Norm Trainor is the President and CEO of The Covenant Group, referred to by many as “The Business Builder.” Norm Trainor formed The Covenant Group (TCG) in 1995, where Norm Trainor’s team has amassed and diagnosed research on top performing professionals, distilling that research into The 8 Best Practices & Business Builder concepts. TCG educates and coaches entrepreneurs, providing them with the necessary business tools to enhance their performance and achieve new levels of profit and productivity.

TCG works with some of the world’s largest institutions and has client networks across North America, Europe and the Caribbean. TCG specializes in helping financial services organizations grow market share and increase productivity by improving the practice development capability of their owners, managers, advisors and agents. Norm is an international speaker; the author of the best-selling books, The 8 Best Practices of High-Performing Salespeople, The Entrepreneurial Journey and The Business Builder; and has written articles for various leading publications in North America and internationally. Norm was named one of “The 20 Most Innovative People in Insurance” by LifeHealthPro in 2015.

Norm helps leaders, entrepreneurs and busy professionals with crucial strategy, structure, systems and processes to be more effective in their roles, performance and efficiency through guidelines for enhancing performance and increasing results in every aspect of your business. Well known in the Financial Industry, he is focused on how the approach to performance strategy in order to grow revenue and profitability through planning, preparing, executing, and measuring. We show clients how to achieve and sustain peak performance with our unique planning process for the critical areas of business: Financial Services Professionals.

Rachel Baptiste partners with Boards, Corporate, and Non-profit organizations across varying industries to bring about transformational change in the areas of Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, Organizational Development, Leadership, and Talent Management. Rachel Baptiste has 20+ years of experience in progressive leadership roles with Fortune 100 companies.  Rachel Baptiste’s most recent executive role being VP, Organizational Development & Corporate Social Responsibility. Rachel Baptiste is also an Executive Coach certified through International Coach Federation.

Rachel was recognized as one of Top 20 Coaches in Toronto in 2021 by Influence Digest.  Rachel also a Mentor and Faculty at University of Toronto St. Michael’s Post Graduate Program in Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability.

Having secured a seat at the executive leadership table, Rachel as a woman of colour draws from her lived experiences and expertise in organizational development to advocate for inclusive spaces where diverse talent can move from barely surviving to thriving.  Rachel views an organization as human centered, strengthened by the differences of its people.

Her consulting and speaking approach are relatable and engaging.  She acknowledges and meets people where they are while illuminating a path forward for them to envision a brighter future.

Warren Macdonald works with innovative, forward thinking organizations and associations looking to foster a shift in perception. Warren Macdonald’s life’s boundaries were redefined in April 1997 with his accident on North Queensland’s (Australia) Hinchinbrook Island. Climbing to the Island’s tallest peak, Warren Macdonald became trapped beneath a one-ton slab boulder in a freak rock fall. Two days later he was rescued, only to undergo the amputation of both legs at mid thigh. Just ten months later, Warren Macdonald climbed Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain using a modified wheelchair and the seat of his pants.

In February 2003, he became the first double above-knee amputee to reach the summit of Africa’s tallest peak, Mt Kilimanjaro (19,222ft), and more recently, in a spectacular effort requiring more than 2,800 pull-ups over 4 days, created history once again in an ascent of America’s tallest cliff face, El Capitan. He is also the only above knee amputee to make an ascent of Canada’s landmark frozen waterfall, the 600 ft “Weeping Wall” in Alberta.

Warren’s first book, “A Test of Will” is an Australian bestseller and the subject of the “Trapped under a Boulder” episode of the Discovery Channel series “I Shouldn’t Be Alive”. His film documenting the epic four-week journey to Federation Peak, Australia most challenging mountain summit, “The Second Step”, has been acclaimed worldwide, screening on National Geographic Television and winning eight international awards including Grand Prize at the prestigious “Banff Mountain Film Festival”.

Warren has appeared on numerous news and current affairs programs, including “Larry King Live”, “The Oprah Winfrey Show”, and “The Hour” with George Stroumboulopoulos.

He lives in Canmore, Alberta with his partner Margo Talbot.

Linda Nazareth is an economist, a futurist and a respected authority on the future of work.  As a newspaper columnist and an author, she knows how to frame things in ways that both educate and entertain and as the Senior Fellow for Economics and Population Change at think-tank the Macdonald Laurier Institute she knows what she is talking about.

Linda’s career has taken some non-traditional turns for someone in her field. Her first jobs were as a government economist where she specialized in labor market planning, which was followed by a stint at a major financial institution where she spent years as a Senior Economist. Wanting to change things up while she could, she lobbied to have a job created for her on Business News Network (BNN, Canada’s answer to CNBC) while it was a start-up and spent a decade on-air as their in-house economist.

During her time on BNN, Linda started writing books and giving keynote presentations, and eventually left daily broadcasting to give those passions her full-time attention. Her clients have included everyone from American Express through to The Economist Magazine, and all have benefitted from her ability to take big ideals and distil them into information that they can use for their own strategic plans.

