AHMED METWALLY, 34
Chairman and CEO, XTEAMS Consulting Services Corp.
Company profile: XTEAMS is the holding company for XTEAMS Consulting Services Corp., Timeline Interactive and ConnectmeTV.
Education: Masters Cert. in Project Management, The University of Quebec in Hull (2000).
Biggest biz achievement: Released the first next-gen first-person shooter on XBOX Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network. Built the first Hybrid-IPTV platform focused on providing affordable interactive TV services in developing regions.
Biggest biz obstacle: Finding and hiring the right resources, other entrepreneurs, to build a successful business while bootstrapping the operation. Hiring an employee is easy, but when we are starting a business, our core team should be made up of partners and entrepreneurs; this is the team that will run the business in the future.
Biggest lesson learned in business: Working with the right team and having the support of your friends and loved ones makes all the difference in the world. You can achieve a few things on your own, but as a team you can overcome what you originally thought was impossible.
Three words that best describe you: Flexible, determined, aggressive.
Charitable or non-profit involvement: Afaq, a developmental charity working on achieving the UNDP's millennium goals.
Biggest influence: My dad, who is a true entrepreneur, always has the ability to identify a new opportunity, build or acquire the required competencies and go after it. He taught me that just because something has never been done before, that does not mean that it cannot be done.
First job: Logo design and desktop publishing.
Favourite pastime: Playing soccer or squash.
Favourite travel destination: The Red Sea.
Favourite book: Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell.
Favourite movie: The Matrix.
CARL NAPPERT, 37
Vice-president sales and marketing, Maplesoft Group
Company profile: Maplesoft Group is a dynamic, fully integrated service and solutions company in consulting and technology.
Education: Bachelors of Commerce, University of Ottawa (1997).
Biggest biz achievement: Create a business and working environment where every partner feels empowered and key to the company's success.
Biggest biz obstacle: Managing the exponential growth we have witnessed in the last five years has been as much rewarding as it has been challenging. The increase in personnel, the risk inherent in buying other businesses, and the new built-in expertise have made for interesting times.
Biggest lesson learned in business: I have learned that clear and effective communication between decision-makers and employees is essential in creating a professional business environment. Without it, your team lacks vision, direction, and motivation.
Three words that best describe you: Competitive, Positive & Charismatic
Charitable or non-profit involvement: Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation
Biggest influence: My uncle Norman who was a bank manager and taught me how to be cautious and analytical in my career moves and business decisions. He has also taught me humility and honesty.
First job: Picking strawberries.
Favourite pastime: Fishing and hunting.
Favourite travel destination: Montepulciano, Italy.
Favourite book: Good to Great, by Jim Collins.
Favourite movie: Donnie Brasco.
ADAM C. NIHMEY, 35
Senior business analyst, Harris Computer Systems
Company profile: Harris Computer Systems is a vertical market software company.
Education: Bachelor of Commerce with Honours, University of Ottawa (1998).
Biggest biz achievement: Building a reputation within the business community as an honest, respected and competent professional. I have built strong and long-lasting business relationships, which I believe is most important.
Biggest biz obstacle: Trying to penetrate the market where there are established incubants who are very competent and well-respected. It takes a while, but you have to keep focused and driven.
Biggest lesson learned in business: Never assume that you know more about a particular topic than another in a particular subject. Be ready to learn from others. Be humble but confident. If you know your subject matter well, it will come out.
Three words that best describe you: Insightful. Compassionate. Friendly.
Charitable or non-profit involvement: The Prosperity Long-Term Care Fund. I am the founder.
Biggest influence: My uncle, John Nihmey. He is a successful businessman, writer and family man. He provides unabashed advice, which sometimes is hard to take. But he's very insightful and I have learned a great deal from him.
First job: My first job was a dishwasher at the St. Huberts on Richmond Road, near Carling Avenue. I was 13. Within one summer, I was promoted to prep cook and then line cook. I received the biggest percentage raise than all other kitchen staff that summer.
Favourite pastime: I would say it is split between playing baseball and playing the drums.
Favourite travel destination: Prince Edward Island (with my fiancée Jessica).
Favourite book: Shake Hands with the Devil, by Romeo Dallaire.
Favourite movie: Split - Rudy and Anchorman.
SANJEEV PARMAR, 32
President, owner and soccer trainer, Parmar Sports Training Inc.
