You are who you surround yourself with

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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Canada's Podcast.
[00:06] SPEAKER_00: Hi, I'm Cynthia Lothry from Canada's Podcast,
[00:10] SPEAKER_00: where we talk to entrepreneurs who are making it happen right here in BC.
[00:15] SPEAKER_00: Today I'm joined by Cordell Jackson, CEO, co-founder and general partner at Regenitriv Capital Group.
[00:23] SPEAKER_00: He spent the majority of his career creating innovative social finance mechanisms for environmental and social impact.
[00:33] SPEAKER_00: So welcome, why don't we jump right in and you tell us a bit about yourself and your company.
[00:40] SPEAKER_01: Thanks Cynthia, that's great to be here.
[00:42] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I'm based here on Vancouver Island near Campbell River.
[00:47] SPEAKER_01: I've been out here for about four years. I'm a family man and a father of two.
[00:52] SPEAKER_01: And I've been working on an interesting project the last couple of years.
[00:57] SPEAKER_01: I have been supported by a business partner who came to me wanting to launch something in support of Canada's entrepreneurial growth system.
[01:06] SPEAKER_01: The start of this project, we didn't know what that was and we really did a scan of what's necessary to support Canada's emergence and somewhat healthy entrepreneurship ecosystem.
[01:18] SPEAKER_01: And as we went on a discovery journey, we came to really look actually south of the border of us to what had been emerging in the last number of years with an alternative entrepreneurial career path known as ETA or entrepreneurship through acquisition.
[01:34] SPEAKER_01: So rather than going and starting up at risky startup, which we have a beautiful ecosystem here in Canada of.
[01:41] SPEAKER_01: Accelerators and incubators and funding for every stage of the journey, how might we look at the wider lens of what's happening in our macro economy, which is the silver tsunami or the baby boomer generation of small medium business holders who are looking to transition their business.
[01:56] SPEAKER_01: And how might we prepare the next generation of entrepreneurs to acquire take over those businesses and evolve those businesses to meet the needs of our time really looking at the community, social and environmental needs of what our economy and what our civilization is asking for.
[02:14] SPEAKER_00: Well, I think that's really interesting because you're right, there's so many people that are yet that retirement stage and looking to to leave a legacy and the entrepreneur spirit in Canada is very strong, especially since COVID.
[02:34] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's we've got an amazingly supportive enabling environment for entrepreneurship and yet we've got some pretty big challenges on our hand, whether that's biosphere degradation widespread mental health issues, climate change, any of these issues.
[02:50] SPEAKER_01: And so really what we want to do is support this next generation of entrepreneurs and give them the best opportunity to tackle our biggest problems.
[02:59] SPEAKER_01: And we think by buying good established businesses and honoring the legacy of our forefathers and foremothers here who have really done that zero to one journey of starting businesses really leading mainstream to our small medium business economy and taking those businesses forward and stewarding them towards these big issues.
[03:20] SPEAKER_01: That's the best platform that we can possibly give them to make meaningful impact change and abundance profitability as well.
[03:28] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, what a great way because it is there's such a huge learning curve when you're starting to be blessed to jump in partway through where that a lot of that initial learning has happened and change.
[03:45] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that's that's really where the word regenerative comes in and regenerative capital great is that we take good business, a good economy that we have and again of all that what does it mean to ultimately take business and align it with the wider living systems and principles by which our economy and all value creation depend upon and really support that really nourish and steward.
[04:09] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the environmental and the social communities in which our economy thrives from.
[04:14] SPEAKER_00: So you're supporting entrepreneur and you're an entrepreneur yourself. So why did you get the what inspired you to to take this journey versus you know taking a a corporate job.
[04:30] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I've had a long varied career and entrepreneurship I grew up in an entrepreneur family so it was talked about at the dinner table every day every night and that definitely definitely led to some of the inspiration when I got to business school I graduated from the University of Manitoba and Winnipeg joined the business plan competitions and I got you know a taste of the excitement of what it means to take an idea and grow it and capitalize it.
