Immipreneur Podcast

09: Leena Yousefi; a remarkable multi award winning family lawyer and change maker

Welcome to Episode 09 of the Immipreneur Podcast.  Leena left her home country and everything behind to build a prosperous future in Canada, when she was only thirteen. Born in Iran, she had witnessed limited opportunities, and the migration to a completely different place with a contrasting culture was a huge challenge on her side. Upon her arrival accordingly, she Suffered from depression and confusion in the new environment, resulting in considerable nosedive in her academic performance. She was further kicked out of college early on. But, the apparent failure in college turned out to be a significant milestone, leading her on a journey to prove to everyone and herself that she could succeed at the end of the road. Soon, Leena returned to university, and graduated with distinction and a degree in social justice. Four years later, she obtained her law degree, and became a competent lawyer. When she founded YLaw in 2013, she had no idea it would grow into the Top 10 Innovators’ List of Canada. Today, she has been chosen as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada, one of Business in Vancouver’s Top 40 under 40, and voted as the #1 top-rated Vancouver Divorce Lawyer in BC*. In 2022, she was also chosen as one of the Top 50 Change Makers in Canada. As a skillful immigrant entrepreneur, Leena Yousefi recommends entrepreneurs to embrace new opportunities open to Canadian women in the new environment. She also leaves no stones unturned to support as many immigrant entrepreneurs as possible through her Linkedin platform. Achievements; Leena (Ronak) Yousefi is a multi award winning family lawyer, accredited mediator and the founder of YLaw, the fastest growing female-led law firm in Western Canada. Further accomplishments are listed below: 2022; Top 10 Innovators in Canada 2022; Top 50 Change Makers in Canada 2020; Legal Rising Star, Canada 2020; Top 400 Fastest Growing Companies in Canada 2019; Top 40 under 40, Issued by Business in Vancouver 2018; Top 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada 2015; Winner of Top Vancouver Family Law Firm in Vancouver, Issued by Top Choice Awards https://www.linkedin.com/in/leena-yousefi-7932b232 Watch the Video version on Youtube>> https://youtu.be/YEz8aSqaI6c [https://youtu.be/YEz8aSqaI6c]   Thanks for Tuning In! Thanks so much for being with us this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Please leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode,, please share it with your friends by using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic episode updates . And, finally, please take a minute to leave us an honest review and rating on iTunes. They really help us out when it comes to the ranking of the show and I make it a point to read every single one of the reviews we get. Please leave a review right now https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/immipreneur-podcast/id1610171404 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/immipreneur-podcast/id1610171404] Thanks for listening!

08: Omid Alaei; Serial Entrepreneur, Coach, Researcher and Public Speaker

Welcome to Episode 08 of the Immipreneur Podcast. In this episode, Omid Alaei and I discuss how he found his success in Canada as an immigrant. So if you want to learn practical strategy and tactics from successful immigrant entrepreneurs, learn how to start and scale their business as an immigrant, tune in now! Omid immigrated to Canada in 2008 and his educational background centers around engineering, management, psychology, and business coaching. Although he had experience in running different startups before his immigration, he decided to start everything from scratch. However, he realized that he should sit back, learn, and acclimate to the new atmosphere first. So, he worked for different companies at first to adapt his entrepreneurial mindset with the business environment in Canada. In this journey, he faced a plethora of challenges. First, his mindset was the main factor as he just wanted to redo what he had done before. Second, it was a challenge for him to have access to the correct and valid sources of information due to the fact that accessibility of information was not comparable to the contemporary era. What he did was to seize every single opportunity of learning from different people in the surroundings; therefore, he is of the idea that the role of mentor is to set the stage for you to digest the information and find your way and to avoid having a one-size-fits-all approach towards entrepreneurs. Accentuating the importance of having networks and communication skills, Omid believes that the first customer is a valuable asset that can be attracted through investing in the right strategy. Thus, he defines success as being satisfied with what you are doing and being open to learning and growth. Having experienced several failures in his journey, he considers himself a successful person as those failures have paved the way for him to boost his resilience and think out of the box. As an expert, he views active patience as a pivotal factor because it is of paramount importance to actively think about the work without doing anything about it. That is, in his opinion, entrepreneurial mindset is the precursor to success and he recommends that starters should zero in on creating this mindset to transform nothing into something. Speakers Bio Omid Alaei provides training, speaking, and coaching services across North America and the globe. In addition, he delivers workshops and one-on-one coaching. His expertise is in how science of Positive Psychology, Organizational Behaviour, Coaching and Leadership can create a flourishing pathway for individuals and organizations. Watch the video version: https://youtu.be/NvH4hRWLGP0 [https://youtu.be/NvH4hRWLGP0]   Thanks for Tuning In! Thanks so much for being with us this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Please leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with your friends by using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic episode updates . And, finally, please take a minute to leave us an honest review and rating on iTunes.   They really help us out when it comes to the ranking of the show and I make it a point to read every single one of the reviews we get. Please leave a review right now https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/immipreneur-podcast/id1610171404 Thanks for listening!