Company profile: We offer soccer-specific programs that will help master the ball, improve speed strength and conditioning, develop game intelligence through small sided games and position specific training, spring and summer camps and customized team and individual training programs.
Education: Masters in Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa (2005).
Biggest biz achievement: Starting up a non-profit company (Galaktic 3v3 Soccer Fest) which has enabled me to give back to underprivileged kids in Ottawa.
Biggest biz obstacle: Political barriers which are put up by volunteers in influential positions who typically have little to no knowledge of youth development.
Biggest lesson learned in business: Give openly from the heart and you will receive back in abundance.
Three words that best describe you: faithful, ambitious, aggressive.
Charitable or non-profit involvement: Galaktic 3v3 Soccer Fest.
Biggest influence: My friend Dr. Sam Kucey inspired and guided me in starting my company.
First job: Newspaper delivery.
Favourite pastime: Spending time with my beautiful wife Seema.
Favourite travel destination: India.
Favourite book: The Monk Who Sold his Ferrari, by Robin S. Sharma.
Favourite movie: Kaal Ho Naa Ho.
REGI ROY, 38
Vice-president, product development, Titus Labs Inc.
Company profile: Provider of e-mail, document and SharePoint classification software solutions that help government, military and large organizations to classify, protect and securely share information.
Education: Masters in Business Administration (two degrees), Queens University, Cornell University (2007).
Biggest biz achievement: Building a medical image storage, retrieval and print product, marketing, selling and deploying it in couple of prestigious hospitals in India, all in one year.
Biggest biz obstacle: Memory. Memory serves as a devil’s advocate when attempting something new, always warning you of learned dangers. I love how a child with no such memories explores and learns new things.
Biggest lesson learned in business: Marketing is everything and everything is marketing.
Three words that best describe you: Driven, passionate, focused.
Charitable or non-profit involvement: I prefer to work directly with individuals in need than with big charity organizations. I have recently been helping newcomers to Canada integrate into the workforce, and one organization I have done much work with is the Ottawa Chinese Community Service Center.
Biggest influence: S.R.Uttarwar, the director of a government-run technology export promotion department in India. He faced tremendous political challenges from within his organization.
Favourite pastime: Researching, building and fixing stuff.
Favourite travel destination: The sofa-swing in my backyard.
Favourite book: Sherlock Holmes stories, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Favourite movie: Shawshank Redemption.
STUART RUSSELL, 39
Chief architect and co-founder, YOUiLabs Inc.
Company profile: Touch-driven, high-performance user interfaces and 2D/3D graphics rendering on low- to mid-end consumer devices.
Education: Electronics Engineering Technology, Algonquin College (1995).
Biggest biz achievement: Signing the contract between Russoft and Clickgamer Technologies/Ironstone Partners as the official C64 emulation provider, making Russoft the sole provider of C64 emulation solutions worldwide.
Biggest biz obstacle: Finding the right people, with the right skill sets, attitude, and determination.
Biggest lesson learned in business: Don't undervalue yourself or what you, or your company has accomplished.
Three words that best describe you: Quirky, Emotionally driven, uncompromising.
Charitable or non-profit involvement: Lots, mainly the Canadian Cancer Society, and anything locally to do with Asperger's Syndrome.
Biggest influence: Jason Flick, from his ability to look beyond the obvious to the greater picture, both with people, product ideas, and business direction
First job: Mother's Restaurant on Montreal Road, at $3.15 per hr.
Favourite pastime: Spending time with my kids, playing guitar and piano, and my summer car – a Lotus Esprit SE (it's number 45 of 143 produced at the time).
Favourite travel destination: Mexico.
Favourite book: Early works by Dean Koontz; Non Fiction - JFK, Jack the Ripper; & Theoretical Physics.
Favourite movie: Star Wars (the original).
KEVIN G. TAYLOR, 39
General manager, Casino du Lac-Leamy
Company profile: We are a casino, hotel and theater. We're all play!
Education: DEC, ITHQ, Montréal (1990).
Biggest biz achievement: Implanting the dream service for all our employees.
Biggest biz obstacle: Competition and negative criticism of the casino business.
Biggest lesson learned in business: Follow through with every action planned (walk the talk!).
Three words that best describe you: Rigueur, transparence, reconnaissance.
