This Commerce Life
A Canadian Podcast, focused on Canadian brands, determined to talk about Canadian success stories. We are two retail guys that believe that Canadians are smart, resourceful entrepreneurs that Canada needs to know about. We find great stories of entrepreneurs for inspiration, teach the principles of retail, share best practices,. We play the role of connector to help entrepreneurs to find great partners.
Episodes
Shannon and Sarah, Naturopathic Doctors from Guelph, Ontario, are reimagining homeopathy for modern retail. In this episode, they share how they're solving the complexity problem in the homeopathy category by offering curated kits instead of overwhelming individual SKUs.
They discuss their journey from festivals to CHFA, their strategic approach to pricing, navigating Health Canada regulations, and why their next move might be Eur...
Join Phil and Kenny as they hit the road with Simran Kaur, Sales Manager for Western Canada at Chiba Organics, for an unfiltered conversation about navigating the Canadian CPG and retail landscape.
From her start handling national accounts for McDonald's and Starbucks at Zomato in Delhi to building relationships with independent grocers across Western Canada, Simran shares hard-earned wisdom about what it really takes to succeed in ...
What if your makeup routine is secretly harming your eye health? In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Nieka Sabeti, a practicing optometrist and founder of CHESHMA, a groundbreaking line of eye-friendly cosmetics. After countless patients broke down in her exam room—struggling with dry eye disease caused by cosmetics and feeling they had to choose between their appearance and their eye health—Dr. Neeka had a middle-of-the-night re...
The Knuckleheads talk to each other. Two retail veterans with a combined 50+ years of experience sit down for honest conversations about Canadian business, brands, and the challenges facing small and medium-sized companies.
We talk to each other about where we come from and how we got here. Kenny, it turns out, was always pretty linear. Phil, has nothing linear about his career at all.
When Nana Daniels returned from a trip to Ghana in 2016, she experienced a severe lupus flare-up that left her skin severely burned. What happened next changed her life forever.
After seven hours in the emergency room with no real solution, Nana turned to her Ghanaian roots and created her own remedy using raw shea butter, vitamin E, and essential oils. The results were so remarkable that friends started asking for their own supply—...
From Auto Mechanic to Artisan Sausage Maker: D-Original Sausage Haus Story
Join us as we sit down with Clint from D-Original Sausage Haus in Steveston, BC, who shares his unconventional journey from automotive mechanic to box manufacturing to crafting premium German-style cured meats. Clint discusses the challenges of running a brick-and-mortar deli in a post-COVID world, the art of making authentic salamis and pepperoni with BC por...
From Cologne to Canada: What We Learned Walking 10 Football Fields at Anuga
Phil and Kenny take the podcast on the road to Anuga, one of the world's largest food trade shows in Cologne, Germany. Recording their raw observations while navigating German parking lots and autobahns, they share what surprised them most: Bulgaria's emerging food innovation, the surprising absence of crowds at the Chinese pavilion, and how geopolitical ten...
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Shauna Fidler, founder of Design Farm and producer of the Basin Food Summit, as she takes us deep into British Columbia's Kootenay region—a place where local food culture thrives and producers connect directly with buyers who care.
Shauna shares her journey from running a cookie shop in Calgary to pioneering gluten-free baking before it was mainstream, and eventually finding her home in the...
From Ice Cream Cart to National Brand - The Hazel's Ice Cream Story
In this episode, hosts Kenny and Phil sit down with Sam Vermeulen, co-founder of Hazel's Ice Cream, to discuss the remarkable journey from a COVID-era ice cream cart idea to a growing national frozen novelty brand.
Sam shares how what started as a father-son dream of running an ice cream shop evolved into handcrafted premium ice cream bars. Born out of necessity duri...
Scaling CPG Brands with Roadmap CPG's Michelle Prychidny and Koreann Webster
In this episode of This Commerce Life, hosts Phil and Kenny welcome the dynamic duo behind Roadmap CPG - Michelle Prychidny and Koreann Webster. Together, these industry veterans share their combined decades of experience helping emerging CPG brands navigate the treacherous waters of retail scaling.
