Mike Gaspar

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[00:00] SPEAKER_01: It's Toronto's podcast on the Canada's podcast network.
[00:04] SPEAKER_01: Hi, I'm Sleen Williams, International Speaker of Business Strategist and co-host of the Ontario
[00:09] SPEAKER_01: podcast on Canada's podcast network. And I'm here at the collision conference in Toronto
[00:14] SPEAKER_01: with Mike Gaspar, who's the COO and co-founder of Health Casa and is going to have a conversation
[00:21] SPEAKER_01: with me about the business and what you're up to in the world. So thank you for being here.
[00:26] SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me. Pretty excited to be here.
[00:28] SPEAKER_01: I am excited to have this conversation. So tell me a little bit about Health Casa and your
[00:32] SPEAKER_00: journey to get to where you are now. Because a little bit of backstory, I'm married to
[00:37] SPEAKER_00: caropidists, so for those of you who don't know what it is, essentially a Canadian train
[00:42] SPEAKER_00: podiatrist without getting into the minutiae. I also owned a chain of, a small chain of foot clinics
[00:47] SPEAKER_00: in the greater Toronto area as well as a orthotic manufacturing facility. So between my experience
[00:52] SPEAKER_00: and my wife's experience, I really know the industry. And sadly it's pretty broken and that's
[00:57] SPEAKER_00: extended to the Allied Healthcare Industry in general. And I'm not good with inefficiency. I saw a
[01:02] SPEAKER_00: way to fix it for everyone. You know, that's what we're doing. Amazing. So what does Health Casa do?
[01:09] SPEAKER_00: Tech-enabled healthcare platform, delivering orthotics and podiatry services to patients at home
[01:14] SPEAKER_01: or work. You saw your first patient a year ago, May of 2018, is that right? How has it been going
[01:19] SPEAKER_00: over the past year? It's been going great. A month over month is growing. We're busier, but what's
[01:25] SPEAKER_00: more important to us is the patient experience is so good that we have a very high referral rate,
[01:31] SPEAKER_00: which is the best metric in my opinion to measure success. That's fantastic. To bring Health Casa to
[01:38] SPEAKER_01: market, was it self-funded? Did you get outside investment? There's, you know, entrepreneurs are
[01:42] SPEAKER_01: always having this debate, so I love to ask a question like this. Self-funded until now? Yeah.
[01:47] SPEAKER_00: We are about to go to market for our seed round, turn on the marketing machine, and pour some gas
[01:52] SPEAKER_01: on the fire. But it's smart. You validated the idea. You got it out to market, and now it's the
[01:56] SPEAKER_01: ability to, if we want to scale this in a particular way, that external funding lets you do that.
[02:02] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and we want to do that by way of education, not just as all over the place. I don't need to paint
[02:07] SPEAKER_00: the street car or subway train. I want to teach people the preventative value of proper
[02:14] SPEAKER_01: you are born and raised in Toronto. Is that correct? I am. So as someone who has run multiple
[02:20] SPEAKER_01: businesses here, right, because you were an entrepreneur before, this isn't your first dip in the pool.
[02:26] SPEAKER_01: That's not. What do you find are the benefits of running a business in Toronto, and also the
[02:32] SPEAKER_00: challenges of running a business in Toronto? Toronto is the biggest city in Canada, so it's an
[02:36] SPEAKER_00: obvious one. We don't really touch on that. There's more people here to sell to, to use my service.
[02:42] SPEAKER_00: The tech scene is, I mean, we're sitting here at Collision in Toronto, and they want to make it almost
[02:48] SPEAKER_00: three times bigger next year. You can look at that like the international tech scene as a stamp of
[02:53] SPEAKER_00: approval for Toronto, as a city, as a work environment, as a startup environment. Yeah, challenges,
[03:03] SPEAKER_00: there's a lot of people out there doing a lot of stuff. So you're always competing for people's
[03:08] SPEAKER_00: attention, be it for ads, for facetime, for money. That's probably the biggest challenge, I guess.
[03:15] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's fair. And traffic. That is probably the most honest response from a Torontoan I've had
[03:23] SPEAKER_01: yet, because they didn't say that they're lying. I agree. But that would probably be my number one
[03:28] SPEAKER_01: is traffic, for sure. Do you have a place you go or a thing you do to disconnect and get into that
[03:33] SPEAKER_01: space of being able to have some perspective and thinking, because it's not always easy in a city
[03:38] SPEAKER_00: like this. Work life balance when in the early stages of a startup, it doesn't exist. So I used to
[03:47] SPEAKER_00: do CrossFit a lot. I don't do that right now, but that was my temple. Try to play a little guitar,
[03:56] SPEAKER_00: don't do that enough. Used to run, don't do that enough. Meditate, don't do that enough. So I know
[04:02] SPEAKER_00: what I should be doing, but I don't do it. Yeah, that's fair. But I guess those are my go-to.
