February 21, 2024 • 34 mins
Embark on an inspiring journey with Brad Petersen, whose story of resilience and transformation unfolds with raw honesty. As he reflects on the highs of leading Canada's top toy company to the lows of bankruptcy, Brad doesn't shy away from sharing the tough lessons that paved his path to redemption. Witness the power of embracing failure as a stepping stone to success, and how Brad's newfound commitment to sustainable practices with ventures like Pela and the Lomi composter is changing the game for future generations.
In the heart of our conversation, Brad digs deep into how adversity can be a formidable teacher, echoing the profound insights of Victor Frankel and biblical teachings. He candidly explores the emotional rollercoaster of his struggles, revealing how these moments have not only tested but also strengthened his character. His openness about finding wisdom in the wake of setbacks offers a transformative perspective, encouraging listeners to perceive their battles as opportunities for growth and learning.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Welcome to the Leader Impact podcast.
We are a community of leaderswith a network in over 350
cities around the world,dedicated 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,so if you have any questions,
comments or suggestions to makethe show even better, please let
(00:27):
us know.
Best way to stay connected inCanada is through our newsletter
at LeaderImpactca or on socialmedia at Leader Impact, and if
you're listening from outside ofCanada, check out our website
at LeaderImpactcom.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today is Brad Petersen
.
Brad is an award-winningentrepreneur, angel investor,
thought leader and sought afterbusiness coach.
(00:49):
In 2008, he founded and scaledCanada's top toy company, tech
for Kids and subsequentlyco-founded Pella, the $100
million sustainable phone casestartup that created an entirely
new category.
In 2021, Brad and the team atPella successfully launched a
record-breaking 9.8 millioncrowd-sourced funding campaign
(01:10):
for the Lomi, the world's firstsmart waste kitchen composter.
Brad has a passion for faith,fitness, adventure and outdoor
pursuits, and lives in themountains of British Columbia
with his amazing wife, wherethey are building a beautiful
life.
Welcome to the podcast, Brad.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Thanks, lisa.
What a great introduction.
Sounds like I should get you todo that for me every time that
was.
I'm blushing a little bitactually.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Well, it took a lot to shorten it because there is
so much more and I feel likesome of it.
I'm like you know what, I'mgoing to ask you about some of
that stuff.
But a great, you've had sometrials and tribulations, I can
say that, and I think they mightcome out here, but I just want
to thank you for joining ustoday.
So we will get started ifyou're ready.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I'm ready, let's talk .
Speaker 2 (01:58):
So in later impact we're obviously looking for a
little bit of your professionaljourney and how you got to where
you are today, so I'm wonderingif you can give us a few couple
snapshots that were pivotalmoments along that journey.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Yeah, look, my life is a series of happy accidents.
I don't think, you know, when Istarted out that I ever thought
that I would be doing an AMtoday.
In fact, it'd be hard toimagine it, and I think that's
it's part of what most peopledevelop.
It's called a narrative fallacy.
We say we had perfect clarityabout where we started and where
(02:34):
we're going, when the realityis we can only connect the dots
when looking backwards.
So you know, I grew up in theprayers of Canada.
Where I grew up, basically,there's two things you do, which
is agricultural oil.
Now I did neither, because Icame from a family of
chiropractors.
My father was a chiropractor,his father and mother were
chiropractors and my greatgrandfather was the very first
(02:55):
chiropractor in Denmark, and youknow pettersons were designed
to be chiropractors.
So I was on a path to do thatand through kind of a series of,
again, happy accidents, Istumbled into the wonderful
world of toys and it started offas a toy distribution company
and you know it was abootstrapping business that I
(03:17):
did for my basement in Red Deer,alberta, which we were very
proud of that.
You know, our competitors areall based in Ontario and Toronto
and here we were this littlestartup that could, based in
Alberta, that was actuallyshowing them that we could build
a really meaningful opportunity.
And over time we scaled thatand by the early 2000s we built
the largest toy distributioncompany in Canada.
(03:37):
And you know, I was in my sortof late 20s and feeling really
good about life.
It seemed like I had themightest touch.
And that's when I came to learnthat a little bit of ego can
lead to a lot of overhead, andvery quickly my business went
from being a hero to a zero andthat we went into special loans
because we found out the hardway you can grow too fast and
(03:58):
when you break coverage to yourbank, they don't like that and
they decide that they want toput you in the penalty box for
that.
And you know, special loans islike slow strangulation they cut
off your supply, your bloodsupply being the money, and and
you're you're, you know theydrip you just enough to kind of
keep you alive, but not enoughto actually thrive.
So so I ended up going througha restructuring which is a fancy
(04:23):
word for bankruptcy to try andfix the business.
Two years later, after a failedattempt, we ultimately
bankrupted that company and Ihad to start all over again, and
that became what I now call asmy inconvenient blessing,
because from sort of that youknow, basement foundation of
rock bottom, we're able torebuild a better business that
(04:45):
went from being a distributioncompany to a manufacturing
company and that businessultimately became infinitely
more successful.
And so we went down anotherpath of building a toy company
that did manufacturing and fastforward to twenty seventeen.
I exited that opportunity andnow I commit myself to
sustainability and things thatwill leave a lasting impact,
(05:07):
because you know, it's been abig part of my life putting
smiles on kids faces, butultimately what I wanted to do
in the next part of my life wasto do things that would matter
to generations that are yet tocome.
So that's what that gives you abit of a background.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, I was talking, I think, with a mutual friend
and he talked a little bit aboutyou.
For years, you built theseplastic toys and you shipped
across, which is the sort of thereason for the I now want to
save and the composting and thatyou know.
Is that true?
Speaker 1 (05:37):
A hundred percent.
Yeah, okay, again during my mycareer.
So I co-founded a companycalled basic fun and most people
wouldn't know basic fun, butyou know the brands that we made
.
We made things like light,bright, tonka connects,
carabir's mashams, and duringthat time we literally shipped
billions of pieces of plasticaround the planet again putting
smiles on kids faces.
(05:58):
But the consumer economy thatwe're part of is this very much
make, take use, waste, lineareconomy.
And yet if you think abouthistory is made up of a loop
economy always done.
You know the past was somethingthat was Helpful for the next
generation of things that we'regonna grow.
So I really want to contributeto how do we return back to that
(06:20):
loop economy?
And it comes down to makingthings that a better, materials
that have a great one to life,and providing the infrastructure
to allow that to be possible,and that's my focus.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Wow, that is great.
Thank you, brad.
All right, well, the next oneis about a little bit about your
principal success.
If you have a best principal ofsuccess and a story that you
might have to illustrate that,yeah, look, I Kind of go back to
my my story, opening story.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I tell people like I don't have an MBA, but I have a
PhD and DUMB from the school,hard knocks.
I've learned a lot of mylessons just by doing it, going
through it, and what I'vediscovered Is that there is
purpose.
There can be purpose to yourpain.
You know, on the other sideyour struggles is more strength
(07:11):
if you choose and just takestime and reflection to to
understand that there is.
There's a famous quote that theworld breaks all of us, and
some of us are stronger in thebroken places, and this is from
Ernest Hemingway and the ideabeing this is that broken bone,
when it breaks, if you let itheal back properly, it's
(07:34):
actually stronger Then it wasbefore.
