Background Noise

From the very beginning of a child's life, the natural instinct of parents is to "shape them". This mentality is passed along to educators, as kids enter pre-school, K-12 and eventually post-seconda…

The concept of collaboration has taken on a different meaning in the era of social media, and specifically, social media influencers. In that world it's all about favor-swapping. But the original m…

Happy Fats is a health food brand with a twist. Actually, it's more of a squeeze. Macadamia nut butter combined with a growing list of other wholesome, delicious and natural flavors, packed into snac…

While cider is rapidly gaining traction in the alcoholic beverage market, Brodie Thomas, founder of Calgary's Uncommon Cider Co. is unconcerned with hopping on a bandwagon in the name of profit. Ins…

Entrepreneurs are audacious. They sense a missing, and have the audacity to think they were born to fill it. Or, they’re audacious enough to think THEY can do something better than what’s already ava…

Colton Nason grew up like many other kids in Canada. Active, loving sport, and dreaming of one day making the big leagues. But like the vast majority of those same kids, his dreams fell short. Years …

Craft is king. In many consumer categories, we're trending away from big brands and toward small ones. Local proprietors making awesome alternatives to mainstream brands are capturing hearts, minds…

The supply chain behind that cup of coffee you enjoy is an endless, and sometimes ruthless, array of growers, buyers, sellers and resellers. Trekking through this complex jungle, to discover the best…

Any and all business success stories can be traced to one common denominator - an unmet need. Calgary entrepreneur Jason Zaran has identified two such gaps, but he's never satisfied in his quest for …

While we are all shut in, trying to keep on top of the clutter, the chaos...and cleanliness, today's podcast may make you want to restore order yourself. Or, you could arrange to have cleaning done …

With covid's wrath creating chaos everywhere, the founders of undoing find themselves having to pivot like everyone else. In this special episode Marc Boivin from the University of Calgary and David…

Entrepreneurs are like detectives trying to solve a problem. They stumble upon something that looks suspicious, and their instincts draw them into it.

For Mitch Jacobsen, that problem was fatigue. …

When Simon and Marija Nash arrived in Canada from the UK in 2015, they were seasoned entrepreneurs, and as such, were looking not only for a new way to make a living, but a new problem to solve. The…

While there was much discussion as to whether to proceed with an episode of Background Noise this week, in the confusing and chaotic early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, we thought the message of L…

Crystal Phillips is an undo-er in the purest sense. She seeks out "unlike-minded people", revels in "the space between" (the often misunderstood messy middle between process steps), and stands in de…

Although experts will say we've never lived in a more peaceful time, media has a tendency to manipulate our perspective into thinking the opposite. We hear of violence, division, and hatred all arou…

We have aromatic and authentic background noise in this episode as Dave talks to Jamie Parker and Mike Wenzlawe, in the basement of their awesome Calgary Heritage Roasting Company cafe in Inglewood/R…

In this, our first episode of "Background Noise" we go directly to "what's next". As much a statement as it is a question, posed by Calgary entrepreneurs Jim Gibson, Greg Hart, and James Lochrie - fo…