[04:06] SPEAKER_00: Spent time with my kids, actually. My kids and my wife, nothing else matters, you know.
[04:13] SPEAKER_01: So that's actually number one. Well, and I would imagine that when you're running a startup and you're
[04:19] SPEAKER_01: going to market and validating and all that stuff and you have a family, that it really becomes,
[04:24] SPEAKER_01: do I need to play guitar or do CrossFit or is my time that I'm not working, which could be all the
[04:30] SPEAKER_01: time better spent with with my kids and my wife. And that's exactly what's happened. That's why I've
[04:35] SPEAKER_00: cut back on everything else because that's probably number one. I'm not your dude for myself, it's for
[04:39] SPEAKER_00: them. I want something for them. I want them to say, hey, my daddy started health cast. Here's
[04:45] SPEAKER_00: what they do. They're helping people. Yeah. And they do say that, actually. So it's kind of cute.
[04:49] SPEAKER_01: Yeah. I do too many spokespeople. That's perfect. There's a legacy in there, right? Like,
[04:54] SPEAKER_01: a legacy is important for a lot of people and it's not a bad thing if that's part of the driver.
[04:59] SPEAKER_00: Right. Not an egotistical way, but in a very genuine way. Absolutely. I want to leave my mark.
[05:03] SPEAKER_00: We're not around here forever and I'd like to put some good into the world.
[05:08] SPEAKER_01: I just can't. Klee Shea is that sounds. I don't think it's Klee Shea at all. I think it's a really
[05:12] SPEAKER_01: great thing to be aware of. What has been some of the best advice that you've been given?
[05:18] SPEAKER_00: Don't pretend like you know everything. Amen. Yeah. Don't think that you have to know everything. You
[05:25] SPEAKER_00: know, you're two of your best friends when owning a company are going to be your lawyer and your
[05:30] SPEAKER_00: accountant. I'm not a lawyer in a accountant. And if I try to be, I'll guarantee you to make a huge
[05:34] SPEAKER_00: mess. Yeah. I'm not of those people. So be able to delegate and be okay with that. Just be
[05:40] SPEAKER_00: careful who you delegate to. Sure. You know, and they'd be a good person first and know what they're
[05:45] SPEAKER_01: doing. Prior to being a first-time entrepreneur, is there any advice you'd give that person
[05:50] SPEAKER_01: of yourself now knowing what you know now? Start meditating earlier. Keep working out. Yeah.
[05:59] SPEAKER_00: Because your health suffers mental and physical and we take our health for granted. I think,
[06:05] SPEAKER_00: especially when we're younger, you hear all the jokes. I just turn 30, I just turn 40, whatever.
[06:10] SPEAKER_00: And I'm really feeling it now. I'm really feeling my knees walking around the show like
[06:14] SPEAKER_00: you're at all the time. Obviously my feet feel great. Right. A little bit of a plug for it.
[06:21] SPEAKER_00: Right. Because of health, Casla. That's right. You don't take care of yourself. You can't take care
[06:25] SPEAKER_00: of others. Yeah. They teach you that when you're learning to be a lifeguard or swim instructor.
[06:29] SPEAKER_00: Like you approach someone, they try to pull you down. You're both around. Right. It's not selfish.
[06:33] SPEAKER_01: Take care of yourself first. And we often get into that. I don't want to be selfish. And it's not.
[06:38] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, it's also there's also definitely a Canadian element in there. We're
[06:42] SPEAKER_00: running around saying sorry. All the time. If you're taking care of yourself and only yourself,
[06:47] SPEAKER_00: then yeah, you're selfish. Sure. You're taking care of yourself. So your better position,
[06:51] SPEAKER_00: take care of other people, you're a good person. Slightly more personal question. But what are the
[06:56] SPEAKER_01: top two or three things on your bucket list right now? You're like, these are the next couple things
[07:00] SPEAKER_01: I really want to do. Business or not. I mean, it can be personal things. Definitely want to go
[07:04] SPEAKER_00: skydiving. No, I love that. Although with every year that passes, I'm scared of it more and more,
[07:10] SPEAKER_00: but I'm really passionate about what we're doing and it sounds like super rehearsed. But I feel like
[07:16] SPEAKER_00: if we can get more people paying attention to their health and make it convenient and we can
[07:22] SPEAKER_00: also get the government to somehow help adopt different modes of access to health care,
[07:30] SPEAKER_00: then we'll be a healthier country. We'll be healthier society. And if I can play a role in that
[07:36] SPEAKER_00: somehow, that's huge. Like, I die a happy man. It'd be cool to meet some interesting guitarists.