The alternate, of course, isthat if you don't heal it
properly, it becomes gangrenousand ultimately can lead to death
.
But I think, as I think, aboutour human condition.
You know there's a few thingswe need to ultimately be
thriving humans.
We need, you know, food, water,sleep, shelter, companionship.
(07:54):
And I would add to that we needstruggle.
We literally need to go throughdifficult things to develop our
character.
It's a part of the humanexperience and to deny that is
denying a part of what we'rereally meant to be.
So, you know, I stories I'vegot many, but going through
(08:15):
bankruptcy was probably a prettygood one, you know, I would
even say that how I left the toybusiness, so I didn't talk
about that.
So in 2017, I had an exit.
People say, oh yeah, an exitthat's amazing, and I say, yeah,
it was amazing in that I gotfired from a company that I
co-founded and again, just kindof learned the hard way that
(08:38):
when you get into business,you're choosing your, your
partners, and you should inspectwhat you're expecting about the
type of culture that they'releading.
And so this partnership wasbased on financial outcomes and
not on cultural impact, and so,on paper, it looked perfect.
Put the two companies together.
The cultures are clashing.
(08:59):
At the end of the day, there isno such thing as merger.
There's only acquisition,because one culture is going to
win, and I found out the hardway that my culture was not the
winning culture and I got exited.
Now, fortunately for me, it wasa sudden exit, but it had a soft
landing because at the end,they bought out my shares and
that provided me new optionality.
But you know, to be disruptedfrom, you know, 27 years of
(09:24):
blood, sweat and tears,bootstrapping companies, going
through bankruptcy, startingagain and get into a place where
suddenly you feel like you'rebuilt something of significance
and now it's taken away.
It was pretty disheartening,but again, as I let time and
reflection take their place,I've now learned that the best
(09:45):
gifts often come wrapped in uglypaper, like that was an ugly
paper, like that was an uglymoment to go through.
But it provided me the gift offreedom and the optionality to
choose again and ultimately tofocus on something that I think
is infinitely more important tobe thinking about, which is how
do we create waste innovationand how do we create a more
sustainable future.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Yeah, big risks have.
Big can be big failures.
Right, like I mean it soundslike you have done some really
big, big things and and youcould fail, big too.
Listening to you, I think ofhow fast and I think maybe this
is a question Things happen andthe transition because you have.
(10:23):
I mean, do you sit in that pityfor a bit and kind of go, oh
you know, but your mind knows toget out of here Like there's
the next.
I don't know if you can andyou're a coach, so I mean
someone's got to ask you that.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
For sure.
Yeah, look, I think there are.
There is a reason.
There's five stages of grief.
Right, there has to be thatinitial anger and denial.
You just it has to be there.
Whatever happens, happens andyou have to let it land, because
we're meant to be emotional andto feel things and to deny
those denying part of who youare.
But you know Victor Frankel,you know he talked about that we
(11:02):
might not be able to choosewhat happens to us.
We get to choose our responseto it.
We get to decide what it meansand you know I didn't have to
live through the horrors of aNazi concentration camp, which
he did.
But I think if you giveyourself the time, you get to
decide if this is something thatis providing you grief or is it
(11:22):
something that is going to be agift.
And it really is a decision,because within everything there
is a silver lining.
There is that choice to likeglass half full, glass half
empty.
And what happens to most people,including myself?
You spend a lot of time in thevictim zone which come with the
four B's.
(11:43):
Where you're?
You're blind to yourinvolvement of how you got to
that place.
You're begrudging others aroundyou who seemingly are doing
well, because you're comparing,and you compare you to spare,
you're blaming people for thecircumstances they're in and
ultimately it's creatingbitterness, which is an
insidious poison thatintoxicates only yourself.
(12:05):
Right, it's?
When you surrender to that pastyou get to choose a new future,
because endings on the otherside of endings are new
beginnings.
New beginnings are full ofpossibility because we get to
imagine a new and better futureand use hope to drive potential
and opportunity forward.
So, yeah, I mean rejoice inyour suffering.
(12:27):
Romans 3, 5, and 6 talks aboutthis that we rejoice in our
suffering, because sufferingproduces perseverance,
perseverance creates character,and on the other side of
character you've created newhope for a better future, and I
firmly believe in the way thatthat rolls out.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Wow, I am glad I asked that question.
That was great.
Thank you.
I think you're going to have agreat one here.
We're going to talk a littlebit about our failures and
mistakes, and I think we allknow we learn more from our
failures and mistakes than ourown successes.
So if you would share agreatest failure or mistake and
what you learned from it.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Look, there's been so many failings and I'd like to
delineate between failing andbeing a failure.
Okay, because I think there aretwo different things.
Failing is a part of succeeding.
In other words, we come up witha thesis, we test it.
They usually don't work andhopefully we learn from it.
You know, we talk about failingfast, fail often and fail cheap
with an organization, becauseif people aren't failing, that
(13:28):
means they're not pushingthemselves.
They have to continue to pushoutside their comfort zone to
find the edge of possibilities.
You know, just, if you makemistakes, just don't repeat them
, just learn from them and moveon and make improvements.
So they're iterations.
I mean, if you take a look atSpaceX which is, you know, top
of mind in terms of like, howthey got these rockets to
eventually be recoverable thefirst I don't know how many
(13:52):
tests failed, the things blew up, it didn't return back, they
lost it.
It cost hundreds of millions ofdollars, but with every failing
they move closer to succeeding.
Where now, today, they haverockets that successfully deploy
I was going to say astronauts,yes, they do astronauts as well
but satellites into the abyssaland then return back, and it's
(14:13):
an incredible innovation.
But it took a lot of failing toget to that success.
Becoming a failure is when youget knocked down and you choose
to stay down.
In other words, you surrender,you don't give up and go again.
And so, for me, I'm going touse bankruptcy that's.
You know that when thathappened in 2006, that was when
you think about it as a founder.
(14:34):
This is like your worstnightmare.
You build a business, youburrow that into the marketplace
and then you build it and scaleit, and the unimaginable is I
don't ever want to go to thatplace and I know that for me,
that was my greatest fear.
And then I was forced to gothere and it was super
uncomfortable.
I can tell you, on the otherside of that, I discovered
something super valuable.
I discovered that there'sflanking maneuvers that can
(14:56):
happen to your business ifyou're not aware of it.
So the reason I call themflanking maneuvers is that in
battle, most people think thatthese two armies come together
and they clash it out and youknow, the prevailing army wins.
Typically, what happens isthere's a flanking maneuver
Another army gets in behind theother one cuts off their supply
(15:16):
or the reinforcements, andthat's how they end up losing
the battle.
And if you go back in history,that's kind of the most famous
way that battles have beenfought and won.
And in business there areflanking maneuvers that can
happen to you if you're notaware of it, and the three that
I've identified are your people,your systems and your capital.
(15:37):
If you're growing and scaling abusiness, you are stressing the
business, and in order for youto stay ahead of those stresses,
you have to be constantlyreinventing those.
And if the faster you grow, thefaster you have to reinvent
those.
And what I mean by that is thatthe people, the team you start
with, is not the team you'regoing to finish with, so the
people that got you to where youare may not be the same people
(15:58):
are going to get you to whereyou want to go.
