HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who assumingly breaks all the rules but still achieves positive outcomes.”

MARC’S BIO

Marc Winn is Husband. Father. Owned by Dog. Mischief Maker. Lover of Changing the World.  These days he is a full time social revolutionary spending much of my time focused on making the world a better place. He would struggle to look his son in the eye if he didn’t at least have a go.  Marc is Former Lone Nut of The Dandelion Project a community project aimed to inspire Guernsey to become the best place to live on earth by 2020. Marc helps entrepreneurs to build sustainable life-enhancing businesses that matter. He is Ambassador for The World Fix, an organisation designed to articulate, celebrate and facilitate greater institutional experimentation* on a global scale, in order to accelerate systemic change. Co Founder of Born Limitless, his bold passion project that wants to transform the peak of what education so far achieves for children and Curator of TEDx St Peter Port.

WHY MARC WAS INTERVIEWED

Maverick Darren Robson recommended Marc Winn to me.  Darren having been interviewed understood the project and who I was striving to include.  Marc is alternate, random, quirky and funny weird.  We are very supportive of each other’s efforts and regularly converse and share our ideas of changing the world.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who is an inspiring person, who has great ideas but thinks in a very original way, but also is taking people with them on that journey. So someone who is inclusive, not exclusive as well. Someone who is able to motivate and inspire others with his ideas too.”

TIM’S BIO

Tim Wilson is a Creative Action Man. Amongst his roles he works as a regional coordinator for Code Club, a network of coding clubs for kids aged 9-11.
He is passionate about working on things that stimulate creativity and help folks of all ages to unleash their superpowers on the universe.  Tim is a musician with a passion for drumming, singing and composing with bands Under A Banner and Progoctopus.  Tim wants to pack in as much joy into life as possible and to drink lots of fantastic coffee. Forget work/life balance! How about fun/fun and for working for the things that you truly believe in.

WHY TIM WAS INTERVIEWED

I met Tim at the business events held at Cass Business School London and as I got to know him realized he thinks differently. I invited him to be a speaker at the Innovation, Creativity and Leadership talks I hosted and when the Business Mavericks project commenced knew he would be someone to include. Tim is accommodating, creative and a bit of a comic.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Somebody who believes in his cause or her cause and pursues that idea and don’t, or at least to a very small extent care about what other people think of that.”

WHY MEIK WAS INTERVIEWED

I came across Meik and his work as he was presenting The Happy City – A Danish Case Study at the Change Makers Symposium – From Evidence to Action: Inspiring Ideas for Happier Communities. As soon as I read in his profile how he is measuring progress in society in a completely different way, approached him as a potential maverick.  He loved the project and was interested in being part of it. Meik is funny, happy, brave, driven and is totally supportive of Maverick Wisdom.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who thinks differently.You’re a maverick in your own way because you are a niche and you do things in a way that hasn’t been done before.  So it’s somebody that thinks outside the box, thinks in a different way and has the balls to actually go out and do it. Because a lot of people talk and a lot of people don’t actually get anything done. You’ve got to be able to talk and get shit done.”

HERMIONE’S BIO

Hermione was previously CMO & Co-Founder Vibease the world’s first smart vibrator bringing fantasies to life with an immersive pleasure experience, CEO & Founder of Way Media a media, marketing, and PR company that used her seven years experience crafting exciting stories for a social age for clients such as the BBC, Facebook, the UK Parliament. She hosts the world’s largest technology conference the Next Web in Amsterdam annually.  Hermione is an unabashed and successful people hacker, established journalist, serial entrepreneur, tech startup celeb, and a personal friend of Richard Branson.

WHY HERMIONE WAS INTERVIEWED

Hermione was a girl from the tech industry and Co-Founder of Vibease when I interviewed her.  From what I read it was apparent she was a maverick. As a mutual friend of Maverick Redg Snodgrass, CEO and Co-Founder of Wearable World. Hermione’s response on hearing about the Business Maverick project was  ‘Sure, when shall we do it?’ Hermione is fun, spunky, down to earth, brave and who has evolved from a fun girl into an entrepreneurial business woman.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone that’s willing to take some risks. Someone willing to take the road less travelled, areas that others may not tread.  Generally, somebody who is willing to accept failure. Someone who is able to dust themselves off and get up and keep going. If you can’t accept failure or rejection you don’t want to be a maverick or be pushing the envelope because they don’t all work out.”

CHAD’S BIO

Chad Wasilenkoff is Founder and CEO of Fortress Paper a world-leading manufacturer of security and specialty pulp.  He is a proven leader in several sectors including forestry, manufacturing, mining and gas, and other technology-based enterprises. Previously Chad was CEO and Director at Titanium Uranium Exploration Inc. In 2010 Ernst and Young honored Chad with Entrepreneur of the Year [Pacific region and Manufacturing division].

WHY CHAD WAS INTERVIEWED

Chad was interviewed as part of CKNW 980’s ‘The Chief Executives.’ By the end of his interview I knew he was a maverick and on explaining the Business Mavericks project Chad immediately said YES. Chad is direct, a deliverer and very comfortable with being different.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

” A connector that enjoys connecting individuals together and gets pleasure out of that.”

VANESSA’S BIO

Vanessa Vallely is Managing Director at We Are The City which provides information to women who wish to progress in their careers via networking and events.  Vanessa is a Public Speaker and Facilitator and has delivered numerous keynotes.  She is Founder and Co-Chair of The Network of Networks [THON] a collaboration of corporate internal diversity network heads/committee members from 100 multinational firms across sectors in the UK.  She is Board Member for Cancer Research UK and Tech UK representing the companies and technologies that are defining today the world we will live in tomorrow.  She is Ambassador for Future First, engaging alumni to help current students, Girls out Loud a UK based social enterprise, and Inspiring the Future a free service where professionals go into state schools.  Vanessa is the author of Heels of Steel which tracks the trials and tribulations of the most networked woman in the City.

