March 18, 2026 • 32 mins
Some careers look linear on paper. Dave’s path isn’t one of them—and that’s exactly where the wisdom lives. From getting fired at 25 in the UK’s soccer industry to running a pizza franchise, managing a global outdoor brand, helping launch a pro soccer club, and now serving with Build Nova Scotia, Dave shows how setbacks, networks, and faith can work together to create a life that actually matters.
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:08):
Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast.
We are a community of leaderswith a network in over 350
cities around the worlddedicated to optimizing our
personal, professional, andspiritual lives to have impact.
This show is where we have achance to listen and engage with
leaders who are living this out.
We love talking with leaders, soif you have any questions,
comments, or suggestions to makethis show even better, please
let us know.
(00:28):
The best way to stay connectedin Canada is through our
newsletter at leaderimpact.ca oron social at LeaderImpact.
And if you're listening fromoutside of Canada, check out our
website at leaderimpact.com.
I'm your host today.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today is David
Finlayson.
Dave works for the Nova Scotiaprovincial government with Build
Nova Scotia and has a smallsponsorship development company
(00:50):
that supports professionalsports and events.
Over his career, he has owned apizza shop, the king of Donair,
has been a product manager forHeli Hansen and worked for a
professional soccer team, theHalifax Wanderers.
Dave was the chair of the NovaScotia Leadership Prayer
Breakfast that draws over 400people to a yearly event to hear
God's word and is now leading aleader impact group that is
(01:12):
endeavoring to bring 600 peopletogether in May to change your
heart, change your mind, changeyour world.
Dave calls Halifax home where helives with his wife, Jen and
sons, Alec and Darren.
Welcome to the show, David.
SPEAKER_01 (01:26):
Thank you so much for having me.
I've been looking forward to itfor a long time.
SPEAKER_00 (01:31):
I am super excited because today I just heard you
are the MC of this big eventcoming up in May in Halifax.
SPEAKER_01 (01:40):
Yeah, there is uh there's a couple people in this
world outside of my family thatI can't say no to.
Uh and my good friends Jeff andTibby uh are on that short list.
So congratulations, guys.
You got an MC.
SPEAKER_00 (01:54):
Yeah, I I have the same.
And he's it's Jeff, Tibby, andum Bobby.
Like I guess.
Bobby, okay.
I'm like sure, because he's he'smy Saskatchewan guy.
Uh I'm excited to meet you.
I have met a few, if anyone isum, if anyone's listened to
Leader Impact podcasts, we metJonathan Lewis, we met Jennifer
Amiro, and Jay Joe uh De Pencha.
(02:16):
And I think they're all fromHalifax.
Are they still all there?
SPEAKER_01 (02:19):
Yeah, so uh Joe is back and forth to California
these days.
So he has moved back to the sunum for with his wife and
daughter.
Uh, but he's still up here everycouple months.
He has a lot of clients up here.
Uh Jonathan Lewis, uh financialadvisor to the stars.
So again, he's splitting histime between Halifax and North
(02:40):
Carolina, South Carolina,Charleston.
Uh and Jennifer is actually inmy leader impact group and has
been on the show before.
And uh so uh all amazing, bothfaith and business leaders.
SPEAKER_00 (02:54):
Yeah, some of my favorite podcasts, honestly.
Like I can say I I clearlyremember those.
So if anyone's listening, uh Ihope you they can listen to
those.
So I'm excited to get to knowyou, and then ultimately I get
to meet.
So that is just a highlight ofthat, and that's why I love
Leader Impact, is just meetingleaders around the world.
So I'm excited.
But here I want to hear a littlebit about a little bit more
(03:16):
about your journey, yourprofessional journey.
So how you got to where you aretoday?
Because you've had a pretty likefrom pizza shops to sports teams
to like wow.
Um and maybe a pivotal if youhave any pivotal moments.
SPEAKER_01 (03:28):
Yeah, there's been a lot, as you can imagine, with
the bumping around.
Um, so my dad was a mil in themilitary, doctor in the military
um in the UK.
And so he met my mom, who was aflight attendant with a great uh
uh airline called Dan Air thatflew all over the place.
So occasionally she'll stillregale us with stories.
Uh, we came over when I was twoto Winnipeg.
(03:51):
Uh, then he was posted toOttawa, and then he was posted
to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
And then when he got out of uhthe military, he uh stayed
working in Halifax, and we madeall made Halifax our home.
So basically, we've been hereessentially since 1985.
Um minus uh a year that I wentoverseas to do my MBA in soccer
(04:13):
management from the Universityof Liverpool.
Uh, there was a dual, uh, a dualreason I wanted to do that.
Number one is my passion for thesport, uh, and I'd been looking
to do an MBA program uh afterfinishing my commerce program at
Dell.
And uh a bunch of my familiesover there all on my mom's side.
Okay.
So I got to watch a lot ofsoccer.
I got to investigate thenightlife of Liverpool, which is
(04:36):
quite similar to Halifax.
It's it's pretty fun.
Um, and then when I came back,um my mom was recovering from
cancer, so that was part of thereason that I came back.
Um the other reason is becauseit was the only job I ever got
fired from uh working in the UK.
Um and it was so devastating forme.
(04:57):
I was working with a um acompany which at the time, now
this is 2001, uh, was dealingwith uh directly with soccer
players online sales.
Like that was not a thing uhback then.
They just really started gettingonline.
Um and because I hadn't um Itried to do everything myself,
uh, I tried to find all my ownsolutions, and as a young
(05:19):
25-year-old, probably wasn't thebest idea because sometimes the
best ideas are just sittingright in front of you, and
someone that's experienced couldjust go, Why didn't you just do
this?
Uh and I had no answer for that.
And uh that uh ended my shortcareer in the UK.
Uh but it was a great time tocome back, and I've carried that
lesson along with me for a long,long time.
(05:39):
Um so that that was interesting.
Um then I just I worked three orfour different jobs, uh
generally all withentrepreneurs, uh, where I'd
come in as like their number twoor be their sales uh person,
business development person.
And then the opportunity came upbecause I was looking to do my
own thing.
And King of Donair, which isthis is 2004, they were looking
to expand across the country.
(06:01):
Uh they were very excited to getgoing.
They'd hired these um groupsthat were in charge of franchise
development.
Um, and unfortunately, it justdidn't last.
Uh it wasn't a great fit for me.
Uh, I was working a hundredhours plus a week, um, soon to
be getting married.
And so I proved to myself I canwork a hundred hours a week.
Um but even that, as I look backon that experience and what it
(06:24):
uh could have done to mypotential family life, as I'm
looking back now after likealmost, well, 18 years of
marriage, close to, um, uh itwould have been probably
devastating for my family lifeand that.
So learned I could do it, got agreat out uh to move to Heli
Hansen.
So that is where I spent a lotof time just thinking about my
network.
Um, so I was traveling all overNorth America, even into Oslo to
(06:48):
uh to see our friends at thehead office there.
And so I just I built up mynetwork through my fraternity,
through my university, uh,through being just known as a I
don't know, person of interestor Hallie famous, I guess they
could almost say in Halifax, umto continue to build my network.
So, like whether that was inchurch, uh, whether that was uh
(07:11):
in business, in sports, whateverit was.
And so I just just got to beknown as like that guy around
town.
If he needed a contact at acertain level, um people would
reach out to me and I justintroduce them and and help them
along.
So it just really got merefocused on my network.
Um, and then my my last onebefore I joined the government
was um I'd heard a rumor of aprofessional soccer league
(07:34):
coming to Canada, the CanadianPremier League.
And so I knew the guy that hadbeen mentioned.
Uh we hadn't worked together,but we talked about different
things over the years, and so Iwent and uh nailed him down for
a beer at our one of our localestablishments, and we talked
about a bunch of differentthings.