From their early days at Vega and their rocket ship journey...
We sit down with Sanaz Bahrami, founder of Melts Infusions, who shares her remarkable journey from aspiring surgeon to herbal wellness entrepreneur. After nerve damage derailed her medical career dreams, Sanaz discovered the power of adaptogenic herbs during a challenging period in graduate school studying biomedical engineering.
What started as brewing "peace tea" in her apartment to manage anxiety and depression has evolved into a...
From Stadium Cleaner to Craft Brewer - The Latina Beer Story
Phil and Kenny sit down with Carlos Castro, the Venezuelan-Canadian founder of Latina Beer, for an inspiring conversation about entrepreneurship, immigration, and following your passion.
Carlos shares his remarkable journey from cleaning Rogers Stadium as an entry-level job to building his own craft brewery in St. Catharines, Ontario. What started as a casual conversation w...
The Kristina Farrell Episode: Fighting for Canada's Food System from the Inside
In this episode, hosts Phil and Kenny sit down with Kristina Farrell, CEO of Food & Beverage Canada, to explore the complex world of Canadian food manufacturing policy. Christina, who represents domestic food and beverage manufacturers across the country, breaks down the critical distinction between companies that actually make products in Canada versus ...
CHFA Now Toronto 2025 Preview with Aaron Skelton & Lynsey Walker
Join Phil and Kenny as they chat with Aaron Skelton (CEO) and Lynsey Walker (Chief Marketing Officer) from the Canadian Health Food Association for an exciting preview of CHFA Now Toronto 2025, happening September 19 - 21, 2025
What's New This Year:
- BDC & Be Local Thursday Night Event - Special networking event at BDC Square (37th floor of CIBC Tower) with stunning l...
From Bartending Tips to 24 Locations: The Foxy Box Story
In this episode of This Commerce Life, we sit down with Kyla, the bold founder and CEO of Foxy Box Laser & Wax Bars, who turned bar tips and brazilian waxes in her dining room into a 24-location franchise empire across Canada.
Starting 12 years ago in her dining room (yes, you read that right), Kyla used her bartending tips to fund her venture into the hair removal industry. Wh...
A celebration of success. Re-sharing Caitlyn Vanderhaeghe's episode from 2022 on the evolution of Kidstar. In light of her announcement last week of getting National distribution, we thought it'd be a good time to re-share Caitlin's journey with Kidstar.
A small Canadian company, that put in a lot of work to get here! Congrats Caitlyn and the Kidstar team!!
Check out Kidstar here: https://kidstarnutrients.com/
Mid-Summer Update - Road Trips, Trade Shows, and What's Next
Phil and Kenny reconnect for a candid mid-summer update on what's been keeping them busy and what's coming up for This Commerce Life. After spending five hours together booking travel (and learning they should have let Keelin handle it), the duo shares their exciting plans for the fall.
In This Episode:
- Anuga 2025: The hosts are headed to Germany's massive food trade sho...
Amy Rempel - From Third-Generation Grocery to Pioneering Kids' Skincare
In this episode, we sit down with Amy Rempel, owner of Elevation Brands and founder of Fresh Faces Skincare, Canada's first skincare line specifically designed for kids. Amy brings a unique perspective to the natural products industry as a third-generation grocery professional whose great-grandfather helped bring Metro stores to Ontario.
What You'll Learn:
- How...
Trading Cards to Facebook Fame: How One Collector Built a Digital Empire
Join Phil and Kenny as they dive deep into the fascinating world of modern card collecting with special guest Anthony from Red Light Sports. What started as a COVID hobby digging through childhood collections has evolved into a thriving Facebook Live business that's redefining how collectors buy and sell.
Anthony takes us behind the scenes of his innovative appr...
Burgoo Restaurant's Justin Joyce on 24 Years of Comfort Food & Vancouver's Evolving Food Scene
We had an amazing conversation with Justin, owner of the four Burgoo restaurant locations in Vancouver, who joined us despite dealing with a power outage and a sick dog. What started as a discussion about his restaurants quickly evolved into a deep dive about the challenges facing independent operators in today's market.
The Burgoo Stor...
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