Episode Overview

Donald Cooper is a public speaker and a long-time entrepreneur who holds 7 Awards of Excellence for marketing, service and business. Donald believes that commitment is the key to entrepreneurship. 

Donald started his business career at the age of 6, sweeping the floor in the family business for 5 cents a day. He earned an MBA from the University of Western Ontario followed by 18 years at Cooper Canada, the family business. Cooper Canada became the world’s leading maker of hockey equipment and a Canadian brand icon. 

At age 43 Donald left the family business to do something less corporate, reinventing himself as an award-winning fashion retailer. In just 3 years he fundamentally redefined the customer experience, for which he received 7 Awards of Excellence for marketing, service and business innovation. 

Donald now helps companies rethink and reinvent themselves to create compelling customer value, clarity of purpose and long-term profitability. For his unique business content and compelling presentation style, Donald has been inducted into the Canadian Speaking Hall of Fame. 

“Children build forts, but adults build forts too. It is their businesses. This is where they go to feel safe, secure and in control. It’s where they hide from reality”.

In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard, Donald shares the best business tools for your business and lets us know why learning is easy and unlearning is hard.

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