WHY VANESSA WAS INTERVIEWED

I was introduced to Vanessa by Joella Bruckshaw a Performance Consultant and Executive Coach I had been Coaching/Consulting for. Joella had an understanding of the Mavericks project and knew Vanessa would be a solid fit. Vanessa was very happy to be interviewed once I had explained the project to her. Vanessa is down to earth, direct, a connector, passionate and honest.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“It’s not a term you take on for self-image.  The job of trying to do things differently is actually a difficult one that’s never-ending, and requires complete faith and commitment to it.  And so that job of sort of standing against the wind of everything else is sort of tougher than any image that it might bring you of being the challenger if that makes sense. And I don’t even know at which point you realize you’ve made a difference. It’s sort of a duty you take on more than a characteristic of a person or an image of a person, and I think often the safest-seeming people can be actually the toughest at standing up for different ways of doing things. So I would describe a maverick as somebody with a clarity of purpose; an idea about how things should be different and probably above all a commitment to stick to those things to really see where it takes them, even if it takes them nowhere.”

JONATHAN’S BIO

Jonathan Trimble is CEO/Co-Founder of 18 Feet and Rising, the fastest growing creative independent in the UK. Jonathan was trained at DDB (Omnicom), where the awards he gleaned across his clients put him on the Board at 30.  In 2014, Jonathan was named a Debretts 500 People of Today in the Sunday Times, marking him as one of the UK’s most influential people in advertising today.

WHY JONATHAN WAS INTERVIEWED

Jonathan was recommended to me by Maverick Stephen Greene of Rockcorps who I had interviewed.  Jonathan is considered, direct and knowledgeable and he applies it.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who has an original way of approaching a problem and thinking through what that solution might be. So instead of taking the conventional path they do something different.”

MICHEAL’S BIO

Michael is Director of New Products at Hootsuite [his role when interviewed].  A 2 time Emmy nominee who has founded and managed several early-stage tech companies in New York and Vancouver. He is Founder of Wantoo which uses mobile technology to predict what’s next.  Micheal is Co-Founder of Startland helping Syrians get connected to the local startup scene by providing technical training, equipment, and access to startups.  Founder of Tippett.org. He is Advisor at the School of Journalism [Digital Media] at the University of British Columbia and a Board Member of The Upside Foundation of Canada an exciting venture that lets Canadian startups give back to our society.

WHY MICHAEL WAS INTERVIEWED

Micheal was recommended to me by Mark Busse Co-Founder and Principal at Industrial Brand who I had already interviewed. Micheal is fun, genuine, honest, and brave.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who refuses to follow the mainstream just because it’s the mainstream but sets out in their own direction when it suits them or it suits their long term goals.”

PAUL’S BIO

Paul Tinari is Chief Technology Officer of Joom3D which researches new concepts in 3D printing and supporting technologies.  He is also Director at  E-Frac Industrial Services Inc., an organization developing a revolutionary waste water treatment system for the fracking industry and system for economically generating clean, fresh drinking water from salt and brackish water sources and Director for the Pacific Insitute for Advanced Study.  Paul is a professional creative thinker and problem solver who has worked for the private sector, NGOs and government clients around the globe. He has been called a visionary and “Renaissance Man” for the 21st century. When asked by a U.S. Senator what his research would do to enhance the national security of the nation, he replied: “Nothing, except to help make it worth defending.” For many years he taught creative thinking skills to executives from Fortune 500 companies. He is the author of several books including Boxing Outside the Think, JOOM Destiny,  The Art & Science of Systems Thinking, and Relativity for Retards. As Dr. Future, he is host to the long-running show on CJSF Radio “Future Talk.“

WHY PAUL WAS INTERVIEWED

Paul presented at Creative Mornings  and his presentation was enough to convince me that he was a maverick.  Paul is direct, funny, knowledgeable and interesting.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“A maverick is somebody who breaks the rules and is untraditional.”

JANE’S BIO

Jane is an innovator with a global reputation for inspiring individuals and organizations to work together for positive social change. She is ever-curious and drawn to the humanity and courage of people doing it tough.  To date, Jane has founded five charities, all of which are flourishing today, the most recent being Igniting Change, a purposely tiny organisation based in Australia.  She is known for lateral thinking and creative initiatives including Comic Relief (Red Nose Day) in the UK, which has raised over a billion pounds and best-selling books including Dying to Know – bringing death to life.

Jane has sat on a number of not-for-profit boards including Oxfam UK, The St James Ethics Centre, The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Committee and is currently a Director of Virgin Unite, which unites people and entrepreneurial ideas to create opportunities for a better world and The Reichstein Foundation, which works for social justice and environmental sustainability by investing strategically in inspirational people, projects and organisations. It is a catalyst for more effective philanthropy in Australia.

WHY JANE WAS INTERVIEWED

Richard Branson said, “When she was 23 and I was 30 she strode into Virgin’s office and asked us to fund all of the overheads of a new charity she was thinking of setting up called Charity Projects. I knew immediately she had a special quality, and agreed so she could ensure 100% of profits went directly to good causes. Out of that came Red Nose Day and Comic Relief, which has now raised more than £1 billion to change millions of lives for the better.” Soon as I read that I knew she was a maverick. I picked up the phone to Igniting Change, told them what I was up to and they gave me Jane’s email. She immediately sent me an email saying how she ‘loved my energy which was oozing off the screen’ and we arranged the interview. Jane is genuine, giving a voice to those without a voice, empathetic, powerful in her gentleness and definitely one the kindest people I have the privilege to know.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who does things differently than others. Someone who excites people and someone who surprises everyone around with their ideas that are out outside the box, or as I like to call it, outside the bubble.”

NATALIA’S BIO

Natalia Talkowska is Founder, Director and Chief Visual Storyteller at Natalka Design Ltd, a creative production house where they draw your ideas and bring projects and events to life. Part of which is Doodledo, a movement to inspire everyone to draw.

WHY NATALIA WAS INTERVIEWED

I met Nat when we both did the MOE Foundation Executive Coaching training and remained friends. The fact that she draws meetings instead of taking minutes is why she thinks differently. Nat is brave, determined, funny and quirky.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who sees the world in a different way and who is not afraid to pursue that vision that he or she sees.”

POCKET’S BIO

Pocket is the Founding Partner of SoGal Ventures. Her mission is to close the diversity gap in entrepreneurship within our generation. With that in mind, she founded SoGal, a global community influencing 50,000 diverse entrepreneurs and investors in 20+ countries to empower, inspire and connect entrepreneurial minds with high-impact communities, digital media, funding resources, networking, and startup advisory.

