Brand Magazine Issues
Brand Magazine is published quarterly, in January, April, July and October. Each issue below links to the full digital flipbook and to the web version of every story from that issue, so you can read, search and share individual articles.
Summer 2026
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The Gift of Being Naïve: How Blind Optimism Helps Build Skyscrapers
There is a profound power in being naïve. While the word is often used negatively to imply a lack of experience or sophistication, a…
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LES MCINTYRE
If you’ve spent any time around Chuckwagon racing or rodeo in Western Canada, chances are you’ve heard Les McIntyre’s voice. For forty years, he’s…
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When Brand Meets Storytelling
For Jeff Humphreys, storytelling wasn’t a career strategy. It was something that had been tugging at him long before he had a name for…
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The Greatest Role I Ever Played
If this were a movie… this would be the moment the screen fades from black… and a voice says: “She never knew… this would…
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WELCOME TO FUCKUP NIGHTS – THE FAILURES BEHIND THE HEADLINES
Tired of polished success stories and carefully curated highlight reels, Amanda Ovaici and Shahr Smed created something different. In 2019, they launched Fuckup Nights…
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SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT – ALLISON GRAFTON
President & Founder of Rockwood Custom Homes About Allison Allison Grafton is the Founder and President of Rockwood Custom Homes. In 2009, she left…
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SPEAKER SPOTLIGHT – BRYDON GIERL
Founder of CoolIT Systems About Brydon Brydon Gierl is the Co-Founder of CoolIT Systems and has spent more than 20 years helping shape the…
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National Growth, Local Rules
Scaling a business across Canada is an exciting milestone. It signals demand, credibility and momentum. However, national growth is not simply a marketing strategy,…
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Securing Your Digital Legacy
As a business owner, you likely have an estate plan for your physical assets, a continuity plan for your operations, and a succession plan…
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The People Behind The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth
Before my first experience supporting the Calgary Stampede came in 2011, I received a simple piece of advice: forget about sleep and prepare for…
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It’s Not Ice Cream, it’s Gelato
As Calgarians gear up to beat the heat this summer, we’re looking at an age-old question: ice cream or gelato? Ice cream has a…
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Peter Perez Is Wired For Growth
Peter Perez recently built a piece of enterprise software for his company in two months. Before AI, he says the same project would have…
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Canada’s Mascot King
Street Characters is a Calgary-based business specializing in custom mascot costumes. What started as simply a fun idea (not a ‘real business’) for two…
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Build a Brand the World Can Love
Many brands want to go global. Few actually do. Of those that succeed, fewer still will manage to stay relevant across decades, continents, and…
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Building Brands That Travel
Global brands are not built trying to appeal to everyone. They are built by understanding what should stay consistent everywhere, and what needs to…
Spring 2026
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PHIL ROBERTSON & SEBASTIAN SZTABZYB – Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters
Key takeaways Phil Robertson and Sebastian Sztabzyb co-founded Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters in Calgary in 2007. Phil designed the company’s one-of-a-kind roasting machine…
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GRAEME EDGE – Energy Disruptors & Scaleblaze
Key takeaways Graeme Edge is a Scottish-born, Calgary-based entrepreneur and co-founder of Energy Disruptors, a global platform and summit born in Calgary. Energy Disruptors…
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CHRIS JONES – EOS WORLDWIDE
Key takeaways Chris Jones has more than 30 years of entrepreneurship across six companies, including hard pivots and major setbacks. His experience of getting…
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AMANDA HAMILTON – Amanda Hamilton Design
Key takeaways Amanda Hamilton is a Calgary interior designer and entrepreneur, founder of Amanda Hamilton Interior Design and Three Foot Nothing Construction. She was…
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Monique Barrie’s personal brand puts people before profit
Key takeaways Monique Barrie is a Calgary film director, producer, serial entrepreneur and philanthropist whose ventures all centre on human connection. She founded PURE…
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Marketing a Movement:
Key takeaways ScaleUP Week launched in 2024 through a partnership between Mount Royal University’s Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and McLeod Law LLP, led…
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Fratello Coffee Roasters
Key takeaways Fratello Coffee Roasters began in Calgary in 1985 as Custom Gourmet Coffee and has been run by the Prefontaine family. In 2007…
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F*ckup Nights YYC
FuckUpNights YYC launched in 2019, founded by Shahr Smed and Amanda Ovaici—two friends who were tired of hearing only polished success stories. They wanted…
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What Savvy Entrepreneurs Are Missing:
For more than two decades I’ve sat at executive tables inside multinational corporations, helping large organizations scale business lines, optimize margins, and execute strategy.…
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Stop Defending Brand. Start Translating It.