[04:58] SPEAKER_01: But I took the safer out of business school and I went to work for what was at that time Canada's largest financial services institution as a man who recruited me there and brought me into it but very quickly getting into that corporate environment I realized that was not for me I needed something else so.
[05:15] SPEAKER_01: So I went on and spent my career in social impact social finance international development and a lot of that time was really spent either funding and supporting entrepreneurs who had deeply respected doing innovative impact driven projects or being an entrepreneur in some large organizations particularly a large international NGO.
[05:37] SPEAKER_01: And throughout that time there was always this drive of you know wanting to maybe some control freak nature we're really wanting to drive and lead the change and be unencumbered from vision and aspiration and inspiration that would come.
[05:51] SPEAKER_01: And so after a few more years of of dabbling back here in Canada in circular economy at AgTAC and some of the other great impact driven or profit private businesses ultimately it came to to this organization which we founded at launch just two years ago which was ultimately how do we support again these entrepreneurs to give them the best foot forward to skip the 80% failure rate we don't have time for this next generation to fail at that level.
[06:20] SPEAKER_01: And so how do we ultimately we move it forward in the best way possible.
[06:25] SPEAKER_00: And so looking at your current work you do is there any piece of information or knowledge that might be of interest to our listeners.
[06:36] SPEAKER_01: Yeah you know first of all I think when we look at the macro economy of Canada we have to ask what's happening aside from poly crisis issues that we think business can be used as a force for good to try and solve.
[06:49] SPEAKER_01: We have to look at again the majority of our economy is made up of the small medium enterprise small medium businesses with the silver tsunami as they call it with the retiring baby boom regeneration most of these baby boomers are retiring in the next generation.
[07:05] SPEAKER_01: Next 10 years most of whom the vast majority of whom do not have a succession plan meaning a child or an heir apparent within the business who is ready to take over the business they're looking to steward on their legacies their babies everything that they've created to a next generation who can take it forward.
[07:21] SPEAKER_01: And so what we have here is actually the biggest inflection point of our generation of any generation in the history of civilization.
[07:30] SPEAKER_01: The vast majority of our economies about to be turned over the question is if this change over going to be more business as usual.
[07:38] SPEAKER_01: And what that usually looks like is businesses either being sold to corporations and amalgamated into a big system.
[07:45] SPEAKER_01: Business is being sold to private equity companies which oftentimes you know strip employees you know do what they can to maximize profits and then to flip again at a higher multiple.
[07:56] SPEAKER_01: Oftentimes we have business owners who end up you know getting sick or taking care of someone in the family and don't have the time for what is on average a two year window to prepare and sell a business.
[08:08] SPEAKER_01: And so we have a real crisis on our hands in terms of what's going to happen to economy as a change is over but a real opportunity and how might we use this inflection point this biggest succession of our economy towards evolving it towards the bigger issues and needs that we have.
[08:23] SPEAKER_01: And so that's really the theory of change we're working in how do we not only do this as a fun but really support a wider enabling environment of Canada.
[08:32] SPEAKER_01: How do we support a wider entrepreneurial ecosystem to take advantage of this opportunity and really grow it to its best purposes and uses.
[08:41] SPEAKER_00: So if someone's listening today and we get this a lot people are just you know want to put their foot in or they're trying to decide how do they make that switch to being an entrepreneur is there any advice that you give somebody starting on the journey.
[08:56] SPEAKER_01: Yeah first of all you know I think there's there's a big piece and wanting to just become an entrepreneur and ask what type of entrepreneur there's lots of different forms of entrepreneurship here.
[09:06] SPEAKER_01: Of course we're a little bit biased and saying there with this opportunity with a macro economic transition here this is one of the best ways to become an entrepreneur so look at acquiring a good business look at essentially where I often send people is to Stanford.
[09:25] SPEAKER_01: So Stanford for the last 10 years has been putting out a bio annual reports on ETA entrepreneurship through acquisition and looking at the past 35 years of its history and what does it look like to go out and look to acquire a business what does it look like to grow that in different sectors sectors and industries that's all you know publicly available on the website.