Pocket was Forbes 2016  30 Under 30 Asia in Venture Capital & Finance and LinkedIn 2015 Top Voices in VC & Entrepreneurship.  She has been featured in Forbes, Harper’s BAZAAR, BBC World News, The Huffington Post, Inc., The Straits Times, Channel News Asia, The Business Times, Next Shark, e27, DBS Treasures campaign, East West Bank, CLEO Magazine etc and is a Tedx and keynote speaker.

WHY POCKET WAS INTERVIEWED

I came across Pocket and her work with SoGal Ventures via her being voted as LinkedIn’s 2015 influencers for Venture Capitalism and Entrepreneurship.  Pocket had interviewed VC’s and shared the lessons from her interviews just as I was doing with the Business Mavericks.  I told her about the interviews and how Maverick Wisdom had evolved, which she thought was cool and asked how she could help. Pocket is passionate, driven, has a very knowledgeable head on her young shoulders and is brave enough to take ‘massive actions.’

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who is crazy yet purposeful.  It’s the skill, bold, let’s do something new but this is somebody that you trust.  This is somebody who’s brave enough to go against the grain and maybe do what other people were thinking, but to do it in such a way that people will have faith in whatever the outcome will be.”

ROBBIE’S BIO

Robbie Stokes Jnr is Founder/Board Chair – I TALK TO STRANGERS Foundation, whose philosophy encourages and challenges individuals to create genuine relationships through meeting new people. The motive is to push a new idea, that meeting new people increases personal and professional opportunities, experiences, and lessons learned.  ITTS has created international and multi-cultural imprints with over 5,000 global volunteers and over 20,000 hours of community service worldwide. Growing a larger community of social organizations will increase the volunteer: community hour ratio towards social peace, environmental protection, cultural preservation, and technological advancements starting in your home community!

Robbie has traveled meeting over 3% of the global population while documenting his journey through a soon-to-be-released documentary and book, along with participating as a speaker in numerous engagements around the world. Robbie is also the Global Volunteer Coordinator Plenumigo a multinational organization that provides individuals with opportunities to fulfill their potential and life purpose by following their passion.  Previously Robbie was Congressional Events Co-ordinator U.S. House of Representatives http://www.house.gov.

WHY ROBBIE WAS INTERVIEWED

Robbie was recommended by Maverick Daniel de Gruijter of Incitement who had been interviewed.  Robbie is funny and down to earth.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“I suppose the principle thing is not accepting the received wisdom. Asking a question about anything and everything. And that doesn’t mean you have to do things differently for the sake of it, you have to do things differently for a reason.”

HUGO’S BIO

Hugo Spowers is Company Architect as Riversimple Engineering whose purpose is to pursue, systematically, the elimination of the environmental impact of personal transport. Previously Hugo was owner of OsCar Automotive Ltd which developed a business strategy to bring hydrogen fuel cell cars to market, and Prowess Racing Ltd which designed and manufactured single seat racing cars, restored historic racing cars and fielded racing teams.

WHY HUGO WAS INTERVIEWED

Marc Carn came across an article about how Hugo and his team were striving to upend the business model of making and selling and owning cars.  I read about Hugo and Riversimple. Hugo liked the idea of the Mavericks project and was delighted to be interviewed. Hugo is fun, knowledgeable, down to earth, a deep lateral thinker and very purpose driven.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Mavericks are people that take sort of regular habits, or ways of interacting, ways of wearing clothes, ways of making art, whatever it is, and flip it upside down.  So it can be as simple as taking a jacket and putting it upside down and putting it backwards and then creating a new fashion, so it’s very simple, or a stretch out of something, like a normal interaction and actually elongating it and making it bigger or just a little bit off to the side.”

HEATHER’S BIO

Heather Spark is an Immersive Installation Artist, Sculptor and Set Designer, and Founder of Sparks Designs.   Her art emphasizes the transformation of ordinary and discarded objects into immersive works of art. She began to develop her unique style in her final year of the B.F.A. program at Emily Carr University, working with ephemera and salvaged wood to build architectural cabinets. From these small beginnings, she quickly began to work big, building large-scale architectural sets for The Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret including The Village Project—a village built from pallets and inhabited by artists—the immersive 1930s-esque set for Hard Times Hit Parade. As of late, Heather has been dedicating her time to the development of a 50-acre international artist residency and performing arts center, The Lookout Arts Quarry located in Bellingham, WA. She lives in a hand-built patchwork house on wheels, drives backhoes, builds large-scale engineered artist facilities, builds wooden art installations including her favorite little lean-to church atop the hill, creates graphic design promotions, produces festivals, and organizes artist residencies. She spends her free time expanding her skills as an artist into the realm of performance, shadow puppetry, dance, and experimental sound.

WHY HEATHER WAS INTERVIEWED

Heather presented at Creative Mornings and it was apparent she was a maverick.  Heather was creative, wacky and fun.  She is the only maverick to jump off my sofa, crawl around on the floor and offer to show me her underwear.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone that is very innovative and different than standard.”

VICTORIA’S BIO

Victoria Sopik, CEO and Co-founder of Kids & Company, (and mother of 8), understands this delicate balancing act. Victoria’s experiences as a working mother and devoted parent have had a profound impact on her, and they have made her determined to make a difference by helping working parents and concerned employers with work-life challenges.

Victoria lends her time; skill and leadership to benefit the child care industry and community by presenting at a variety of events, workshops and conferences across Canada.  Her professional accomplishments have been recognized with several honors and rewards, such as 2013/14 Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies by Deloitte, 2013 RBC Women Entrepreneur Of The Year Award – Momentum Category, 2012 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year in the Business-to-Business Category, WXN Top100 Most Powerful Women, Passion Capitalist Award for Work Culture and Philosophy – 2012, 2008-2014 Profit Magazine’s – One of Canada’s fastest growing companies, Canadian Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs for the past 7 years, Member of the Young Presidents Organization, and the International Women’s Forum.

WHY VICTORIA WAS INTERVIEWED

I was introduced to Victoria by Denise Kelly who at the time was part of the Kids and Company team. Victoria is determined, purpose drive, concise and knows herself.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who usurps something that is kind of standardized, or something that’s quite the same or kind of diverts it. A maverick is someone that’s not considered to be relatively mainstream. Someone that’s innovative.  Someone that’s pioneering.”