Charitable or non-profit involvement: Canadian Cancer Society
Biggest influence: My boss, because he has the ability to always reach the goals he set for himself and for the team.
First job: Dishwasher and busboy.
Favourite pastime: Precious time with my family.
Favourite travel destination: Anywhere I have not been to yet.
Favourite book: Who Moved My Cheese?, by Spencer Johnson.
Favourite movie: Cinderella Man.
DAVE WALSH, 39
Partner, Ernst & Young LLP
Company profile: Professional services firm in assurance, tax, transactions, and advisory services.
Education: Bachelor of Commerce; Chartered Accountant (Canada); Certified Professional Accountant (U.S.), Queen’s University (1994).
Biggest biz achievement: Being promoted to partner in Ernst & Young was a tremendous challenge for me and I'm very proud to have achieved such a level of success with a great organization.
Biggest biz obstacle: The economic meltdown has been a real challenge to the business environment around the world, and has had a significant impact on our Ottawa technology sector. Advising clients in this environment has been a challenge, but very rewarding when you can help clients succeed through it all.
Biggest lesson learned in business: Everyone in life is different and everyone has different expectations of what great service means. Find out what that is for them, and give it to them.
Three words that best describe you: Dedicated, focused, youthful.
Charitable or non-profit involvement: Little League baseball.
Biggest influence: My father. I learned about hard work, dedication, and making sure your clients are happy from him at a very early age and it has stuck with me through my entire career.
First job: Newspaper delivery at a young age.
Favourite pastime: Golf.
Favourite travel destination: The Caribbean.
Favourite book: The Road, by Cormac McCarthy.
Favourite movie: It's a tie, Gladiator and Wall Street.
SHARI WESTMAN, 39
Executive director, Comfort Keepers
Company profile: We help seniors live happy, healthy lives in the comfort of their own homes by providing quality, compassionate and reliable care that helps to preserve independence and contribute to a better life.
Education: Honours B.A., Major Political Science, University of Guelph (1995).
Biggest biz achievement: We reached profitability in the first 11 months of operation and have been profitable since with quarter-over-quarter growth. This goes hand-in-hand with the fact that I work hard to balance business with family needs.
Biggest biz obstacle: Managing and growing human resources in an industry that has a tight labour market, typically pays employees little, has a high turnover rate and requires very flexible hours. This combined with clients’ expectations of having the same staff indefinitely.
Biggest lesson learned in business: You can't be all things to all people. We know what we do well, and we focus on that. We've learned to turn business away when we know it's not what we deliver, so that we can focus on delivering what we do well.
Three words that best describe you: Resilient, determined, action-oriented.
Charitable or non-profit involvement: I spend a lot of time educating seniors and families about local options available to them. I am a member of the Seniors Advisory Committee with the City of Ottawa and the Champlain Elder Abuse Response Coalition.
Biggest influence: My dad has helped to grow and build a successful family business for many years. I grew up in and around this business and it’s been in front of me my whole life. Being a part of business is how I was raised.
First job: I did payroll at a temp agency when I was 16. I had the most amazing mentor and friend who ran the agency, and she gave me a break as a kid.
Favourite pastime: Spending time with my husband and daughters doing things they love to do. Running!
Favourite travel destination: We have a camp just about an hour from Ottawa. It's a an easy escape where we simply relax and get away.
Favourite book: Recent memorables are Tribes by Seth Godin and The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett.
Favourite movie: Anything that makes me laugh out loud or cry like a baby.
KIRK R. WRINN, 39
President and financial planner, Moore Wrinn Financial Group Inc
Company profile: A financial services organization, providing clients with comprehensive, objective financial advice and service in a professional and inviting environment.
Education: Bachelor of Administration, University of Ottawa (1994).
Biggest biz achievement: Court of the table member in the Million Dollar Round Table.
Biggest biz obstacle: Time management – finding the correct balance of working on your business, while still working in the business generating revenue
Biggest lesson learned in business: Listen to your clients to uncover their needs and then provide solutions
Three words that best describe you: Dedicated, honest, value.
Charitable or non-profit involvement: CHEO Foundation.
Biggest influence: Henry Smith, he helped early in my career and shared his 30-plus years of experience and kept me in the business.
First job: Retail stockboy.
Favourite pastime: Boating.
Favourite travel destination: Hawaii.
Favourite book: The Secret, by Eckhart Tolle.
Favourite movie: Wall Street.