Um I didn't think it was gonnacome to pass, and then uh a
couple months before the leaguestarted, I got a call.
(07:56):
He's like, hey, if you can comein and do this, then I got a job
for you.
And again, that had been anetwork I'd built up over time,
and um, so another just keylearning lesson, and basically
worked with a startup soccerleague that's obviously still
going today in year eight, anduh still have a lot of time for
those guys on the on the soccerside.
SPEAKER_00 (08:15):
That's great.
One thing that grabbed me, wait,well, definitely I when I look
at your journey and I I and youmentioned the network.
Sometimes we feel like somethingis a failure, but we don't look,
we shouldn't look at it likethat, right?
Like you've you made a network,you and you're moving it to
where you are today.
So that is a an a great journey.
I want to ask you, you mentionedthe word, right?
I think you're about 24 yearsold and you got fired in the UK.
(08:37):
You mentioned the worddevastating.
What what at 24?
You know, how devastating isthat?
So what what did what was that?
SPEAKER_01 (08:46):
Yeah, um, so I'd got the job uh because uh this
gentleman who is very well knownin the UK as like basically the
guru of soccer marketing.
Like when there was no realsoccer marketing, like it's not
what we know today, um, had comein and spoke to our class, and I
cornered him after the class andsaid, I want to come do an
internship with you, and thenwe'll see where it goes.
(09:07):
And so I got that and got thejob.
Um, so I was literally working,going to see professional
footballers all over um the UK.
I was going from photo shoots, Iwas doing retail development, I
was researching soccer playersthat we should uh buy the rights
to.
Like, uh, and it was a reallycool open concept office before
that was a thing, and there wasalways cold play.
(09:28):
Yellow would just come outplaying in the background, uh,
and very social.
So, you know, Friday lunches atthe pub, soccer team, soccer
games, uh, random England soccercaptains showing up in her
lunchroom in the evening.
Like it was just it was amazing.
And uh anyway, so that's why itwas so hard for me, is like I
thought I'd found it.
(09:50):
Um the one piece that I didn'thave while I was over there, I
didn't really have any spiritualgrounding when I was there.
Uh I'd gone away from my faithfor for a couple years at that
point, and there was justnothing like holding me there,
grounding me.
So it just um it was verydifficult.
SPEAKER_00 (10:07):
Yeah.
Um I've been in a similarposition where it's just the job
is awesome.
And I and I I actually leftmine, but I couldn't believe I'd
left.
Like I felt sick.
I knew that it was time to leavebefore you know something
happened, but um, I know thatjust devastation, but now I look
back, it's easy to look back.
Hindsight, yeah, it was meant tohappen.
But um the devastation you feltat the time, I can understand
(10:30):
that.
Thank you for sharing that.
Oh, it's um so we we lovetalking about prints best
principles of success if youhave one and a story to share
about that.
SPEAKER_01 (10:39):
Yeah, so and it's funny because it kind of ties in
with um some of uh some of thescriptures that I've been kind
of thinking about recently.
Um, and the biggest one thatI've been focusing on right now,
and one that we've been talkingabout in our leader group, is
just giving all the decisions toGod.
Um, and I've heard it recentlyon some other podcasts that I've
been listening to, um, likeSports Spectrum, where they're
(11:02):
talking like how it affectstheir athletes, um, how they've
given every game, every play toGod.
Um, and that's something thatI've been really working quite
hard to do.
And I never used to ask him forhis permission or is this a good
idea?
And I still feel like I'm anewbie.
I still feel like I'm like I'mkind of asking him, um, but
(11:24):
maybe not being as patient as Ishould be, or just praying
enough.
And so that's really been afocus for me, is just kind of
amping that up as I go.
So that's that's really one ofmy big ones right now.
SPEAKER_00 (11:37):
Yeah, that is not the easiest thing to do.
I uh I'm currently doing um kindof a class hearing God, and
we're talking about obedience.
And it's really easy to beobedient when it's you know
something like, oh, I hope and Ipray, but when it's those little
things, we forget to to pray orto ask.
Like we sh like you said, justin every decision.
SPEAKER_01 (12:00):
Yeah, and and I'll tell you who's really like who
I'm giving well, besides God,who I'm giving the uh um uh the
love to on that one is my leaderimpact group.
Um, because as you know, likewe're supposed to be a mixture
of uh like let's say thehard-driving Catholics, the
people going to church, and thenpeople that are interested,
right?
(12:20):
And we just ended up with agroup that has veered more
towards the very strongChristians, and so you get
called out like in that smallgroup, and it's okay.
Like we've built that trust, andthat's amazing for all of us.
Um, but Vince and Jeremy and Jenand Chad, and they're sometimes
they don't even have to say it,it's just by their actions that
(12:43):
they show me what they're doing,and I'm like, why are they oh
yeah, because I'm supposed toask Jesus.
And they're just they just do itlike they do it, and I'm sure
they have their own struggles aswell.
Um but the the it's it's in themnow and it's it's routine and
it's habit, and I think it'sbuilding those habits like you
would in sports or training orfood or whatever you're doing.
(13:07):
And so it's just it's taken me along time to get to there, and I
feel like that part of my faithis really starting to grab much
better hold in my life.
So it's great.
SPEAKER_00 (13:16):
Yeah.
Oh, that's great.
Um, then I'm excited for thenext question about failures and
mistakes because I think I meanjust listening to you, we learn
more from our failures than ouruh successes.
So if you could share somethinguh that you have maybe failed at
or are failing, and that uhyou're really learning from a
story.
SPEAKER_01 (13:35):
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, really, it's it's kindof the flip side that I look
back on like my career and allthe times I never asked, like,
was it actually a good decisionto go run a pizza shop at a
hundred hours a week with noexperience in retail, uh B2C
marketing?
Like, I knew I could work hard,I knew I could I had the
personality to like engage withpeople, do corporate sales, do
(13:58):
all that kind of stuff, but likethe day-to-day grind of like uh
hiring and firing, uh justdealing with people as you get
to the door, dealing with angrycustomers, like I I didn't know
if I could do all that.
And so just a lot of time I'vejust been thinking about that of
like would this have gone thesame direction if I'd asked
(14:19):
those questions?
Right?
And probably he was just guidingmy steps anyway.
But at some point it's just likea few years ago, it's just like
you're gonna listen now?
Like, are you gonna take thisall on and go?
So I think that is is themistake is not coming around to
that enough early enough becauseI think that just could have
given me such a better base ofuh where to make my decisions
(14:42):
from.
SPEAKER_00 (14:43):
That's uh so I I always think when I hear
something, because I'm I'mraising, we're we're both
raising children.
And uh my daughter, we were justtalking about this the other day
about mistakes, and I'm like,don't look at it a mistake, look
at it as part of your journeyand go, okay.
And and the thing, my words werewe win or we learn.
We don't lose.
Like we win or we learn, Ellie.
So if you're listening to me,and I I have to believe that
(15:06):
because I don't want to lookback and regret and be angry and
go, I shouldn't have done thator why.
Just go, you know what?
I learned that I, you know, Icouldn't do it with a family in
a hundred hours a week, and yayfor me.
SPEAKER_01 (15:17):
Well, and I think I heard that, uh, I might have
heard that on your podcast withour Olympian uh friend.
Um, and you guys were talking.
I just listened to that theother day, and I was like, yep,
that's you know, that's comingfrom a real place, right?
Um that win or go home.
So win or learn.
It's perfect.
SPEAKER_00 (15:34):
Yep.
unknown (15:35):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (15:36):
See, now there's two of us that believe that if
Ellie's listening, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (15:38):
There you go.
SPEAKER_00 (15:39):
All right.