IAN’S BIO

Ian Soloman-Kawall aka KMT is a Freedom Teacher Guide who uses art [hip-hop] for social awareness and social cohesion. He is Co-Founder of the May Project Gardens which brings communities together to act collectively. Previously he was Project Manager for Pan Intercultural Arts a company using intercultural performance work to help facilitate self-expression and promote a deeper understanding of our changing cultural identities. They work with a diverse range of communities across London and internationally, empowering people to use the arts as a tool for change in their lives.

WHY IAN WAS INTERVIEWED

Ian was recommended to me by Maverick Luke Hemment who felt Ian would be a good fit for this project. I researched Ian and learnt more about how he uses art to help people change their lives. Ian is alternative, legacy-driven, humorous, multi-talented and open.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“A force of nature, just like the Titan of Mavericks, the most coveted event in big wave surfing. Mavericks bucks trends and see things others don’t see.”

REDG’S BIO

Redg Snodgrass is CEO of Wearable World a media accelerator and events company which is home for the people, ideas, and things that change the world He is also CEO of ReadWrite one of the most widely read tech news sites in the world.  He is a Consultant at GWGSD Consulting and Advisor for Skout, the world’s largest app for meeting new people. With millions of users all over the world, Skout gives you the ability to connect with people no matter where you are.  Previously Redg was CEO/Co Founder of The Taploid, the Facebook app and VP of Open Innovation at Alcatel-Lucent which provides products and innovations in IP and cloud networking, as well as ultra-broadband fixed and wireless access.

WHY REDG WAS INTERVIEWED

Redg was he was Co Producing Dealmaker Media’s Grow Future of Business Conference which brings together start ups from all over Canada and the West Coast. 2013 was about the future of innovation, growth and entrepreneurship, curating an environment that brought together technology pioneers, founders, executives, influencers and investors who are passionate about identifying problems worth solving.  Listening and learning from Redg I realised he was a maverick. He is humane, quirky, self aware, determined, driven to do good and true to himself.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who doesn’t give a fuck about the way things are done and would be more focused on following a course that is likely to bring about some kind of change, whether that be conventional change, business change, or other change, social change, that they deem to be important.”

ROBIN’S BIO

Robin is a practitioner of change and transformation who has been doing it, across Free Range, Fair Trade, Renewable Energy, Rainforest protection, poverty eradication and climate change, since 1991. He created the virtual agency Host Universal in 1997, Sohost in 2013 and Soho Dairy in 2015. He continues to work with inspirational ideas and people to tackle serious challenges head on, believing that there is no issue that cannot be flipped to a positive outcome and that we do not have to screw the planet or its inhabitants to earn reward.

WHY ROBIN WAS INTERVIEWED

Robin was recommended to me by Louis Barnett whom I had interviewed and hence knew the project.  Robin is laid back, interesting and doing it.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who defies normalcy. Somebody that actually says I want to try something different and maybe even, if I pull an example of yourself, where you’re comfortable, you’re doing something that’s normal and you decide to do something out of normal, something new, something challenging. I think that’s like maverick thinking and people in my opinion are either born that way and constantly doing it, so they never stick to the normal path. Or there’s kind of discovered mavericks, where they actually learn that that’s not the path for them and they just decide to embrace something new and challenging which I would call a maverick.”

JASON’S BIO

Jason Smith is CEO and Co Founder of Klue a curated intelligence platform providing companies with a lens into their competitors world. He is a 20-year Internet entrepreneur with experience building enterprise focused technology companies.

Previously, Jason served as President of Vision Critical, helping grow the customer intelligence SaaS company from start-up to 500+ person market leader with 600+ enterprise clients including Staples, HP, BBC, Nestle and Conde Nast. Prior to Vision Critical, Jason was an active investor in ecommerce custom apparel company GAIA Ultimate, served as Vice President at Electronic Arts, and co-founded Columbus Group, a 100-person digital agency pioneer acquired by TELUS (NYSE: TU). Jason graduated with Honours in Marketing from UBC’s Sauder School of Business, is the recipient of Ernst and Young’s Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year, BDC’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year, Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 under 40, is a founding board member of NewMedia BC, a past board member of the Vancouver Enterprise Forum, and served as an advisor to Mobify (mobile retail commerce), ContentDJ (content marketing & curation), CrowdEmotion (visual market research), Strutta (social engagement platform acquired by LX Ventures), and Garabaldi Capital (growth equity advisors).  In 2012, Jason bought four around-the-world plane tickets and travelled through 13 countries with his wife and two daughters.

WHY JASON WAS INTERVIEWED

I met Jason at Dealmaker Media’s Grow Future of Business Conference which brings together startups from all over Canada and the West Coast.  2013 was about the future of innovation, growth, and entrepreneurship, curating an environment that brought together technology pioneers, founders, executives, influencers and investors who are passionate about identifying problems worth solving. And asked him if I could interview him for the Business Mavericks Project. Jason is fun, intriguing, in tune with himself, and from the heart.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“It’s not for me to define it, it’s for society to define it.  The important question is should we be encouraging maverick behavior?  And of course, my answer is yes.  And I define maverick behavior as always looking at what the status quo is and improving upon it.  So a maverick is somebody that is a contrarian, who questions things, who isn’t satisfied with the way things are and if we are to survive as a human race we have to think maverick, we have to constantly improve because otherwise we’re gonna destroy our planet and we’re gonna destroy ourselves in the process.  The only thing that can save us is our brilliant brain and our latent ability to solve problems which is creativity.  So we have to keep improving and looking for solutions otherwise we’re gonna blow ourselves up with nuclear bombs or ruin the rain forest.”

SHED’S BIO

Shed Simove is a performer, author, entrepreneur and motivational speaker on creativity and innovation.   Harnessing a constant stream of ideas from his astonishingly active mind, Shed has learned to transform his unconventional concepts into lucrative new business ventures which form the basis of his completely unique stand-up routines, books, and inspirational speeches. Following a degree in Experimental Psychology at Balliol College, Oxford, and two years working in DisneyWorld, Florida (as a Sixteenth Century Gentleman), Shed worked in TV Production, heading up programmes including ‘The Big Breakfast’, ‘Space Cadets’, and ‘Big Brother’. Shed soon became known industry-wide for making innovative, ground-breaking television shows. In 2003, Shed was appointed Commissioning Editor of Channel 4’s ‘Big Brother’  and throughout his TV career was also involved in discovering and launching many stars including Kelly Brook, Tess Daly, and Russell Brand.  As well as a successful career in television production, Shed has forged a highly innovative merchandising empire – selling one million novelty gifts, executive toys, best-selling adult sweets, books and greeting cards worldwide. He’s even launched his own currency! Shed has won ‘Gift Of The Year’ twice for two of his creations – a range of birthday candles that spelt “You’re Old” and the hugely popular ‘Sound Machine‘. He also gained worldwide fame as the bestselling author of ‘What Every Man Thinks About Apart From Sex‘, a 200-page book that is completely blank inside. This title reached the top fifty of the Amazon chart and was featured in the Guinness Book Of Records for ‘Most Blank Pages In A Published Book’  Shed is author of  Ideas Man, Success or your money back and Presents Money Can’t Buy.

