This week the spotlight turns to co-host Jodi Laking, founder of Your Business Executor. Jodi has been an entrepreneur for more than 25 years and has helped hundreds of owners start, build, scale, sell, and close their businesses. After her dad died unexpectedly, she saw first-hand how disorganized the afterlife system in Canada really is. That led her to one question: what happens to a business when its owner suddenly can't show up?

Wendy and Jodi start with the "bus test," and not only the version where the bus kills you. Incapacity, surgery, and a six-to-nine-month treatment plan can all pull you out of your business. If you had to step away for 30 days, who would step in, and who would have the access and authority to do it? Jodi explains how continuity planning handles the trust question. You document the accounts, passwords, and authority now, but nobody gets access until a triggering event happens. She also shows how getting the knowledge out of your head pays off today. With documented processes and less reliance on the owner, a business can be worth more and need less of your time on-site after a sale.

They also cover why the most obvious executor, often your spouse, isn't always the right one. Other topics include what to check first if you already have a will and insurance, and why your lawyer, financial planner, and insurance broker are "islands" that someone has to connect. Jodi closes with her biggest piece of advice: start the uncomfortable conversation with your family now, while it's still easy.

Most business owners assume their will has them covered. It probably doesn't. Ontario business lawyer Sonya, founder and managing lawyer of Zable Law, joins Wendy and Jodi. Zable Law is a flat-fee firm for Canadian business owners, and before law Sonia spent nearly a decade building and then selling a restaurant in the Picton area. She explains what actually protects your family and your business when you're gone.

The three start with the basics: what a will is, why it still needs a real "wet" signature, and why you can't wait until your deathbed. That's where capacity comes in, and once it's gone, some decisions (like beneficiary changes) are locked in. From there they get into business wills. Sonya explains how a separate business will works alongside a shareholders' agreement, what to do if your province doesn't allow secondary wills, and a scenario to keep you up at night: your 50% of the company goes to your son, and your cousin, who owns the other half, never agreed to work with him. They also cover trusts for young heirs, the difference between a sole proprietorship and a corporation when the owner dies, and the personal guarantees hiding in your business lease.

Then the myth-busting. Your lawyer won't run your estate. Your executor is the one who carries the responsibility. DIY templates and AI tools are risky, and for business owners Sonya's advice is "never, never." Common-law partners may not inherit what you assume they will. Sonia also shares a practical way to take the fear out of legal bills: ask for a flat fee.

Someday, someone is going to tap you on the shoulder and ask you to be their executor. Most people say yes without any idea what they're agreeing to. Special guest Gina Vliet, Certified Executor Advisor and death literacy educator, joins Wendy and Jodi to change that.

Gina breaks down what an executor really is (a project manager with legal and financial responsibility), the difference between an executor and an estate administrator, and what probate actually means in Canada. She explains why the person closest to you is often the wrong choice, grief has a way of hijacking the brain, and how to think in terms of A, B, and C choices instead of joint executors who'll never agree. The trio tackle the family conversation head-on ("open the door gently," start theoretical, use humour), what happens to a sole proprietorship versus a corporation when the owner dies, and why executor education is one of the most loving gifts you can give. Practical, occasionally hilarious, and genuinely eye-opening.