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The podcast where relentless curiosity meets leadership transformation.
Hosted by Tyler Chisholm—entrepreneur, CEO, and lifelong learner—Curious as Hell is the go-to podcast for leaders, innovators, and trailblazers who believe that asking the right questions can unlock new possibilities in business and life.
In each episode, Tyler sits down with top executives, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders to explore how curiosity fuels innovation, builds stronger teams, and drives personal growth. Whether it's uncovering the leadership strategies behind top-performing companies, unpacking the mindset shifts that foster resilience, or challenging conventional wisdom, Curious as Hell delivers actionable insights that help you lead with confidence and creativity.
If you're a growth-minded leader looking for fresh perspectives, practical strategies, and inspiring conversations that push boundaries, then you're in the right place.
Hello and welcome to Curious as Hell, a podcast about leading and growing in today's world. My name is Tyler Schism and I'm excited as I always am to be here with my guest today in this
Hi, good, thanks. It's really great to be here, Ty.
It is so good to talk to you. It's been forever. think 2018, pre-COED, so we won't even get into that detail. For anyone who's watching or listening, it doesn't have the privilege to get to know you. We're not going to do the big bio, but you are the original, you are a co-founder, one of the original co-founders of Ryan Murphy Constructions, right? And you are the CEO and co-founder at the Calgary Wild FC. You got it. Ryan Murphy, 17 years? Okay, that's awesome. And the Wild, two years? Yeah.
Yes.
Coming into her second season.
Okay, so I'm curious because that one's fun, it's sports. How's it going?
great. Yeah, it's been really exciting. We have a season under our belt now and obviously a new league, all new teams and now we're just in the preseason planning. The players are back, they're training and we just released our schedule last week and have all of our games mapped out. So we're really excited to get moving forward on this season.
Well, we're going to get into curiosity and the risk of certainty, but just right out of the gate, how different was it moving from founder led construction business to a sports franchise? Just let's start there.
Yeah, no, it's a great question. And yes, very, very different. think with any business, no matter what you're doing and what industry, when you start, I think a lesson I've learned is you often need to contemplate what the end looks like or the exit might look like. with a business such as Ryan Murphy Construction, truly it was started because we felt we can make a difference and do something that hadn't been done before with.
women owning a commercial construction company. And so I think that was really the impetus around what we saw as a need in the industry. And we weren't necessarily thinking about the long-term or what it looked like down the road 17 years later. And the flip side of with the sports team, I mean, it's very fast moving, fast pace. Players are constantly changing. You've got very specific seasons. Obviously, we've got
a board to answer to, we have investors, we have the community. And so it's just a different way in which, a different lens, I guess I'd say, but night and day, absolutely equally exciting, but very, very different.
Just that pressure of the amount of stakeholders, the fans, the community, the players, what you're representing, female sports across Canada, that's a lot of angles.
There are many angles, not just on the pitch when you're distributing the ball. But yeah, absolutely. And I think it's one in which, you know, at times you think you want to be the first and it's very exciting to be the first, but there are also challenges as there's no playbook. So when I look at a city like Toronto, for example, and they have the PWHL and a WNBA. And then if I flip to the Calgary Wild, we're the first pro women's sports team in the province.
And so there are great advantages that come with that around the excitement and what we're doing to push this forward. But it's also an area in which it's totally new territory. And so there's a lot of exploring, learning, looking back, and seeing what we can do to push things forward. yeah, it's very different.
with all those stakeholders, do you get some grace for that? Or is it performance?
I think the first season we got quite a bit of grace. Second season things are changing. We could apologize and say that we were forgiveness there. now into the second season there's so many learnings, but all of our partners, everyone involved has been spectacular. It's just been an incredible learning. And obviously we're playing at McMahon and so have the ability there to be on the C train line and be in the city.
it easy for people to come and see it.
Exactly. ultimately enjoy and take a little time another day. so that's also been, it's almost like a separate business when you think about that game day experience and what we're doing, you know, to
Well, you're putting on multiple events. weather's a factor, time of year is a factor, what else is competing is a factor, let alone trying to also run a business.
Yep, there's a lot there and it's incredible. So different business units doing different things. And then in this preseason, I mean, when we were thinking about it and planning, it was really interesting. think we were thinking it, you know, it's like two years long with all the things we wanted to get done in the preseason. And obviously that's not the case, but we've had some... Yeah, April 25th.
Yeah, it's coming, it's happening. So talk to me a little bit about transitioning from a business where you were the founder, like you said, it wasn't, maybe there wasn't a big master plan. like, we can do this and we're gonna do this. And we worked our asses off to do it. And I knew you, I know you from that time and in that time to moving into this role. And like, there's lots of, well, 30, 60, 90, and take your time and learn how what's going on. Like talk to me a little bit about around the theme of risk of certainty coming into a brand new role in a brand new organization.
the pressure and how you manage the, what should we do, Laura? What should we do? Yes. How do you manage that?
Yeah, I think, you know, having a great team around you and people that either have experience in the sport or working in other sports from a professional level, I would say even locally, being able to talk to the guys from the surge or the stamps and talk to Jay and understanding a little bit around like, you know, okay, well, tell me, give me the real, give me the real scoop of what this is.
Landmines are bad.
Yeah, and so that was wonderful and everyone was incredibly open and even with outside of the city, being able to lean on different people and ask for their advice and experience definitely was a huge factor in how we planned and navigated. But there's no question when you're someone that makes all of the decisions in one particular business and then moves into a business where there's many people in the room that have invested, put time in, whether it's through money.
volunteering. mean, we started as a dedicated group of volunteers and Diana Zumwalt put her hand up to get this club in Calgary when this just was actually called Project 8. So Diana Matheson saw the need. She was a national team player with Christine Sinclair and Stephanie Labe and so many. And just thinking back when I started to really dig in and learn, you know, let's use this as an example, the last World Cup.