Uh so I'm excited that you, um,Halifax, is getting more
involved in leader impactbecause I think that's only
within the last couple years.
So um obviously, you know, wewant groups uh to grow.
We want them to grow in ourpersonal, professional, and
spiritual lives for increasingimpact.
So I'm wondering if you'rewilling to share an example of
how the spiritual makes apractical difference in your
(16:01):
life as a leader.
SPEAKER_01 (16:03):
Yeah, I um I was thinking about this when you
sent it over.
Um, so our group's been reallyinteresting.
So um, Vince Savard, who I amsure it will be on the show at
some point, has um his love forthe Lord is is uh amazingly
strong and comes through thescreen right at you.
Like we have a 745 tomorrowmorning uh Zoom call that I have
(16:25):
to mentally prepare myself forum the level of intensity that's
gonna be at when we're talkingabout Jesus, which is not not a
norm for me.
Um but we just he asked me, he'dmet Tibby.
Um he'd asked me if is thissomething we want to get
involved with?
Like, would you consider uhjoining these groups?
And then Jonathan Lewis at thesame time had started his
(16:47):
conference, which is Spark.
So the first Spark conference wedid three years ago now, two
years ago, three years ago, uh,in Moncton that drew a hundred
people, and Jonathan was able tobring an amazing group of
speakers together.
Now, the reason they both askedme at different times was
because I was the chair of theNova Scotia Leadership Prayer
Breakfast, which was just ayearly event, and this yearly
(17:10):
event, like when I took it overfrom uh Bruce Havill, who's one
of my great spiritual mentors,um, they we were drawing 300
people.
Um by the time Borissa and I hadredone our group, we were up to
480, came to the last breakfastthat we had.
Um, and it was a ma and thespeakers like it was with music,
(17:30):
but we were trying to getpoliticians there.
So it was people of faith,people not of faith.
Um, and the reason we started toshut that down besides COVID was
uh part of the reason that I gotinto Leader Impact is that I
felt good about the seeds wewere putting out, but there was
never any follow-up.
We didn't really know, like,were people then going to
(17:51):
church, were people then takingsome of these ideas and bringing
them into their work or theirfamily?
We just we didn't know.
We get a couple nice emailssaying, Yeah, great event, love
the speaker, great work, I'll bethere next year.
Um, but I was looking forsomething with more longer-term
impact.
And so when Jonathan startedtalking to me about it, and the
(18:11):
speakers he brought up were justunbelievable.
And and Tibby, Jeff, and Dorothywere all there helping along
with the event, and I think theywere pretty blown away with the
level of speakers he was able tobring up from all over the
place.
And now he's got his next event,which is Spark in Calgary,
coming up uh at the end of May.
Uh, and we have our uh uh nextleaders of impact.
(18:35):
We kind of co-opted the name alittle bit because we wanted
everyone to come out of therebeing leaders.
Last year, we were able to bring380 people together um and hear
a range of stories, speeches.
We had Braden Douglas as ourkeynote speaker.
He gave three sessions, and asyou know, he's unbelievable.
(18:55):
Yeah, and still consider him afriend.
Like he's just I love watchinghim on LinkedIn.
I'm in his algorithm, so I justI feel like I keep that constant
contact with him.
Um this year we moved the venueand we're trying to get to 600
people to come out and have awhole day, um, a day of
training, a day of faith.
We're being a little more overton the face side this year,
(19:15):
versus last year we were reallytrying to get a wide audience.
Um this year we're narrowing itdown because we want people that
have at least a little bit ofknowledge to come in and and
really push them a little bitharder.
Um we're seeing this at all thechurches, it's like we feel like
we gotta start asking some ofthese harder questions now.
Like, can't just be in the pewsfor an hour a week, right?
(19:38):
Or an hour and a half at mychurch, but we need them to go
out and make an impact in theircommunity.
So, all of that to say, there'slike some amazing uh events
coming up through May.
So we've got the May 1st weekendin Halifax with Leader Impact
Global.
Uh, then May 23rd, we'll haveour Leaders of Impact in
Halifax, and then Jonathan's isthe next weekend in Calgary.
(20:02):
So just a lot going on forLeader Impact, and hopefully May
will be an absolutely amazingmonth.
SPEAKER_00 (20:07):
Yeah.
I have to ask you, justlistening to this journey of of
the events, do you think thatyou were ready to do a Leader
Impact um lead where you aretoday year, you know, a few
years ago?
Were you because sometimes Isometimes I don't know why they
asked me to do the things theyasked me to do because I don't
think I'm ready, they think I'mready.
So I just show up and go, okay.
(20:30):
But how have you changed in yourfaith over the last because I I
think you sort of went away whenyou were younger?
SPEAKER_01 (20:38):
I did the traditional, uh left after high
school, came back at early 30s,right?
And um, it was my mom thatoffered me to come back.
We wanted to go find a newchurch.
We found a really inspiringpastor.
We had gone to Roman Catholicchurches um with with um some
gentlemen that are very stronglyinvolved with alpha uh globally,
(21:00):
and uh then divine renovation,which is uh ministry committed
to helping churches like doeverything better, essentially.
And it's just awesome.
So now I'm at the St.
Benedict Church, uh, which hasgreat leadership.
We have over 2,300 people comethrough that church um over the
course of a weekend, and theleader support that they give,
(21:21):
so they actually go out of theirway to train the leaders within
that parish.
Um, I don't think I would havebeen ready to do anything other
than just the events.
Like I can definitely run theevents.
That's like kind of bread andbutter to my career.
But being able to weave thosefaith discussions into it and be
able to have like those deeperconversations, that couldn't
have happened for me until I gotinvolved with like Jonathan,
(21:44):
Vince, Bruce, and the then theLeader Impact gang has really um
amped it up for me because thetype of work we're doing in
those groups gets so deep soquickly.
Um so even if you're doing likea John Maxwell book, then all of
a sudden you're like, How doesthis time?
Into my faith, how does this tieinto my business?
Uh it's just it's so amazing toactually watch the development.
(22:06):
Go now I can actually have aconversation about how this part
of my faith ties into thebusiness and ties into like
things we could be doing inbusiness.
And then um I would say Iconsider myself like
theologically a little bitbehind of where those guys are
in their faith journey.
Like um, I have a hard time likereciting scriptures, um, but I
(22:27):
kind of know the intent.
So that is like an area I'mtrying to get better.
But then when you're beingpushed by guys like Jonathan and
Vince and Jen, like it's justamazing to watch the uh the
curve go upwards.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:40):
Oh, I I love every part of that.
Um, I was probably 17 when Iwhen I went away from the church
and came back after I was 30.
Like I think it was, you know,31 or something.
So I and now I'm on the curveup, and just and leader impact
has been a huge part of that.
So thank you for sharing that.
And I I feel better.
I feel kindred, yeah.
(23:01):
Um so leader impact is dedicatedto having leaders having a
lasting impact.
And as you continue through yourown journey, just wondering um
what you want your faith legacyto be when you leave this world.
SPEAKER_01 (23:14):
So this is like this is a tough one for me because
it's uh I still feel like I'm inthe beginning part of building
it.
Like I again, like we're if weare on the bottom of that curve
and it's starting to go moretowards at least diagonal, um as
opposed to flat line.
Uh there's so much there.
I the thing that I've thoughtabout a lot with regards to all
(23:35):
these different events um andthe leader impact group is I
just want to see other peoplethat have come out to that um
have their lives affectedthroughout through their whole
lives.
So whether that's their familylife, their work, their
community, um, or their faith,like I just want to see that
development.
(23:56):
And so when you one of the bestthings that happened for for
myself and Vince with our groupover the last couple years is we
randomly ran into a wife atCostco of uh one of our members
who said, uh my husband's like anew man now.
