The Career Guy

Mickey Horvath

The Career Guy Podcast is a repository of interviews where the guests are sharing their stories regarding their careers. Listeners will get insight to the various careers that others have letting them make better choices of their careers.

  1. A Champion in the Making

    FEB 9

    A Champion in the Making

    In this conversation, boxer, trainer, coach, and role model Kent Polines shares his story of growth, resilience, and purpose. We cover his impact on the world of boxing. He begins by reflecting on his teenage years in Calgary, where his early love for music and dance helped shape his rhythm and movement as a boxer. From discovering boxing to developing his craft, Kent takes us through his learning process, the excitement of his first matches, and the realization of his natural talent in the sport. With that, we explore his boxing career in detail. Kent explains the learning process and how he developed his skills in this sport. We talk about his early success and the setbacks that tested him, injuries, financial pressures, and the impact of COVID, and how each break from the ring offered perspective on what truly mattered. He speaks candidly about faith, values, and self-reinvention, showing how boxing became more than a sport. It was his purpose leading to personal growth and leadership. Family plays a central role in Kent’s story. Their commitment and support in Kent's career contributed to his success. This interview is full of examples of his mother’s unwavering support and his brother's bond, which have contributed to his success. Furthermore, it is not about Kent's achievement, but rather how he is giving back to his family to better their lives. It is about how he has developed his character as a grounded and giving person, the qualities of a true champion and leader. Kent shares his experiences as both an amateur and professional boxer. We cover the logistics of matches and how they are arranged. There is insight into the business side of the sport, including rankings and logistics. Kent describes his evolution as a fighter, the importance of his support team, and the mental discipline required to stay confident and focused. Beyond boxing, there are many discussions about Kent, not a boxer, but a person. He reflects on his religious faith and what that means for him. He speaks of life after boxing, knowing that he will retire from the sport, and what he wants to do then, and about being a role model, the legacy he is leaving now as a boxer, and what he wants to leave after boxing. This interview will interest anyone who wants to pursue a career as a boxer or is drawn to the sport, as we cover all facets of this sport. Kent’s story will inspire athletes of all sports as we talk about the challenges he has faced and will face in the future. This interview is more than about boxing or building a career. It is about finding and delivering on our purpose. When we do this, we set the example for others, inspiring them to do better. This is an ongoing process, as Kent is an example of this. He is more than a champion in the making; he is a leader. Videos of Kent and his matches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP67P48yaRs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPtOiHzLBc4

    1h 37m
  2. A Journey of Being Tenacious and Adventurous, and Believing

    JAN 2

    A Journey of Being Tenacious and Adventurous, and Believing

    This episode features Romayne Ebanks, a woman whose life embodies integrity, resilience, and courage. Born and raised in Jamaica, Romayne takes us through her remarkable journey from the Caribbean to Canada, a story of reinvention driven by curiosity, faith, and an unshakeable belief in growth. Romayne shares her early life and education in Jamaica, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Geology and Geography from the University of the West Indies, Mona, and later a Master of Science in City and Urban Planning from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. Her path led her across the Caribbean, where she worked in various industries, building her career. We cover her career in teaching, student leadership, and mentorship. It is these experiences that helped her uncover deeper strengths and personal insights, leading her to decide to relocate to Canada. We cover this new chapter in her life, and that is immigrating to Canada. Romayne takes us behind the scenes of that process, the legal hurdles, the emotional challenges, and the profound self-reflection that shaped her journey. In Canada, she pursued new academic and professional goals, earning a Certificate in Human Resources Management from Georgian College and a Certificate in Adult Education from the Canadian College of Educators. Graduating, Romayne shares her experiences with the firms she has worked for. Furthermore, we discuss the development of her career, including the specific goals and beliefs that she could achieve. Again, her self-reflection and the deliberate practice she undertook to pursue these avenues are discussed. It is with this knowledge and experience that she has developed a career-coaching practice. We talk about this in detail, covering the services she offers and how she works with clients. This interview will appeal to anyone interested in a career in Human Resources as Romayne shares her experiences from working in this field. It is with this, her career-coaching practice, and vast experience that Romayne shares job search strategies and practical career development tips. It will interest listeners considering a career or just interested in geology, geography, urban planning, and teaching, as we cover all of these areas. In addition, this segment will speak to people interested in immigrating to Canada as Romayne conveys her experiences from this endeavor. More importantly, this conversation is about believing in yourself. It covers self-reflection, moving forward in life, tenacity, flexibility, and the courage to explore new paths. Her story will inspire listeners to overcome obstacles, especially when our minds can be the worst enemy. It is a reminder that stepping into the unknown can be a transformative adventure. It is about being the best version of ourselves, and that is how we can make a difference, as Romayne is an example of this attribute. https://www.linkedin.com/in/romayneebanks/