[09:45] SPEAKER_01: And to really entertain again this alternative entrepreneurial career path in entrepreneurship through acquisition.
[09:52] SPEAKER_00: That's great. Now you're based in we're both actually based on being Cooper Island. What are some of the benefits of being a BC based business.
[10:03] SPEAKER_01: I mean first and foremost I have to say personally lifestyle wise there there's no place like home here in British Columbia.
[10:11] SPEAKER_01: I'm proud winner figure for 29 years but after spending a decade in international developments my wife and I have been lived in tropical countries had gone soft and said no more winters when we came back to Canada and so I mean west coast best coast we love it out here we love the rain we love the Pacific Northwest.
[10:28] SPEAKER_01: And just the quality of lifestyle and I would say you know a frost BC what I've really found is that people are here in large part because of the beauty because of the nature and we ultimately made the decision we were in Vancouver for some time.
[10:43] SPEAKER_01: When our daughter came along we knew that whatever this next generation needed they needed to be in connection to the rhythms of nature how do we get ourselves back in alignment how do we get into integrity with the wider systems that support our health and flourishing and how do we do that more connected to land and space and place and so you know we chose the unlikely place of Campbell river but it is growing thriving emerging changing economy and community here and we just say we're going to be able to do that.
[11:13] SPEAKER_01: We love it it's the greatest playground to be creative and idea to have a good balanced healthy playful lifestyle which I think as entrepreneurs anything we're going to be creating creating we need to look at the source of what we're doing that from and I think we need to do that in a good balanced way both in terms of the health of the ecosystem and our personal generative well being.
[11:37] SPEAKER_00: Yeah and I would say as well for myself if I ever have a blockage or have any challenge I'm working through I just can walk out my door go for a hike down the street hiking trails all around us and it just really helps you clear your mind be in the right head space and remember what's important.
[11:58] SPEAKER_01: Yeah and I'll just add to that since moving back to Canada and Vancouver is such a good hotspot of that and we're kind of in the middle between Vancouver the so called enterprise community which is just thriving and just brilliant there we've got holy hawk here on Cortez Island which really supports social venture institute every year and and hosts many different social impact events and gatherings throughout the air.
[12:25] SPEAKER_01: We've just got a thriving ecosystem of people who are looking to use business as a force for good who are looking for purpose in their life in the rare how do we use all the best of business and capitalism not being ideation innovation entrepreneurship all of this.
[12:40] SPEAKER_01: I mean we use the best of that and let go of some of the you know in a quality some of the privatization some of the just cards closely chess there's such a diverse and brilliant community across the province here that you know you are who you surround yourself.
[12:55] SPEAKER_01: With and there's such a such a lively life centric community here it's it's great love that you are who you surround yourself with.
[13:05] SPEAKER_00: I'm going to make a note of that one now what are some of the challenges of being based in BC because there's always the other side.
[13:13] SPEAKER_01: Yeah my team is across Canada and so I find myself up at 5 30 in the morning 5 o'clock in the morning to make sure that I can get those meetings in before they're into base that's not always such a bad thing but when you have two young children that can be a challenge some days.
[13:30] SPEAKER_01: That's really the biggest piece on this we live in such a beautifully connected world I you know have such a deep gratitude actually for zoom lifestyle to be able to parents to be able to be present in this way.
[13:43] SPEAKER_01: The only other challenges you know being on Vancouver Island is a ferry or a puddle jumper flight to get into Vancouver which is the gateway to anywhere else we need to travel.
[13:53] SPEAKER_01: But otherwise you know it's it's a lot of positivity here.
[13:58] SPEAKER_00: Definitely is now let's talk about success how do you define success but more importantly how do you celebrate.
[14:07] SPEAKER_01: Yeah this is there's two pieces to that question which is how do you define success and I think this is the core question we are asking ourselves as a business community as a civilization right now.
