over certainty, and building something durable by moving forward before everything is figured out. If you’ve ever waited for the “perfect plan” before starting, this conversation will challenge you to just get going. What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
Tyson Christiansen is the founder of Maverick Metal, a manufacturing and materials company focused on repurposing end-of-life oilfield pipe into durable, high-value livestock fencing products. With a background rooted in sales, scrap recovery, and industrial brokering, Tyson built Maverick Metal by identifying overlooked opportunities and executing relentlessly. Known for confidence action and follow-through, Tyson has grown his business across borders, operating in both Canada and the United States, while continuing to scale manufacturing capacity and material sourcing. Looking for Tools & Support Growing and Managing Your Business?
Contact Jeff McLarty
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| Cash Flow, Ego, and the Real Cost of Scaling with Tara Proskiw | 16 Feb 2026 | 00:41:43 | |
What happens when you go from “I can manage this place” to “I’m responsible for everything”?
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
About Tara Proskiw Tara Proskiw is an Edmonton-based entrepreneur with over 17 years in cabinetry and countertops and a reputation for building businesses that actually work operationally, financially, and culturally. As the owner of Towne & Countree Kitchens, Towne Renovations, and Redl Edmonton, she is known for spotting gaps in the market, building smart systems, and bringing clarity to industries where chaos is often the norm. Tara believes leadership is about energy, accountability, and empowering people to do great work without burning out. Outside the business, she gives back through Glenora Rotary and South Edmonton Rotary, while continuing to challenge the idea that home renovations have to be stressful. Direct, thoughtful, and values-driven, Tara brings both edge and heart to everything she builds. Resources discussed in this episode:
— Looking for Tools & Support Growing and Managing Your Business? Book a free consultation today: https://calendly.com/jmclarty-focalpointcoaching/30min
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| From Y2K to AI: Scaling Through Chaos with Rafael Krug of Zero-Defect | 16 Feb 2026 | 00:37:57 | |
In this episode of Owner’s Roundtable, Jeff McLarty sits down with Rafael Krug, founder of Zero-Defect, one of Brazil’s leading software quality assurance firms. They unpack a two-decade entrepreneurial journey that spans continents, and more than a few hard resets.
Now based in Canada and loving the Canadian business landscape, Rafael shares why he chose to rebuild yet again, but this time with a global, product-driven future in mind. What You’ll Learn in This Episode
Rafael Krug is the founder of Zero-Defect, a software quality assurance company specializing in functional, performance, security, and automated testing. Founded in Brazil in 2004, Zero-Defect grew into one of the country’s leading QA firms, supporting mission-critical systems for enterprise clients. Now based in Edmonton, Canada, Rafael is leading Zero-Defect’s expansion into North America while launching AI-driven testing tools designed to modernize how software quality is delivered globally. Resources discussed in this episode:
— Looking for Tools & Support Growing and Managing Your Business? Book a free consultation today: https://calendly.com/jmclarty-focalpointcoaching/30min
Contact Rafael Krug: | |||
| Trailer: Owner's Roundtable | 24 Nov 2025 | 00:01:16 | |
Every successful business has a story that never made the press release: messy beginnings, painful mistakes, near collapses, and game-changing decisions that shaped the journey. In Owner’s Roundtable, host Jeff McLarty has real conversations with real business owners who’ve built, scaled, stumbled, and fought their way forward. This podcast isn’t about polished highlight reels or corporate marketing stories. It’s about lessons learned the hard way from builders who’ve been in the arena. It shows why stories from the trenches really matter and gives us a seat at the table with operators who tell us how it really works. About Host Jeff McLarty: Jeff is a seasoned entrepreneur with diverse experience working in and with organisations both large and small, family businesses, mid-sized corporations, not-for-profits and governments. He has worked with leaders in aerospace, AI, manufacturing, IT, and construction just to name a few. His own journey to the owner's table has covered a diverse range of work and ownership experiences, including working in the trades, sales, financial planning, Deputy Director of a museum, and as an Executive Director of a major not-for-profit before becoming an owner/operator of a family business in retail. He also has extensive volunteer experience, which he credits with developing the broad skill set he needed to begin operating a business at a relatively young age (35). Together with his wife and business partner Stephanie, they scaled a small family-owned business into a multi-segment tourism and food services operation with 25 staff and a province-wide reputation. Following the sale of the retail side of the operations, Jeff and his family moved to Edmonton, Alberta, where he began contract work for a UK-based aerospace startup, eventually serving as interim COO. He is currently a consulting partner in several venture startups and works as an Executive Coach and Business Trainer. Jeff is passionate about the journey to entrepreneurship and what it takes to keep a seat at the Owners Round Table, Listen in as he explores with fellow founders, how they earned their seats and share the wisdom of years spent building a business in the hopes that you can learn from their tough experiences.