And that was from just you know,sharing in our group for a year
(24:17):
and a half.
And like, how can you beat that?
Right?
Like that guy is now on a likehe was on a good faith journey,
but now he's woven that into hisfamily.
He was able to have discussionswith us that he couldn't have
with any other members of hisfamily just because um the uh
cultural hierarchy within thatcommunity didn't allow him to do
(24:38):
it.
So he had to find another way uhto be able to be that strong
leader within his family.
And so it just makes me soexcited when I hear that, and I
want to hear that from my kids.
Uh, I want to hear that fromother people within my family,
and I want people to know that,like, hey, they can come talk to
Dave at any point, and I'mprobably not gonna have the
(24:59):
greatest spiritual answer forthem, but I can point them to
the right people that can giveit to them.
SPEAKER_00 (25:04):
I just think, yeah, I I'm 100%.
Um I I I love everything aboutthat.
You're I mean, listening to you,you're living it every day uh in
everything you do, and I thinkthat's really important.
Um, and listening when otherpeople tell you, that's just uh
thank you.
Yeah, it just you know adds toyour I'm gonna be I'm gonna get
better tomorrow.
(25:25):
I'm gonna get I'm gonna you knowbe better every day.
SPEAKER_01 (25:27):
Well Lisa, not to interrupt you, but like, you
know, I've been listening toyour podcast for a long time.
And so you do underestimate howmany people carry some of those
little things.
Like it might have been onething, one question you asked,
or one piece of feedback thatthey gave, and you're like, man,
I'm still thinking about thatwith the Olympian, like a few
(25:48):
days later.
So why am I why am I holding onto that piece?
Uh and so it's just it like whenI heard like I knew Joe, I knew
Jonathan, but then a couplethings in their stories I hadn't
heard before that you broughtout.
So like it has deepened ourrelationship as well for me to
understand those pieces.
So I just think like everyonecan do like one small little
(26:09):
part.
Like I work in government, Idon't go around it's a bit tough
to flaunt things, um, but I dowear my cross and I do have like
we have like one of these littlesignboards by our desk.
So I have like, come on, youwanderers, like spelled out.
Um, and then down the side itjust says pray.
So like I've had severalconversations with people at my
office that they come to me, Idon't go to them, but if we can
(26:32):
all be thinking about like whatwe want our legacies to look
like, why we're on this earth,right?
Like it like we really gotstarted from reading uh Rick
Warren's book, Purpose DrivenLife.
That was part of like I guess myreawakening or awakening maybe
for the first time to like adeeper relationship with God.
Um but just being able to likerecommend those resources to
(26:54):
people that you can see orstarting to have questions or
things aren't great in theirlives because they've never
asked them, or they didn't knowwho to talk to, or they didn't
have that person, or they'rejust like they're like now, like
religion isn't for me.
Well, yeah, Jesus is.
So just have to find a nice wayto put it for them.
So thank you for your work.
SPEAKER_00 (27:12):
Oh thank you.
Um, sometimes I I show up everyday because I learn.
So if if if I can help oneperson or or if some comment
takes uh you know, if movessomeone.
So thank you for saying that.
Uh as I was thinking aboutbooks, I was thinking have you
read The 360 Leader by JohnMaxwell?
SPEAKER_01 (27:30):
I have read the 360 Leader.
That was a while ago for me.
SPEAKER_00 (27:32):
Yep.
Yeah.
We finished that, I believe, acouple months ago, and they're
still talking about it.
It was a game changer for manywomen who are still like, so I
I'll probably read it again.
It's it's in the library behindme.
Like I will.
My final question for you iswhat brings you the greatest
joy?
SPEAKER_01 (27:50):
I I had all these notes.
Like, I was like, do I go withthe do I go with like the faith
one?
Um, do I go with like actuallywatching a great soccer game and
like seeing that goal go in?
Um and and I don't like to behonest, I just my life is so
good right now.
Um, like everything's great withmy family, my kids, my wife, my
(28:12):
parents, like everyone's stilldoing very well.
So one of the things that I'vebeen uh doing, and it's even
recently, like it's literallylike on the next page of my
notes from for this call was myfinancial blessings.
And I've got like, I don't know,you can see like this gigantic
list.
It's like like I'm just like,I'm just like, holy cow, like
(28:32):
there's no way that all thisstuff should happen to like what
did I deserve that?
So uh right now, a lot of my joyoutside of my family, uh, and
the kids that are eating shrimpright now, uh, is just thinking
about all the blessings that I'mgetting all the time and all the
incredible people that I'mgetting to meet through uh
Leader Impact Church and andwork, and then just thinking
(28:55):
about how I might be able tohelp them affect them just a
little bit to maybe ask onequestion.
SPEAKER_00 (29:00):
Yeah.
Oh man, life is good, Dave.
I I can't it's I'm listening toyou and I think, oh, he's he got
such a great attitude, and I'msure when something crappy
happens, you're like, oh, so letgo, let god.
Like just you know, and you butI I think that's like I feel
like you've written all thisdown.
It's like your list ofgratitude.
(29:20):
Like you are.
I'm I'm so happy for this.
I'm so happy.
Like, do you do you do uh um agratitude list?
SPEAKER_01 (29:25):
So it has been on my to-do list, and it doesn't end
up becoming a daily routine forme.
Like I'm trying, but I justyeah, it's hard to just sit down
and write all this stuff, likebut I find I'm thinking about it
a lot more.
SPEAKER_00 (29:40):
Yeah, me too.
I have I have a my phone justgoes off my uh a note and it
says, Hey, what are your whatare you grateful for today?
But it has to go off every sixo'clock in the morning, so I
actually remember to do it.
And I don't write it down.
I'm like, you know what?
I'm happy for this.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:54):
So well, and and the problem, the problem we're gonna
face now is that now it's beenproven to have a uh like
scientific impact on your lifeif you have this gratitude.
So are people gonna have itbecause of the gratitude or
because they're actually givingthat thing to the Lord?
So that's uh that's veryinteresting to think about as
well.
SPEAKER_00 (30:11):
Yeah.
Well, we'll start small, Dave.
Yeah, just one page of notes.
One page of notes.
Yeah.
Um well, I am super excited tomeet you at the Leader Impact
Summit coming up May 1st to 3rd.
And uh and I just want to saylike all you have to be is a
member of Leader Impact.
And oh, by the way, that's free.
SPEAKER_01 (30:29):
Yep.
SPEAKER_00 (30:30):
So we'd love to have you.
Um if anyone wants to connectwith you, they've just loved
this last uh half hour.
How can they find you or what isthe best way?
SPEAKER_01 (30:38):
Yeah, I'm uh I'm a LinkedIn junkie.
So just David Finlison onLinkedIn.
I work with Build Nova Scotia.
Um you might be able tocross-check me with soccer
stuff.
Um I tend to post, if you're outhere, I tend to post pretty much
every job posting I see in thearea uh to help people out uh
that are looking for work.
Um and then you also see likeanything that is for the good of
(30:59):
Nova Scotia or that ties in withLeader Impact come across my
feet.
So there you go.
SPEAKER_00 (31:04):
You're the guy.
You're the connector.
SPEAKER_01 (31:07):
That's what I like to do.
SPEAKER_00 (31:08):
All right.
Well, Dave, thank you forjoining us, and I look forward
to meeting you in May.
SPEAKER_01 (31:12):
Thank you so much, Lisa.
SPEAKER_00 (31:13):
All right.
Well, if you're part of LeaderImpact, you can always discuss
or share this podcast with yourgroup.
And if you're not yet part ofLeader Impact and would like to
find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website atleaderimpact.ca.
You can also check out groupsavailable in Canada at
LeaderImpact.ca, or if you'relistening from anywhere else in
the world, check outLeaderImpact.com or get in touch
(31:33):
with us by email, info atLeaderImpact.ca, and we will
connect you.
