About us

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.

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.

Courtney is a marketing, events and project management professional. She has a track record of success in the financial services industry including almost eight years at Debt Freedom Financial Services as Events and Marketing Director. Her past experience also includes Corporate Event Planner at Union Gas and Events Manager at Priority One Insurance. Courtney has achieved multiple educational certificates in her field from Western University, York University and Sheridan College.

Paul has a passion for computer programming and has been engaged in various projects, languages and tools since eight grade. His background includes roles as a software engineer and developer for various early stage and consulting companies such as Planswell, Rangle, Plumtales, Enginuity Group and PT7 Inc. His interests include contributing to the developer community, learning new solutions to solve problems and learning about newer technology. He has spent years working on open source software and projects in topics related to User Automation, Constraint Solving and Language Development. Paul studied Computer Science at Carleton University.

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.

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.

Julian has expertise and a background in capital markets and technology. He is currently a Senior Consultant for one of Canada’s big five banks where he focuses on derivative trading technology, infrastructure and processes. Julian is happy to be part of leading the crusade to help middle income Canadians change the way they think about money through better planning, products and advice. Julian holds a Business degree from Wilfrid Laurier University, a Masters degree in Finance  from the Rotman School at University of Toronto, and he is a CFA Charterholder. Outside of work, Julian is on the Board of Trustees and Finance and Operations committee for the Ontario Science Centre, he is a statistician for the Canadian Football League, and serves as a director and corporate secretary of a condo corporation.

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. 

Nick has over six years of experience in financial services and has held previous positions ranging from Financial Advisor to Commercial Account Manager at major Canadian banks. Building on this experience, he has pivoted his career to the technology and web development areas. He is currently studying software development at Mohawk College and also has a business degree from McMaster University. Outside of work Nick has a passion for riding bikes and running.

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. 

Giovanni joined WealthyPlanet at the start of 2021 as a co-op intern and part of the marketing team focused on building content marketing and social media programs. Giovanni graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Wilfrid Laurier University.  He is currently completing the Marketing Management – Financial Services program at George Brown College.

Sugey joined WealthyPlanet at the beginning of 2021 as a co-op intern and part of the marketing team focused on digital marketing programs management.  She is also a student at George Brown College studying in the Marketing Management – Financial Services program. Prior to this Sugey achieved a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Western University.

Edward joined WealthyPlanet in 2021 as a co-op intern where he focuses on content marketing and public relations programs. He has a B.Sc. degree in economics and prior experience in sales and marketing roles for various companies, as well as previously operated his own business in his home country of Nigeria. Edward is currently completing the Marketing- Financial Services program at George Brown College.

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.

Tom is a highly experienced and well-known investment industry executive. He was President of CI Institutional, a $17B multi-line, multi-channel business area and part of CI Investments, a $125B asset manager. He formalized a sales strategy generating $9B of gross flows, increased the sales funnel by 400%, launched and built new funds, and established foreign joint ventures. Prior to CI, he was Head of Canada & CEO at UBS Global Asset Management where he led business strategy, new products and sales. He was also  Vice-President Institutional Sales with Invesco and started his career at the Royal Bank. Tom is on the Board of the Portfolio Management Association of Canada (PMAC). He has a BA from the University of Western Ontario, a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the University of Windsor, and he is a  member of the Ontario Bar.

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.

Dion is Managing Director of his own San Francisco-based consulting firm FACERE25, which acts as the Rosetta Stone between legacy banks and the innovative startups driving innovation. He has been an early employee in multiple FinTech startups including Voltage Security, which exited to HP for over $200M. He has also been a venture investor for the largest bank, Citibank and the largest payments processor, First Data, putting to work over $30M in capital.  Dion is equally adroit on both sides of the startup tech and large business divide, acting as an advisor to banks & financial institutions helping them deliver innovation, while also helping startups scale as an early-stage advisor and mentor.

Peter is President and CEO of PENTOR Finance, a Quebec-based residential mortgage lending company.  He has over 30 years of experience in the mortgage, lending, insurance and credit businesses. Peter previously worked for large financial institutions including Canada Trust, TD Canada Trust and AGF Trust. He has originated over 3000 mortgages worth over $1 Billion in volume in the alternative mortgage space and is considered to be a thought leader in the industry. He believes in applying innovative strategies to deliver custom solutions to complex client situations. His educational background includes degree in Human Resources from Concordia University in Montreal. As well as being fluently bilingual, Peter has  a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the Canadian lending scene, including the unique Quebec perspective.

Joseph is the Chairman of PENTOR Finance, a residential mortgage lending company. He is also Founder and Managing Partner of PENTOR Alliance Corporation and PENTOR Capital Corp.  He has over 35 years of background in restructuring, due diligence and acquisition mandates on behalf of private equity, venture capital and industry clients. Joseph has been a board member of several private and public organizations, and is an investor in over 125 early stage companies in Canada and USA. Earlier in his career, he was a consultant with Ernst & Whinney (now KPMG). Joseph is a Montreal chapter founder of the Private Capital Markets Association of Canada (PCMA), and co-founder and board member of the Loeys-Dietz Syndrome Foundation Canada. He has a degree in finance from Concordia University in Montreal and is fluently bilingual.