So you have to be constantlyupgrading, either adding in new
bodies or replacing the bodiesthat have their best buy date as
past due.
They just can't get you to thatnext level.
So it's really important you'rethinking that through.
Second is your systems.
You need to know what to you'reinspecting what you're
expecting and measuring theright things and making sure
(16:18):
they're not vanity metrics.
I tell people that this sayinghas so much truth to it.
You should think about all thetime top lines vanity, bottom
line sanity and cash flows.
Reality Are your systemstelling you what you need to be
monitoring and they giving theright feedback so you can make
the right decisions at the righttime.
And then, finally, the third iscash.
You need to have a continualsupply of cash.
(16:41):
You people ask me all the timewhen they should stop a business
, and I'm like well, when you'reout of cash or you're out of
hope, and sometimes is both.
But you can avoid running outof cash just by getting ahead of
it and thinking beyond that.
And I would tell you, to thisday, having lived through
special loans and having thatsort of productive paranoia of
(17:03):
knowing what that look like, I'malways thinking about
reinventing those three things.
I'm all constantly looking downthe road map to say where we at
, where we going and what arethe resources on those three
areas that we need to have inorder to make that so.
And so there's my example ofhow I used a failing to now be
more formidable in my futureventures.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yeah, I clearly need to change the question to
failing, not failures.
That was a great, a greatdefinition.
Listening to you, there are somany lessons that I'm just I
just actually want to stop andkeep like I actually want to
just write notes right now.
So I have to listen to thisagain you are a business coach,
a leadership coach, and Ibelieve you have a book and I
(17:49):
want to jump in right therebecause I feel like, have you
written all this down, theselessons?
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I can save you some time.
I think the book now book is areally deceptive thing.
Right?
You look at a book in a shelf,you go what is a book?
What, if you think about that?
Two hundred, five hundred pageshow are you might be is the
opportunity to get intosomebody's mind, learn About
them, their character and alsothe situations that form them.
(18:18):
Like what, what happened thatgave them that unique point of
view or that neat, unique amountof wisdom.
So it took me three years towrite this book, and I would say
that three years is distillingfifty years of my life In three
years.
That's now condensed into twohundred fifty pages of a book.
And you know most of my lessonscame from things that were
(18:40):
painful, that were difficult.
So the book is, start up, santatoy makers, tale of ten business
lessons learned from timelesstoys.
And the thesis really startsfrom the fact that you know, we
were created as playful, humansare meant to be playful and we
don't stop playing as we growold.
We get old because we stopplaying.
(19:01):
I'm a big believer that the waywe were created was to be
playful, because it forces us toproblem solve, be more curious
and interact with others in away that is is, create
meaningful relationships.
And so the book takes an iconictoy.
That's a talk of the history.
So there's a sketchersmonopolies, gi jose, just
(19:24):
example of a few.
Where do they come from?
And then what are they teachingus?
And then I tell a story aboutmy experience in toy business,
typically a tale of what not todo.
I tell people this is not a todo book, it's a what not to do
book, so you learn from thewisdom of my wounds.
In an unpack, the lessons, thatkind of co join them together,
and I think it's the fun way todo that to tell stories and to
(19:48):
explain the lessons that came asa result of several failings on
my journey.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah well, we remember the lessons.
When we hire the story.
It's the story that you know,we remember.
No, there was a lesson in there, yeah well.
So what leader impact?
We want to grow personally,professionally and spiritually
for increasing impact.
So would you be willing toshare an example Of how the
spiritual makes a practicaldifference in your life as a
(20:17):
leader?
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Yeah, look, for me, it's being able to zoom in and
zoom out you need in life.
You need both a telescope and amicroscope the telescope to
zoom out and see the universefor what it is and to feel small
and to feel it that that's animportant part of who we are.
(20:42):
We are a speck on, a speck in avery small galaxy, floating in
a universe that seems to beinfinitely expanding, and when
you put it in that perspective,you get to a place of wow.
The things I'm going through atthis point in my life are not
that important, yet themicroscope has you zoom right
(21:03):
through all that back to who youare and know that there's only
been one of you like you thatever will be in all of history.
You are here, you're breathingair, you are creating energy and
you're here for a purpose, andso it's helpful to understand
that you're not that importantto the scheme of things, but
that because you're unique,you're very important in the
(21:25):
scheme of things, and thatreally helps me get grounded in
my prayer and meditation, whichis a part of my daily practice.
For us to shine our light, weneed to be plugged into the
source of all life, and the onlyway you get there is by getting
grounded, through gratitude andconnecting with the Creator in
a meaningful way.
And what I would say is thatI've spent a lot of time going
(21:49):
through challenges and it wasduring those challenges that
there's a few mantras that Ispoke often, and one was
Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, which isTrust in the Lord with all your
heart.
Lean not on your ownunderstanding, but in all your
wit-lays.
Acknowledge him and he willguide your paths.
And I can remember just sayingit over and over and over again.
(22:09):
Particularly when things seemto be somewhat hopeless, which
is a tough place to be whenyou're in a place of despair and
anxiety, and it creates ascarcity mindset, that's really,
really awful, and that abilityto say that really reinforced my
thinking about that.
I, at the end of the day, onlyhave a very small part that I
(22:31):
have to control, like StephenCovey talks about that.
There's your circle of control,there's your circle of concern
and there's your circle ofinfluence.
It's in the middle of all thatand your circle of control are
the things you can control,which really is only four things
, which you say think,ultimately feel your initial
feeling be felt, but ultimatelywhat you choose to feel be yours
, and then what you do, that'sit.
(22:53):
Then there's you use that togrow your circle of influence.
But then there's God circlewhich is infinite.
It's like the planet spinningaround at 16,000 miles an hour
going around the sun and theuniverse is expanding.
I mean, the part I get tocontrol and the part he has to
control are very different, butit's very comforting to know
that I have him in control ofthe bigger things.
(23:15):
I get to control my part.
I have to do my part.
He's like when Moses went tothe Red Sea.
God had the hard work he had tosplit the seas, but Moses still
had to put up his arms.
He was involved in co-creating.
So for whatever reason I can'texplain, our creator has
designed a universe where we'reco-creators with him and knowing
that is empowering.
(23:35):
But understand that your part,however small it might be, is
still important to actuallymaking the eternal happen.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Did you always have such a strong faith?
Have you always thought this orwas this?
I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
No, I would actually say for a long time I felt I had
an imposter syndrome andinfuriety complex.
I would say a certain part ofme still was there, particularly
because I think growing up Igrew up in a home where money
was considered bad, or at leasttoo much money was considered
(24:18):
bad.
And since businesses are aboutmoney, business is bad and if
you really want to make the mostof your life you should be
doing something in ministry.
And so I actually thought forquite a long time that I was
doing something kind ofrebellious and that was not what
I should be doing.
And it took time and patienceand coaching and reading, and I
(24:43):
would say the book that made thegreatest impact on my way of
thinking was Every Good and Everby Tim Keller, and he unpacks
that everybody's got a role as apart of God's kingdom on earth
and that work is sacred and it'seternal.
And in fact, irwin McManustalks about how our first job
(25:06):
description comes from Genesis28, where God says he blessed
them.
He said be fruitful, increasein number, fill the earth and
subdue it.