Linda’s fourth book, Work Is Not a Place: Our Lives and Our Organizations in the Post-Jobs Economy draws on the research she has been building for years as well as the insights gained from interacting with audiences across a range of sectors. With it, she is eager to engage people in thinking about what the world might look like when we replace the idea of ‘jobs’ with that of ‘work’ – and why that might not be a bad idea at all.

A frequent media commentator, Linda has been quoted everywhere from the Wall Street Journal to Wired magazine.

Arlene Dickinson is a serial entrepreneur and General Partner of District Ventures Capital, a venture capital fund focused on helping market, fund and grow entrepreneurs and their companies, in the food and health space. Arlene Dickinson is a three-time best-selling author, podcaster and accomplished public speaker. Arlene Dickinson is widely recognized for her role as a Dragon/Venture Capitalist for over 12 seasons on the multi-award-winning CBC television series, Dragons Den.

Ms. Dickinson’s leadership has been recognized many times, including Canada’s Most Powerful Women Top 100 Hall of Fame, the Pinnacle Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence, as well as PROFIT and Chatelaine’s Top 100 Women Business Owners. She is a Marketing Hall of Legends inductee and a proud recipient of the Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Award. Dickinson has served for many years as an Honourary Captain in the Royal Canadian Navy.

She sits on several public and private boards and is actively involved in supporting community and country.

Ann Gomez is an inspiring speaker, a USA Today bestselling author and the founding president of Clear Concept Inc., a global training organization. Ann Gomez is passionate about helping people do their best work at all stages of their career and has 20 years of experience delivering compelling and practical talks about productivity, collaboration, mindset, and wellbeing.

Ann Gomez is a 2x bestselling author of The Email Warrior and Younger Self Letters: How Successful Leaders & Entrepreneurs Turned Trials Into Triumph. She has been featured in The Globe & Mail and has appeared on CBC Radio, Global TV and BNN, and other major news outlets and online platforms, including Huffington Thrive Global. She is an active blogger and media spokesperson and is the 2021 winner of the Women Business Enterprises (WBE) Canada Leader Award. Ann is also a recurring faculty member at the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management Initiative for Women in Business.

Ann Gomez and her team at Clear Concept Inc. work with people around the world and across industries to help busy people make the most of their time.

Prior to founding Clear Concept Inc., Ann was a management consultant at A.T. Kearney. Earlier in her career, Ann was a pharmaceutical representative and research coordinator.

Ann has an MBA from Queen’s University where she was the President of the MBA class. Ann also has an Honours Bachelor’s Degree in Science (Biology & Psychology) from McMaster University.

Speaker and Author, Ann Gomez, is passionate about helping people make time for what matters most. As a former management consultant, entrepreneur and mother of four children, Ann knows what it’s like to feel a sense of overwhelm and stress. Her compelling and practical talks are designed to have an immediate impact and help people to:

• Take control of busy days.
• Boost productivity and restore balance.
• Deal with a high volume of work, email and meetings.
• Build and contribute to a high-performance team.
• Strengthen collaboration, feel less isolated and more connected.
• Cope with stress and build resilience to navigate challenges.
• Manage energy and reclaim focus.
• Prioritize wellbeing.
• Shift from surviving to thriving.

Liz Gleadle has represented Canada at three Olympic Games (London, Rio, & Tokyo), won ten Canadian Championships, holds the National Record at 64.83m (212.7 ft), and competed professionally for the last decade. Although Liz Gleadle was blessed with strength and height (183cm / 6’1), Liz Gleadle was in no way “naturally” athletic or coordinated: as a javelin thrower, this made Liz Gleadle an outlier. Javelin is an explosive combination of precise movement, steps, applied force, torque, extension – it’s frequently dominated by some of the most athletic people in track.

Liz Gleadle’s desire to become a better athlete led her to pursue a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology from the University of British Columbia. This learning kindled a fascination in everything “high performance”.

In 2011, the potential to make her first Olympic Team was on the horizon. Determined to work with her strengths, she began to implement new habits and routines off the track, to enhance her ability to improve her technique. Through these efforts, Liz not only made the team, but smashed the Canadian Record by over 3 meters, throwing her way into the Olympic Finals at her first Games!

This was only the beginning. Over the last decade she has become an avid learner expanding her knowledge of nutrition, sleep, active recovery, mental training, meditation and yoga. From these deep dives, Liz has been able to curate routines to optimize her physiology and psychological states, as well as strategies to boost adherence and consistency.

Liz shares her favorite, most effective strategies though online events:

• Win the Morning: teaches the science and strategies of her 5-step, science-backed, “minimum effective dose”, morning routine.
• The Art of Recovery: teaches the science behind rest and recovery, and helps to reframe them as an integral part of performing at our best.