What was the hair-brain scheme? Totally.
32 teams competed on the women's side and of those 32 nations, 30 had pro leagues at home and the two that didn't were Haiti and Canada. And so when I really started to think through that on, you just how well- That's powerful actually. Yeah, it is. And how well we performed as a national team on the international stage without having a league at home, you know, there was just such a need and it was, you know, not shameful, but like it's well overdue. And so it was really
It was time, but no question so different. I think, given a lot of my board work and experience that I've done in the city, it's interesting now to be on the other side of the table. So I'm the one that is providing those updates and reports and the responsibility and being able to navigate from a strategic standpoint what the team's doing.
It was time.
how we're generating revenue, and then what we're doing to continue to spread the word and make that impact. And it's not just in Calgary, but obviously being the only pro-women's team in Alberta. And then at the league level, working to navigate all of what is required as each of the teams, we're all learning and growing and looking at ways that we can collaborate to help one another continue on that path of success.
There's playbooks, you don't, but not you guys are writing your playbook. Correct. So what, from a leader, from a personal, from that self curiosity, what would you say were the set of skills that you really had to either develop or like, let's be candid, did you have to turn some down? Yeah, absolutely. what kind of showed up for you in that first time when you barely had a moment to even think about it?
Yeah, it's true. And it did happen really quickly. I know when we kicked off the league last April, Calgary had the fortune of playing Vancouver, Ryze, in Vancouver for the first game of the league. And I'll never forget that feeling of walking out into the bowl and thinking, my gosh, we did it. It was so fast, so furious. And I think the biggest thing is just really learning how to identify the priorities and learning what to let go of.
understanding, okay, this is like a yes, but a yes later. And how can we navigate the team in order to really focus on what's the most important for inaugural season and then being able to do fan surveys and really educate ourselves on what worked with the fan. Cause ultimately we're an entertainment product. So people are coming into that stadium to be entertained, watch a sport. And for many young players look at
their heroes for the first time on the pitch. And so how do you gather all of what that is? And for myself, as a former soccer player who dedicated, I dedicated my life, I was recruited out of New Brunswick at 17, had the fortune of playing in England with the university team. I was on the first Canada games team where it was a sport for women. But all that time and energy.
That's cool, I forgot that, that's awesome.
Who better than you actually to be in this role? I argue.
I mean, it's an interesting thing because I think about all the oranges that were peeled and the miles traveled and the dedication and the blood, sweat and tears. And never once did I ever think I could make money or play pro. It just wasn't, it didn't even enter my mind. So in that, at that time, you you hung up your cleats and got your real job. And so when this opportunity, I mean, I began as a volunteer with the group here led by Deanna. And ultimately it was from my construction experience. They asked if I would.
be interested in finding a place for us to play. And as you know, I mean, this isn't just a Calgary or Alberta issue, infrastructure across our country, especially the medium sized stadium. so that was where my passion continued to grow as a volunteer and being on that committee with all of the people that had put their hands up. And so, yeah, it just really kind of brought my worlds together from that construction and walking into a stadium.
invested heavily.
that was purpose built more so for men's sport and knowing that that would be our home. And yeah, it was really exciting.
How did you balance the, that's a lot of information to take in, like coming from being on the pitch to now being in the back office and being the suit. I don't know if you guys wear suits, but that that dichotomy between what the players deal with and what. But for you coming in, like that's a lot of information coming at you. I love being curious as a leader and I love learning more, but there's a point where you have to be able to categorize it and use it. Or else it's just like one day you're going down one path, next day you're going the other. How did you manage?
that and at the same time allowing everybody to feel that their voice mattered. That's a tricky skills of skills of justice on that.
is tricky.
There's so much purpose behind what we're doing for so many reasons. so I think at times it was really being totally, and it is, and it's amazing. It's just, then how do we flip that dialogue into being a business with a purpose and something that we can really focus on.
My heart is this big.
But it's hoping to make money. Unfortunately, that's where great purposes can fail.
Absolutely. And the economic impact and being able to harness so much of the statistics that we're able to see and move forward. again, it's really an exercise in identifying those priorities and then also being willing to put your hand up and ask for help when you don't have all the answers and particularly with sport, it's ever changing, constantly moving.
You got media, got culture, got like there's so many- Broadcast.
league like regulations
Things I don't even know to think about but concerned about.
Exactly. And so I think you just, really, for me as a, I have no problem for asking for help and you really have to be able to do that in order to continue to move the group as a whole, whether they're on the pitch or the business in behind what's happening for that game day and all of what we do. we, step onto the pitch for a match. So just really identifying that and asking for help and knowing that it's, it's a constant, you're just constantly learning. Luckily I am.
very, very curious and part of being an entrepreneur. I love, that's why I love your book, the podcast, all of it is, it is, it's curiosity. And I think from a very young age, I had that, a boat, whether it was construction, building, business. And thankfully I had, you know, support and family that, you know, didn't mind that I had a soccer ball at my feet and maybe a drill in my hands. And I was never told to do anything different.
I love it. How?
Talk to me about the trust and giving up. Because when you've got that many moving parts, you've got to really just be like, they've got it. I'm going to walk away. One, I don't even understand what they've got at the depth that they do. Was that ever an issue for you? Like in the early days of you and a couple people starting a company, you are the buck does stop with you. And I know you had a co-founder, so that way. How have you transitioned? You're like, they've got it. I'm good. I'm not even going to worry about it. I'm going over here. Because I know a lot of leaders at all sizes of organizations that struggle with that.
