149 | Jordan Fietje | How to Strategize, Pivot and Maintain the Forward Momentum

In today’s show, Chris interviews marketing entrepreneur and Private Equity Investor, Jordan Fietje.

Even as a teenager, Jordan was a hard-worker and a perfectionist. However, he was frustrated with his shyness and his lack of confidence. Jordan shares how joining Student Works helped him overcome his shyness. Apart from cold-calling prospects, Jordan learned a whole range of business skills – from hiring new employees to project management to marketing.

Right after Student Works, Jordan was fortuitous enough to be hired by the Canada Bread Company. The fact that this was a small and relatively unsophisticated organization worked in Jordan’s favor as he got the opportunity to pick up a range of different skill-sets early on in his career. 

Especially, as Manager, Insights and Innovations, Jordan got an opportunity to conduct market research, and then launch new and path-breaking products. In his tenure, Jordan got the chance to launch niche products like flatbreads targeting the middle-eastern crowd, and low carb-bread for the health-conscious. In this segment of the show, listeners will learn why working at a smaller organization is the best way to jumpstart your career.

After Canada Bread Company, Jordan got a chance to work at the iconic Kraft Foods. This was a starkly different experience as Jordan had far greater resources at his disposal. In this segment of the show, Jordan talks at length of the different marketing campaigns that he ran at Kraft. Specifically, you will learn why it is important to push the envelope when it comes to marketing. Jordan shares how his strategy to hire a small agency brought in some fresh perspectives and paid off big time in the long run.

After this amazing experience, Jordan decided to pivot and work in the printing sector as President, Thistle Printing Limited. After working as a field expert for all these years, this was a different experience for Jordan as he had to work in a hands-off manner and be an “expert on people”. If you have promoted to a managerial position, and are finding it difficult to handle your new responsibilities, this segment of the show will be particularly interesting to you.

Other topics discussed in today’s show include the importance of continuous learning, pros and cons of entrepreneurship, a peek into the world of angel investing, cultivating unshakeable values, and much, much more...

We hope you enjoy this show!

Resources

Joy at Work

Kolbe Academy

Student Works 

Chris Thomson LinkedIn

Chris’s Email