[07:43] SPEAKER_00: Like, there you go. I said, I play guitar. My wife T is a mech says, I have a man crush on Dave
[07:47] SPEAKER_01: Grohl. Dave, if you watch this, if you were doing what you do now for work, what would you be doing
[07:54] SPEAKER_00: instead? I don't know specifically, but probably something in health care or something that helps
[08:00] SPEAKER_00: people use their time more efficiently to access X, but it would be for myself. It's hard to work for
[08:06] SPEAKER_00: other people when you walk into their plan. Sometimes there's some clashing. What book are you
[08:15] SPEAKER_01: currently reading? And do you have any books that you would recommend for our listeners and our
[08:19] SPEAKER_00: audience? I always have several books on the go. A really good book that I read, not business-related.
[08:26] SPEAKER_00: Sure. It's called Red Notice. So good. Yeah, like, I miss my train, my subway stops so many times
[08:33] SPEAKER_00: because I was just sitting there frantically reading because I needed to know. Michael Pollan had
[08:37] SPEAKER_00: to change your mind. Yeah. I don't think that's it without having to pull up my phone. Those are good.
[08:41] SPEAKER_01: If you had to pick one word to describe yourself, what would it be and why? With every passing year,
[08:46] SPEAKER_00: I try to be even more unapologetically true to myself because I'd rather someone not like me
[08:54] SPEAKER_00: for me as opposed to liking some sort of facade. Yeah. What is keeping you up at night these days?
[09:00] SPEAKER_00: Work. The Raptors recently? Oh yeah. I don't know. Just, I find being an entrepreneur, your brain never
[09:07] SPEAKER_00: stops. So that. Yeah. Thinking about everything. I'm watching TV and I've put my phone down. You know
[09:15] SPEAKER_00: what happened. People call your phone to do one thing. And you know, you're checking your LinkedIn,
[09:19] SPEAKER_00: your your responding to emails, you're checking your Google Analytics and a collision app. And
[09:26] SPEAKER_00: and there you go. There's next couple hours and it's almost time to wake up. Yeah, I appreciate that.
[09:30] SPEAKER_01: I don't. What is your favorite place to travel to and why? It's a toss up. I've been to
[09:37] SPEAKER_00: Whistler a few times with the family. Yeah. And it's not specific with Whistler's beautiful. So
[09:42] SPEAKER_00: I guess I'll say a ski vacation. Yeah. Because you're active, you're outside. It's family time.
[09:47] SPEAKER_00: So I guess going back to the previous question, like it's that's fun. I went to Thailand for my
[09:54] SPEAKER_00: honeymoon. So special place in my heart there. It's a beautiful place and I'd recommend everyone
[09:58] SPEAKER_01: check it out. So the last question I have for you, which is a little bit more fun. We take you to
[10:03] SPEAKER_01: a remote island, the middle of the ocean. There's one phone booth on it. No technology, no why, fine,
[10:08] SPEAKER_01: or nothing. You get one phone call for that phone booth. How long do you last before making
[10:13] SPEAKER_01: you call to get off the island? And what do you do until that point? Fine food and swim.
[10:19] SPEAKER_00: I love swimming in natural water. So that wouldn't be the worst thing. It depends how long I was
[10:24] SPEAKER_00: there. I don't know how long. I feel like I might call right away then then gauge my actions
[10:28] SPEAKER_00: accordingly or just my actions accordingly. There's probably no bar. So does it change if you can
[10:34] SPEAKER_01: bring your own your own booths? If there's a bar you're like, oh, I got a week now. It would be a
[10:39] SPEAKER_00: different atmosphere that you for sure. If you had bottled tequila and the beach, you might
[10:45] SPEAKER_00: not want to talk to people, just chill there. So Mike, where can our audience find you online?
[10:49] SPEAKER_00: Where can they connect with you? Healthcasa.com. All your favorite social networks, LinkedIn,
[10:55] SPEAKER_01: email us. I'm all over the place. And it's healthcasas consistently on all of them.
[11:00] SPEAKER_00: Instagram is health.casa. Got it. Still trying to get healthcasas. The other ones are just healthcasas.
[11:06] SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for sitting and chatting with me, Mike. I really appreciate it. This is a lot of
[11:11] SPEAKER_01: fun. And to our audience, thank you for listening and for tuning in. I invite you to join us at www.canada's
[11:20] SPEAKER_01: podcast.com where you can listen, discover and engage.