WHY SHED WAS INTERVIEWED

Shed was recommended and introduced to me by Maverick Marc Winn.  Shed is fun, genuine, alternative yet honest, quirky and completely nuts.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who definitely sets their own rules, who really just creates essentially their own reality of what they want and who kind of redefines business as usual. We’ve always talked of the maverick philosophy of not only increasing your business revenue but taking your life to the next level and taking your impact and contribution to the next level.”

YANIK’S BIO

Yanik Silver is Founder and CEO Maverick1000 an invitation-only, global network of industry transforming entrepreneurs connecting in bold new ways to challenge and collectively support each other’s biggest business goals, engage in reinvigorating experiences and co-create a worldwide multiplier impact. He is the author of Evolved Enterprise which helps align the true soul of your business with more impact, meaning and happiness – that surprisingly delivers even greater profits.

WHY YANIK WAS INTERVIEWED

I wanted to interview Yanik as soon as I commenced the project Business Mavericks. Darren Robson whom I had interviewed and knew the project made the introduction. Yanik is focused, determined and most definitely a maverick and doodler.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Mavericks tend to be fearless, challenged and often don’t follow social norms but in entrepreneurship I think it’s more psychology than anything else.”

RAJ’S BIO

Raj Singh has been involved in a variety of mobile products over the past 15 years beginning with WAP games in 1999! He is presently incubating his next venture. Previously he was at Salesforce via acquisition of his company Tempo AI which focused on mobile productivity. Raj has worked on a number of apps that have retained top 100 in their respective App Stores across a range of categories (Utilities, Lifestyle, Photos, Productivity, Video etc). Raj has angel-invested in mobile, currently he is an investor in a mobile Seed fund called ENIAC Ventures tracking mobile ad tech and social graphs. Raj spends his free time getting better at riding his motorcycle and making time to hit the MMA gym!

WHY RAJ WAS INTERVIEWED

I met Raj at Dealmaker Media’s Grow Future of Business Conference which brings together startups from all over Canada and the West Coast. 2013 was about the future of innovation, growth, and entrepreneurship, curating an environment that brought together technology pioneers, founders, executives, influencers and investors who are passionate about identifying problems worth solving. Raj was included as I heard him speak and realized he was a potential maverick to include. Raj is a risk taker, connector, someone who trusts himself and a friend.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“A maverick has to be really very courageous. Doesn’t matter what happens, no matter if you like go 100% broke and no matter if nothing is moving and you just have to wait, wait and watch and that kind of courage. You have a stupid idea; stupid in the eyes of the whole world and probably even sounds stupid to you at sometimes. But you have to have the courage of living with it, you know of breathing it every day in and out. No. 1 is courage, No. 2 is talent. You just can’t be a stupid courageous person. You can’t be a courageous fool, you have to be smart at the same time and keep your sanity intact. All the aversions should not pull you away and you are a smart guy and there is another field where you can make your money so there is no need to suffer like this is one single field where you’re not making money. These are the things that will happen in the whole journey of your declaration to be part of that list that you are making. No.3 You have to be realistic, every maverick or anyone who has big plans has to be very very realistic. If I wouldn’t have been realistic I would have been an activist. An activist who just says use Miyawaki method to plant forests, you are doing it wrong, corporations, industrial agriculture. Everything going on in this world is wrong and only I am right but nobody listens to me. Don’t fall in that loop you know, be realistic. Because at some point of time I realized that businesses, business, in particular, is something which works in this world. You call it a capitalist or socialist world, human world or world of love, or world of money. But business is something that goes everywhere. And the show has been running probably since the time when human civilization would have even thought of expanding itself you know. The kings and rulers who were building these kingdoms but it was the businessmen that was the train that was moving things from one point to point B it was always about business. So even if doing something good or something social or something which may sound entirely corporate but it has to be done in a way which works. And I can see that Coca-Cola is being sold in 150 countries and in a period of 100 years there has been no philosophy which has grown so wild, there is no religion that has grown so wild. There is no other thing that has spread so wild so deep. You go to some forest in Amazonian and you can have a bottle of coke. That’s how businesses penetrate deep into the society, culture, geographies, irrespective of everything. You know if money is being made everyone in the whole circle joins the train. No 4 is empathy You just have to have to soothe everything with this added layer of empathy. As you said Richard Branson he will definitely come on the list. I can quite feel it why he would come on the list and when you would feel he would be part of the list, because of the whole glue of empathy.”

SHUBENDU’S BIO

Shubendu Sharma is Founder and Director of Afforestt a service provider for creating natural, wild, maintenance-free, native forests.  Afforestt, works passionately on and off-site to provide the best solutions at the lowest possible cost. Shubendu is an Ashoka Fellow. And his idea has been featured in many publications, such as Fast Company.

WHY SHUBENDU WAS INTERVIEWED

I came across Shubendu’s Ted Talk How to grow a tiny forest anywhere. And just knew I had to interview him. Shubendu is a driven, passionate, caring environmentalist businessman.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“A little cowboyish. Somebody who doesn’t fall into traditional rules and structures. Someone who doesn’t follow the normal path and takes the road less travelled.”

BRIAN’S BIO

Brian Scudamore is Founder and CEO of O2E [Ordinary 2 Exceptional] brands: 1-800-GOT-JUNK?  helping residents and businesses remove junk, WOW 1 DAY PAINTING providing one day completion and high-quality work with a spotless clean-up,  You Move Me, who mission is to move people, not just their boxes, and Shack Shine cleaning interior & exterior windows, gutter cleaning, power washing, exterior house washing & house detailing.