Filipe Masetti Leite, world-renowned Long Rider, award-winning journalist and best-selling author, is the youngest person in the world to cross the Americas on horseback.

In an eight-year journey that took Filipe Masetti Leite and his beloved horses across 12 nations and more than 25 000 kilometres, Filipe Masetti Leite saw the reality of life on this planet. With devastating droughts, the threats of grizzlies and snakes, the unpredictable weather, and the deadly impact of the drug trade, daily life on this planet is hard. But life is also beautiful. Despite the hardship, Filipe Masetti Leite was overwhelmed by the kindness of people who had nothing, but were willing to offer a place to sleep and water and pasture for the horses. The true lesson Filipe Masetti Leite learned is that there is always a way to accomplish anything you can dream, if you can put your fears aside and take that first step!

The son of modest ranchers, Filipe had the immigrant experience, living in both Brazil and Canada, and understands the entrepreneurial spirit. He is a strong advocate of mental health, the Children’s cancer hospital in Barretos, Brazil, and the horse as a metaphor for success and the path to happiness. His journeys took him from boy to man to national hero, only to fall to PTSD and have to climb back on the horse to take a new journey inward.

Eventually he closed the loop where it all began. From Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina, the journey was complete.

In 2020 Filipe was chosen as the Calgary Stampede’s Grand Marshal and white hatted by Mayor Naheed Nenshi. He is the author of the best-sellers, Long Ride Home (soon to be a major motion picture) and Long Ride to the End of the World, published in Portuguese (Haper Collins) and English, soon to be released in Spanish. Filipe is a regular contributor to The Toronto Star, a frequent guest on Rede Globo’s Fantastico, Brazil’s most watched Sunday night television show, and is writing his third memoir, Last Long Ride. His feature Documentary, The Long Rider, will be released in 2022 on Super Channel and Amazon Prime Canada and in festivals around the world.

He is engaged to his fiancée Clara Victoria Davel, who he riding his Long Ride in Patagonia, Argentina.

Filipe, fluent in Portuguese, Spanish and English and has performed his motivational talk for big businesses, organizations, associations and universities all over the Americas like; CISCO brasil, JBS – largest meat supplier, John Deere Brasil, Algar Telecom, Ryerson University, Rotary Clubs in Canada, Brasil and Uruguay, 4H Alaska, CEVA Canada Mellohawk Logistics and others.

During his presentation he discusses themes like strategic planning, teamwork, resilience, mental health, diversity and inclusion, Ag and ranching and the benefits of connecting with nature and horses.

 

 

Julie Cass is a transformational life and business coach, and founder of The Positive Change Group. Julie Cass has coached hundreds of business owners, leaders, and individuals over the years to help them tap into their full potential and create success.

Julie Cass is a CEO, a wife, and a mom who understands firsthand that the juggle is real. Having over 20 years experience in building and scaling businesses to multi-7-and-8 figures, and building a successful international consulting and management training company in the Spa & Wellness Industry, Julie’s passion lies in helping busy people thrive in all facets of life by investing in the relationship they have with themselves.

A renowned keynote speaker, Julie Cass has spoken at over fifty conferences and companies across North America. Julie Cass has been an expert guest speaking on Global TV, CHCH and CP24, to writing for major publications such as Canadian Living, Canadian Business Journal and Spa Canada; she is available and interested in being your keynote speaker for your next event. Julie is committed to not only motivating positive change but promoting attendees to take inspired action.

Specialties:

• Wellness in the workplace
• Personal Empowerment
• Overcoming burnout
• Leadership, organizational turnaround
• Entrepreneurism and business strategies

Robin Esrock is a bestselling author, journalist, TV host and public speaker. Having travelled to 115 countries on 7 continents, Robin Esrock’s stories and photography have appeared in major publications on five continents, including National Geographic Traveler, The Guardian, The Chicago Tribune, South China Morning Post and Sydney Morning Herald.  A former travel columnist for The Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun, Outpost and MSN,  Robin Esrock has been profiled as a travel expert by 60 Minutes, CBC, MSNBC, ABC, CTV, Global, Travel+Leisure, The Wall St Journal many others.

Sharing the stage with Buzz Aldrin and Ken Burns, Robin Esrock was honoured as Master of Ceremonies at the Explorer’s Club Annual Dinner in New York.  Robin Esrock is the creator and co-host of the 40-part television series Word Travels, and his passion for travel has been seen by millions of viewers in nearly two-dozen languages on National Geographic and Travel Channel International, and on OLN, Prime Video and CityTV in Canada.  These adventures were also captured for his international bestselling book, The Great Global Bucket List. Robin spent years scouring every province and territory for Canada’s most unique experiences, recording his journey in the country’s top selling travel book, The Great Canadian Bucket List.

He has also written two bestselling travel books about Australia. A Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society, Robin currently writes a for Canadian Geographic and continues to travel the world in search of the world’s best experiences.  Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, he lives in Vancouver with his wife and two children.