In this episode, I’m speaking with Jerry Onyegide, who built a tax business by accident, just from answering questions about Canadian taxes on Twitter for years.

Jerry never intended to formalize his knowledge. He’d see misinformation about Canadian taxes, correct it with detailed explanations, and move on with his day. People stopped arguing and started asking more questions. Eventually someone told him, “You need to formalize this. We don’t have anyone in the community who explains taxes this way.”

And that’s how he launched Tax Whiz. Still, he was surprised by the number of people who booked consultations.

Jerry and I discuss common tax mistakes immigrants make. We also explore:

• How his service differs from traditional tax consultants

• The confusing Canadian tax system

• Why your tax planning needs to start in January instead of May

In this episode, I’m speaking with Roy Ratnavel, a retired financial services executive and the author of the #1 Canadian national bestselling book Prisoner #1056.

Roy’s philosophy for life seems simple but I think it’s a hard one for most of us to adopt: fix yourself before you fix the world. If you’re a good husband, you raise good kids. Good households create good communities. Strong communities build strong societies. Strong societies make stronger countries.

And I think Canada needs a lot of this at the moment. Everything is ground up, not top down. The government can’t control what goes on in your head or within the four walls of your home. No regulation can stop that. So it comes down to individuals—not as a selfish notion, but as a recognition that you need to fix your flaws before pointing out others’ shortcomings.

Roy spent a decade after arriving in Canada blaming everyone else for his struggles. At 31, he realized he was the problem. He went to war with the man in the mirror, sought therapy for PTSD, and completely changed his approach to life.

Roy and I chat about my biggest lessons from reading his book. We also explore:

• Why the 2010 Winter Olympics was the most Canadian he’d ever felt

• How Canada can unite people across differences

• Why we need to lower the barrier but not the bar

• Moral exhibitionism vs. real solutions

• Lying to yourself versus being honest about mistakes

In this episode, I’m speaking with Nisrine Maktabi, a trauma-informed coach and registered psychotherapist with over a decade of experience supporting newcomers, international students, and multicultural professionals in Canada and globally.

Nisrine usually works with newcomers and second-generation immigrants, helping them work through something most immigrants don’t recognize as trauma: people-pleasing.

Surprised? I was too. She says people-pleasing isn’t about being nice or accommodating. It’s a survival response called “fawning”—your nervous system’s way of keeping you safe by making others happy. For children of immigrants especially, people-pleasing becomes how they survive in families where belonging feels conditional.

Conditional on you operating within the rigid rules about behavior, identity, and cultural adherence.

Nisrine and I chat about why your nervous system adapts to keep you safe. We also explore:

• The coconut effect and why strict parenting backfires

• Canada’s systemic barriers for highly educated newcomers

• Why discrimination triggers old wounds, and how to process them

• How to connect your children to their roots without imprisoning them