07: Elnaz Sarraf, founder and CEO of the world’s first AI-powered educational smart toy robot, ROYBI

Welcome to Episode 7 of the Immpreneur Podcast. In this episode, Elnaz and I share her outstanding entrepreneurship journey of setting up the world’s first AI-powered smart toy ever in Canada Growing up as a woman in Iran, Elnaz witnessed limited opportunities, leading her on her journey in the U.S. to become an entrepreneur. Elnaz describes her first presence in the US, California a scary and almost exciting one, when she faced a thoroughly different culture, attitude, and opportunity in the new environment. In the first few years, Elnaz co-founded and led a consumer electronics/IoT company, iBaby, where they utilized Apple's iOS platform in combination with cloud technology to enable parents to stay connected with their children regardless of their location. Commonly recognized as a successful immigrant and female founder, Elnaz then conceptualized a new idea to set up a tech-based business that could prepare children for a better future. The mission was to utilize advanced technology that would empower children to meet their personal needs and interests, rather than a one-size-fits-all program. Thus, they ended up building their own AI engine, ROYBI, a smart robot and a virtual learning system that provides kids with up-to-date content for a successful self-guided learning. As Elnaz argues, there was a time when the team struggled with financial issues and marketing challenges, wherein she was told to get back to her nine-to-five job, that the device won’t work at all, or that it's not aligned with market needs. However, they never gave up on the dream, persisted, and worked hard for the great mission. Elnaz admits that the key to success is persistence at all times. She believes that there are numerous barriers and obstacles in every start-up and entrepreneurship, particularly if you are an immigrant. With this in mind, having mentors and advisors would be of great help to formulate and reformulate the basic idea with which everyone starts it. With stunning accomplishments in a short period, she believes that there are a myriad of talented juveniles who do not access the right tools, mentors, and platforms, and she has set to ascertain that every child would receive the support and education they need in a near future.   Speakers Bio: Elnaz Sarraf is the CEO and founder of award-winning ROYBI® Robot – a Canadian based EdTech company that revolutionized early childhood education and self-guided learning. Named by Time Magazine, Roybi is the world’s first AI-powered educational smart toy robot, and one of the Best Inventions in Education. As a successful immigrant entrepreneur, Elnaz’s mission is to empower children to take control of their future through universal access to personalized learning. Furthermore, Elnaz has been a speaker at several conferences such as the Mobile World Congress, ASU GSV Summit, Consumer Technology Association, and other worthy accomplishments which are listed below: * 2019; [Roybi Robot] 2019 Tech for Good Winner * 2019; 1st place Xiaomi AI Competition Silicon Valley * 2019; 2019 World Changing Ideas * 2019; EdTech Award by EdTech Digest - Cool Tool Finalist * 2019 - Robotics and Learning 2018; Winner * 2018 Alibaba Cloud Contest Silicon Valley * 2018; Nasdaq Milestone Maker * 2018 2017; Female Entrepreneur of The Year * 2017; Silicon Valley Women of Influence    Use the code 30TODAY to get $30 OFF (limited time offer): https://bit.ly/3zY4DTU [https://bit.ly/3zY4DTU] Learn more about Elnaz: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elnazsarraf [https://www.linkedin.com/in/elnazsarraf] Watch the video version on our Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em4tgEQia2A   Thanks for Tuning In! Thanks so

06: Dr. Aali R. Alizadeh, From an International PhD Student to being named one of the Globe's 50 Change Makers of 2022