Yeah, no, it's a great question. think every day is a new learning. I mean, even this morning or yeah, before coming here to speak with you, you know, I had a team's call and I hopped on it. and they said, Lara, no, like you go prep, just like be present and don't worry about it. We got this. And so, you know, constantly wanting to chime in and be part of things, but more so from a perspective where,
I'll get back to you.
we're always looking to gain efficiencies. How can we, you know, lessen the emails or the team's messages or what is that that each decision maker can take on their own? And you really have to build trust and know that we each have one another's back. And I think the more that you can let go, and my experience in business is that when I do that and when I let go, things might not always be perfect, but they actually move forward a lot faster in a positive way.
Was there ever in your journey a moment where you had to have that little fireside chat with yourself? Like, stop being the bottleneck, stop being... And also sometimes our value gets wrapped up in that. Most of us get rewarded in the early part of our careers by how many bricks we can pile. For sure. Versus how many bricks we can make sure get piled. That's a weird metaphor, but that was my loose construction metaphor. Was there ever a point where you had that realization yourself of like, my success is wrapped up in what happens, not me actually having to do it?
Sure. Yeah, yeah, you do. think there have been several moments and they're ones that, yeah, they resonate. And whether it's showing up to do a talk and realizing, like, so many people have been part of putting something together that I didn't have to lay hands on at all, or walking down to the front of the stadium with my back to the pitch and looking up at all of the fans and really taking it all in and, like, realizing, like, wow, like,
this team pulled this off and seeing young kids walking to school with their Wild FC gear and merch on. Those moments are moments that you just, but you do have to have that trust.
in normal business. I don't run into my swag walking down the street. I go to a client and our comic book's on their desk, I'm like, that's
I know, I know.
is a win. It is a win. so it's exciting. And I think one interesting thing that I learned around women's sport is that the fans really are engaged in that, that merch and that fandom and wanting to sport and rap. And so that was a really fun realization as well when we started to move the
It's so different than, arguably, traditional business over here. Absolutely. Because it fills such a heart. We want our clients to love us, but it's usually in a different way. But a sports team is a whole other thing. It's so true. The better day on Monday because your team won on the weekend. That's right. When they lose, it's them. When they win, it's us. And all that kind of psychology around it is very, very real. Thinking about, we touched on it earlier, but when you created the role and became, and basically ordained yourself a leader.
Yes.
Yeah, no.
versus coming into an organization where, you know, it was chosen, someone chose you for that role. It's got to change the dynamics, got to change the psychology, or has it just been such a transition for you? Because it sounds like they're so different. But this is, we have a role description and you're the perfect fit for it, versus we kind of write our own role descriptions when we start our own company. If we ever even wrote one at all.
They are very different.
Yeah, no, that's very... Yeah, no, absolutely. And I was fortunate to be part of developing what that role would look like. From the inside. Yeah, absolutely. But also being... recognizing where my skill set could be advantageous to grow the business and then also have the ability to hand off things that weren't necessarily my powerhouse. And so really, I think as you evolve as a leader,
And often for me, know, whether you're serving on a board or working on a community project or in business, it's not necessarily what you're learning when you're sitting there. It's actually what you learn about yourself. And so being able to take those moments and understand, okay, truly what works best for this organization and how can I best use my skillset? And so you have to get to a point where, like, whether it's through experience or age, I don't know, but you just don't give up.
Shit.
Yeah, and you know, like it's enough. And you can peel that away and let go of that iron grip on things and allow people, because that's the only way you learn. I think for me, I would share that in the times that I've learned have really, it's been through making mistakes or adversity. And when things are going smashingly well and everything's hunky dory, like it's not necessarily.
That's where it's coming sometimes. Totally. Was that a deliberate?
It sounded very deliberate the way you unpacked it. Was it like you worked with a coach, you went for long walks in the woods, you spent time at the coffee shop going, what was the best version of me? What superpower of mine did show up? How did that evolve? Because you made it sound very like deliberate. But for some people they're like, I'm not there yet. And at all ages and stages, some people are not there yet. And we're always on the verge of being somewhere else. Absolutely. Oh, just when I thought I had it all figured out, I did it. Was that an outside in? Was it a 360? Looking at trying to give people who are listening.
Is it just good self-reflection? Is it a book?
Yeah, no, think it's a combination. is a combination. I think if I look back, you know, I did have a moment in time where I felt like I was at the lowest from a business perspective. And it was a choice around a potential merger with my former company and working on that for almost two years. And then at the end, at the 11th hour, making the decision that
I did not want to move forward.
After two years of due diligence and dating, if you will. Absolutely.
a lot and I'll never forget, you know, just going down to the river and living in Inglewood, I do that a lot and just sitting there with my partner and thinking it was the worst day of my life and I didn't quite know how I would navigate and there's all kinds of self-doubt and did I do the right thing and then, you know, knowing that and obviously being encouraged by her but also recognizing within a few months and certainly a year later.
it was the best thing I ever did. And if that didn't happen, as difficult as it was, I wouldn't be here today being able to share the story and being able to embark on a new journey where things aren't always black and white and they're not the way we think all the time. for me, growing up on a soccer pitch and learning what it was like to lose over and over and over again with a group of people that were equally as dedicated as I was.
I built that skill set and I know there's the saying, like you have to have memory of a goldfish, but you do. And you have to be able to just shake it off, navigate and move on, but also have enough self-reflection. I mean, I love EDM music. I love listening to defected records and biking, running, skiing, being outside is a big part of how I can regroup. But all of those things came together and it's not overnight. And of course, friends and family.
Also because so many people are your cheerleaders and if you can get to a point where you have people, whether it's in your own home, with your family or friends or business associates, mean, even just before I walked into this interview, I received a phone call from a great friend of mine who's also a massive business leader in the community and we just touch base and we can phone one another. Those are so valuable. It's just, and it's easy and...