And that fill the earth andsubdue it piece is really
fascinating because if you goback to creation, the creation
story in the six days.
The first six days, what'shappening is God's taking chaos
and turning it to order.
And then the other three days,god's taking the order he's
(25:30):
created and filling it withcreation.
And then, right after that, hecreates us and says here's your
job description fill the earthand subdue it.
In other words, subdue it, takechaos, turn it to order, fill
it.
The earth was already prettyfull.
He made a lot of stuff, it wasvery diverse, but he wanted us
to continue to becomeco-creators.
And so when I understood thatmy role as a human is to be
(25:51):
creative and to create creationthat builds more value into
people on the planet, and bydoing that it's an act of
service and love and has eternalconsequence, that was super
empowering.
So, yeah, I would say that's.
It is a evolution, has nothappened Over time.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Yeah, oh, great answer.
Thank you.
Leader impact is dedicated toleaders having a lasting impact.
So, as you continue to movethrough your own journey,
amazing as it is, have youconsidered what you want your
faith legacy to be when youleave this world?
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Kind of just following on what I just said.
I mean, look, I I'm inspired bythe story of John Newton.
You know, for those that don'tknow, john Newton was a slave
trader who felt remorse over hisfact he was a slave trader.
In fact he irony is he actuallywas a slave.
He was a redeemed slave butthen became a slave trader, felt
(26:48):
bad about it, but it was stillbusiness.
And he was in a cotton, a stormoff the coast of Ireland and at
that time he got in his kneesand he prayed to God.
He said, hey, if you saved mefrom this, I promised to turn my
life around.
And God saved him.
He went back to London andTrude his word.
He started a movement andteamed up with William
(27:09):
Wilberforce and became the sortof forces they'd abolished the
slave trade in the BritishEmpire.
And People may not know thatstory, but they'll never forget
the lyrics of his most famouswork, which is the hymn amazing
grace.
And so when you hear that hymnand hear him talk about being a
wreck saved a wretch like me,you can actually feel viscerally
the deep conviction he hadabout I had a wretched life, I
(27:31):
was doing things that were notIn integrity with who I was and
what I really understood to betrue.
And so, as I think aboutapplying that story to my story,
I shipped a lot of plasticaround the planet again, putting
smiles on kids faces, and itwas definitely a noble endeavor,
but I also felt convicted thatit just wasn't a sustainable
practice and it's not just a toy.
(27:52):
It's anything to do withconsumer goods, where it's
basically push out as much stuffas you want and the end of life
has forgotten.
So I feel that this opportunityfor me to create redemption and
to redeem Waste into somethingof value and making sure the end
of life of products actuallyhas this full 360 benefit, that
that builds value for people andthe planet, is really a legacy
(28:16):
that I'm excited about, becauseI think it's something that can
affect positively generationsthat I'll never see.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Yeah, I think of your .
When I think of someone'slegacy, I I think of your book.
How do you feel your book playsa part in your legacy?
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Yeah, look, I, I think it does.
I, I think.
By the way, I think everybodyhas a story to write.
Everybody should take the timeto write it out, whether it's in
a book or a journal or memoir.
I just think it's number one.
You will be the greatestbenefactor of the learnings,
because we don't learn from whathappens.
We learn from reflecting andunpacking the lessons.
So I learned a ton about myselfthrough that process.
(28:55):
But beyond that, I mean I havepictures of my great-grandfather
, who was the first chiropractorin Denmark.
I see his face, but I have noidea who he was, and I wish I
did, I wish there was anopportunity for me to get inside
of his head and understand whathe was thinking, what he did,
because, you know, he traveledfrom Denmark to North America to
become a chiropractor when aprofession was not even a
legitimate profession.
(29:15):
At the time there was nointernet.
It wasn't like he could goahead and Google and do a search
to see what the local, you knowrestaurants and hotels were
like in the area.
I mean it was blind faith totake that, that step, and so I
think my hope is that this bookis is for my kids and my kids,
kids and I obtain and know whotheir ancestry was and that I
(29:39):
did make the best of my life andI did put the time and the
effort in to continue to becomethe best and brightest version
myself, and I want to inspirethem Through that to be able to
do the same.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
It's great, thank you , and my last question is what
brings you the greatest joy?
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Look, I think this is an interesting one.
Joy is actually comes from theword Enjoy, enjoyment, right
like.
It's something that when weenjoy something, we get joy from
it.
All right, and I actually thinkit's important to delineate joy
from happiness Everybody'stalking about.
I want to be happy, andhappiness to me comes from the
(30:21):
idea of happenstance, it's, it'ssomething that happens in the
moment.
So, like a bottle of wine, anice cream cone, a new pair of
shoes create happiness, but truejoy comes from living a life of
alignment with what you believe, what you value and how you act
on the on those those valuesand virtues and convictions.
(30:43):
So what I really love to do is Ilove to invest into building
things that create meaningfuland magical memories with other
people, because I really believethat you are most enjoying your
life when you're growing andyou're giving, and so one of the
things that I I do here inBritish Columbia is I host
(31:05):
events for founders,entrepreneurs, where we get
together and we go mountainbiking or we go skiing or we do
timber sledding number ofdifferent outdoor pursuits that
I love and I love building theseevents, hosting people,
creating surprise and delightmoments within that, but, most
importantly, building in a waythat we're going to create a
meaningful memory, because, atthe end of the day, the memories
(31:25):
that we create with otherhumans that truly connect
emotionally to each other, orwhat is going to matter the most
when we're laying on ourdeathbed.
So that's my true belief that wereally invested our time and
our attention to give people andcare for people in a way that
created something that was trulymagical together, and so it's
friends, family and those thatyou want to surround in your
(31:47):
circle of influence.
I'm just a big believer.
That's where we should reallylean in.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Yeah, lean in, brad.
I want to thank you forspending the last half hour with
us.
I've Again, I'm gonna listen tothis again and start writing
notes.
You had some Really some greatanswers and I just appreciate
you taking the time.
I know you're a busy guy.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
At least it's been my honor and I look forward to
getting to know you better andFigure out ways how we can maybe
make some magic memoriestogether.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
I'll be following up.
So if anyone wants to engagewith you, like myself, how can I
mean?
I know how to find you, but howcan people look you up, find
you, engage with you?
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Yeah, first thing I'd say, go to my website, which is
Brad Pedersen, calm, and youspell Peter Pedersen, peterson,
however you want to say it witha D's and E's.
I get called all kinds ofthings, but it's fine and you
can learn more about me there.
You can go to my book website,which is startup Santa book,
calm, and you can actuallydownload the first chapter for
(32:50):
free and there's some videos andresources that I think your,
your listeners, you'll findhelpful.
And then, if you're interestedin the companies that I'm
working on, it's loamycom, lo,micom, and from there there'll
be links to other things thatwe're working on as well.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Sounds good.
I'm sure by the time thislaunches there might be
something who knows?
All right, well, thank you.
Thank you again, brad.
It was.
It was wonderful to meet you.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
You as well.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
All right.
Well, if you're part of leaderimpact, you can always discuss
or share this podcast with yourgroup.
And if you are not yet Part ofa leader impact and would like
to find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website at leaderimpactca and check out our free
leadership assessment.
You will also find on ourwebpage chapter one of Braden
Douglas's book becoming a leaderof impact.