Looking for Tools & Support Growing and Managing Your Business. Book a free consultation today: https://calendly.com/jmclarty-focalpointcoaching/30min Contact Jeff McLarty: | |||
| Building Smarter Tech: Transparency & Trust with Rea Hailley | 16 Mar 2026 | 00:35:33 | |
What You’ll Learn in This Episode
About Rea Hailley Rea Hailley is the co-founder of New Idea Machine, a software development agency focused on helping founders and business owners build smarter digital products. With a background in business and experience as a Merchant Success Manager at Shopify, Rea combines entrepreneurial insight with a commitment to transparency in an industry that often feels difficult to navigate.
Resources discussed in this episode:
— Looking for Tools & Support Growing and Managing Your Business? Book a free consultation today: https://calendly.com/jmclarty-focalpointcoaching/30min
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| From Shop Floor to Franchise Success: Trevor Jones on Systems, Scaling & Selling | 02 Mar 2026 | 00:35:47 | |
What happens when you build a business so tightly organized it runs with less stress—then one day you sell it and realize you don’t know who you are without it?
Along the way, they dig into what makes partnerships succeed (and fail), why simple systems beat “big shiny” strategies, what franchising is really like from both sides, and the emotional whiplash of exiting a business you’ve identified with for 24 years. What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
About Trevor Jones Trevor Jones is the former co-owner of Badlands Collision Group, which grew from a single location into a three-store operator. After selling his ownership stake, Trevor transitioned into corporate leadership and is now a Corporate Director and Head of Training / Director of Franchise Success at Driven Brands, helping franchisees improve operations through education, training, and process. — Looking for Tools & Support Growing and Managing Your Business? Book a free consultation today: https://calendly.com/jmclarty-focalpointcoaching/30min Contact Jeff McLarty: Contact Trevor Jones: | |||
| Joy as a Business Strategy: Creating Unforgettable Customer Experiences with Amanda Chin | 22 Jun 2026 | 00:31:04 | |
How do you turn a dental appointment into an experience people genuinely enjoy? In this episode of Owner's Roundtable, Jeff McLarty sits down with Amanda Chin, Owner of Norwood Dental — a two-location dental practice in Edmonton she co-owns and runs with her husband, Dr. William Chin. Amanda comes from outside dentistry entirely, running the business and operations side with a perspective shaped more by hospitality and experience design than clinical practice. Amanda has spent years observing what makes people want to be somewhere and translating that into a dental context. She thinks carefully about every point of contact a patient has with the business, from the waiting room to the chair to what happens after they leave. The result is a practice that has built its reputation almost entirely on how it makes people feel, in an industry where most businesses compete on clinical credentials alone. What you will learn in this episode
About Amanda Chin Amanda Chin is the Owner of Norwood Dental, a two-location dental practice in Edmonton, Alberta. She co-owns the business with her husband Dr. William Chin and oversees all business operations, team development, and the experience systems that have become Norwood's defining quality. Active in the Edmonton community and passionate about making dental care accessible and genuinely enjoyable, Amanda has built a practice known as much for its culture as for its clinical care. Looking for tools and support growing and managing your business? Contact Jeff McLarty Website: focalpointedmonton.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-mclarty-16a0b225/ Vision to Execution Scorecard: https://vision-to-execution.scoreapp.com/ Contact Amanda Chin Website: https://norwood.dental/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-chin-yeg/ Sign up to get new episodes to your inbox: https://s8zsh.share.hsforms.com/2y-GeC0XOT5CllU620jMQAw Read more on the Focal Point Edmonton blog: focalpointedmonton.com/blog | |||
| Exit Ready: How to Build a Business Worth Buying with Gil Poulin | 08 Jun 2026 | 00:36:32 | |
