John is a serial entrepreneur with a history of success building profitable financial services organizations. He has transformed his vision for the wellbeing of Canadian families into highly successful companies, recruiting and motivating large high-performing teams. John has an exceptional understanding of the financial planning and life needs of Canadians through having conducted hundreds of kitchen table financial consultations. Previously he founded Debt Freedom Canada and built it into a national organization with a captive sales force focused on the financial needs of middle-class Canadians. John was previously Senior Vice President at Primerica Canada for 10 years, and has been on the Board of Directors and an Advisor to various FinTech companies.

Aaron has been developing application and systems software since the age of seven. His background focuses on retail and financial services product development. Aaron previously operated his own company, Hamilton Professional Services. Prior to that he was a software developer and progressed to senior software developer for various application development consulting firms such as Rangle, and various FinTech companies such as Planswell. He is known for both his technical expertise to easily move across programming languages and frameworks, and his communications skills. Outside of work, Aaron has learned to be conversant in Esperanto and Japanese languages.

Vishwa is a finance & operations professional with over 25 years of background in multiple industries. He currently consults in the financial industry which is his passion. Vishwa holds an MBA in Finance, a CPA, and he has multiple certifications in strategy and corporate finance. Outside of work, Vishwa enjoys marathon running, traveling and wine tasting in France which he enjoys as he is also bilingual. 

Eric is an experienced Product VP in the Financial Services and FinTech space with a speciality in digital assets, payments, analytics and project management. His background includes over 5 years at CIBC where he led analytics and project management initiatives to improve business operations and the success of various retail/business product lines. He also worked in a management capacity in the Retail and Small Business Lending area at ScotiaBank. Eric started his career as an IT consultant working with various consulting firms. His educational background includes a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering and Master of Business Administration from Ryerson University, and a Master of Finance from the Rotman School of Management.

Linda is an experienced technology industry marketing and growth VP with a specialty in FinTech. Her background includes marketing leadership roles for multiple emerging Canadian and Silicon Valley companies. She also previously held marketing leadership positions at KPMG, IBM and Telesat. Linda has launched or repositioned more than 20 companies and launched 35 new products/services in her career. She has also taken 5 companies public as an investor relations professional. Linda is a volunteer advisor to emerging companies through MaRS Discovery District. Her educational background includes two degrees in business and marketing from the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba.

Mitchell has been in the financial services industry for ten years providing advice on investment strategies, tax planning, risk management, estate planning, and helping clients simplify their financial situations. He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree specializing in Finance from the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University, and has obtained numerous financial industry designations. Mitchell is a fitness enthusiast, an avid golfer, and enjoys spending time with his family outside of the office.

Susan comes to Wealthy Planet with more than 30 years of insurance industry experience.  She has worn many hats over the years, from Insurance Broker to Team Leader to now, Money Coach.  She has a college degree in Business Administration and Data Processing from Niagara College and is LLQP licensed.  She loves to build long lasting relationships with her clients and assist them in achieving their financial priorities.  Susan's hobbies include gardening, travel, healthy cooking and music and the outdoors.

Marija is a passionate HR professional with seven years of background in the field. She has worked for a variety of emerging companies in different industries building HR departments from the ground up. Marija holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from McMaster University, and a Business Administration diploma focused on Human Resources. Outside of work, Marija spends her time outdoors, enjoying the beauty of British Columbia. 

Iván has been a full stack developer both leading and contributing to projects since 2007. He has worked for both small and large companies in the financial services, banking and gaming sectors. He has experience with a wide range of languages, web development projects, database migration projects and has worked with cutting edge technologies. Past companies he has worked for include IBM, Getronics, BBCA, La Caixa and international consulting firms. Iván has a Bachelor of Computer Science from Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Spain. In his spare time he’s a rock climber.

Oleg is a skilled Interactive and visual designer with experience building polished web and mobile applications. He has over a decade of experience working for organizations including Questrade, Actra, Rukuku, and in his own design consulting company. Oleg has honed his expertise in iOS development, user experience (UX), art direction, and has also spent time teaching others. He has a bachelor’s degree in Robotics from Moscow Power Engineering Institute.

Yazan is a full-stack developer with over 7 years of experience managing financial and technical projects. He acquired a full-stack diploma from Montreal College of IT, and a Masters degree specializing in finance with risk management from Bournemouth University, UK. In 2020, during the pandemic, he started an e-commerce business, where developed and managed all the technical as well as marketing and finance aspects of the business. When not working, Yazan’s hobbies include meditation, yoga, reading, boxing, and music.

Andre has a career spanning over 40 years primarily in the Financial Services industry. He has been an insurance executive for more than 30 years with large life and health insurance and wealth management companies. In his last role, he spent 6 years as President and CEO of Assumption Life, Canada’s second largest mutual life insurance company, as well as Chairman of the Board of Louisbourg Investments. Andre previously worked 9 years as an executive search consultant helping national organizations strengthen their leadership teams. His involvement with Wealthy Planet is motivated by trust in John Podlewski as a seasoned sales leader with exceptional  financial products and services expertise. He also believes in the company’s uniqueness as a FinTech leveraging both new technologies and sales/coaching strategies for middle market consumers.

Michael Hlinka is a financial services expert, an educator, a published author and media personality. Since 2000, he has been a tenured Professor at the School of Accounting and Finance at George Brown College. He designed and runs the Passing the CFA and Passing the CSC programs for the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies. Prior to this, Michael  spent 10 years in the financial services industry, culminating as an investment advisor with HSBC Securities. For 15 years, he provided regular business commentary to CBC Radio and Television. He has written a book on business and co-written two others with Kevin Sylvester. In addition to WealthyPlanet, he is also a member of the Advisory Board for Kalsa, a wealth management start-up. Michael holds an MBA degree from the University of Toronto and he is a CFA Charterholder.

Micheal has more than 25 years of  executive and senior level management experience with both blue chip and smaller service-oriented organizations. He has delivered revenue and profitable business growth throughout his career. Currently he is principle of his own consulting firm, Sproule + Associates. Prior to this he was COO of a software company for 5 years, and held senior sales and corporate finance roles with BMO Capital Markets and other investment management firms for 8 years. Michael also spent 7 years as  a management consultant at both KPMG and Deloitte.. He started his career in market development and financial roles at Nortel and for airline manufacturers. Michael has an MBA in Finance from Western University Ivey School of Business and degrees in Aeronautical Engineering and Aviation Management.