(33:35):
You can also check out groupsavailable in Canada leader
impactca or, if you're listeningfrom anywhere else in the world
, check out leader impactcom orget in touch with us by email.
Info at leader impactca and wewill connect you.
And if you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
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This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
(33:55):
Thank you for engaging with usand 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 world,dedicated 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,so if you have any questions,
comments or suggestions to makethe show even better, please let
(00:27):
us know.
Best way to stay connected inCanada is through our newsletter
at LeaderImpactca or on socialmedia at Leader Impact, and if
you're listening from outside ofCanada, check out our website
at LeaderImpactcom.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today is Brad Petersen
.
Brad is an award-winningentrepreneur, angel investor,
thought leader and sought afterbusiness coach.
(00:49):
In 2008, he founded and scaledCanada's top toy company, tech
for Kids and subsequentlyco-founded Pella, the $100
million sustainable phone casestartup that created an entirely
new category.
In 2021, Brad and the team atPella successfully launched a
record-breaking 9.8 millioncrowd-sourced funding campaign
(01:10):
for the Lomi, the world's firstsmart waste kitchen composter.
Brad has a passion for faith,fitness, adventure and outdoor
pursuits, and lives in themountains of British Columbia
with his amazing wife, wherethey are building a beautiful
life.
Welcome to the podcast, Brad.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Thanks, lisa.
What a great introduction.
Sounds like I should get you todo that for me every time that
was.
I'm blushing a little bitactually.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Well, it took a lot to shorten it because there is
so much more and I feel likesome of it.
I'm like you know what, I'mgoing to ask you about some of
that stuff.
But a great, you've had sometrials and tribulations, I can
say that, and I think they mightcome out here, but I just want
to thank you for joining ustoday.
So we will get started ifyou're ready.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
I'm ready, let's talk .
Speaker 2 (01:58):
So in later impact we're obviously looking for a
little bit of your professionaljourney and how you got to where
you are today, so I'm wonderingif you can give us a few couple
snapshots that were pivotalmoments along that journey.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Yeah, look, my life is a series of happy accidents.
I don't think, you know, when Istarted out that I ever thought
that I would be doing an AMtoday.
In fact, it'd be hard toimagine it, and I think that's
it's part of what most peopledevelop.
It's called a narrative fallacy.
We say we had perfect clarityabout where we started and where
(02:34):
we're going, when the realityis we can only connect the dots
when looking backwards.
So you know, I grew up in theprayers of Canada.
Where I grew up, basically,there's two things you do, which
is agricultural oil.
Now I did neither, because Icame from a family of
chiropractors.
My father was a chiropractor,his father and mother were
chiropractors and my greatgrandfather was the very first
(02:55):
chiropractor in Denmark, and youknow pettersons were designed
to be chiropractors.
So I was on a path to do thatand through kind of a series of,
again, happy accidents, Istumbled into the wonderful
world of toys and it started offas a toy distribution company
and you know it was abootstrapping business that I
(03:17):
did for my basement in Red Deer,alberta, which we were very
proud of that.
You know, our competitors areall based in Ontario and Toronto
and here we were this littlestartup that could, based in
Alberta, that was actuallyshowing them that we could build
a really meaningful opportunity.
And over time we scaled thatand by the early 2000s we built
the largest toy distributioncompany in Canada.
(03:37):
And you know, I was in my sortof late 20s and feeling really
good about life.
It seemed like I had themightest touch.
And that's when I came to learnthat a little bit of ego can
lead to a lot of overhead, andvery quickly my business went
from being a hero to a zero andthat we went into special loans
because we found out the hardway you can grow too fast and
(03:58):
when you break coverage to yourbank, they don't like that and
they decide that they want toput you in the penalty box for
that.
And you know, special loans islike slow strangulation they cut
off your supply, your bloodsupply being the money, and and
you're you're, you know theydrip you just enough to kind of
keep you alive, but not enoughto actually thrive.
So so I ended up going througha restructuring which is a fancy
(04:23):
word for bankruptcy to try andfix the business.
Two years later, after a failedattempt, we ultimately
bankrupted that company and Ihad to start all over again, and
that became what I now call asmy inconvenient blessing,
because from sort of that youknow, basement foundation of
rock bottom, we're able torebuild a better business that
(04:45):
went from being a distributioncompany to a manufacturing
company and that businessultimately became infinitely
more successful.
And so we went down anotherpath of building a toy company
that did manufacturing and fastforward to twenty seventeen.
I exited that opportunity andnow I commit myself to
sustainability and things thatwill leave a lasting impact,
(05:07):
because you know, it's been abig part of my life putting
smiles on kids faces, butultimately what I wanted to do
in the next part of my life wasto do things that would matter
to generations that are yet tocome.
So that's what that gives you abit of a background.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
Yeah, I was talking, I think, with a mutual friend
and he talked a little bit aboutyou.
For years, you built theseplastic toys and you shipped
across, which is the sort of thereason for the I now want to
save and the composting and thatyou know.
Is that true?
Speaker 1 (05:37):
A hundred percent.
Yeah, okay, again during my mycareer.
So I co-founded a companycalled basic fun and most people
wouldn't know basic fun, butyou know the brands that we made
.
We made things like light,bright, tonka connects,
carabir's mashams, and duringthat time we literally shipped
billions of pieces of plasticaround the planet again putting
smiles on kids faces.
(05:58):
But the consumer economy thatwe're part of is this very much
make, take use, waste, lineareconomy.
And yet if you think abouthistory is made up of a loop
economy always done.
You know the past was somethingthat was Helpful for the next
generation of things that we'regonna grow.
So I really want to contributeto how do we return back to that
(06:20):
loop economy?
And it comes down to makingthings that a better, materials
that have a great one to life,and providing the infrastructure
to allow that to be possible,and that's my focus.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Wow, that is great.
Thank you, brad.
All right, well, the next oneis about a little bit about your
principal success.
If you have a best principal ofsuccess and a story that you
might have to illustrate that,yeah, look, I Kind of go back to
my my story, opening story.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I tell people like I don't have an MBA, but I have a
PhD and DUMB from the school,hard knocks.
I've learned a lot of mylessons just by doing it, going
through it, and what I'vediscovered Is that there is
purpose.
There can be purpose to yourpain.
You know, on the other sideyour struggles is more strength
(07:11):
if you choose and just takestime and reflection to to
understand that there is.
There's a famous quote that theworld breaks all of us, and
some of us are stronger in thebroken places, and this is from
Ernest Hemingway and the ideabeing this is that broken bone,
when it breaks, if you let itheal back properly, it's
(07:34):
actually stronger Then it wasbefore.
The alternate, of course, isthat if you don't heal it
properly, it becomes gangrenousand ultimately can lead to death
.
But I think, as I think, aboutour human condition.
You know there's a few thingswe need to ultimately be
thriving humans.
We need, you know, food, water,sleep, shelter, companionship.
(07:54):
And I would add to that we needstruggle.
We literally need to go throughdifficult things to develop our
character.
It's a part of the humanexperience and to deny that is
denying a part of what we'rereally meant to be.
So, you know, I stories I'vegot many, but going through
(08:15):
bankruptcy was probably a prettygood one, you know, I would
even say that how I left the toybusiness, so I didn't talk
about that.