And if you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
us a rating or a review.
This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
Thank you for engaging with us,and remember, impact starts with
you.
Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast.
We are a community of leaderswith a network in over 350
cities around the worlddedicated to optimizing our
personal, professional, andspiritual lives to have impact.
This show is where we have achance to listen and engage with
leaders who are living this out.
We love talking with leaders, soif you have any questions,
comments, or suggestions to makethis show even better, please
let us know.
(00:28):
The best way to stay connectedin Canada is through our
newsletter at leaderimpact.ca oron social at LeaderImpact.
And if you're listening fromoutside of Canada, check out our
website at leaderimpact.com.
I'm your host today.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today is David
Finlayson.
Dave works for the Nova Scotiaprovincial government with Build
Nova Scotia and has a smallsponsorship development company
(00:50):
that supports professionalsports and events.
Over his career, he has owned apizza shop, the king of Donair,
has been a product manager forHeli Hansen and worked for a
professional soccer team, theHalifax Wanderers.
Dave was the chair of the NovaScotia Leadership Prayer
Breakfast that draws over 400people to a yearly event to hear
God's word and is now leading aleader impact group that is
(01:12):
endeavoring to bring 600 peopletogether in May to change your
heart, change your mind, changeyour world.
Dave calls Halifax home where helives with his wife, Jen and
sons, Alec and Darren.
Welcome to the show, David.
SPEAKER_01 (01:26):
Thank you so much for having me.
I've been looking forward to itfor a long time.
SPEAKER_00 (01:31):
I am super excited because today I just heard you
are the MC of this big eventcoming up in May in Halifax.
SPEAKER_01 (01:40):
Yeah, there is uh there's a couple people in this
world outside of my family thatI can't say no to.
Uh and my good friends Jeff andTibby uh are on that short list.
So congratulations, guys.
You got an MC.
SPEAKER_00 (01:54):
Yeah, I I have the same.
And he's it's Jeff, Tibby, andum Bobby.
Like I guess.
Bobby, okay.
I'm like sure, because he's he'smy Saskatchewan guy.
Uh I'm excited to meet you.
I have met a few, if anyone isum, if anyone's listened to
Leader Impact podcasts, we metJonathan Lewis, we met Jennifer
Amiro, and Jay Joe uh De Pencha.
(02:16):
And I think they're all fromHalifax.
Are they still all there?
SPEAKER_01 (02:19):
Yeah, so uh Joe is back and forth to California
these days.
So he has moved back to the sunum for with his wife and
daughter.
Uh, but he's still up here everycouple months.
He has a lot of clients up here.
Uh Jonathan Lewis, uh financialadvisor to the stars.
So again, he's splitting histime between Halifax and North
(02:40):
Carolina, South Carolina,Charleston.
Uh and Jennifer is actually inmy leader impact group and has
been on the show before.
And uh so uh all amazing, bothfaith and business leaders.
SPEAKER_00 (02:54):
Yeah, some of my favorite podcasts, honestly.
Like I can say I I clearlyremember those.
So if anyone's listening, uh Ihope you they can listen to
those.
So I'm excited to get to knowyou, and then ultimately I get
to meet.
So that is just a highlight ofthat, and that's why I love
Leader Impact, is just meetingleaders around the world.
So I'm excited.
But here I want to hear a littlebit about a little bit more
(03:16):
about your journey, yourprofessional journey.
So how you got to where you aretoday?
Because you've had a pretty likefrom pizza shops to sports teams
to like wow.
Um and maybe a pivotal if youhave any pivotal moments.
SPEAKER_01 (03:28):
Yeah, there's been a lot, as you can imagine, with
the bumping around.
Um, so my dad was a mil in themilitary, doctor in the military
um in the UK.
And so he met my mom, who was aflight attendant with a great uh
uh airline called Dan Air thatflew all over the place.
So occasionally she'll stillregale us with stories.
Uh, we came over when I was twoto Winnipeg.
(03:51):
Uh, then he was posted toOttawa, and then he was posted
to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
And then when he got out of uhthe military, he uh stayed
working in Halifax, and we madeall made Halifax our home.
So basically, we've been hereessentially since 1985.
Um minus uh a year that I wentoverseas to do my MBA in soccer
(04:13):
management from the Universityof Liverpool.
Uh, there was a dual, uh, a dualreason I wanted to do that.
Number one is my passion for thesport, uh, and I'd been looking
to do an MBA program uh afterfinishing my commerce program at
Dell.
And uh a bunch of my familiesover there all on my mom's side.
Okay.
So I got to watch a lot ofsoccer.
I got to investigate thenightlife of Liverpool, which is
(04:36):
quite similar to Halifax.
It's it's pretty fun.
Um, and then when I came back,um my mom was recovering from
cancer, so that was part of thereason that I came back.
Um the other reason is becauseit was the only job I ever got
fired from uh working in the UK.
Um and it was so devastating forme.
(04:57):
I was working with a um acompany which at the time, now
this is 2001, uh, was dealingwith uh directly with soccer
players online sales.
Like that was not a thing uhback then.
They just really started gettingonline.
Um and because I hadn't um Itried to do everything myself,
uh, I tried to find all my ownsolutions, and as a young
(05:19):
25-year-old, probably wasn't thebest idea because sometimes the
best ideas are just sittingright in front of you, and
someone that's experienced couldjust go, Why didn't you just do
this?
Uh and I had no answer for that.
And uh that uh ended my shortcareer in the UK.
Uh but it was a great time tocome back, and I've carried that
lesson along with me for a long,long time.
(05:39):
Um so that that was interesting.
Um then I just I worked three orfour different jobs, uh
generally all withentrepreneurs, uh, where I'd
come in as like their number twoor be their sales uh person,
business development person.
And then the opportunity came upbecause I was looking to do my
own thing.
And King of Donair, which isthis is 2004, they were looking
to expand across the country.
(06:01):
Uh they were very excited to getgoing.
They'd hired these um groupsthat were in charge of franchise
development.
Um, and unfortunately, it justdidn't last.
Uh it wasn't a great fit for me.
Uh, I was working a hundredhours plus a week, um, soon to
be getting married.
And so I proved to myself I canwork a hundred hours a week.
Um but even that, as I look backon that experience and what it
(06:24):
uh could have done to mypotential family life, as I'm
looking back now after likealmost, well, 18 years of
marriage, close to, um, uh itwould have been probably
devastating for my family lifeand that.
So learned I could do it, got agreat out uh to move to Heli
Hansen.
So that is where I spent a lotof time just thinking about my
network.
Um, so I was traveling all overNorth America, even into Oslo to
(06:48):
uh to see our friends at thehead office there.
And so I just I built up mynetwork through my fraternity,
through my university, uh,through being just known as a I
don't know, person of interestor Hallie famous, I guess they
could almost say in Halifax, umto continue to build my network.
So, like whether that was inchurch, uh, whether that was uh
(07:11):
in business, in sports, whateverit was.
And so I just just got to beknown as like that guy around
town.
If he needed a contact at acertain level, um people would
reach out to me and I justintroduce them and and help them
along.
So it just really got merefocused on my network.
Um, and then my my last onebefore I joined the government
was um I'd heard a rumor of aprofessional soccer league
(07:34):
coming to Canada, the CanadianPremier League.
And so I knew the guy that hadbeen mentioned.
Uh we hadn't worked together,but we talked about different
things over the years, and so Iwent and uh nailed him down for
a beer at our one of our localestablishments, and we talked
about a bunch of differentthings.
Um I didn't think it was gonnacome to pass, and then uh a
couple months before the leaguestarted, I got a call.
(07:56):
He's like, hey, if you can comein and do this, then I got a job
for you.