    1h 39m
  3. An act of Generosity: Helping People Find their Voice

    2025-11-01

    An act of Generosity: Helping People Find their Voice

    This in-depth conversation with Steve Heatherington explores a remarkable journey fueled by curiosity, resilience, and generosity. A graduate of the University of East Anglia with a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences and a graduate of Akimbo’s altMBA and Podcasting Workshop programs. Steve brings a unique blend of scientific discipline, creative expression, and the desire to serve others. Steve shares how his curiosity for the natural world led him to study biological sciences, originally aspiring to become a veterinarian before shifting toward environmental health sciences. Moving to London, he began his career in environmental health with the local municipality, where he learned valuable lessons in public service, safety, and the evolving history of environmental responsibility. Through various roles, Steve developed insights into the impact of this field on community well-being. The conversation turns personal as Steve opens up about a challenging chapter in his life. The stresses of managing a large housing project, traveling to Africa, and exposing his body to vaccinations led to chronic fatigue syndrome. He describes how that changed the trajectory of his career and life. This led to an 11-month sabbatical from work, during which a profound period of self-assessment resulted. He reflects candidly on how that time reshaped his understanding of work, health, and purpose, driving him toward creative renewal. Insightful and fascinating!! We explore how Steve reclaimed his health through curiosity, experimentation, and rediscovery. Channeling his technical skills through volunteer work and how podcasting came to be for him, thanks to his wife's book, “Quiet Disrupters,” is illustrated. His talents for podcasting led to coaching for Akimbo. Why he stepped away and started his podcasting workshop, how it works, and what perspective students can expect are revealed. We go full circle and discuss how Steve's love for animals comes to be through farming Alpacas. There is insight into these animals as Steve discusses his podcast, the Alpaca Tribe. This is an insightful, informative, and thought-provoking interview. It caters to listeners interested in a career in environmental health or public safety. Raising Alpacas and podcasting are covered. Listeners with a desire for entrepreneurship or freelancing will benefit, as Steve and his wife, Sue, are an example of this lifestyle. More importantly, this interview is full of life lessons. It is about trying things, discovering what we are good at and what we want to do, and then figuring out how it can serve others. It is being generous, a quality of a leader, which Steve lives and practices. https://watersidevoices.com linkedin.com/in/steve-heatherington-🌔-54903334 https://thepodcastingworkshop.com https://alpacatribe.com/

    1h 18m
  4. Discovering Coaching to Building a Business for Helping Others

    2025-09-11

    Discovering Coaching to Building a Business for Helping Others

    In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Ronan Kennedy, a Career Coach who has built a thriving business by combining his passion for psychology, entrepreneurship, and helping others reach their potential. Ronan starts by reflecting on his early years, a time when he lacked clear direction. His journey took him abroad, where he taught English in Japan before returning home to Ireland to work in his brother’s athletic development startup. There, he gained valuable experience in operations, business development, and working within a growing business environment. It was during this period that Ronan discovered his true interest in psychology and human development, which sparked his exploration into coaching. He shares how he learned about coaching as a profession and why it resonated so deeply with him. Ronan tells the story of leaving the family business, moving to Spain, and deliberately taking a less demanding job so he could devote time and energy to building his coaching career. He dives into the courses, books, and self-directed learning that shaped his expertise, and how he carefully mapped out a plan to turn his passion into a business. Throughout the conversation, Ronan discusses the realities of entrepreneurship, including both the ups and downs of starting from scratch. He emphasizes how critical his network of family, friends, and colleagues was in defining his services, streamlining his offerings, and identifying the real issues his clients wanted solved. Listeners will gain valuable insights into what coaching is. It will appeal to anyone interested in coaching as a career or a prospective client. The mechanics of coaching are illustrated in this episode. There is a short coaching session with your host. Entrepreneurship is covered, as Ronan provides a detailed discussion on how he built his business from nothing. We cover strategy to digital marketing. Existence, living a better life, and the importance of aligning values and well-being in both life and career are explored. We all have talents and interests that make us unique. The willingness to explore them and pursue them is a desired quality that Ronan has. He is an example of how he developed his interests, empathy, curiosity, and the drive to support others; qualities of a leader. He is an example of how we should approach life to live better and fuller. https://ronankennedy.ie/ https://ronankennedy.ie/masterminds https://ronankennedy.ie/bookings https://www.linkedin.com/in/kennedyronan/ https://www.youtube.com/@ronankennedy