What would a buyer actually pay for your business, and do you know the answer before they do? In this episode of Owner's Roundtable, Jeff McLarty sits down with Gil Poulin, Owner of The Affordable Business Partner. Gil has bought and sold 42 businesses of his own over 45 years and supported close to 200 others through the sale process. In this conversation they get into what actually determines whether a business sells, why most owners are looking at their own business from the wrong angle, and what it takes to hand something off in a way that holds up after you leave. Gil has been on every side of this transaction. He has bought distressed businesses and turned them around. He has helped owners price businesses they spent decades building. He has watched buyers walk away from good businesses because the story was not told clearly. His standard for what makes a business sellable is straightforward and does not leave room for wishful thinking. What you will learn in this episode:
About Gil Poulin Gil Poulin is the Owner of The Affordable Business Partner, a business brokerage and advisory practice focused on helping independent business owners buy and sell small businesses valued under $2.5 million. Over a 45 year career as a business owner, broker, and selling trainer, he has been involved in hundreds of transactions across a wide range of industries. He is well regarded for his expert guidance on what it takes to build something worth selling. Looking for tools and support growing and managing your business? Contact Jeff McLarty: Website: https://www.focalpointedmonton.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-mclarty-16a0b225/ Vision to Execution Scorecard: https://vision-to-execution.scoreapp.com/ Contact Gil Poulin: Website: https://theaffordablebusinesspartner.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gil-p-732b1420/ Sign up to get new episodes to your inbox: https://s8zsh.share.hsforms.com/2y-GeC0XOT5CllU620jMQAw
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| Earning the Room: How to Lead a Team for the Long Game with Brendan Thompson | 25 May 2026 | 00:23:00 | |
What does it actually take to step into executive leadership at a company that was already running before you were born? In this episode of Owner's Roundtable, Jeff McLarty sits down with Brendan Thompson, President of Bernie's Electric Supplies Ltd. Brendan is third generation at a company his grandfather founded in 1976, and has been President since 2023. They get into what the executive leadership transition actually looks like from the inside, how to bring change to an organization with deep roots, and what it takes to build a team that can carry a business into its next 50 years. Brendan came up through almost every department at Bernie's before taking the top role, from the warehouse floor, to purchasing, to inside and outside sales. That ground-level foundation shapes how he thinks about hiring, developing people, and building systems that hold up over time. His approach is deliberate and long-term oriented in a way that most leaders only develop after they've already made the expensive mistakes. Bernie's Electric is in its 50th anniversary year and actively planning for expansion. This episode is a study in what it looks like when executive leadership is built on genuine operational fluency rather than title alone. What you'll learn in this episode:
About Brendan Thompson Brendan Thompson is the third-generation President of Bernie's Electric Supplies Ltd., an independent electrical wholesaler based in Edmonton, Alberta. He holds a business degree with a major in human resources from the University of Lethbridge and is a Red Seal journeyman electrician, a combination that gives him an unusually broad understanding of the business he leads. Books and resources mentioned:
Looking for tools and support growing and managing your business? Contact Jeff McLarty: Contact Brendan Thompson:
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| Always Human in the Loop: What AI Can (and Can't) Do for Your Business with Matt McKeage | 11 May 2026 | 00:35:27 | |
In this episode of Owner’s Roundtable, Jeff McLarty sits down with Matt McKeage, founder of Speaking is Code AI Consulting and StressMed Adaptive Mental Health Training. Matt spent years as a paramedic before moving into AI consulting and mental health training for first responders, two businesses built around making complex information accessible to the people who need it most. In this conversation, Jeff and Matt dig into what AI actually changes about starting and running a business, and where the real risks are hiding. Matt’s perspective on AI is grounded in practice rather than promotion. He’s worked with businesses across industries and seen the same failure pattern repeat: owners who skip the foundational thinking, trust the output without reading it, and end up with expensive noise instead of useful insight. His standard is simple: always human in the loop. What you'll learn in this episode:
Resources discussed in this episode: Looking for tools & support growing and managing your business? Contact Jeff McLarty: Contact Matt McKeage: Sign up to get new episodes to your inbox: Fill out this form | |||