And again, that had been anetwork I'd built up over time,
and um, so another just keylearning lesson, and basically
worked with a startup soccerleague that's obviously still
going today in year eight, anduh still have a lot of time for
those guys on the on the soccerside.
SPEAKER_00 (08:15):
That's great.
One thing that grabbed me, wait,well, definitely I when I look
at your journey and I I and youmentioned the network.
Sometimes we feel like somethingis a failure, but we don't look,
we shouldn't look at it likethat, right?
Like you've you made a network,you and you're moving it to
where you are today.
So that is a an a great journey.
I want to ask you, you mentionedthe word, right?
I think you're about 24 yearsold and you got fired in the UK.
(08:37):
You mentioned the worddevastating.
What what at 24?
You know, how devastating isthat?
So what what did what was that?
SPEAKER_01 (08:46):
Yeah, um, so I'd got the job uh because uh this
gentleman who is very well knownin the UK as like basically the
guru of soccer marketing.
Like when there was no realsoccer marketing, like it's not
what we know today, um, had comein and spoke to our class, and I
cornered him after the class andsaid, I want to come do an
internship with you, and thenwe'll see where it goes.
(09:07):
And so I got that and got thejob.
Um, so I was literally working,going to see professional
footballers all over um the UK.
I was going from photo shoots, Iwas doing retail development, I
was researching soccer playersthat we should uh buy the rights
to.
Like, uh, and it was a reallycool open concept office before
that was a thing, and there wasalways cold play.
(09:28):
Yellow would just come outplaying in the background, uh,
and very social.
So, you know, Friday lunches atthe pub, soccer team, soccer
games, uh, random England soccercaptains showing up in her
lunchroom in the evening.
Like it was just it was amazing.
And uh anyway, so that's why itwas so hard for me, is like I
thought I'd found it.
(09:50):
Um the one piece that I didn'thave while I was over there, I
didn't really have any spiritualgrounding when I was there.
Uh I'd gone away from my faithfor for a couple years at that
point, and there was justnothing like holding me there,
grounding me.
So it just um it was verydifficult.
SPEAKER_00 (10:07):
Yeah.
Um I've been in a similarposition where it's just the job
is awesome.
And I and I I actually leftmine, but I couldn't believe I'd
left.
Like I felt sick.
I knew that it was time to leavebefore you know something
happened, but um, I know thatjust devastation, but now I look
back, it's easy to look back.
Hindsight, yeah, it was meant tohappen.
But um the devastation you feltat the time, I can understand
(10:30):
that.
Thank you for sharing that.
Oh, it's um so we we lovetalking about prints best
principles of success if youhave one and a story to share
about that.
SPEAKER_01 (10:39):
Yeah, so and it's funny because it kind of ties in
with um some of uh some of thescriptures that I've been kind
of thinking about recently.
Um, and the biggest one thatI've been focusing on right now,
and one that we've been talkingabout in our leader group, is
just giving all the decisions toGod.
Um, and I've heard it recentlyon some other podcasts that I've
been listening to, um, likeSports Spectrum, where they're
(11:02):
talking like how it affectstheir athletes, um, how they've
given every game, every play toGod.
Um, and that's something thatI've been really working quite
hard to do.
And I never used to ask him forhis permission or is this a good
idea?
And I still feel like I'm anewbie.
I still feel like I'm like I'mkind of asking him, um, but
(11:24):
maybe not being as patient as Ishould be, or just praying
enough.
And so that's really been afocus for me, is just kind of
amping that up as I go.
So that's that's really one ofmy big ones right now.
SPEAKER_00 (11:37):
Yeah, that is not the easiest thing to do.
I uh I'm currently doing um kindof a class hearing God, and
we're talking about obedience.
And it's really easy to beobedient when it's you know
something like, oh, I hope and Ipray, but when it's those little
things, we forget to to pray orto ask.
Like we sh like you said, justin every decision.
SPEAKER_01 (12:00):
Yeah, and and I'll tell you who's really like who
I'm giving well, besides God,who I'm giving the uh um uh the
love to on that one is my leaderimpact group.
Um, because as you know, likewe're supposed to be a mixture
of uh like let's say thehard-driving Catholics, the
people going to church, and thenpeople that are interested,
right?
(12:20):
And we just ended up with agroup that has veered more
towards the very strongChristians, and so you get
called out like in that smallgroup, and it's okay.
Like we've built that trust, andthat's amazing for all of us.
Um, but Vince and Jeremy and Jenand Chad, and they're sometimes
they don't even have to say it,it's just by their actions that
(12:43):
they show me what they're doing,and I'm like, why are they oh
yeah, because I'm supposed toask Jesus.
And they're just they just do itlike they do it, and I'm sure
they have their own struggles aswell.
Um but the the it's it's in themnow and it's it's routine and
it's habit, and I think it'sbuilding those habits like you
would in sports or training orfood or whatever you're doing.
(13:07):
And so it's just it's taken me along time to get to there, and I
feel like that part of my faithis really starting to grab much
better hold in my life.
So it's great.
SPEAKER_00 (13:16):
Yeah.
Oh, that's great.
Um, then I'm excited for thenext question about failures and
mistakes because I think I meanjust listening to you, we learn
more from our failures than ouruh successes.
So if you could share somethinguh that you have maybe failed at
or are failing, and that uhyou're really learning from a
story.
SPEAKER_01 (13:35):
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, really, it's it's kindof the flip side that I look
back on like my career and allthe times I never asked, like,
was it actually a good decisionto go run a pizza shop at a
hundred hours a week with noexperience in retail, uh B2C
marketing?
Like, I knew I could work hard,I knew I could I had the
personality to like engage withpeople, do corporate sales, do
(13:58):
all that kind of stuff, but likethe day-to-day grind of like uh
hiring and firing, uh justdealing with people as you get
to the door, dealing with angrycustomers, like I I didn't know
if I could do all that.
And so just a lot of time I'vejust been thinking about that of
like would this have gone thesame direction if I'd asked
(14:19):
those questions?
Right?
And probably he was just guidingmy steps anyway.
But at some point it's just likea few years ago, it's just like
you're gonna listen now?
Like, are you gonna take thisall on and go?
So I think that is is themistake is not coming around to
that enough early enough becauseI think that just could have
given me such a better base ofuh where to make my decisions
(14:42):
from.
SPEAKER_00 (14:43):
That's uh so I I always think when I hear
something, because I'm I'mraising, we're we're both
raising children.
And uh my daughter, we were justtalking about this the other day
about mistakes, and I'm like,don't look at it a mistake, look
at it as part of your journeyand go, okay.
And and the thing, my words werewe win or we learn.
We don't lose.
Like we win or we learn, Ellie.
So if you're listening to me,and I I have to believe that
(15:06):
because I don't want to lookback and regret and be angry and
go, I shouldn't have done thator why.
Just go, you know what?
I learned that I, you know, Icouldn't do it with a family in
a hundred hours a week, and yayfor me.
SPEAKER_01 (15:17):
Well, and I think I heard that, uh, I might have
heard that on your podcast withour Olympian uh friend.
Um, and you guys were talking.
I just listened to that theother day, and I was like, yep,
that's you know, that's comingfrom a real place, right?
Um that win or go home.
So win or learn.
It's perfect.
SPEAKER_00 (15:34):
Yep.
unknown (15:35):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (15:36):
See, now there's two of us that believe that if
Ellie's listening, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (15:38):
There you go.
SPEAKER_00 (15:39):
All right.
Uh so I'm excited that you, um,Halifax, is getting more
involved in leader impactbecause I think that's only
within the last couple years.
So um obviously, you know, wewant groups uh to grow.
We want them to grow in ourpersonal, professional, and
spiritual lives for increasingimpact.