 WHY BRIAN WAS INTERVIEWED

Brian was recommended to me as someone to include in the project. He said yes because he liked my persistence and that I had a clear reason for doing the project. As I was determined, he was happy to help. Brian is genuine, true to himself, accepting of himself, humble, fun and a good person.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Somebody who listens to their own guidance and goes the way that actually feels correct to them because without realizing it we have a tendency to look at the people around us and see what they’re doing and kind of copy off their paper. I don’t mean it as a type of cheating. I mean somehow we’re trained as we grow up to stay inside the norm cos it’s safer in there, and I think if we just really do what we think is our calling to do. When I was a struggling author, when I wasn’t really published and I wasn’t making money as an author but I was doing what I loved to do all day long, it really struck me how unusual that made me. How few people I knew were getting up and doing what they loved all day long. It’s almost a defiant act all in itself, to follow your bliss instead of doing that compromised responsible thing.”

CATHERINE’S BIO

Catherine Ryan Hyde is author of 30+ books, the best known of which is Pay It Forward that was made into a Hollywood movie. She is President of the Pay It Forward Foundation, whose work focuses on providing copies of the Pay It Forward Young Readers Edition for use by teachers and other educators.

WHY CATHERINE WAS INTERVIEWED

I was explaining the term Pay It Forward to Maverick Luke Hemmant whilst interviewing him and wanted to send him a trailer of the movie and came across the Pay It Forward Foundation. When I contacted them they connected me with Catherine and she loved the idea of the project. Catherine is kind, honest, true to herself and inspirational.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“I think the word rebel comes to mind.  I think of horses actually, independent, strong, has a vision, isn’t bound by societies stories and is more led by their vision.”

KEVIN’S BIO

Kevin Lee Royes is Founder / Soulcial-Preneur The Soulcial-Preneurs Club because more passion driven, socially conscious entrepreneurs we have on the planet, the better everything will be.  He is CoFounder/Creative Director All In a Day where you scramble around Vancouver engaging in a series of iconic activities and food that put the town on the map. Founded in 2008 the first year had 4 events (snowboard, mountain bike, golf and dinner). By 2015 the event grew to 10 events in 24 hours (yoga, breakfast, kayak, hike, lunch, bike, beach party, dinner, dancing, sunrise, beach bonfire).

Kevin is a passionate, lifelong soulcial-preneur who started his first business in high school at the age of 16. Sometimes called an inventor-preneur, Kevin holds several patents and has brought over 200 products to market in the snowboard, toy and hand tool sectors. His designs have been distributed in over 35 countries with retail customers ranging from boutique shops in Japan to the Museum of Modern Art in NY as well as Costco, Canadian Tire, and Home Depot. Other customers include powerhouse global brands such as Nike, Energizer, Toyota, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Manchester United, the list goes on.

His inventions have been featured in major media such as Maxim, STUFF, The Today Show and the Oprah magazine. With his urban multi-tool invention, Kelvin.23, he appeared on the reality TV show, Dragons’ Den where he shook hands on one of the most historic episodes recorded and was called, “… the most successful business EVER…”, on the show.

WHY KEVIN WAS INTERVIEWED

A friend of mine Amy Elderkin Co-Founder and Managing Director Popcorn recommended I interview Kevin.  Kevin is zen, connected to himself purpose-driven, genuine and led by his heart.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Somebody who not only thinks internally different but actually does things different. So for me a maverick is someone who doesn’t necessarily follow the conventional wisdom, very clearly thinks outside the box, but much more than that.  They don’t do it for artificial reasons.  They do it because it’s absolutely core to their psychological DNA.  They can’t help themselves.  They just HAVE to kind of do things differently.  It’s hard wired in them and often very driven to live a full, a kind of unique lifestyle or to create unique value in the world.  And I think increasingly the really interesting mavericks are the ones who are driven to really make a difference to the world.  Create a real legacy is the world.  They’re the kind of mavericks that I think are really really exciting.”

DARREN’S BIO

Darren Robson is Founder of DRArete Ltd a boutique advisory, consultancy coaching and mentoring organization, Chief Storyteller/Firestarter for the Ministry of Entrepreneurship [MOE], a philanthropic venture that provides entrepreneurial services and mentoring opportunities to young people from less privileged backgrounds and communities. He is also Director of Strategy, Innovation & Partnerships & Global Social Innovation Leader for the Association for Coaching [AC] as part of the Global Board overseeing the growth and development of the AC teams in 40+ countries  Darren is a serial purposeful entrepreneur and social innovator who loves working with senior clients in complex, agile and challenging environments.

WHY DARREN WAS INTERVIEWED

I was introduced to Darren by Katherine Tulpa Group CEO for the Association for Coaching.  I met Darren and learnt about him and his interests which led to my becoming Association for Coaching Research Lead in London, contributing Research Sound Bites for the UK Bulletin of the Association for Coaching.  When I commenced this project I knew Darren enough to know he was a maverick. Darren knows his legacy, is purpose driven, genuine is ordinary yet extraordinary.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who doesn’t think of themselves as a maverick first and foremost. Because what they try to do or be everyday is authentic to what they see and believe is needed. It’s based on their experience and observation and both sensing and thinking. But they do what they think is truly needed and it comes from their own experience and their own questioning, they’re not trying to apply someone else’s solve.”

DANAE’S BIO

Danae Ringelmann is Co-Founder of Indiegogo which empower peoples around the world to fund what matters to them. She left finance to change finance. Previously she was a consultant for Double Day her parents office and relocation business, and Co-Chair at the Lester Centre for Entrepreneurship & Innovation University of Berkeley and Volunteer for Wall Street Wizards.

WHY DANAE WAS INTERVIEWED

I met Danae at Dealmaker Media’s Grow Future of Business Conference which brings together startups from all over Canada and the West Coast. 2013 was about the future of innovation, growth and entrepreneurship, curating an environment that brought together technology pioneers, founders, executives, influencers and investors who are passionate about identifying problems worth solving.  I heard Danae speak and knew straight away that she was a maverick.   Danae is authentic, real, caring and brave.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“A maverick to me in the business context is someone who is breaking boundaries, who is changing people’s minds by doing something that wasn’t thought of before or breaks the given parameters of a set of ideas about behaviour or how something works or says no it doesn’t have to be that way.”

ROD’S BIO

Rod Quinn is Founder/CEO of Ombrae an Optical TileTM technology born of his  passion for art, architecture, photography, science, and technology. It started as a physical, conceptual sculpture and 3D computer model in 1993.  