Key takeaways Marketers should translate brand into finance language instead of defending it to CFOs. Brand is an asset, not an expense: it creates…
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Safeguarding Years of Hard Work During Separation or Divorce
The brand you have poured years into building, your reputation, customer loyalty, intellectual property, and future earning power can all unravel during a messy…
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EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year Program Recognizes Business Owners
Key takeaways EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year program has run in Canada for 31 years as part of a global program in about 94…
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The Power of Speaking Well of Others
Key takeaways At a post-pandemic tourism event, the author unknowingly praised a respected marketing leader to her face: Jessica Harcombe Fleming, VP of Public…
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Shauna Ockey Helps Calgary Flourish
Key takeaways Shauna Ockey, a former pediatric ICU nurse at the Alberta Children’s Hospital, founded Tanbridge Academy in 2007; it now serves more than…
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The AI Agent Revolution
Key takeaways AI agents go beyond chatbots: they act on requests, such as drafting an email, finding the address and sending it, within parameters…
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Your Bonus Is Tied to BS
Key takeaways Net Promoter Score (NPS), introduced by Bain & Company in 2003, asks one question: how likely are you to recommend this company?…
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Marketing With Intention
Key takeaways Marketing has real impact when it is built on two foundations: company purpose and brand promise. Company purpose is why the business…
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The Trust Gradient: Why Some Businesses are Harder to Start Than Others
Key takeaways The real barrier to starting a business is the “Trust Gradient”: how much trust customers must place in you, not just how…
Winter 2026
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Inside aspiHer Women’s Business Club
Key takeaways aspiHer Women’s Business Club is a Calgary club for women who lead, build and invest, and for the male allies who support…
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UNFILTERED: Business Failures & Comebacks
Key takeaways F*ckUp Nights YYC is a quarterly Calgary speaker series where four founders and leaders each share one real business failure and what…
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JAYME MINOR & ADAM JONES – MAXGREEN
YYC F*CKUP NIGHTS YYC SPEAKER JAYME MINOR & ADAM JONES MAXGREEN Named to Top 40 Under 40 nearly a decade apart, business partners Adam…
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BRAD FIELD – HOMES FOR HEROES FOUNDATION
YYC F*CKUP NIGHTS YYC SPEAKER BRAD FIELD HOMES FOR HEROES FOUNDATION With nearly six decades in Calgary, Brad embodies the spirit of Western Canadian…
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NAHEED KURJI – CYCLICСА
YYC F*CKUP NIGHTS YYC SPEAKER NAHEED KURJI CYCLICСА Failure has been the most consistent theme in Naheed’s life, not as something to avoid, but…
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MEGHAN HUCHKOWSKY – DOODLE DOGS
YYC F*CKUP NIGHTS YYC SPEAKER MEGHAN HUCHKOWSKY DOODLE DOGS Doodle Dogs has been Calgary’s favourite pet boutique since 2016, serving fresh diets, functional gear,…
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Shedding Some Light On Calgary Brand-Builders
Key takeaways Kevin Halliday’s Shed Talks podcast began as casual conversations in his backyard shed about building businesses in Calgary. Allison Grafton founded Rockwood…
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How Artificial Intelligence Can Streamline Operations and Drive Growth for Canadian Businesses
Key takeaways AI creates value only when it is tied to clear business goals and measurable KPIs, not adopted out of fear of falling…
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Rick Filipovic Building Business, Culture and Community with Integrity
Key takeaways Rick Filipovic grew up in a Croatian household in Canada where culture, discipline and community shaped his values. He learned business the…
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Built Here. Scaled Here. How Calgary Sparked a ScaleUP Movement
Key takeaways ScaleUP Week launched in Calgary in 2024 to help Western Canadian companies with the potential to scale learn from each other and…
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How Written Contracts Save You Time, Money and Lawsuits
Key takeaways Every business relationship, from shareholders and partners to employees and suppliers, should be governed by a written agreement. A contract is more…
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DAAS and the Art of Urban Architecture
