David Chilton: The Wealthy Barber Returns [w/video]

When David Chilton self-published The Wealthy Barber during the economic slump of 1989, he had an unassuming goal of selling 10,000 copies and helping Canadians live fiscally solvent lives. The 25-year-old did slightly better. Chilton’s humorous approach resonated with more than two million North Americans by breaking the banal textbook paradigm of personal finance paperbacks. His common sense hit an entire dartboard of demographics, with a novel style that made readers feel like they were having a latte with a financially savvy friend who spoke colloquially about credit cards, real estate and RRSPs.

You can imagine the surreal experience of enjoying that cup of coffee with Chilton a day after the official launch of his long-awaited follow-up, The Wealthy Barber Returns. The conversation coincidentally takes place amongst a backdrop Read more

Vince Tarantino: Invincible

Vince Tarantino can still recall the rough texture of what felt like rock bottom. It was 2005 and the frustration of being consumed with a roaring hunger for success, yet not a morsel of opportunity in sight, was painful. While he had triumphantly climbed the ranks in the banking sector from teller to mortgage sales representative in three short years, he was still financially fazed.

The daily defeats of door-knocking spurred sleepless nights and fears of not being able to feed his two young kids on a commission-based salary. “I just ran out of steam. I borrowed the last dollar I could on the credit card, borrowed the last dollar I could on the line of credit, couldn’t refinance my house anymore; I was down to the last drop,” he says of a situation that many Canadians face.

Weekends were the worst for Tarantino. While he would Read more

Heart-to-Heart with KMH’s Neena Kanwar

On June 21st, 2011, Neena Kanwar validated to a throng of guests at the HSBC Great Canadian Woman Awards that anything is possible. At the time, she was being honoured for her inspiring entrepreneurial success by founding an independent health-care centre in 1988 with her husband, Vijay Kanwar, that has since become North America’s largest provider of nuclear cardiology. “Nobody should be able to tell you that you cannot succeed where others have failed,” says Neena.

With a family history of heart disease and a father who suffered two heart attacks in his 40s, Neena felt inclined to pursue a career in cardiology. In the early ’80s, she obtained a degree in nuclear medicine from the Toronto Institute of Medical Technology, which led to a position at St. Michael’s Hospital as a nuclear medicine technologist. It was there that she became perturbed by the long waits patients endured to see doctors, take tests Read more

The Genesis of Guizzetti Developments Inc.

Over the past 50 years, Giovanni Guizzetti has worked to build the future he always wanted: an empire based on honesty and respect. Competing only against one person – himself – Giovanni’s labour has paved the way to a conglomeration of success, a legacy he has now passed on to his son Stefano.

Today, Guizzetti Developments Inc., which has revolutionized the Yonge Street Corridor with high-density, mid-sized commercial and residential projects, is a testament to the fortified bond between father and son. “I’ve never been afraid to make sacrifices,” says Giovanni, who left his hometown in Bergamo, Italy when he was 26. Arriving in Halifax on his birthday in 1956, he travelled to Montreal for work where he humbly accepted pay of 80 cents an hour. Patient and inquisitive for opportunities, Giovanni landed a job cutting wood in Timmins, Ont., which Read more

Remo Ferri — The Remo Ferri Group of Automobiles

Remo Ferri has every boy’s dream job. Personifying unyielding passion, Ferri’s fierce drive to end up in the automobile business gave him enough momentum to become owner of one of North America’s leading Ferrari and Maserati dealerships. “We don’t sell cars, we sell a dream; we sell excitement; we sell a moment. I love that I get to do that every single day,” says Ferri, founder of The Remo Ferri Group of Automobiles.

Though he admits that the road to success has its bumps, Ferri chooses to embrace all challenges, as they are essential facets for progress. Catering to a wide range of clientele in Toronto, Vaughan and even Alberta, Ferri’s group furthered its time-honoured reputation by adding BMW, Mini, and most recently, Ford and Lincoln to its distinguished roster of dealerships. “You need to be able to service your customers, not just with one brand, but Read more

Canadian Business Icons

It’s a tough world out there, but with instinct and passion, an idea can grow into a vast empire. Look to some Canadian titans of industry that had a dream and are now living it. Canadian Business Icons: Christine Magee, Harry Rosen, Gerry Schwartz, Michael Lee-Chin, and Michael Budman Read more

Mary Aitken’s Verity Club — A Social Revolution

Within the raw brick walls of a historic Queen Street East building exists a colourful collage of refined women who are laying the foundations for the future. Verity Club is the realization of one business veteran’s vision of a forward-thinking female community. With a direct aim of addressing the dismally small number of women in senior management positions, Mary Aitken founded a social environment that forges female friendships and business relationships.

Aitken’s storied past helped pave the way for Verity. As a former top-tier investment analyst and successful entrepreneur, Aitken often found herself at all-male roundtables. “Most of the industries that I’d been involved in were male-dominated, especially at the senior level, and I thought ‘this is just wrong,’” she says. Aitken was aware that companies in which women held senior positions Read more

Humanitaritween Bilaal Rajan

“I don’t know if I consider myself mature for my age but I definitely consider myself an average 13-year-old.” For someone who has shot the breeze with the likes of Nelson Mandela, Roméo Dallaire and Desmond Tutu, Bilaal Rajan is not your typical teenybopper; he’s not even your run-of-the-mill human being. He was just four years old when tackling global poverty became his playground. When I was that age, the idea of selling Clementine oranges door-to-door to raise money for earthquake victims in Gujarat, India, would never have crossed my mind as I pushed Barbie and Ken in a luxurious convertible Corvette across a laminate floor. Your childhood mentality was probably the same.

Let’s be completely honest with each other: making a difference in the world is as far from many of our Western minds as a remote ocean island on the most extreme point of the Earth. Read more

Designer Kids Wear: Kiddy Couture

Dress your little man or mademoiselle in today’s latest styles of fashion’s most renowned designers. With adorable garments and accessories from famous design houses such as Burberry, Armani, Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss, your little ones will no longer want to steal your clothes to play dress-up. “We really go all out in terms of selection. We’re always following the latest trends, in order to provide our clientele with new collections. We are excited to announce that we will be representing Dolce and Gabbana and Christian Dior for Fall 2010,” says co-owner Angela.

Designer Kids Wear is a boutique that’s filled with a range of fun and formal outfits for babies, toddlers and even teens. As one of the few places in the city that centralizes its fashion on high-end goods for younger age groups, Designer Kids Wear has become a recognized destination for consumers seeking quality clothing Read more

D&D Specialty Components Ltd.

A time-honoured tradition of treating their customers like kin is what has made family-owned D&D Specialty Components Ltd. a machining industry front-runner for more than 20 years. A pledge of satisfaction and an emphasis on using only the highest graded equipment on the market are the nuts and bolts of their solid reputation. Offering advanced services in the manufacturing of custom CNC machining, screw machine parts and custom die cutting, D&D – an acronym for husband and wife duo Ganu and Dora Desai – are grateful for the relationships they have built. “We try to make long-lasting impressions and create relationships that are based on our customers’ needs,” says Ganu. This rapport has been built on trust. Trade workers all across North America put their safety in the hands of D&D. Producing hard hats that protect construction workers, tradespeople and high-rise window cleaners during perilous activities and making vital components Read more

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