So finding those people you can trust and be truly real with because we're all just, we're just human.
having a messy experience. The mentor, it's interesting, I had a podcast last week here with Iggy Domogowski. And Iggy really called out how deliberate he'd been about creating mentorships in his life and reaching out to people. And he really found there was a sweet spot, people that were just kind of at end of their career, they were kind of slowing, but they didn't want to stop participating in those wealth of information. But the humility and just being deliberate about creating those relationships, think, like I've been an exec, I was in tech for years. Were you in tech or were you in EEO?
yes, sorry. I think you meant like IT tech. No, no, no, no, no. was. I was before.
Yeah, sorry for everyone in the US and it's second hugely valuable in terms of the pure type environment Absolutely leaders because leadership can be very lonely
It can be, and there's a lot of hard decisions and there's a lot of decisions that are really shitty. And they're decisions that you have to make with people that you care about and that aren't easy and you're impacting people's lives and it's hard.
There's humans involved all the time.
It's very difficult and you, you know, but I always think that because I'm impacted so much by decisions that are really difficult at times, mean, you know, when I lose sleep, I know I'm human and I want that, I want to feel that. I want to have that emotion and...
If it ever gets easy, you're losing some type of connectivity.
It's just difficult because often the people that you start on a journey with something in business or life aren't the people that necessarily carry it forward. And that's not a negative thing. It's just something that's a reality because everything evolves. And it's whether our day to day, our family life, our friendship, our everything. And it's just this moving constant and it's like a snowball. And at some points in time, things fall off and you just have to be able to.
you know, make sure you know you'll put that carrot on the nose at some point.
So, when I had a business coach, I was maybe 27, 28, and she said, Tyler, you will outgrow most of the people in your life because that's the journey you're on. And you kind of push back because you're like, no, no, my friends are kind of my identity. And she was totally right. It was a very powerful piece of it. But then you understand you didn't outgrow them. You just, they went this way, you went that way. It wasn't them, you good, them bad or any of that kind stuff. It was just different ways and different values of what's important. It's true. How was transitioning? Because you mentioned earlier off camera that you have a general manager.
at Ryan Murphy. How's that? Big smile. That's a great response to that. How was letting go of your baby? And I use that loosely. I like sometimes when people say that. Sometimes I don't like it. It's still a business. But you started that from scratch.
Absolutely. think one of the interesting things is when I embarked on the journey, Kim was our GM and had been working with the construction company for quite some time, but knew I was really passionate and at that time volunteering and working with the wild. When the opportunity to step into the president and CEO role came, I was sweating bullets and so nervous and not really knowing how I could pull it off.
And I'll never forget, we were outside of the office and I, just pulled her aside and said, you know, I've got this, this chance and she just said, I think you should go for it. My day to day won't change that much, Lara. And it was as simple as that. And, know, obviously we talk regularly, but it was just, there was so much support and willingness to like, you know, we constantly check in. There's still wonderful things happening on the construction side, but
this thing over here.
The transition was smoother than I ever could have imagined. And as we move into the next phase of what we're doing, we're doing more consulting now and choosing interesting jobs. And so it's been really kind of a beautiful thing to watch.
Well, you built the relationship before you needed it. You built the trust. Like you did, you put in the work. And you know, it's not about building relationships with people because it's, yeah, one, it's the right thing to do, but two, so when that happened, that groundwork had already been laid. It had been. And that's so, I think even with our teams every day, sometimes I'm like, the good times are easy, but when things go sideways, that's when I want to know I have trust. That's when I want to know that like, hey, this is good. What are we going to talk about now is not awesome. It's true. You know, like you kind of save up your points. It's true. I'm building those relationships as a leader.
Actually just giving a shit about people. sounds so cliche, but. Back to the point, we're all humans.
And, know, and in this city, mean, how fortunate are we? I mean, this city, mean, not being from here, coming here, starting something from scratch and being surrounded by so many individuals that were so invested and gave me that time for a phone call or a coffee. And like, it's amazing. And, you know, put me in rooms.
concur.
Same journey.
gave me a voice and allowed me to learn about myself and the business and what. So I feel so indebted to the city. And so part of what is incredible is that now, whether it's being the first women in construction on the commercial side or being the first sports team, like I owe it. that I owe it and I owe it to my younger self. I owe it to the future of these kids that get to see their heroes every day.
and the community that stood behind us and continue to do so as we embark in the second season. And all of those players who never thought they'd play in Canada, never thought they could come home and to be part of something that is a first. so being the first can be daunting and there's a lot there.
Say sometimes you get the most arrows in your back, right? you're in the lead, right? But someone's gotta do it. Or else it doesn't happen.
They do. Yeah, exactly. And if, you know, from my perspective, if I make a difference with one human, my gosh, like I know teachers, like I had so many teachers growing up that really had an impact on me, whether they, I was somewhat terrified of them because they were so tough or people that I love. Yeah, we all have that teacher, it's, make an impact. And there's, there's such, there's so much more as we look at like within school and business and community. And, and if you,
Maybe remember like two or three ways.
That's the iron sharpest
you know, can get over yourself and get involved and, you know, get comfortable being uncomfortable and knowing you don't know everything and being able to walk into a room and be like, my gosh, okay, here we go. But I really thrive on that. I love it.
Getting comfortable being uncomfortable like well said. I'm like wrong question. Totally. How do I get okay living?
I don't and I and I love
And I mean, I went to an event before Christmas WTL. And I didn't know very many people in the room. And I was so excited by that. Because, you know, I was so excited, you know, not nervous that I didn't know who I'd speak to, but excited that I see that how we evolve as a community and the business and what's happening and more people getting involved. And there's so many. When Ryan Murphy started, there were very few
What a great way to frame it up.
resources that were at your fingertips. so now it's almost overwhelming. so you look at exactly, cause you want to choose a couple of things and do them really well rather than spread yourself, you know, one in the hand, two in the bush.
