Magic Moment: Four years ago when the U.S. housing market appeared to have rebounded, I took my biggest personal financial risk to date, leveraging most of my net worth to buy the debt of a property that was in a foreclosure process. Not only did it turn out to be the best deal I’ll probably ever do, but reminded me that success is hard to achieve without taking real and calculated risks.

Key Influences: My father – One’s reputation can make or break a person; operating with integrity, especially when no one is watching, is essential to one’s success.
My mother – Grit (determination combined with a lot of hard work) and faith in oneself can help overcome many obstacles.

Next Big Challenge As An Industry: Without a doubt, we need to sort out how to get people around more efficiently in terms of time and pollution. Taking public transit into the city should not be a 2+ hour option for people living outside the subway line. Traffic affects life expectancy, how families interact, the environment, and costs us 7.5-11 billion per year (round numbers – nearly 2k per person).

Secret Talent: I can pick out accents decently well.

On Championing Others… Where possible, for special projects especially, we try to hire co-op students, recent immigrants and students with a very positive attitude that may not have all the requisite skills to give them a chance to be mentored and learn about business culture in Canada (if they are foreigners).

One word that captures you: Determined.