“…as a Sculptor I sought a way to carve light…in the end; I found my chisel to be a shadow and the computer my hammer….”  

Previously Rod was Art Director, Set Designer, Sculptor, and Special Effects Technician in the film industry and worked on films such as Fantastic Four 1, I Robot, Bird on a Wire and Lake Placid to name a few.

WHY ROD WAS INTERVIEWED

Rod presented the Optical Tile technology at an Innovation Labs Meetup and I knew he’d be an interesting maverick to interview.  Rod is artistic, a big-picture thinker, creative and open.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Mavericks are what move the world forward.  So progression or evolution of society, is moved forward by people that will brave ridicule by thinking different.”

BRUCES’ BIO

Bruce is Captain of G Adventures, the Great Adventure People that create adventures that are meaningful and memorable ways to experience something unexpected and extraordinary.  It started with Bruce’s passion and vision for  authentic sustainable travels and today Bruce and G Adventures is recognised and awarded for leadership and outstanding business practices, such as Top 100 Employers and 50 Best Managed Companies, plus Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, Entrepreneur of the Year, 100 Leaders of Tomorrow and Top 10 Entrepreneurs in Canada, Ethics in Action award.  Bruce is the author of Looptail: How one company changed the world by reinventing business and Do Big Small Things.

WHY BRUCE WAS INTERVIEWED

Being an adventurer myself I was looking to book a G Adventure to Bhutan for our Adventure-moon.  G Adventures were hosting a meet up locally and we went along and won the 1st and 2nd prize gift vouchers to use towards our next trip.  One of the prizes was the book Looptail and when I said, ‘I’d have been happy with the book’ Cynthia Connell Concept Store Manager handed me a copy of the book.  When I explained the Business Mavericks project she said, ‘OMG you’ve got to interview Bruce, he’s a complete maverick,’ and connected me with the Mayor [Bruce’s P.A]. Bruce is fun, direct, spiritual and caring.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“There’s something about thinking differently, but I guess mostly for me it would be about what drives the desire to do things differently. A maverick is someone who has an intrinsic compulsion to challenge the status quo, and isn’t afraid to go out on a limb because of that. It’s two constituent parts: an intrinsic desire to challenge the status quo and as a result of that being pretty happy to be the only person to hold that particular point of view because you believe it to be correct.”

SHILEN’S BIO

Shilen Patel is a Co-Founder of Independents United, an innovation agency which helps companies create disruptive growth through an entrepreneurial approach. He is also CEO of Distill Ventures, the world’s first accelerator dedicated to supporting and growing the next generation of startup spirits entrepreneurs and a partnership with Diageo. He is an investor in, and mentor to, numerous technology startups such as Osper. He has a passion for fabulous food, delightful drinks and scary skiing.

WHY SHILEN WAS INTERVIEWED

Shilen was introduced to me by Chris Barez Brown of Upping Your Elvis [who I had interviewed]. He told Shilen I was ‘chuffing great, doing some research into mavericks and he had felt richer for being interviewed’. Shilen is passionate, grateful, rounded, self aware, transparent and open.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who does things differently, questions why all the time; why do things in a particular way,  and doesn’t assume just because they’ve been done a certain way or, everyone’s been doing things a certain way that that’s even a good way or it’s necessarily the right way to be doing something.”

DARIUS’ BIO

Darius Norell is a Leadership Consultant  who believes and is attracted to ‘Brilliance’ as an area of work, both in the literal sense of seeing more people shining more of the time, and in the idea of Brilliance as ‘The capacity to create extraordinary value with integrity’. He is deeply committed to developing this in himself and others.  Darius is Trustee of The 100 Hours Foundation which brings wise, compassionate living and leadership to the heart of every child’s education Previously he was CoFounder of The Spring Project a social enterprise that expands people’s capacity to create extra-ordinary value with integrity, in their life and work. It was created by the founders of Elemental Practice in response to the global mass youth unemployment crisis.

WHY DARIUS WAS INTERVIEWED

Darius was introduced to me by my then coach Jeremy Mead who understood the project.  I met Darius when he was working with a group of young people at the London Stock Exchange.  When I commenced the Business Mavericks project recalled him and knew he was a good fit.  Darius is a kind-hearted, genuine and creative leader.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who paves their own path and looks at big ideas, big opportunities, not in terms of barriers but actually as opportunities to tackle and every barrier as a way to see most of the competition or others fall by the wayside. I would see it as someone who really sees the path as opposed to the blockades.”

PHIL’S BIO

Phil Noelting is Founder and President of Qwalify Inc. a SaaS-based HR technology company disrupting the talent engagement and recruitment space. Why? Unfortunately, hiring tends to be a reactive process, and the current benchmarks often leave employers settling for talent to meet deadlines. Proactive recruitment is here, and it’s only going to grow. Previously he was Co-Founder of ImpactFULL and Founder of Skilter.  Phil’s 2012 entry to the Peter Drucker Challenge Essay Contest. Themed, “Reinventing Work, Reinventing Organisation won 1st prize.

Phil loves travelling, and everything that it entails – new cultures, meeting new people, the photography, the food, the opportunities. Phil is devoted to see more of the world every year.

WHY PHIL WAS INTERVIEWED

I met Phil at Dealmaker Media’s Grow Future of Business Conference which brings together startups from all over Canada and the West Coast. 2013 was about the future of innovation, growth and entrepreneurship, curating an environment that brought together technology pioneers, founders, executives, influencers and investors who are passionate about identifying problems worth solving.  One conversation was enough to release he was disrupting an industry.  Phil is genuine, down to earth and brave.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who doesn’t buy into all the rules of the system.  Who see’s something bigger going on and goes after it; something that moves humanity forward.”

JUDI’S BIO

Judi Neal is Chairman and CEO of Edgewalkers International. Previously she was Director of the Tyson Center for Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace at the Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas, and is currently recognized as an expert on spirituality in the workplace and speaks and consults internationally. Her research focuses on business leaders who have a strong commitment to their faith and spirituality, and she began studying how they bridged the spiritual world and the material world of business.  She is the author of  Edgewalkers: People and Organizations that Take Risks, Build Bridges and Break New Ground; co-authored The Spirit of Project Management with Alan Harpham; and is editor of the Handbook of Faith and Spirituality in the Workplace. She recently published her fourth book titled Creating Enlightened Organizations:  Four Gateways to Spirit at Work. Her next book is The Handbook of Personal and Organizational Transformation. She has published widely in academic journals and has created an international community of Edgewalkers.