So I'm wondering if you'rewilling to share an example of
how the spiritual makes apractical difference in your
(16:01):
life as a leader.
SPEAKER_01 (16:03):
Yeah, I um I was thinking about this when you
sent it over.
Um, so our group's been reallyinteresting.
So um, Vince Savard, who I amsure it will be on the show at
some point, has um his love forthe Lord is is uh amazingly
strong and comes through thescreen right at you.
Like we have a 745 tomorrowmorning uh Zoom call that I have
(16:25):
to mentally prepare myself forum the level of intensity that's
gonna be at when we're talkingabout Jesus, which is not not a
norm for me.
Um but we just he asked me, he'dmet Tibby.
Um he'd asked me if is thissomething we want to get
involved with?
Like, would you consider uhjoining these groups?
And then Jonathan Lewis at thesame time had started his
(16:47):
conference, which is Spark.
So the first Spark conference wedid three years ago now, two
years ago, three years ago, uh,in Moncton that drew a hundred
people, and Jonathan was able tobring an amazing group of
speakers together.
Now, the reason they both askedme at different times was
because I was the chair of theNova Scotia Leadership Prayer
Breakfast, which was just ayearly event, and this yearly
(17:10):
event, like when I took it overfrom uh Bruce Havill, who's one
of my great spiritual mentors,um, they we were drawing 300
people.
Um by the time Borissa and I hadredone our group, we were up to
480, came to the last breakfastthat we had.
Um, and it was a ma and thespeakers like it was with music,
(17:30):
but we were trying to getpoliticians there.
So it was people of faith,people not of faith.
Um, and the reason we started toshut that down besides COVID was
uh part of the reason that I gotinto Leader Impact is that I
felt good about the seeds wewere putting out, but there was
never any follow-up.
We didn't really know, like,were people then going to
(17:51):
church, were people then takingsome of these ideas and bringing
them into their work or theirfamily?
We just we didn't know.
We get a couple nice emailssaying, Yeah, great event, love
the speaker, great work, I'll bethere next year.
Um, but I was looking forsomething with more longer-term
impact.
And so when Jonathan startedtalking to me about it, and the
(18:11):
speakers he brought up were justunbelievable.
And and Tibby, Jeff, and Dorothywere all there helping along
with the event, and I think theywere pretty blown away with the
level of speakers he was able tobring up from all over the
place.
And now he's got his next event,which is Spark in Calgary,
coming up uh at the end of May.
Uh, and we have our uh uh nextleaders of impact.
(18:35):
We kind of co-opted the name alittle bit because we wanted
everyone to come out of therebeing leaders.
Last year, we were able to bring380 people together um and hear
a range of stories, speeches.
We had Braden Douglas as ourkeynote speaker.
He gave three sessions, and asyou know, he's unbelievable.
(18:55):
Yeah, and still consider him afriend.
Like he's just I love watchinghim on LinkedIn.
I'm in his algorithm, so I justI feel like I keep that constant
contact with him.
Um this year we moved the venueand we're trying to get to 600
people to come out and have awhole day, um, a day of
training, a day of faith.
We're being a little more overton the face side this year,
(19:15):
versus last year we were reallytrying to get a wide audience.
Um this year we're narrowing itdown because we want people that
have at least a little bit ofknowledge to come in and and
really push them a little bitharder.
Um we're seeing this at all thechurches, it's like we feel like
we gotta start asking some ofthese harder questions now.
Like, can't just be in the pewsfor an hour a week, right?
(19:38):
Or an hour and a half at mychurch, but we need them to go
out and make an impact in theircommunity.
So, all of that to say, there'slike some amazing uh events
coming up through May.
So we've got the May 1st weekendin Halifax with Leader Impact
Global.
Uh, then May 23rd, we'll haveour Leaders of Impact in
Halifax, and then Jonathan's isthe next weekend in Calgary.
(20:02):
So just a lot going on forLeader Impact, and hopefully May
will be an absolutely amazingmonth.
SPEAKER_00 (20:07):
Yeah.
I have to ask you, justlistening to this journey of of
the events, do you think thatyou were ready to do a Leader
Impact um lead where you aretoday year, you know, a few
years ago?
Were you because sometimes Isometimes I don't know why they
asked me to do the things theyasked me to do because I don't
think I'm ready, they think I'mready.
So I just show up and go, okay.
(20:30):
But how have you changed in yourfaith over the last because I I
think you sort of went away whenyou were younger?
SPEAKER_01 (20:38):
I did the traditional, uh left after high
school, came back at early 30s,right?
And um, it was my mom thatoffered me to come back.
We wanted to go find a newchurch.
We found a really inspiringpastor.
We had gone to Roman Catholicchurches um with with um some
gentlemen that are very stronglyinvolved with alpha uh globally,
(21:00):
and uh then divine renovation,which is uh ministry committed
to helping churches like doeverything better, essentially.
And it's just awesome.
So now I'm at the St.
Benedict Church, uh, which hasgreat leadership.
We have over 2,300 people comethrough that church um over the
course of a weekend, and theleader support that they give,
(21:21):
so they actually go out of theirway to train the leaders within
that parish.
Um, I don't think I would havebeen ready to do anything other
than just the events.
Like I can definitely run theevents.
That's like kind of bread andbutter to my career.
But being able to weave thosefaith discussions into it and be
able to have like those deeperconversations, that couldn't
have happened for me until I gotinvolved with like Jonathan,
(21:44):
Vince, Bruce, and the then theLeader Impact gang has really um
amped it up for me because thetype of work we're doing in
those groups gets so deep soquickly.
Um so even if you're doing likea John Maxwell book, then all of
a sudden you're like, How doesthis time?
Into my faith, how does this tieinto my business?
Uh it's just it's so amazing toactually watch the development.
(22:06):
Go now I can actually have aconversation about how this part
of my faith ties into thebusiness and ties into like
things we could be doing inbusiness.
And then um I would say Iconsider myself like
theologically a little bitbehind of where those guys are
in their faith journey.
Like um, I have a hard time likereciting scriptures, um, but I
(22:27):
kind of know the intent.
So that is like an area I'mtrying to get better.
But then when you're beingpushed by guys like Jonathan and
Vince and Jen, like it's justamazing to watch the uh the
curve go upwards.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (22:40):
Oh, I I love every part of that.
Um, I was probably 17 when Iwhen I went away from the church
and came back after I was 30.
Like I think it was, you know,31 or something.
So I and now I'm on the curveup, and just and leader impact
has been a huge part of that.
So thank you for sharing that.
And I I feel better.
I feel kindred, yeah.
(23:01):
Um so leader impact is dedicatedto having leaders having a
lasting impact.
And as you continue through yourown journey, just wondering um
what you want your faith legacyto be when you leave this world.
SPEAKER_01 (23:14):
So this is like this is a tough one for me because
it's uh I still feel like I'm inthe beginning part of building
it.
Like I again, like we're if weare on the bottom of that curve
and it's starting to go moretowards at least diagonal, um as
opposed to flat line.
Uh there's so much there.
I the thing that I've thoughtabout a lot with regards to all
(23:35):
these different events um andthe leader impact group is I
just want to see other peoplethat have come out to that um
have their lives affectedthroughout through their whole
lives.
So whether that's their familylife, their work, their
community, um, or their faith,like I just want to see that
development.
(23:56):
And so when you one of the bestthings that happened for for
myself and Vince with our groupover the last couple years is we
randomly ran into a wife atCostco of uh one of our members
who said, uh my husband's like anew man now.
And that was from just you know,sharing in our group for a year
(24:17):
and a half.
And like, how can you beat that?
Right?
Like that guy is now on a likehe was on a good faith journey,
but now he's woven that into hisfamily.
