In this episode of Big Swing Podcast, Jeremy Funk and Corey Scott sit down with Nick Gray, Chief Operating Officer at LiORA, for a conversation about an unlikely career path that began behind a wine bar in Toronto and led to leadership roles across restaurants, software, and environmental technology. Nick never went to post-secondary, but a chance encounter with a CEO who saw something in him at eighteen launched him into a two-year mentorship that served as his business school. From negotiating multimillion-dollar supply contracts as a teenager to shutting down underperforming restaurants, building new locations across Western Canada, and later teaching himself to code, Nick's journey reflects a rare combination of curiosity, adaptability, and a willingness to be thrown into the fire.
The conversation explores Nick's move into the technology world, where he worked across startups, scaled applications at Rogers Communications, and discovered that he was already speaking the language of a product manager. He reflects on the acquisitions he has been part of, the formation of partnership models that opened global markets, and the lessons learned from both success and failure. Nick also explains what LiORA does, describing how its sensors go as deep as a thousand feet into the ground, continuously measure contaminants of interest, and translate that data into a real-time picture of where plumes are today and where they are heading next. He discusses the pilot-to-scale approach the company takes with operators, consultants, and regulators, the transformation of a workflow that has relied on manual sampling for decades, and why LiORA's technology is proving to be a competitive advantage for the consulting firms that embrace it.
Listen to the full conversation for a fascinating look at building a career through saying yes to opportunity, the intersection of product and go-to-market leadership, and how continuous monitoring is changing the way the industry understands what is happening beneath the surface.
What is Big Swing Podcast?
Big Swing features unfiltered conversations with operators and go-to-market leaders on growth, execution, and the swings that matter.
Hosted by Jeremy Funk and Corey Scott, the show blends real-world business experience, candid takes across marketing, sales, and leadership, and the side conversations that make it all human, from career swings to sports, bets, and everything in between.