WHY JUDI WAS INTERVIEWED

I commenced reading Edgewalkers and could see the correlation in Judi’s work and even though I had taught Leadership and Change Management in 3 universities in London I had not come across anyone who had explored leadership and spirituality. I stopped reading the book and asked to interview Judi. She is spiritual, brave, guided by her inner voice, a really kind and encouraging lady.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“People that see things that others don’t see.  They see the invisible and do the impossible.  Mavericks that influence me are the ones that have such thick skin and a clear vision.”

JOSEPH’S BIO

Joseph Nakhla is a technologist with a passion for solving real-life problems. He is Founder and CEO of Bazinga!, the world’s first cloud-based platform designed to solve many of the problems people experience in living in cities and bring harmony back to communities.  Joseph has spent his professional life in startups and loves mavericks.  Previously Joseph spent almost two decades as an entrepreneur overseeing sales, marketing, product development, support and more for products that touched hundreds of millions of people’s daily lives.  He believes that it takes guts to build something from scratch, but it takes your soul to see it through.

WHY JOSEPH WAS INTERVIEWED

Marc Carn showed me an article on Joseph Nakhla after Bazinga had given a talk in his organisation.  The idea was different and that usually leads to a ‘different thinking’ idea generator.  I contacted Joseph and he was game on.  Joseph is honest, good, doing the right thing and impacting people.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Someone who has their own style, doesn’t worry about having to conform to a set of protocol or procedure.”

BRENDAN’S BIO

Brendan Murray is Catalyst Opportunity Development Strategist at Shell Oil.   In addition Dr Murray is often asked to work closely with joint venture partners and select global customers.  In his 22 years at Shell, he has been involved in a number of commercial developments in the petrochemical and refining fields.  His most important contributions have been in zeolite catalysis, novel catalytic processes, surfactants and difficult separations.

WHY BRENDAN WAS INTERVIEWED

Brendan was introduced to me by Safa George President for Shell Global Solutions. Brendan is detailed, passionate and thinks differently.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Comes out of box something. So I’m that person from my childhood I hate routine work. I hate routine day. I always think about something a solution that’s simple, so that makes me maverick maybe. Not doing something, not going to happen something.  So in my mind I will say, everything can be possible.”

ARUNACHALAM’S BIO

Arunachalam Muruganantham is Founder of Jayaashree Industries,  a social entrepreneur, and inventor of the low-cost sanitary napkin making machine.  His vision is to make India a 100% napkin-using country.  Muruganantham re-engineered a sanitary machine, and in 2006 it won the award for the best innovation for the betterment of society from the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai. He also received an Indian presidential award for innovation. Arunachalam was voted one of Time Magazines 100 most influential people of 2014 and has recently received the Padama Shree Award by the Government of India.

WHY ARUNACHALAM WAS INTERVIEWED

Upworthy who share awesome, fun, interesting videos and graphics about stuff that matters posted on a man who had revolutionized sanitary pads for women in India by thinking like a woman. I read the post and realised Muruganatham was a maverick. 6 months later Murugantham says Yes, and he is going to be in Seattle. I find he is due to be presenting on Cultures of Innovation at the Grand Challenges a family of initiatives fostering innovation to solve key global health and development problems, part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  I got myself down there and in that room by attending as a freelance journalist who would write a piece on the event and interviewed Murgantham just before he went on stage with Bill Gates. Muruganantham is humble, down to earth, realistic. I learn this more and more as we converse and meet.  He asks me when I’m going to interview Bill Gates, and I say, as soon as he says Yes.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“Somebody that takes risks; that is never looking at how other people do things and just doing them in the same way; somebody who is always looking for different ways to solve the challenges of business or life.”

EMMA’S BIO

Emma Morley is Founder and Project Director of Trifle Creative a fresh and creative commercial interior design company.  She is a Creative Doer whose passion is to create inspiring environments that make working lives and experiences brilliant.  Previously she worked freelance in Event Production & Design, Project Management & Design Consultancy. Emma also worked in a variety of roles at What If! The innovation company that has dared companies to be different since 1992.

WHY EMMA WAS INTERVIEWED

I read Emma’s Letter in the book Dear Entrepreneur – Letters from those that have made it and are making it happen http://www.harriman-house.com/book/view/253/business/danny-bailey-and-andrew-blackman/dear-entrepreneur/ From this book I contacted a number of potential mavericks. Emma was one of two people that responded from all the people I contacted and was more than happy to be interviewed. Emma is empathetic, understanding, solution driven, free thinking and approachable.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“The word maverick has a slight edge of cockiness and confidence to it.  That would be the negative side of it.  I am all about creation, for me, I’ve been an artist, a working artist.  Any endeavor that involves creativity is for me spiritual as well as a life purpose event.  So I feel that anybody that’s a maverick is creating something and I think at it’s very base that to be termed a maverick in my mind you’d have to do it with a certain swagger and a cocky sense of your abilities.”

JILL’S BIO

Jill is VP of Sales & Marketing at Leading Brands Inc and the heart behind Happy Water. She is the Founder of Brantra.com. Jill is a branding coach who helps you discover what is most genuine, unique, and valuable to you.

WHY JILL WAS INTERVIEWED

I won a competition with Happy Water that Jill was part of http://livehappywater.ca and got talking to Chloe Popove who brought the gift over and when she heard about the Business Mavericks project said, ‘You have to meet Jill.’ Jill is genuine, down to earth, in tune and spiritual.

HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE A MAVERICK?

“It’s the code name for Apple’s most recent operating system, which they conveniently also dropped the price of that operating system to zero, whereas Microsoft still charges $300-400 for a copy of Windows. That’s interesting so I think part of it is thinking differently. A phrase that my business partner Lance and I use a lot is that we’re looking for new mistakes to make. So what that means is we’ve made mistakes before and we’ve hopefully learned from them and we don’t want to make the same mistakes. On the other hand, we’re not being constrained by, oh this hasn’t been done before, let’s only do something that has been done.”

WHY BORIS WAS INTERVIEWED

Boris was recommended to me by Mark Busse Co-Founder and Principal at Industrial Brand who I had already interviewed.  Boris is direct, fun, and has a dry sense of humour.