Key takeaways DAAS (Design And Architecture Studio) is a Calgary architecture firm founded in 2019 by architects Raphael Neurohr and Tomasz Sztuk. The firm…
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Safeguard Your Legacy Estate Tax Liability for Canadian Business Owners
Key takeaways At death, Canadian tax rules treat your assets as sold at fair market value (a “deemed disposition”), triggering capital gains tax on…
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Clarity Over Complexity Daniel Mitchell’s Approach to Cybersecurity
Key takeaways Daniel Mitchell is CEO and founder of Alt-Tech, an Alberta managed IT and cybersecurity provider he started in 2006. He began his…
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The Service Architecture That Builds Brand Loyalty
Key takeaways A brand is only as strong as the team’s ability to deliver it consistently, from leadership to the frontline. Simple, repeatable service…
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Sorelle Catering Two Sisters Build Their Own Brand
Key takeaways Sisters Angela Hamilton and Laura Saliba launched Sorelle Catering (“sorelle” is Italian for “sisters”) as an independent venture. They took over the…
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Filo Financial Solutions A Brand Built on Purpose and Heart
How one Calgary advisor turned a chance into opportunity and now one of Canada’s leading female-led wealth management brands. When people meet Filomena May…
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Building a World-Class Marketing Community: Why? Our Challenger Status is an Advantage
Key takeaways Calgary Marketing Association (CMA) President Marc Binkley argues Calgary’s marketing community should act like a challenger brand to become world class. He…
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The Emerging Philosophy on Growing Your Company
Key takeaways Extraordinary growth comes from doing less with sharper focus, not from working harder or adding complexity. A 10x goal, from 10x Is…
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Being Visible
Key takeaways Publisher Danijel Slisko explains why he launched Brand Magazine: a personal commitment to overcome his discomfort with being visible. The magazine is…
Digital editions
Stories from our digital-only editions.
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The New Business Reality: AI and Cybersecurity are not separate conversations. They are part of your core business strategy
AI and cybersecurity are not separate conversations. They are part of your core business strategy. By Sandy McGrath, President, MIPGlobal A few years ago,…
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The Best Brands Don’t Just Win Their Category, They Change the Culture
Most brands wait to be invited into the cultural conversation. The ones worth studying went ahead and started one. There’s a difference between dominating…
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Why Curiosity Is One of a Leader’s Greatest Strengths
The higher you rise, the more important it becomes to remain a student. A major focus of my career has been studying what makes…
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To Build a Brand That Lasts, Build Yourself to Last
Every boardroom is talking about sustainability. Almost nobody is talking about the sustainability of the person running it all. There’s a sustainability conversation happening…
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The Cost of Secession
Before Alberta talks independence, it needs to price the cost. A border can be drawn with a line, but an economy cannot be separated…
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Digital Trends July 2026: How AI, Web3 and Enterprise Transformation Are Converging
A July 2026 digital trends assessment places generative AI, decentralised web infrastructure and enterprise modernisation at the centre of the technology story — and…
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ScaleUP Helps Canada’s Companies Grow
Canada has no shortage of entrepreneurs. In fact, the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report shows that Canada leads comparable G6 economies in total early-stage…
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People’s Choice ScaleUP of the Year – Sean Hogan, BUILD (MB)
Sean Hogan is the Executive Director of Build Inc. an Indigenous social enterprise that hires, trains, empowers, and launches individuals facing barriers to employment…
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ScaleUP Entrepreneur of the Year – Karen Danudjaja, Blume (BC)
Karen Danudjaja is the CEO of Blume, a DTC functional beverage company sold in over 4000 stores across Canada and the US. Customers can…
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ScaleUP Company of the Year – James Dean, Oxygen8 (BC)
Entrepreneur James Dean is changing the air in North America’s office buildings! Dean is the founder of Oxygen8, a British Columbia-based startup that develops…
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