This change so much.
And wayfinding it is actually the hardest part.
Spread ourselves too thin. Isn't that the entrepreneurs? Bite off more you can chew and keep chewing. Be comfortable being uncomfortable. You mentioned like imposter syndrome, a thing for you, still a thing. Sure, why not? love your joke. 80 % of people have it, 20 % lie about it.
Yeah, no!
Honestly, and I embrace it. To me, look at it a little. You just you learn, like, why am I feeling this? Okay, like, let's just take a step back here and take a deep breath and, and move forward. But it happens to everyone. Absolutely. And you know, I think really listening to your instincts, understanding and appreciating where you have room to grow and where you excel, and focus on those and ask.
Something real is about to happen.
Absolutely.
and be part of conversations and be present, listen, and really try to take things in and think about... listen? Yeah, you know, because we all know those people and you're like, I know you're waiting for me to take a breath so you can speak. And maybe that's out of nervousness, whatever the case is, but honestly, and probably comes with, you know, as we get younger, we lose, at least for me, I'm not as fussed about certain things. so...
not just duck.
there's a real ability to kind of just lean in. And I think if you can find people where they're at in the moment in time and find that commonality, and I think the world as a whole should really wake up and start doing that more and more. Of course, we all have differences and whether it's political interests, whatever the case is, but my goodness, like we've lost the plot.
On the bigger picture, absolutely. A little bit of taking time, taking some empathy, actually being curious what someone else's point of view is. Just be curious. You don't have to agree. You don't have to want to, like, you don't want to have, you shouldn't have to, it's either like or hate. You're like me or you're not like me. That's okay. I learn more from people that aren't like me in my experience. But as you get little older, you go, yeah, okay. I've seen this story before. And when I acted this way, I didn't learn as much, but this way learned more.
And I think just coming off of the Olympics, it's a great lesson for all of us because for me, watching the Olympics and when a Canadian wins a gold and you hear that, our anthem, come on, it's a moment, if there's something about that, that like-
We can do it. We can, we can send a little more of that.
And that's right. It's that unity. And how can we, you know, we're all wearing the patch and, and, the pride.
But it is.
I'm lazy almost. Being divided is kind of lazy. Yeah. you don't like me? I don't like you. Yeah. Come on. Ask a question, lean in. Yeah. Being as busy as you are.
How do you find the time to, cause you've got a whole group of people around you that are looking and can have, positively influenced by how you showed up that day. But there's nothing worse. I had a leader tell me this, goes, Tyler, wanted to give you a piece of advice. Never underestimate your amplitude. I said, what do you mean, Barry? She says, Ms. Barry. Cause you walk through the office and you don't have to say hi. That person now thinks they're getting fired. Because you were in your head. So he goes, never underestimate that. And it, it seems so subtle, but taking a little bit of time to be deliberate about it. How do you do that when things are coming at you a hundred mile an hour? Cause I know you do it cause I know you.
Yeah, no, no, it's an evolving process. it's one in which, particularly as a startup and the first women's sports team, there's a lot and a lot coming at us. And definitely we're all learning what our roles are and how we identify the priorities and to delegate. I think I am an approachable leader. And so at times there's a lot of approach and that's OK.
There's a line up at your door
It's at times, but it's all really kind of wonderful because whether or not they're telling a story or sharing a win or asking for guidance, I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't want to make the time to do so. But then also on the flip side, I take a Monday morning, for example, most times, and spend it at home regrouping for the week so that I can calibrate and make sure that I show up as my best self and have what I need to do and what the priorities are backed up.
afraid to do that and or put your phone on silent and know that you need some time to prepare and plan. And so I think really like setting those expectations for yourself and also the team. make all the difference in the world.
You're hearing healthy boundaries. Like I'm gonna take care of me so when I show up it's a better version of me. The always on, always accessible. I think there's only so many cycles in the machine. I really like that they're making that deliberate time and being purposeful. The intent is so powerful. Oh, you're unavailable. Eventually people will be like, oh, that's great. when you get it, you respect it. You're like, oh, good for you. Please do that.
and being clear as
It is.
And then they make decisions more on their own and like that's how we learn and grow.
It's funny sometimes you don't answer the phone, the problem gets solved.
Yes, there you go. Yeah, it's true. But yeah, it's exciting. And I think everyone just has such excitement and passion around the wild of sea in particular that there is a tendency.
The purpose and passion and the business, that's an interesting, worked with lot of non-for-profits where heart leads. But I think sometimes if the financial model was as powerful as the heart model, the heart model could get bigger. So I do have a bias that way as a business individual in that mindset. But when you give that much passion, it creates something else. If you can marry the two together, that's when you can actually really create change. It's magic. scale. Yeah, absolutely. So you're going into your second season, you've got some things figured out, but I'm assuming still.
there's a million things going on. What are you the most excited about?
Well, I think last week I had opportunity to go to our new training facility and so we're working, we worked with the city and we have a home now for the players to train at the soccer dome. And so that was a really big win.
a home is they're saying that really big win
That's great. Yeah. Last year, the players traveled around different facilities to train and, and that was, it was what we needed to do at the time. But now that we have a place that they can go and gather and be part of and have lunch together and work and train is really exciting. So I was able to go last week. It's brand new facility. The exact same turf that's on McMahon, you know, should prove well. Helping mitigate potential injury, all the things. And so.
for getting some things right. Like this is helping.
But seeing the new players that have arrived and the excitement in their eyes and being able to be with the coaching staff and the athletic team and then the players that have come back. That's so awesome. It's great. know, and they're all, come in, they're giving me 27 limit roster, but then we have all the coaching staff and there were some call-ups trying out for the team as well. so seeing that, you know,
doing the thing they dreamt to
on the team there's
anywhere from 15 to players in their 30s and and many
I was curious about the range, I wasn't going to ask, but thank you for saying that.
