A Canadian, an American and a Brit walk into a bar… for a light-hearted discussion about alcohol. Our experiences of it and our social obsession with it. Are you into it, or over it?

Cindy Villanova is an author, consultant, entrepreneur and public speaker. She’s also a seventh degree black belt, master instructor and the owner of a martial arts studio in Austin, Texas.

Cindy’s parents were a mixed race couple in the early 1960s in southern California. They faced prejudice but stressed to Cindy and her brother the importance of an education, and growing up to be ‘good’. Cindy worked hard and was an ‘A’ student. She had big dreams to be a lawyer and to enter politics, but instead she became pregnant as a teenager by her boyfriend, a very troubled young man. She chose not to give up the baby. It was one of many forks in the road of her life.

While there were two “failed marriages”, many physical injuries from her martial arts practice and financial troubles along the way, there were also triumphs and turnarounds. Her book Don't Fight Mad generously chronicles these many painful twists and turns. She parallels what mixed martial arts taught her about digging in, when she most wanted to give up.

JS is a venture capitalist and entrepreneur. He’s the co-founder of Real Ventures and Montreal Startups. Both are early-stage venture capital firms that backs entrepreneurs and build the ecosystems in which they thrive. JS has primarily worked with entrepreneurs who are using AI, blockchain technologies, AR/VR and synthetic biology to improve happiness, human creativity, and communication — and transform or disrupt the pillars of our society.

In 2018 he had a profound experience that shifted his perspective of himself, his relationships and the world around him. While he’s loved his work, JS is now taking a slightly different role in the company he founded.

Season 4, Episode 43: Leadership Bumps

Ernie Louttit’s a son, brother, father and soon, a Moshum or ‘grandfather’.

He’s a Missanabie Cree from Northern Ontario. He grew up in a town call Oba, about 1,000 kilometers or a 12 & a half-hour drive north of Toronto, Canada. While now it is a place where he goes to heal his soul, it was a rough start.

He dropped out of school and started working on the railroad at age 15. In 1978 at 17, he joined the military where he stayed for 8 years. While he served, he went to Cyprus with the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI). Later in his career, he became a member of the Military Police, stationed in Wainwright, Alberta at the PPCLI Battle school. The largest training centre in Western Canada.