So in 2017, I had an exit.
People say, oh yeah, an exitthat's amazing, and I say, yeah,
it was amazing in that I gotfired from a company that I
co-founded and again, just kindof learned the hard way that
(08:38):
when you get into business,you're choosing your, your
partners, and you should inspectwhat you're expecting about the
type of culture that they'releading.
And so this partnership wasbased on financial outcomes and
not on cultural impact, and so,on paper, it looked perfect.
Put the two companies together.
The cultures are clashing.
(08:59):
At the end of the day, there isno such thing as merger.
There's only acquisition,because one culture is going to
win, and I found out the hardway that my culture was not the
winning culture and I got exited.
Now, fortunately for me, it wasa sudden exit, but it had a soft
landing because at the end,they bought out my shares and
that provided me new optionality.
But you know, to be disruptedfrom, you know, 27 years of
(09:24):
blood, sweat and tears,bootstrapping companies, going
through bankruptcy, startingagain and get into a place where
suddenly you feel like you'rebuilt something of significance
and now it's taken away.
It was pretty disheartening,but again, as I let time and
reflection take their place,I've now learned that the best
(09:45):
gifts often come wrapped in uglypaper, like that was an ugly
paper, like that was an uglymoment to go through.
But it provided me the gift offreedom and the optionality to
choose again and ultimately tofocus on something that I think
is infinitely more important tobe thinking about, which is how
do we create waste innovationand how do we create a more
sustainable future.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
Yeah, big risks have.
Big can be big failures.
Right, like I mean it soundslike you have done some really
big, big things and and youcould fail, big too.
Listening to you, I think ofhow fast and I think maybe this
is a question Things happen andthe transition because you have.
(10:23):
I mean, do you sit in that pityfor a bit and kind of go, oh
you know, but your mind knows toget out of here Like there's
the next.
I don't know if you can andyou're a coach, so I mean
someone's got to ask you that.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
For sure.
Yeah, look, I think there are.
There is a reason.
There's five stages of grief.
Right, there has to be thatinitial anger and denial.
You just it has to be there.
Whatever happens, happens andyou have to let it land, because
we're meant to be emotional andto feel things and to deny
those denying part of who youare.
But you know Victor Frankel,you know he talked about that we
(11:02):
might not be able to choosewhat happens to us.
We get to choose our responseto it.
We get to decide what it meansand you know I didn't have to
live through the horrors of aNazi concentration camp, which
he did.
But I think if you giveyourself the time, you get to
decide if this is something thatis providing you grief or is it
(11:22):
something that is going to be agift.
And it really is a decision,because within everything there
is a silver lining.
There is that choice to likeglass half full, glass half
empty.
And what happens to most people,including myself?
You spend a lot of time in thevictim zone which come with the
four B's.
(11:43):
Where you're?
You're blind to yourinvolvement of how you got to
that place.
You're begrudging others aroundyou who seemingly are doing
well, because you're comparing,and you compare you to spare,
you're blaming people for thecircumstances they're in and
ultimately it's creatingbitterness, which is an
insidious poison thatintoxicates only yourself.
(12:05):
Right, it's?
When you surrender to that pastyou get to choose a new future,
because endings on the otherside of endings are new
beginnings.
New beginnings are full ofpossibility because we get to
imagine a new and better futureand use hope to drive potential
and opportunity forward.
So, yeah, I mean rejoice inyour suffering.
(12:27):
Romans 3, 5, and 6 talks aboutthis that we rejoice in our
suffering, because sufferingproduces perseverance,
perseverance creates character,and on the other side of
character you've created newhope for a better future, and I
firmly believe in the way thatthat rolls out.
Speaker 2 (12:46):
Wow, I am glad I asked that question.
That was great.
Thank you.
I think you're going to have agreat one here.
We're going to talk a littlebit about our failures and
mistakes, and I think we allknow we learn more from our
failures and mistakes than ourown successes.
So if you would share agreatest failure or mistake and
what you learned from it.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Look, there's been so many failings and I'd like to
delineate between failing andbeing a failure.
Okay, because I think there aretwo different things.
Failing is a part of succeeding.
In other words, we come up witha thesis, we test it.
They usually don't work andhopefully we learn from it.
You know, we talk about failingfast, fail often and fail cheap
with an organization, becauseif people aren't failing, that
(13:28):
means they're not pushingthemselves.
They have to continue to pushoutside their comfort zone to
find the edge of possibilities.
You know, just, if you makemistakes, just don't repeat them
, just learn from them and moveon and make improvements.
So they're iterations.
I mean, if you take a look atSpaceX which is, you know, top
of mind in terms of like, howthey got these rockets to
eventually be recoverable thefirst I don't know how many
(13:52):
tests failed, the things blew up, it didn't return back, they
lost it.
It cost hundreds of millions ofdollars, but with every failing
they move closer to succeeding.
Where now, today, they haverockets that successfully deploy
I was going to say astronauts,yes, they do astronauts as well
but satellites into the abyssaland then return back, and it's
(14:13):
an incredible innovation.
But it took a lot of failing toget to that success.
Becoming a failure is when youget knocked down and you choose
to stay down.
In other words, you surrender,you don't give up and go again.
And so, for me, I'm going touse bankruptcy that's.
You know that when thathappened in 2006, that was when
you think about it as a founder.
(14:34):
This is like your worstnightmare.
You build a business, youburrow that into the marketplace
and then you build it and scaleit, and the unimaginable is I
don't ever want to go to thatplace and I know that for me,
that was my greatest fear.
And then I was forced to gothere and it was super
uncomfortable.
I can tell you, on the otherside of that, I discovered
something super valuable.
I discovered that there'sflanking maneuvers that can
(14:56):
happen to your business ifyou're not aware of it.
So the reason I call themflanking maneuvers is that in
battle, most people think thatthese two armies come together
and they clash it out and youknow, the prevailing army wins.
Typically, what happens isthere's a flanking maneuver
Another army gets in behind theother one cuts off their supply
(15:16):
or the reinforcements, andthat's how they end up losing
the battle.
And if you go back in history,that's kind of the most famous
way that battles have beenfought and won.
And in business there areflanking maneuvers that can
happen to you if you're notaware of it, and the three that
I've identified are your people,your systems and your capital.
(15:37):
If you're growing and scaling abusiness, you are stressing the
business, and in order for youto stay ahead of those stresses,
you have to be constantlyreinventing those.
And if the faster you grow, thefaster you have to reinvent
those.
And what I mean by that is thatthe people, the team you start
with, is not the team you'regoing to finish with, so the
people that got you to where youare may not be the same people
(15:58):
are going to get you to whereyou want to go.
So you have to be constantlyupgrading, either adding in new
bodies or replacing the bodiesthat have their best buy date as
past due.
They just can't get you to thatnext level.
So it's really important you'rethinking that through.
Second is your systems.
You need to know what to you'reinspecting what you're
expecting and measuring theright things and making sure
(16:18):
they're not vanity metrics.
I tell people that this sayinghas so much truth to it.
You should think about all thetime top lines vanity, bottom
line sanity and cash flows.
Reality Are your systemstelling you what you need to be
monitoring and they giving theright feedback so you can make
the right decisions at the righttime.
And then, finally, the third iscash.