| Story First: AI, Visibility, and the Art of Content Marketing with Danielle Mohr | 27 Apr 2026 | 00:40:58 | |
What’s the real reason your marketing is underperforming? In this episode of Owner's Roundtable, Jeff McLarty sits down with Danielle Mohr, Founder and Owner of Fine Point Writing and Editing Services. She talks about her work helping owners translate their brand story into clear, compelling content. Danielle and Jeff explore why most businesses struggle to market themselves effectively, what it actually takes to get useful output from AI, and why story, not promotion, is the foundation of visibility that lasts. With nearly a decade in business, Fine Point has evolved from a writing service into a full brand and content strategy practice. Danielle now works with growth-stage businesses to build integrated marketing systems, including AI-assisted content workflows that preserve brand voice rather than flatten it. Her services are designed to give business owners the clarity and the tools to produce consistent, high-quality content without losing what makes them distinct. What you'll learn in this episode:
About Danielle Mohr Danielle Mohr is the founder of Fine Point Writing & Editing and creator of the Lead Flow Framework, a content marketing system designed for entrepreneurs who want better results without becoming a slave to their marketing. After transitioning from AI skeptic to strategic user, she now teaches business owners how to harness AI's power through Lean Marketing Lab, where the focus is on amplifying your authentic voice, not replacing it. Books discussed in this episode:
Contact Danielle Mohr: Sign up to get new episodes to your inbox: Fill out this form | |||
| Culture, Leadership, and Sustainable Growth with John Watson | 13 Apr 2026 | 00:40:15 | |
How do you maintain steady business growth while building a team and culture that lasts? In this episode of Owner’s Roundtable, Jeff McLarty sits down with John Watson, CEO of Eager Beaver Moving & Storage. John shares the lessons he’s learned growing a third-generation business into a market leader. No shortcuts–just consistent progress built on strong values, the right people, and a clear understanding of what the business does well. Whether you’re running a family business, managing a growing team, or navigating market expansion, this conversation is full of actionable insights on building a business that lasts. What you’ll learn in this episode:
About John Watson John Watson is the CEO and owner of Eager Beaver Moving & Storage, a third-generation family business based in Edmonton. Since taking over the company around 2013, John has grown Eager Beaver into one of the region’s leading moving and storage providers, with a strong reputation for professionalism, team culture, and steady growth. Under his leadership, the business has expanded its services, grown into Calgary, and continued building on a people-first, values-driven foundation. Books Mentioned in the Episode Traction by Gino Wickman The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell Looking for tools & support growing and managing your business? Book a free consultation today: https://calendly.com/jmclarty-focalpointcoaching/30min Contact Jeff McLarty:
Contact John Watson:
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| Managing Multiple Businesses: Systems, People & Priorities with Alex Ward | 30 Mar 2026 | 00:30:07 | |
What does it really take to go from a stable corporate career to building multiple successful businesses—and still have a life outside of work? In this episode of Owner’s Roundtable, Jeff McLarty sits down with Alex Ward, a former banker, then broker, turned serial entrepreneur operating across real estate, franchising, and youth athletics. Alex shares how a forced career pivot became the catalyst for designing his own path in multiple businesses—and how a clear vision, consistent execution, and people-first leadership philosophy have driven his success. From marketing myths to time management, and from mindset to scaling, this conversation is packed with practical insights for anyone looking to grow a business (or several) without burning out.
About Alex Ward Alex Ward is an Edmonton-based entrepreneur, real estate broker, and multi-business owner. A banker turned entrepreneur—Alex has built a career rooted in his passion for people management and leadership. He is the Broker/Owner of MaxWell Devonshire Realty, Managing Partner of Atta-Boy Property Inspections Canada, and Owner/Director of Overtime Athletics Edmonton. Alex is driven by helping others grow—whether that’s clients, teams, or the businesses he leads. — Looking for tools & support growing and managing your business? Book a free consultation today: https://calendly.com/jmclarty-focalpointcoaching/30min
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