Welcome to Episode 6 of the Immpreneur Podcast. In this episode, Aali and I share his wonderful story of success in Canada. When Aali came to Canada, he was an enthusiastic Ph.D. student in the University of Ottawa in Civil Engineering. He had got his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the most prestigious university in his home country, and now he was here in Canada with a lot to expect and struggle. As a passionate academic, he came down with more than 15 years of experience in research, development, and commercialization of technologies related to concrete materials. Over the course of his fruitful academic journey, he further published over 100 academic papers. With an eye to revolutionize the concrete industry, Aali co-founded Giatec in 2010. With exports to more than 80 countries and its sensors used in over 8,000 construction projects, his company is a fast-growing Canadian tech firm and a world leader in concrete IoT and AI solutions. The mission, as Aali puts, is to bring disruptive, knowledge-based, and sustainable technologies to the concrete industry. Accordingly, they aim to identify current challenges in concrete testing and design innovative solutions to address them. Despite many difficulties, Aali believes that such challenging experiences since he moved to Canada has laid the groundwork for him to acquire a well-determined, disciplined, and hardworking personality, letting him succeed in the most difficult situations. During all these years, he has learned that the only secret to a resounding success is having a tenacious character that makes a hero out of each person who is ambitious enough to achieve the deserved outcomes. Simply put, for Aali, success is the fruit of hard work, persistence, and resilience, a journey in which the protagonist should walk from failure to failure without losing passion and enthusiasm.   Speakers Bio: Dr. Aali Alizadeh is the CTO of Giatec and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa. Some of his achievements are listed here:  * ·         Co-Founder & President and CTO * ·         Adjunct ProfessorAdjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa * ·         NSERC Post-Doctoral Fellow * ·         Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year * ·         Governor General's Academic Gold Medal * ·         Ottawa’s Forty Under 40 award * ·         Report on Business Magazine’s 50 Changemakers Thanks for Tuning In! Watch the video version on our Youtube Channel >> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAAdDEoYgYI [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAAdDEoYgYI] Thanks so much for being with us this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Please leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode,, please share it with your friends by using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic episode updates . And, finally, please take a minute to leave us an honest review and rating on

05: Babak Khodaparst; From an international student in Canada to the President of FICI and a successful founder and CEO at Clean Oil International

Welcome to Episode 05 of the Immipreneur. In this episode, Babak and I discuss how he found his success in Canada as an immigrant. So if you want to learn practical strategy and tactics from successful immigrant entrepreneurs, learn how to start and scale their business as an immigrant, tune in now! Babak was a member of the Iranian National Inventors team back in Iran. In 2011, he decided to move to Canada and his entrepreneurial journey started in 2013 when he launched his own startup based on his inventions. As an international student, funding his own business was a huge challenge for him. However, he took the road an early international student would not dare to take. In 2013, he decided to launch his first for profit business, Clean Oil International, offering new technology to clean up offshore oil spills from water. Despite being a challenge, he successfully contacted the municipality and offered financial and environmental contributions Clean Oil International would make to the region to combat different issues. In 2015, he ran the First Institute of Canadian Inventors (FICI), a non-profit organization to support Canadian inventors & innovators. FICI was not only a huge milestone for Canada to be presented among the 95 countries that are members of the International Federation of Inventors Association (IFIA), but also a huge success for Babak that took a lot of courage and effort. To come up with the challenges, Babak cooperated with numerous teams and involved a good number of people to prove his institution as a successful organization Today, Babak openly discusses his failures, embraces them, and considers continuous effort and persistence as what make a difference in the world of business. Watch the Video Fromat:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9599wfrUIY0 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9599wfrUIY0] --- Thanks for Tuning In! Thanks so much for being with us this week. Have some feedback you'd like to share? Please leave a note in the comments section below! If you enjoyed this episode,, please share it with your friends by using the social media buttons you see at the bottom of the post. Don't forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic episode updates . And, finally, please take a minute to leave us an honest review and rating on iTunes. They really help us out when it comes to the ranking of the show and I make it a point to read every single one of the reviews we get. Please leave a review right now. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/immipreneur-podcast/id1610171404 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/immipreneur-podcast/id1610171404] Thanks for listening!