    1h 23m
  5. Creating a Legacy by Service to Others

    2025-07-22

    Creating a Legacy by Service to Others

    This interview is with Kait Dinunzio. She is known as a leader in Change Management. Her portfolio includes Executive and Leadership Coaching, Advisor for Operations, and Maintenance and Operational Integrity Management Systems. She is an author and speaker. Kait is a graduate from Mount Royal University and Yale School of Management. In this episode, we cover Kait’s early years growing up in the Yukon. Her involvement in politics, as president of the youth wing of a political party in Canada, which led her to Parliament Hill, and her experiences there are all disclosed. Why she left the Yukon and went about exploring life and figuring herself out is talked about. She discusses some of the career choices she made and how they developed her, which led her to discover her calling, “To Serve Others”. How she discovered change management or how it found her is a conversation. In doing so, we cover her first encounter in this area, where she worked on a complex project for the Department of Justice with the Yukon Government. The lessons gained from this and how that established her for her future endeavors are conveyed. With this experience, Change Management is discussed. Kait provides many examples of how she works with clients. Surprisingly, it’s not about telling people what to do; rather, it’s getting them on board. We cover storytelling, respecting others, empathy, passion, and communication, and how these attributes mix for a successful outcome. Her education, experiences, and the pros and cons of being book smart versus street smart are covered. We talk about her new book, “Unbreakable: From Abandoned to Abundant & the Strength to Lead.” The premise is discussed, and how the book came to be. The movement she is initiating through this and her calling to serve people to make the world a better place is conveyed. This episode will interest listeners pursuing a career in or who are in change management. We cover leadership and how to get people on board in any endeavor. Life and humanity (social engineering) and how to live fully and joyfully are discussed. We cover topics regarding purpose, values, discipline, communication, attitude, success, and, more importantly, Kait’s mission to serve others. This is authentic leadership, and Kait's story has many examples throughout this episode on this topic. She’s an example to follow, as it's not about us but what we can do for others that matters. This is creating a legacy and that’s what Kait is all about. She is motivational, thought-provoking, insightful, and a delight to listen to. Her contact information For Professional services https://pyxisadvisory.com/ For people wanting to connect professionally, linkedin.com/in/kaitdinunzio For more on Unbreakable: https://www.yourunbreakablelegacy.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/unbreakable_legacy/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/people/Unbreakable-Legacy/61575849122753/ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/tag/unbreakablelegacy

    1h 18m
  6. Being True to Himself: Lessons from a Life in IT and Music

    2025-06-15

    Being True to Himself: Lessons from a Life in IT and Music

    This interview is with Scott Ivers, owner and founder of Ivers Guitars. Scott graduated from the Drafting Engineering program at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (S.A.I.T). He is also a graduate of Grant McEwan University’s music program. Scott’s story is how he has remained true to himself. He explains that his vision to follow his passion in music was altered due to the deal he made with his dad. This was to follow a more practical career path in construction. He explains that he attended S.A.I.T. first and then, upon graduating, he pursued his desire for music at Grant MacEwan. Detailed discussions illustrate Scott's experience from both of these endeavors. With his education behind him, there are conversations regarding how and why Scott decided to pursue a career utilizing his drafting skills. There are reflections on how computers were making an inroad into organizations and the ramifications for his career. We cover the history of Information technology (IT), providing the listener insight into this sector. Scott's move from Alberta to the interior of British Columbia and how he furthered his IT career is discussed. He highlights his sabbatical from music and how he re-ignites it by experimenting with making guitars. We talk about how he established his knowledge of making this instrument. We cover his research on the schooling for this craft. The path he pursued and how that helped him is conveyed. In essence, there is an inside look at how someone develops their skill in making guitars. Furthermore, we cover the instrument’s components, and functionality. Listeners interested in a career in IT will benefit from this interview as Scott presents his experiences working in this field. History is encompassed in these conversations, which can provide insight into the future of technology and its implications. Audience members considering music as a career would be interested, as Scott conveys his experiences pursuing this career. His knowledge from this and IT can be applied to any facet of career development. For guitars, anyone interested in this instrument, from making them, playing them, or as a consumer, be it off the shelf or custom-made, this episode covers all of this. Above all, this episode will appeal to anyone who wants to hear an inspirational story of how someone like Scott had expectations and passion but learned to vary them as he grew. It is about resilience while maintaining passion and being true to oneself, and Scott is a perfect example of this. In addition, it's about balance, and this is evident throughout this interview, as Scott has maintained his IT career while pursuing his passion in music. This is furnished by his current employment at Kicking Horse Coffee, working four days a week and three days following his passion. There are some valuable lessons in this episode. https://iversguitars.ca/