He was able to have discussionswith us that he couldn't have
with any other members of hisfamily just because um the uh
cultural hierarchy within thatcommunity didn't allow him to do
(24:38):
it.
So he had to find another way uhto be able to be that strong
leader within his family.
And so it just makes me soexcited when I hear that, and I
want to hear that from my kids.
Uh, I want to hear that fromother people within my family,
and I want people to know that,like, hey, they can come talk to
Dave at any point, and I'mprobably not gonna have the
(24:59):
greatest spiritual answer forthem, but I can point them to
the right people that can giveit to them.
SPEAKER_00 (25:04):
I just think, yeah, I I'm 100%.
Um I I I love everything aboutthat.
You're I mean, listening to you,you're living it every day uh in
everything you do, and I thinkthat's really important.
Um, and listening when otherpeople tell you, that's just uh
thank you.
Yeah, it just you know adds toyour I'm gonna be I'm gonna get
better tomorrow.
(25:25):
I'm gonna get I'm gonna you knowbe better every day.
SPEAKER_01 (25:27):
Well Lisa, not to interrupt you, but like, you
know, I've been listening toyour podcast for a long time.
And so you do underestimate howmany people carry some of those
little things.
Like it might have been onething, one question you asked,
or one piece of feedback thatthey gave, and you're like, man,
I'm still thinking about thatwith the Olympian, like a few
(25:48):
days later.
So why am I why am I holding onto that piece?
Uh and so it's just it like whenI heard like I knew Joe, I knew
Jonathan, but then a couplethings in their stories I hadn't
heard before that you broughtout.
So like it has deepened ourrelationship as well for me to
understand those pieces.
So I just think like everyonecan do like one small little
(26:09):
part.
Like I work in government, Idon't go around it's a bit tough
to flaunt things, um, but I dowear my cross and I do have like
we have like one of these littlesignboards by our desk.
So I have like, come on, youwanderers, like spelled out.
Um, and then down the side itjust says pray.
So like I've had severalconversations with people at my
office that they come to me, Idon't go to them, but if we can
(26:32):
all be thinking about like whatwe want our legacies to look
like, why we're on this earth,right?
Like it like we really gotstarted from reading uh Rick
Warren's book, Purpose DrivenLife.
That was part of like I guess myreawakening or awakening maybe
for the first time to like adeeper relationship with God.
Um but just being able to likerecommend those resources to
(26:54):
people that you can see orstarting to have questions or
things aren't great in theirlives because they've never
asked them, or they didn't knowwho to talk to, or they didn't
have that person, or they'rejust like they're like now, like
religion isn't for me.
Well, yeah, Jesus is.
So just have to find a nice wayto put it for them.
So thank you for your work.
SPEAKER_00 (27:12):
Oh thank you.
Um, sometimes I I show up everyday because I learn.
So if if if I can help oneperson or or if some comment
takes uh you know, if movessomeone.
So thank you for saying that.
Uh as I was thinking aboutbooks, I was thinking have you
read The 360 Leader by JohnMaxwell?
SPEAKER_01 (27:30):
I have read the 360 Leader.
That was a while ago for me.
SPEAKER_00 (27:32):
Yep.
Yeah.
We finished that, I believe, acouple months ago, and they're
still talking about it.
It was a game changer for manywomen who are still like, so I
I'll probably read it again.
It's it's in the library behindme.
Like I will.
My final question for you iswhat brings you the greatest
joy?
SPEAKER_01 (27:50):
I I had all these notes.
Like, I was like, do I go withthe do I go with like the faith
one?
Um, do I go with like actuallywatching a great soccer game and
like seeing that goal go in?
Um and and I don't like to behonest, I just my life is so
good right now.
Um, like everything's great withmy family, my kids, my wife, my
(28:12):
parents, like everyone's stilldoing very well.
So one of the things that I'vebeen uh doing, and it's even
recently, like it's literallylike on the next page of my
notes from for this call was myfinancial blessings.
And I've got like, I don't know,you can see like this gigantic
list.
It's like like I'm just like,I'm just like, holy cow, like
(28:32):
there's no way that all thisstuff should happen to like what
did I deserve that?
So uh right now, a lot of my joyoutside of my family, uh, and
the kids that are eating shrimpright now, uh, is just thinking
about all the blessings that I'mgetting all the time and all the
incredible people that I'mgetting to meet through uh
Leader Impact Church and andwork, and then just thinking
(28:55):
about how I might be able tohelp them affect them just a
little bit to maybe ask onequestion.
SPEAKER_00 (29:00):
Yeah.
Oh man, life is good, Dave.
I I can't it's I'm listening toyou and I think, oh, he's he got
such a great attitude, and I'msure when something crappy
happens, you're like, oh, so letgo, let god.
Like just you know, and you butI I think that's like I feel
like you've written all thisdown.
It's like your list ofgratitude.
(29:20):
Like you are.
I'm I'm so happy for this.
I'm so happy.
Like, do you do you do uh um agratitude list?
SPEAKER_01 (29:25):
So it has been on my to-do list, and it doesn't end
up becoming a daily routine forme.
Like I'm trying, but I justyeah, it's hard to just sit down
and write all this stuff, likebut I find I'm thinking about it
a lot more.
SPEAKER_00 (29:40):
Yeah, me too.
I have I have a my phone justgoes off my uh a note and it
says, Hey, what are your whatare you grateful for today?
But it has to go off every sixo'clock in the morning, so I
actually remember to do it.
And I don't write it down.
I'm like, you know what?
I'm happy for this.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:54):
So well, and and the problem, the problem we're gonna
face now is that now it's beenproven to have a uh like
scientific impact on your lifeif you have this gratitude.
So are people gonna have itbecause of the gratitude or
because they're actually givingthat thing to the Lord?
So that's uh that's veryinteresting to think about as
well.
SPEAKER_00 (30:11):
Yeah.
Well, we'll start small, Dave.
Yeah, just one page of notes.
One page of notes.
Yeah.
Um well, I am super excited tomeet you at the Leader Impact
Summit coming up May 1st to 3rd.
And uh and I just want to saylike all you have to be is a
member of Leader Impact.
And oh, by the way, that's free.
SPEAKER_01 (30:29):
Yep.
SPEAKER_00 (30:30):
So we'd love to have you.
Um if anyone wants to connectwith you, they've just loved
this last uh half hour.
How can they find you or what isthe best way?
SPEAKER_01 (30:38):
Yeah, I'm uh I'm a LinkedIn junkie.
So just David Finlison onLinkedIn.
I work with Build Nova Scotia.
Um you might be able tocross-check me with soccer
stuff.
Um I tend to post, if you're outhere, I tend to post pretty much
every job posting I see in thearea uh to help people out uh
that are looking for work.
Um and then you also see likeanything that is for the good of
(30:59):
Nova Scotia or that ties in withLeader Impact come across my
feet.
So there you go.
SPEAKER_00 (31:04):
You're the guy.
You're the connector.
SPEAKER_01 (31:07):
That's what I like to do.
SPEAKER_00 (31:08):
All right.
Well, Dave, thank you forjoining us, and I look forward
to meeting you in May.
SPEAKER_01 (31:12):
Thank you so much, Lisa.
SPEAKER_00 (31:13):
All right.
Well, if you're part of LeaderImpact, you can always discuss
or share this podcast with yourgroup.
And if you're not yet part ofLeader Impact and would like to
find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website atleaderimpact.ca.
You can also check out groupsavailable in Canada at
LeaderImpact.ca, or if you'relistening from anywhere else in
the world, check outLeaderImpact.com or get in touch
(31:33):
with us by email, info atLeaderImpact.ca, and we will
connect you.
And if you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
us a rating or a review.
This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
Thank you for engaging with us,and remember, impact starts with
you.
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