Yeah, so there's a wide range there and many that have played abroad and now.
like evolution, you've got emotional maturity, like that's a mixed bag, 15 to 30. is. A of life going on there.
Yeah, and it's exciting. There is an experience and ways in which they can be together. But one of the younger players that was training had indicated in the feedback was that it was the most welcoming group that she's ever trained with. And she's been across the country because she's been identified as a really strong talent. I'm hearing those. And so it's exciting. So I think that absolutely is a highlight. I mean, obviously, we get to select what our game day themes are.
You want from the people you want it from. right. Yeah.
We've been having brainstorming sessions as a team where it's super casual and we get to just write on the whiteboard.
I ask you about kind of that strategic curiosity of like, we're really just opening the aperture and taking a look at it.
Yeah, Pride match, home opener, other themes that we're working with. How can we incorporate our partners, our sponsors and really make it something special so when we're activating that we're doing some different things now that we've learned. Last year, McMahan's a very large stadium. part of what our goal is is how do we initiate that to make it feel more like a home. Yeah, and it's great. And we have so many different brilliant minds around the table that
And fries?
put forward ideas and obviously the pregame out in the parking lot, have a supporters group called the Wild Roses. There's game days, we watch matches and then the broadcast piece, McMahon shows really well on broadcast. We're fortunate to be on TSN, CBC, ESPN, YouTube and we have 10 more. It's amazing. It's awesome, I love so really great. And I mean, our championship match on November 15th.
was on CBC with 1.1 million viewers. And I guess to put it into comparison, the NWSL on the stage, which is the women's league there, they've been around for close to 20 years and their final match had 1.3 million viewers.
You guys had 1.1. So it was a big win. It is a numbers game to a certain extent, back to the business side of it, Yeah. So. That's what's going to attract. That's what's going to bring money. Yeah.
That was,
because ultimately at the end of the day, without the fans in the stands and without the advertisers and the partners and the sponsors, we don't exist. So, I mean, that's the reality of what we need to do. So continuing to spread our wings and, you know, bring those kids in that are maybe from underrepresented groups is really a big part
Where's the player base coming from? Across Canada?
All over. So we have Americans, we have New Zealand, Australia, a couple of Europeans, Canadians as well. So it's a mixed bag. our part of our, our guidelines on the sports side is that we're able to have up to eight international players. So the impetus is really to, foster and grow our Canadian. Absolutely. So that's, that's also exciting because we've just also launched
our Academy and League One team and so we'll be able to bring them in and continue.
You need to create your own funnel, right?
to comment earlier, but we've kind of under supported. So we're not going to have players that have been playing since they were. There wasn't there wasn't an infrastructure. That's right.
Exactly. It just didn't exist. so, you know, really I'm sending the kudos out to people like Diana Matheson and Christine Sinclair that, you know, fought for this and pushed it through and found the other people to come around the table to make it a reality. And each of the clubs were six right now. So it's Halifax, Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. So obviously there's a big old prairies in between Calgary and Toronto.
Canadian phenomenon as well.
Yeah, we're looking to engage some expansion teams here in 2027. those discussions are underway and that's an exciting time as well.
I love that. I really appreciate how much you deliver. are like behind all these things. There's individual humans that make shit happen. Mm-hmm that push and that put themselves out there and are willing to get doors closed in their face or whatever the case may be. React versus reflect. It's a very interesting thing in a world that we live in where we're often getting tempted to react without going wait I need to reflect so you give that scenario of like we're brainstorming and we're whiteboarding and how do you keep yourself in check from?
getting over-indexing on maybe excited about an idea or just being the quick, I got an answer versus the maybe forcing your, I'm saying the word force because sometimes I have to force myself to reflect. love reacting, it's very indulgent. How do you balance those two things out in the world of everyone's trying to, the bullets are always flying.
Yeah, I think as I've evolved and or gotten younger as a person, I like to say that.
I do. You said that twice now. I like it. We'll talk about that later.
You learn patience. And for me, it wasn't necessarily natural, but to be able to get to a point where you don't have to be the person speaking all of the time, you don't have to be reacting, as you said, it's just having the diligence, patience and the self-reflection to, you know, whether you squish your toes into your shoes or bite your tongue, whatever the case is, but really being able to give an environment that
everyone's voice is heard. You might not always like take those opinions and put them into action, but you create an environment that allows that. that's what coming together and being inclusive is and being able to represent a community and people and a sport and players and investors and a board where it's all the first, this is the first time. so, but for me, it was really learning about myself and patience.
And then I think also as you become more confident and you don't feel the need to have, I've got to say this and I know that or I've been there, know, oh, look at my lunch bag. I was to Maui or, you it just these things that, you know, you get to a point. Because at the end of the day, people actually don't give a shit. Like they don't care. It's just, they want someone in front of them that listens and is real and is willing to have their back. And I mean, to me, that sounds a lot Pollyanna, but I don't care.
resonates.
And it's a way that you can really resonate and bring people forward and not everyone, there'll be tough decisions. You can't bring everyone along and that's tough. And it is a fast paced environment. What we're doing is, it's a bit bananas to be honest, because we're a scrappy startup. And as we move forward and gain more partners and gain more tickets, I mean, we had 46,000 fans come out and sit in those seats in McMahon last season. And so obviously this year we want to grow that fan base, but
I would challenge anyone listening to this podcast or anyone in your group of friends, like come out and watch a match. It's a way, like since the Romans, we've been looking for entertainment. We're entertaining and no one's getting killed. And it's fun. it's a way to forget about some of what we spoke of earlier, the divisiveness in society and what we're going through. And it's level playing field.