[14:22] SPEAKER_01: You know success has been largely driven from in at least a business standpoint from a shareholder primacy standpoint what does it look like success being defined by financial success.
[14:35] SPEAKER_01: And like any system that is very narrow in its lens it's quite fragile and so that's what we're seeing right now the riskiest way to go forward is business as usual defining yourself just based on financial success.
[14:47] SPEAKER_01: Those companies that are most inspiring that are showing most resilience that are showing the most dynamic interdependence and innovation are those that are defining success not from a monocapitalist financial standpoint but from a multi capital standpoint.
[15:03] SPEAKER_01: What does abundance look like from yes financial success but from natural capital from this you know supporting flourishing ecosystems around us from social capital communities that are vibrant that are supported that can ideate and in a way that is a lot of success.
[15:17] SPEAKER_01: And in a way that is a lot of success and innovation in the ways we need to intellectual capital what is it look like from a multi capital approach that is more dynamic more resilient more evolutionary.
[15:27] SPEAKER_01: And I think defining it that way as well as you know the simplicity of defining is what's energizing what here brings me joy what ultimately brings life through me.
[15:39] SPEAKER_01: And I come to very much appreciate just a binary is this energizing or de energizing there's all things we have to do taxes and accounting that aren't always energizing but there's a reframing of how does this activity ultimately energize you know my life force my purpose what I'm here to do what it's meaningful to me and so really celebrating that the second part of your question is how do we have fun what do we be playful and curious in our learning in our group.
[16:09] SPEAKER_01: So I think I think that's really what is the role of how is that celebrated how is that everything we do really oriented towards that lens and I think that's really what a life centric approaches about if we're going to reorganize our businesses our organizations our systems to be in alignment with the wider systems that were nested in.
[16:29] SPEAKER_01: These are systems of joy of evolution of celebration of vitality of interdependence of diversity you know what does it mean to play and and explore in those ways and so that's that's really poor to to how I live every day and truly to the values of the organization that we've that we're leading.
[16:49] SPEAKER_00: And I love this question as the host because I interview entrepreneurs that that have small organizations to to much larger and I've really seen a shift especially since covid to how people answer that is it's much more you know successes picking up my child from school I've heard some men say that I've heard and one of the female entrepreneurs I just interviewed said successes.
[17:19] SPEAKER_00: Being a role model for my daughter and showing her how how you can you know meet the needs of women in health and so I just love that we are more values based about success than like you said capitalism based.
[17:38] SPEAKER_01: Yeah I think it's probably the most important question that we could be asking ourselves right now you know yes we are facing the biggest challenges it's the best of times and it is the worst of times and yet I'm truly optimistic I think we have all of the tools all of the capabilities to solve these big existential issues and threats and so if we go forward acting as if we can and can get to the other side of a lot of these issues not only.
[18:07] SPEAKER_01: But there's an end point but in solving this and becoming a truly ecological civilization and becoming a truly flourishing civilization why would we want that to be and so ultimately how do we embody that in whatever we create and however we interact in our relationality right now we start to embody that now we'll figure out the solutions to all of these big issues and we'll get to that that state in place of being.
[18:32] SPEAKER_00: Absolutely now let's talk about fear and doubt because sometimes when we're the entrepreneur it's on our shoulders how do you deal with the fear and doubt that may creep in.
[18:44] SPEAKER_01: Yeah it's a really good question and first of all you can't get rid of it I'm certain of that you can you can never be fearless but you can become more courageous and so I have fears every day that come up and rather than.
[19:01] SPEAKER_01: To dissociate from them or rather than trying to avoid them ultimately I really take them as a strong cue and so fears are such a strong energy such a strong emotion we we get sensitized to them faster than most other emotions and their good signals what what am I afraid about here what needs to be explored there's a lot of energy in this emotion so how do I tap into that energy for its creative force where's the creative tension here that needs to be resolved because there's something on the other side of it you know as a parent of.