    1h 16m
  7. Leadership by Building Communities in Audio and More

    2025-05-16

    Leadership by Building Communities in Audio and More

    This interview is with Kurt Villanueva, owner and founder of Audio Dream Distributions and Co-owner of The Audio Room in Calgary, Alberta. The Audio Room has been awarded the People's Choice Award and the Fastest Growing Business from The Calgary Business Commerce. In this interview we cover Kurt's early years. This includes the development of his values, the ability to build relationships, and the discovery of his passion for music and audio equipment. The development of Kurt’s entrepreneurial skills, his knowledge of audio equipment, and his salesmanship are discussed. His experiences from attending post-secondary studies at Mount Royal University are talked about. There are insights into computer science and business, as these were his majors. His story escalates as Kurt explains the development of his first business, Audio Dream Distributions. In building this enterprise, we discuss how he maintained the balance of school life and building this company, while keeping up with his parents' expectations. Kurt highlights the crossroads in his life where he had to choose between school and business, and the elements he considered to follow his passion. Building a business is discussed. We cover bootstrapping, building sales, and developing relationships. More importantly, the obstacles he faced, specifically his younger age and the perception from his business associates. Kurt’s early relationships with the founders of the Audio Room, how that developed, and how he established himself as the co-owner are all conveyed. Kurt illustrates the steps he took as he became the co-owner of The Audio Room. He speaks from his experiences and how he saw opportunities due to changes in the audio industry, creating a vision for the store. Furthermore, we go over the marketing strategies for expanding the store. Kurt provides a heartfelt conversation emphasizing his dad’s experiences as a businessman and, more importantly, developing a business mindset. This interview will interest potential entrepreneurs. There are highlights on both distribution and retail. It will appeal to anyone interested in music, particularly audio equipment, as we cover the history and future of this industry. We cover leadership, as Kurt is an example of someone building communities to give back and create better lives for all. The video link for this episode is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZurJNydeCVU https://www.theaudioroom.ca/ https://www.instagram.com/the_audio_room/ In addition, a big thanks to Sam Tiangha from 404 Creative LBC Graphic for recording and editing the video for this episode. https://www.404creativelbc.ca/

    1h 41m
  8. Making a Difference

    2025-04-27

    Making a Difference

    This interview is with Katie O’Malley, Career Coach, Keynote Speaker, and Workplace Strategist. Katie is the founder and principal coach of (en)Courage Coaching. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Miami University and a Master of Education in Counseling Psychology from DePaul University. In addition, Katie is a board-certified coach from the Center of Credentialing & Education and has a certification from Hogan Assessments. This interview is about how Katie made it her mission to make a difference, which is evident throughout this interview. We talk about her teen years and interests in leadership and politics. This is all furnished as she explains her roles in students' activities during university and her degree in Political Science. Upon graduating, we discussed her experience working on John Kerry’s campaign. There is some insight into how political campaigns work. Views regarding politics and how change happens are discussed. Furthermore, if someone is interested in a career in this field, there are good dialogues and suggestions for approaching this profession. Katie describes why she left the political arena and moved to New York City, where she worked for non-profit organizations. Insight into these firms, how they work, and the difference between working for them and being employed by a profit-based firm are discussed. More importantly, there is insight into career development as Katie reveals more about her talents and interests and how she steered her career. Katie further describes her journey as she leaves New York and moves back to her hometown of Chicago. This leads to her experiences with the Aids Foundation and commercial real estate. She outlines that these ventures, especially real estate, failed to represent her values and identity. The consequences this had on her are illustrated, leading to a career change. The resolution led to her pursuit of a Master of Education in Counseling Psychology from DePaul University. We cover the program and how it led to an opportunity at the University of Texas in the Leadership and Ethics Institute. She conveys her experiences, and there are some surprises. There is a dialogue on how she furthered her credentials as she became a certified coach from the Center for Credentialing and Education. Moving her career to the executive program at Chicago Booth, her involvement with the program is discussed. Katie reflects that during this time, she was dealing with the repercussions from her employment at the University of Texas. She describes how those experiences led her to start (en)Courage Coaching. This interview will benefit anyone searching for a career within politics or non-profit organizations, as Katie relays her experiences in both. It will interest anyone considering counselling as a career, as we cover all facets of the industry. It will appeal to potential entrepreneurs as we cover how Katie establishes herself and her business. Potential MBA students will be interested as Katie relays her experiences guiding students at Chicago Booth. More importantly, it will appeal to anyone interested in career development, as Katie describes, from her mission of wanting to make a difference, and how she grew her career from this concept. https://encouragecoaching.org/contact/

    1h 16m

About

The Career Guy Podcast is a repository of interviews where the guests are sharing their stories regarding their careers. Listeners will get insight to the various careers that others have letting them make better choices of their careers.