Yeah, it's win.
This place is really interesting rule.
plucked me out of New Brunswick and gave me an opportunity that I never would have had otherwise. It really has.
And not knowing, think, you when I look back at when I was training or going through school, I didn't know what would happen. I just kept training and running and trying to be better and thinking someday something might happen. And so everyone needs to remember that that's, you know, and you might not be, I mean, 1 % of people will make it pro, that's the reality. But there are people that are designing the logos that are working maybe as an effect.
Jobs and what's there and it's exciting advertising marketing the ticketing like it is it's it's it's it's inspiring
It's its own little...
Everything that had to go on so that when those people showed up to go on that pitch, everything else was happening. Stands were full, the concession, like everything that has to happen to then have, give that fan that experience and allow that player to play, right? We all are in symbiosis to one one way or another. is, it is. Not to dig in, I keep going high, we go high level and then dig in. You made that comment about making sure everyone gets hurt. How do you pull out the voices that like to sit back?
I like to jump in. Yeah, really. But my wife would like to wait and get back to tomorrow when she's a chance to think about it. As a leader, it's so easy to index to the outspoken ones. Yeah. But there's doesn't mean that those ideas are better or worse. It's just they're more comfortable. I don't even use extrovert introvert. It's almost too simple. But yeah, we all know who we're talking about.
Absolutely. I the loudest voices often are the ones that are heard the most. But as you get to navigate and grow and learn with your team, for me, it's more about making sure I take the time to either have one-on-ones with individuals and or create an environment. We had a leadership session yesterday with a group called Pebble and what I love about the format. And she and Alicia, I mean, it's a masterclass and they're awesome.
There were two. I'm you dropped like, friend who was listening to Go Check Out Pebble. I give her some.
way and just watching the way that they can navigate and whether we're standing up and walking across a room responding to a question that they've asked on whether you strongly agree or disagree, but then you get the visual of all of your colleagues walking and standing.
changing perspective is powerful. is actually like, now that I'm looking at it from over here, this looks different to me now. That's a really power the physicality of that exercise is
Exactly.
And I'm very visual as a person. And so that, think, was super powerful. And then also being able to make sure that when we're sitting in our groups or talking through a session, everyone does get a turn. So you just create the space, the time, and the comfortability. And often, I think you'll be in different meetings and bored like, hey, this is a safe space. And so I think if you can create that.
He's huge.
It is. understand that everyone, like you said, some might take longer to process. I'm one of those people. I'm not great to the solution. I need a little bit of time to think through what that looks like. Others are different. Appreciate both styles. But as you allow different platforms to have people, really you want people to feel comfortable and shine. And it can come in all different forms. So just, I think, being flexible around that and understanding.
Things happen organically and I think back to last season and when I look at the players after a match, they're out on the warm and cooling down, sometimes doing sprints, topping up and they all would take time to come across, walk where the rail is, where the stands meet the pitch and all of those young players will come down and whether they're holding the playing card, a t-shirt, a croc.
I've seen so many interesting things be signed. Each one of those players took to sign those things for those young people, young girls primarily that for the first time see it. And that happened organically. We didn't instruct the players that they need to go and do that. And so those are the things that if you see that happening, it's like, how can we build on this? So you know what? One of our last matches, we allowed all the fans to come down onto the pitch.
Alright!
And it was one of the most powerful things. saw a woman that had, over the course of the season, had each player autograph, and she then took one of her hoodies and embroidered each one of the autographs onto the hoodie herself, and then had all of our scores embroidered for each match on the side of the arm. And I mean, never would have seen that if we didn't have... It's amazing. It's like, my gosh.
And then the players see that and then the kids see it and the parents that are taking the time out of their day to bring people to the game to experience this. And the interesting thing about soccer, I we're a hockey nation. And so what I love about what we're doing is that we also get an opportunity to educate. So many times through the season, I would see season ticket holders sitting next to one another, talking about the offside rule or getting to understand like, what was that?
He's learning too.
And that's part of the magic, mean soccer is or football is the world's
Thank you. I was gonna ask you like what do you like to go? What's your preference?
I mean, I do love saying football, but I think, you know, we're,
You have to respect your-
But there's such an opportunity to teach the game and it's a beautiful game. I I learned it at a young age and can appreciate it, but there's so many reasons. And even if you're not a soccer fan, take them out and experience what that half game show is like or what it's like to see the first women's pro team or be at McMahon or just have some fun.
times those smaller leagues like going to the surge are going to see the Roughnecks or like, it's fun. It is there's a there's people are there and their players are playing hard. Like it's like people show up. Absolutely fans are out of control. You surge game I was like with my friend with my friend Colleen, I you know, we sat real inside. And I was like, this is like it was a blast. Yeah, you know, it was like some Raptors games, but you know, probably not right on the court side. And it's just a very different experience. But it is as fun and entertaining as the sense of community is like spilling out every
You kind of have to embrace it. You touched on it earlier. mean, one thing that we have to work with is we are beholden to the elements. So we're outside. We're not in a dome or not. So how do we as a club and a team, you know, really embrace that and, OK, we're going to sell lipsticks. It's like, your gear. And so, you know, being able to embrace it versus thinking of it as something that's a negative and have people be outside and enjoy and just be part of something that.
Calgary you never know what you're
that is, yeah, that's a different experience, but one that...
shared suffering sometimes. Yeah, I've been to many football games, depending on which side you're sitting on or what's going on during the day, the blankets and the the wine flat. let's not get into details. So thinking ahead for you, and I love how introspective you are, and kind of you've been on the journey and been very deliberate about your leadership. Again, sometimes in reflection, which sometimes I'm like, Oh, I'm going to learn from that thing that just happened yesterday. What's on your docket from a personal growth, like self curiosity perspective, you think of the that I'm talking to you a year from now, what's changed in your own leadership journey?