You need to have a continualsupply of cash.
(16:41):
You people ask me all the timewhen they should stop a business
, and I'm like well, when you'reout of cash or you're out of
hope, and sometimes is both.
But you can avoid running outof cash just by getting ahead of
it and thinking beyond that.
And I would tell you, to thisday, having lived through
special loans and having thatsort of productive paranoia of
(17:03):
knowing what that look like, I'malways thinking about
reinventing those three things.
I'm all constantly looking downthe road map to say where we at
, where we going and what arethe resources on those three
areas that we need to have inorder to make that so.
And so there's my example ofhow I used a failing to now be
more formidable in my futureventures.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Yeah, I clearly need to change the question to
failing, not failures.
That was a great, a greatdefinition.
Listening to you, there are somany lessons that I'm just I
just actually want to stop andkeep like I actually want to
just write notes right now.
So I have to listen to thisagain you are a business coach,
a leadership coach, and Ibelieve you have a book and I
(17:49):
want to jump in right therebecause I feel like, have you
written all this down, theselessons?
Speaker 1 (17:57):
I can save you some time.
I think the book now book is areally deceptive thing.
Right?
You look at a book in a shelf,you go what is a book?
What, if you think about that?
Two hundred, five hundred pageshow are you might be is the
opportunity to get intosomebody's mind, learn About
them, their character and alsothe situations that form them.
(18:18):
Like what, what happened thatgave them that unique point of
view or that neat, unique amountof wisdom.
So it took me three years towrite this book, and I would say
that three years is distillingfifty years of my life In three
years.
That's now condensed into twohundred fifty pages of a book.
And you know most of my lessonscame from things that were
(18:40):
painful, that were difficult.
So the book is, start up, santatoy makers, tale of ten business
lessons learned from timelesstoys.
And the thesis really startsfrom the fact that you know, we
were created as playful, humansare meant to be playful and we
don't stop playing as we growold.
We get old because we stopplaying.
(19:01):
I'm a big believer that the waywe were created was to be
playful, because it forces us toproblem solve, be more curious
and interact with others in away that is is, create
meaningful relationships.
And so the book takes an iconictoy.
That's a talk of the history.
So there's a sketchersmonopolies, gi jose, just
(19:24):
example of a few.
Where do they come from?
And then what are they teachingus?
And then I tell a story aboutmy experience in toy business,
typically a tale of what not todo.
I tell people this is not a todo book, it's a what not to do
book, so you learn from thewisdom of my wounds.
In an unpack, the lessons, thatkind of co join them together,
and I think it's the fun way todo that to tell stories and to
(19:48):
explain the lessons that came asa result of several failings on
my journey.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Yeah well, we remember the lessons.
When we hire the story.
It's the story that you know,we remember.
No, there was a lesson in there, yeah well.
So what leader impact?
We want to grow personally,professionally and spiritually
for increasing impact.
So would you be willing toshare an example Of how the
spiritual makes a practicaldifference in your life as a
(20:17):
leader?
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Yeah, look, for me, it's being able to zoom in and
zoom out you need in life.
You need both a telescope and amicroscope the telescope to
zoom out and see the universefor what it is and to feel small
and to feel it that that's animportant part of who we are.
(20:42):
We are a speck on, a speck in avery small galaxy, floating in
a universe that seems to beinfinitely expanding, and when
you put it in that perspective,you get to a place of wow.
The things I'm going through atthis point in my life are not
that important, yet themicroscope has you zoom right
(21:03):
through all that back to who youare and know that there's only
been one of you like you thatever will be in all of history.
You are here, you're breathingair, you are creating energy and
you're here for a purpose, andso it's helpful to understand
that you're not that importantto the scheme of things, but
that because you're unique,you're very important in the
(21:25):
scheme of things, and thatreally helps me get grounded in
my prayer and meditation, whichis a part of my daily practice.
For us to shine our light, weneed to be plugged into the
source of all life, and the onlyway you get there is by getting
grounded, through gratitude andconnecting with the Creator in
a meaningful way.
And what I would say is thatI've spent a lot of time going
(21:49):
through challenges and it wasduring those challenges that
there's a few mantras that Ispoke often, and one was
Proverbs 3, 5, and 6, which isTrust in the Lord with all your
heart.
Lean not on your ownunderstanding, but in all your
wit-lays.
Acknowledge him and he willguide your paths.
And I can remember just sayingit over and over and over again.
(22:09):
Particularly when things seemto be somewhat hopeless, which
is a tough place to be whenyou're in a place of despair and
anxiety, and it creates ascarcity mindset, that's really,
really awful, and that abilityto say that really reinforced my
thinking about that.
I, at the end of the day, onlyhave a very small part that I
(22:31):
have to control, like StephenCovey talks about that.
There's your circle of control,there's your circle of concern
and there's your circle ofinfluence.
It's in the middle of all thatand your circle of control are
the things you can control,which really is only four things
, which you say think,ultimately feel your initial
feeling be felt, but ultimatelywhat you choose to feel be yours
, and then what you do, that'sit.
(22:53):
Then there's you use that togrow your circle of influence.
But then there's God circlewhich is infinite.
It's like the planet spinningaround at 16,000 miles an hour
going around the sun and theuniverse is expanding.
I mean, the part I get tocontrol and the part he has to
control are very different, butit's very comforting to know
that I have him in control ofthe bigger things.
(23:15):
I get to control my part.
I have to do my part.
He's like when Moses went tothe Red Sea.
God had the hard work he had tosplit the seas, but Moses still
had to put up his arms.
He was involved in co-creating.
So for whatever reason I can'texplain, our creator has
designed a universe where we'reco-creators with him and knowing
that is empowering.
(23:35):
But understand that your part,however small it might be, is
still important to actuallymaking the eternal happen.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
Did you always have such a strong faith?
Have you always thought this orwas this?
I mean, I don't know.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
No, I would actually say for a long time I felt I had
an imposter syndrome andinfuriety complex.
I would say a certain part ofme still was there, particularly
because I think growing up Igrew up in a home where money
was considered bad, or at leasttoo much money was considered
(24:18):
bad.
And since businesses are aboutmoney, business is bad and if
you really want to make the mostof your life you should be
doing something in ministry.
And so I actually thought forquite a long time that I was
doing something kind ofrebellious and that was not what
I should be doing.
And it took time and patienceand coaching and reading, and I
(24:43):
would say the book that made thegreatest impact on my way of
thinking was Every Good and Everby Tim Keller, and he unpacks
that everybody's got a role as apart of God's kingdom on earth
and that work is sacred and it'seternal.
And in fact, irwin McManustalks about how our first job
(25:06):
description comes from Genesis28, where God says he blessed
them.
He said be fruitful, increasein number, fill the earth and
subdue it.
And that fill the earth andsubdue it piece is really
fascinating because if you goback to creation, the creation
story in the six days.
The first six days, what'shappening is God's taking chaos
and turning it to order.
And then the other three days,god's taking the order he's
(25:30):
created and filling it withcreation.
And then, right after that, hecreates us and says here's your
job description fill the earthand subdue it.
In other words, subdue it, takechaos, turn it to order, fill
it.
The earth was already prettyfull.
He made a lot of stuff, it wasvery diverse, but he wanted us
to continue to becomeco-creators.