[19:31] SPEAKER_01: A five year olds you turn five yesterday we talk about fear all the time fear of jumping off a diving board fear of going you know doing something new and really leaning into okay what's there what needs to be explored fear is healthy this is a valid emotion but what's behind that and usually what's behind that is something pretty awesome and so it's it's truly a reframing of how do we deal with this now that's hard when you've got responsibilities and ensuring cash flow and making sure that everyone's going to be paid.
[20:01] SPEAKER_01: I'm not afraid of the end of the month and all that but I resolved to be in a state where continuously as our fears come up as a team and as a wider ecosystem that's the time to stop.
[20:14] SPEAKER_01: Check in lean in and find out what needs to be expressed there what's blocking something because whenever we can do that something beautiful and innovative comes out of it.
[20:23] SPEAKER_00: I love that of stop check in and figure out the block versus being afraid of the fear leaning into it so where do you see your business in five years what what's your hopes and aspirations.
[20:41] SPEAKER_01: Yeah thanks for asking that question so we've just launched the business and we're we're a bit of a cohort model so every year we we find five or six entrepreneurs we support them to go out and search for good businesses acquire those businesses and then we buy those companies for them as they take it on an evolutionary journey to become regenerative businesses to wider lenses of value operation like we spoke about a multi capital and multi stakeholder approach we are a small.
[21:09] SPEAKER_01: And we want to grow that fund we'd like to be able to you know raise the capital and do more entrepreneurs and have regional based programs going but ultimately we're here to demonstrate a model we're to demonstrate that with this silver tsunami with this ownership succession that's happening there should be a hundred other funds like ours and so ultimately in five years time.
[21:31] SPEAKER_01: Yeah we'll have bought 25 or 30 companies for entrepreneurs these entrepreneurs will have demonstrated not just models that are as good as traditional business or not as an additionality by looking at them through regenerative lens but ultimately they're going to demonstrate that these are far more abundant businesses far more resilient businesses as well and with that we hope to be able to train other funds we hope to be able to work with the Canadian governments to say what is it look like not to you know just see these all see these businesses try to get a lot of money.
[22:01] SPEAKER_01: Transition from one generation to another but create an enabling environments that incentivizes business owners to sell to those who are going to steward their legacy forward in a good way and for entrepreneurs to be able to you know borrow money to do that to be able to work with organizations and wider ecosystems to be able to evolve these companies.
[22:20] SPEAKER_01: So we really see our fund as a little trim tab believer wider systems change and I think I think there's only one work to be done now for all of us and that is how do we use business how do we use our life forces how do we use whatever we're doing again to deal with these big issues that we're faced with how do we become an ecological civilization and we can't do that alone we don't have the answers to that this is going to be an emerging field and as we grow ecosystems of values aligned and like minded people will come up with the answers to get a lot of money.
[22:50] SPEAKER_01: So we're going to be able to do that together that that source energy together has the creative opportunities that we're looking for to to deal with these big questions that none of us alone have the intelligence or the energy to tackle on ourselves.
[23:02] SPEAKER_00: And I love that it really is about the collective versus just thinking one business or one organization can solve everything and I think that's the shift we're seeing as well as much more collaboration much more of a community based approach versus thinking we have all the answers.
[23:21] SPEAKER_01: Right right well we'll get there I'm certain of it but you know in some ways this is this is a big opportunity for a reconciliatory act here in Canada and I don't don't just mean that from the reconciliation and indigenous relations standpoint yes and what do all our relations look like what is our relations to land our place our communities our legacy.
[23:51] SPEAKER_01: So I think we're going to have some sort of a culture in this case that we'd be inheriting and looking at the legacy of the economy that we have here and truly transforming this into something beautiful.
[24:00] SPEAKER_00: I love that so to keep up your energy and to make sure that you're able to continue are there any routines or anything that you put in place to help you stay ground to stay energized.
[24:16] SPEAKER_01: Yeah that's a great question I mean again in this balance of doing this while we do this is more important than what we do you know trying to to be a balanced father husband community member son relation to to those in my world around me and remember what's what's truly important here and prioritizing those.