Yeah.
That's a great question. think that if we really looking to continue to grow the club, I want us to not only succeed on the pitch, as a team to have everyone. My goal is I don't want to be the topic of conversation or at the dinner table. like giving people the ability to have a work life balance. So hopefully they're not bringing stress home and we're able to. Yeah. so for me,
from your team perspective. I understand. Don't carry it home in your head every night. That's not healthy.
Yeah. And so as we grow our revenue and our ability to hire more, more people that can be part of it, because there's a lot that needs to happen. And so we are really starting to hit our stride. And so I think for me, you know, obviously winning is, is, is, great. So I'm really excited to see how this new and adjusted squad performs on the pitch. And then obviously as a league, how we grow.
Carry the backpack together.
and what we can do to continue that broadcasting. And each of the presidents and the CEOs of all the other clubs and the league as a whole, it's very collaborative because we recognize it is, it's amazing. And that was a learning point for me, just where I didn't expect it as much. So for me, continuing to learn and grow on that and then really leading a team, executing and fulfilling our partnership needs, the players.
the whole
the families, the fans and feeling like we've really put the best product on and we keep improving. And as a leader, I keep improving. And really for me, like if I can get to the point where I'm doing a lot more of the strategy and execution, elevating up because it is, I, I, like last season, there was one day where I, I had to run down off of Blackfoot to buy a t-shirt cannon. And then I was,
running as
To Major Tom's to pitch a multimillionaire about being an investor. And so it's super, it's fun, but very, very different. so it is the, you know, the operational part of what needs to happen versus like that strategic leader and to be that strategic leader to really guide us into that next long-term phase of what that looks like as a club and continue to identify where we can improve is, is, and myself included, it's, it's constant.
I can see a slide in your memoirs about you buying a t-shirt down here, and then you're pitching a multimillion dollar investment over here. Here's the contrast when you're in a startup phase, but being able to elevate up to that kind of strategic level of curiosity.
Yep, but be flexible and always know. think that ultimately if you show up as yourself, do the best to your ability with the knowledge you have. I mean, for me, I never take myself too seriously. Life is too short. So I think if you can always inject a bit of humor and humility and being able to work with those around you and recognizing, of course, there's bumps in the road. But at the end of the day, we just have to do what we do best and then be willing to look to the community to support that.
and the others around you that are willing to, they get it, like people get it, and this is something that people get. You know, we just had the Olympics, the World Cups coming up, it's an exciting time, but as we can see with many examples over the last week, even with Olympics, that we still have a long way to go. And so how do we continue to elevate those voices so that the people in the trenches and women's sport as a whole continues on the trajectory to grow, and it's different.
and it's new asset class, if you will, but really continue to.
just like, yeah, it's there and there's an opportunity. There's clearly a need and there's clearly market. Yeah.
I so. I mean, I would say as a young girl, for me, looking back now, I didn't at the time really appreciate what it taught me. But if I think about so many of those young women, and again, not all will become pro soccer players, but if we can keep young people in sport, it helps with their mental health, their physicality, and so much. girls do drop out of sport at an alarming rate versus young boys and young men. And so...
you part of what we really want to do is, yeah, it's like four times the rate. so how do we, it's around 13, 14. Yeah. They drop out. And so if we keep those women in, there's so many wonderful studies and statistics that in 94 % of women that are C suites played competitive. And so you think about,
Is there a specific time or is it just? I was going to.
that's a great statistic. And not surprising kind of detail.
Right. And these players, all of them at some point, like their careers aren't that long. They're all educated people that most played, whether it was in the States or on scholarship and have at least a degree, if not masters and or business. I have two meetings next week with players who have entrepreneurial questions for me and they're already thinking about what happens when my career is done. I mean, you never know. You're only one game away from the potential of an engineer.
for your experience. It's so much fun. That's a little superpower. I love it.
More, I want more of that. so that's very cool. It is. And then, you know, for our sponsors and partners in the city as a whole, knowing that these people that are tough as nuts, these players, one day could work for their company or be part of their executive. And how do we bring those ties together and really look at creating another generation of our future leaders in the city? And that's very exciting to me.
the skills that it teaches you how to work, like perseverance, you know how to win, you know how to lose. Like it's gonna, you're not gonna win them all. You know, those types of things.
or strategy. is and even looking at something like a set play, I mean what I love about soccer is there's no microphones, there's no equipment except for shin pads and cleats and you don't stop between every play and talk about what the next play is. Yeah, it's maybe not as fast paced. You have to have everything memorized and you're able to execute and you plan and prep and you visualize where your role is in the set play and
But you're still figuring it out.
where the ball's coming, what the trajectory looks like and thinking three passes ahead. And so there's such a beauty in that strategy around. it takes a while to appreciate it if you're not someone that grew up watching or playing the sport. so, but all of those skills are skills that are very easily transferable. And it's not just soccer, but many other sports as well. But when I think about that specifically, because I'm a bit biased, it's-
so far.
Thanks for the email.
It is exciting and you can appreciate it and then find the nuances in a really great pass or a great set piece or save that you can see the skill set there and then obviously all the players are really having to think and map that out and it's just there's a lot of strategy behind what happens and that's exciting and I think it continues to develop these players not just on the pitch but where they can to your point take those skills and use
They're developing as humans on a journey, right? I love how excited you are about it. Yeah. You're sort of like, you're coming out of your chair. thank you so much for coming in. you. Thanks for the honesty. Thanks for what you do in the city. Absolutely. Thanks for staying in touch. Thank you. been quite a few years now.
Thanks, Tyler. You're the best. Thank you so much.
Thank you.