And so when I understood thatmy role as a human is to be
(25:51):
creative and to create creationthat builds more value into
people on the planet, and bydoing that it's an act of
service and love and has eternalconsequence, that was super
empowering.
So, yeah, I would say that's.
It is a evolution, has nothappened Over time.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
Yeah, oh, great answer.
Thank you.
Leader impact is dedicated toleaders having a lasting impact.
So, as you continue to movethrough your own journey,
amazing as it is, have youconsidered what you want your
faith legacy to be when youleave this world?
Speaker 1 (26:26):
Kind of just following on what I just said.
I mean, look, I I'm inspired bythe story of John Newton.
You know, for those that don'tknow, john Newton was a slave
trader who felt remorse over hisfact he was a slave trader.
In fact he irony is he actuallywas a slave.
He was a redeemed slave butthen became a slave trader, felt
(26:48):
bad about it, but it was stillbusiness.
And he was in a cotton, a stormoff the coast of Ireland and at
that time he got in his kneesand he prayed to God.
He said, hey, if you saved mefrom this, I promised to turn my
life around.
And God saved him.
He went back to London andTrude his word.
He started a movement andteamed up with William
(27:09):
Wilberforce and became the sortof forces they'd abolished the
slave trade in the BritishEmpire.
And People may not know thatstory, but they'll never forget
the lyrics of his most famouswork, which is the hymn amazing
grace.
And so when you hear that hymnand hear him talk about being a
wreck saved a wretch like me,you can actually feel viscerally
the deep conviction he hadabout I had a wretched life, I
(27:31):
was doing things that were notIn integrity with who I was and
what I really understood to betrue.
And so, as I think aboutapplying that story to my story,
I shipped a lot of plasticaround the planet again, putting
smiles on kids faces, and itwas definitely a noble endeavor,
but I also felt convicted thatit just wasn't a sustainable
practice and it's not just a toy.
(27:52):
It's anything to do withconsumer goods, where it's
basically push out as much stuffas you want and the end of life
has forgotten.
So I feel that this opportunityfor me to create redemption and
to redeem Waste into somethingof value and making sure the end
of life of products actuallyhas this full 360 benefit, that
that builds value for people andthe planet, is really a legacy
(28:16):
that I'm excited about, becauseI think it's something that can
affect positively generationsthat I'll never see.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Yeah, I think of your .
When I think of someone'slegacy, I I think of your book.
How do you feel your book playsa part in your legacy?
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Yeah, look, I, I think it does.
I, I think.
By the way, I think everybodyhas a story to write.
Everybody should take the timeto write it out, whether it's in
a book or a journal or memoir.
I just think it's number one.
You will be the greatestbenefactor of the learnings,
because we don't learn from whathappens.
We learn from reflecting andunpacking the lessons.
So I learned a ton about myselfthrough that process.
(28:55):
But beyond that, I mean I havepictures of my great-grandfather
, who was the first chiropractorin Denmark.
I see his face, but I have noidea who he was, and I wish I
did, I wish there was anopportunity for me to get inside
of his head and understand whathe was thinking, what he did,
because, you know, he traveledfrom Denmark to North America to
become a chiropractor when aprofession was not even a
legitimate profession.
(29:15):
At the time there was nointernet.
It wasn't like he could goahead and Google and do a search
to see what the local, you knowrestaurants and hotels were
like in the area.
I mean it was blind faith totake that, that step, and so I
think my hope is that this bookis is for my kids and my kids,
kids and I obtain and know whotheir ancestry was and that I
(29:39):
did make the best of my life andI did put the time and the
effort in to continue to becomethe best and brightest version
myself, and I want to inspirethem Through that to be able to
do the same.
Speaker 2 (29:50):
It's great, thank you , and my last question is what
brings you the greatest joy?
Speaker 1 (30:00):
Look, I think this is an interesting one.
Joy is actually comes from theword Enjoy, enjoyment, right
like.
It's something that when weenjoy something, we get joy from
it.
All right, and I actually thinkit's important to delineate joy
from happiness Everybody'stalking about.
I want to be happy, andhappiness to me comes from the
(30:21):
idea of happenstance, it's, it'ssomething that happens in the
moment.
So, like a bottle of wine, anice cream cone, a new pair of
shoes create happiness, but truejoy comes from living a life of
alignment with what you believe, what you value and how you act
on the on those those valuesand virtues and convictions.
(30:43):
So what I really love to do is Ilove to invest into building
things that create meaningfuland magical memories with other
people, because I really believethat you are most enjoying your
life when you're growing andyou're giving, and so one of the
things that I I do here inBritish Columbia is I host
(31:05):
events for founders,entrepreneurs, where we get
together and we go mountainbiking or we go skiing or we do
timber sledding number ofdifferent outdoor pursuits that
I love and I love building theseevents, hosting people,
creating surprise and delightmoments within that, but, most
importantly, building in a waythat we're going to create a
meaningful memory, because, atthe end of the day, the memories
(31:25):
that we create with otherhumans that truly connect
emotionally to each other, orwhat is going to matter the most
when we're laying on ourdeathbed.
So that's my true belief that wereally invested our time and
our attention to give people andcare for people in a way that
created something that was trulymagical together, and so it's
friends, family and those thatyou want to surround in your
(31:47):
circle of influence.
I'm just a big believer.
That's where we should reallylean in.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
Yeah, lean in, brad.
I want to thank you forspending the last half hour with
us.
I've Again, I'm gonna listen tothis again and start writing
notes.
You had some Really some greatanswers and I just appreciate
you taking the time.
I know you're a busy guy.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (32:08):
At least it's been my honor and I look forward to
getting to know you better andFigure out ways how we can maybe
make some magic memoriestogether.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
I'll be following up.
So if anyone wants to engagewith you, like myself, how can I
mean?
I know how to find you, but howcan people look you up, find
you, engage with you?
Speaker 1 (32:28):
Yeah, first thing I'd say, go to my website, which is
Brad Pedersen, calm, and youspell Peter Pedersen, peterson,
however you want to say it witha D's and E's.
I get called all kinds ofthings, but it's fine and you
can learn more about me there.
You can go to my book website,which is startup Santa book,
calm, and you can actuallydownload the first chapter for
(32:50):
free and there's some videos andresources that I think your,
your listeners, you'll findhelpful.
And then, if you're interestedin the companies that I'm
working on, it's loamycom, lo,micom, and from there there'll
be links to other things thatwe're working on as well.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Sounds good.
I'm sure by the time thislaunches there might be
something who knows?
All right, well, thank you.
Thank you again, brad.
It was.
It was wonderful to meet you.
Speaker 1 (33:13):
You as well.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
All right.
Well, if you're part of leaderimpact, you can always discuss
or share this podcast with yourgroup.
And if you are not yet Part ofa leader impact and would like
to find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website at leaderimpactca and check out our free
leadership assessment.
You will also find on ourwebpage chapter one of Braden
Douglas's book becoming a leaderof impact.
(33:35):
You can also check out groupsavailable in Canada leader
impactca or, if you're listeningfrom anywhere else in the world
, check out leader impactcom orget in touch with us by email.
Info at leader impactca and wewill connect you.
And if you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
us a rating or review.
This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
(33:55):
Thank you for engaging with usand remember impact starts with
you.
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