[24:37] SPEAKER_01: And as well you know it really takes something which is a question every day what do I need to be re-thorced to do this well what do I need to be resourced to lead this organization to grow ecosystems for this type of regenerative change and and resource is the word re sourced.
[24:58] SPEAKER_01: How do I connect back into source to earth to land to nature and as we talked about the off the top of the hour here you know doing this in BC is a lovely way to do it just getting outside connecting and why are we doing this why does it why does it matter to be an integrity with the wider systems that you know we are economy depends on.
[25:17] SPEAKER_01: And so I resource myself by grounding myself and just remind myself of the bigger picture of what I'm doing and carrying that into my screens and carrying that into my work day just keeps me to me with some perspective.
[25:34] SPEAKER_00: Absolutely I'm grateful that I stare out to a hundred acre forest so sometimes I have little visitors during the day of deer and occasionally a black bear that comes over to say hello so is there any as we wrap up today and is there any advice or anything you read that's really resonated with you and helped you on your entrepreneurial journey.
[26:03] SPEAKER_01: Yeah that's a great question I mean there's I've been on a very steep learning curve these last couple of years since launching this this this fund in this company the first was learning about entrepreneurship through acquisition which I mentioned the resource the Stanford studies that are easily findable the next piece was really learning about regenerative business you know what does it mean to look beyond sustainability ESG sustainable development goal is what does it mean to redesign our organizations are so.
[26:32] SPEAKER_01: So our business is in alignment with living systems and and that's been great and you know one book out there as well from a wider entrepreneurship lens that I've really enjoyed this past year which is called 15 commitments conscious leadership and I got to check his name I think it's Jim Devmer and and company who wrote that but a very impressive book on ultimately how do we start with attitude how do we look
[26:59] SPEAKER_01: at our attitude as we go into any problem solving and to any collective work and check
[27:05] SPEAKER_01: ourselves and where we're going to be creating, sourcing, solving from. And if I had to
[27:11] SPEAKER_01: spend an hour on a problem, it's kind of that little Einstein quote, it's been 55 minutes
[27:17] SPEAKER_01: on the question first and five minutes on the solution. I spend 55 minutes on my attitude
[27:22] SPEAKER_01: where am I going to solve this? Am I doing this from a reactive standpoint? Am I doing
[27:28] SPEAKER_01: this from a business as usual mindset? Am I doing this from an industrial way of solving?
[27:32] SPEAKER_01: Or am I taking a regenerative approach? Am I taking a living systems approach? How might I evolve
[27:37] SPEAKER_01: this? How might I do something different and emergent? And so that's a great book to to
[27:42] SPEAKER_00: support you in leadership like that. I love that approach. So as we wrap up today, is there anything
[27:49] SPEAKER_00: else you'd like to share with your our listeners or how they can find you? Yeah, well first of all,
[27:55] SPEAKER_01: thank you. I really appreciate this this platform, this communication and this opportunity to chat
[28:00] SPEAKER_01: about this. Anyone can find me at our website, www.regenerativecapitalgroup.com. I'm most easily found
[28:08] SPEAKER_01: on LinkedIn, Cordell Jax. And you know, I think the last piece I would share here is really for
[28:16] SPEAKER_01: Canadian entrepreneurs and BC based entrepreneurs. We need you. Yeah, we really need those who are
[28:23] SPEAKER_01: going from zero to one, taking seed ideas and innovating for an economy and a civilization that
[28:30] SPEAKER_01: we really need at this point. And for other entrepreneurs who aren't quite sure, they don't have that
[28:36] SPEAKER_01: idea. There are alternative entrepreneurial career paths and we'd love to hear from you if
[28:42] SPEAKER_01: wiring a good business is one of those paths that makes sense to you and love to chat about it. So
[28:48] SPEAKER_00: thank you for the question. Well, and thank you for joining us today. I look forward to checking out
[28:54] SPEAKER_01: your website. All right, thanks simply at Take care. Thank you.