Lorne Abony, Fluid Music Canada

Because music jives to the heart of emotion, his soul beats to rhythm and blues. An original entrepreneur and corporate creator, Lorne Abony is laden with luggage and on a tight schedule – his flights to New York, then to Switzerland, then back to his Palm Beach pad are on his corporate horizon. A new acquisition has Abony, CEO and chairman of Fluid Music Canada, pacing with boyish excitement. “This is tremendous for Fluid,” he smiles.

With a penchant for Janet Jackson and appetite for achievement, Abony generates an orchestrated pulse. “There are two things that make people successful: passion and fire. [Read more]

Helen Ching-Kircher, Downtown Fine Cars Inc.

Frank Clark once famously said, “If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”

This is a mantra that defines Helen Ching-Kircher, president and CEO of Downtown Fine Cars Inc. in Toronto. As a new immigrant to Canada and a woman in a male-dominated field, Ching-Kircher had to work hard and prove herself in order to rise through the ranks of the competitive auto industry.

“The qualities and characteristics necessary to succeed in business transcend gender,” she says from inside her beautiful downtown [Read more]

Kevin Reed: Stock Market Tycoon

Christian Hebbel once said that nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.

This is a sentiment that resonates with Kevin Reed, co-founder and vice chairman of Grey Horse Corporation in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. Building a successful publicly traded holding company from the ground up, the Ottawa native says his passion for financial services came at an early age. “I was visiting Toronto while I was in university, and looked up at the towers on Bay Street, and it just triggered something in me,” he says. “I wanted to build a bank.” [Read more]

Jim Williams: Worldwide Telecommunications CEO

The compelling presence of a Rolls-Royce Phantom demands the demure notes of a classical composition. Jim Williams knows this, but he’s not in sync with it. His motto, ‘Go Big or Go Home,’ is the chorus to his soundtrack. A worldwide telecommunications CEO and one of Canada’s most prestigious car collectors, he’d rather whip through the open road after a long day at work with the top down and the sun in his face, blasting Jay Z. He may cut a few corners and leave a handful of drivers rasping in his dust, but Williams knows the importance of keeping both feet balanced on the racecourse of life. [Read more]

Patricia Lovett-Reid: A Leading Authority on Money Matters

Before she was named one of Canada’s most powerful women and coined as a leading authority on money matters, Patricia Lovett-Reid was an effervescent nine-year-old with three paper routes and an unyielding appetite for athletics. “I was a great sports enthusiast. Loved sports, loved competition and liked pushing myself to the limits.” But beneath her rose-coloured glasses was a blue-eyed girl battling a big loss. “My dad died very quickly of a heart attack and it was clearly unexpected. I remember watching my mother take control of the family and our financial situation at a really young age,” says Lovett-Reid [Read more]

The Endless Potential of Justin R. Fogarty

On the 56th floor of the First Canadian Place building, the Davis LLP Business Solutions and Restructuring Group boardroom gleams, shipshape and spacious. An unrestrained skylight holds a view to inspire even the brightest of minds, catching up to the height of the CN Tower and the reflection of a falling sun across the horizon of Lake Ontario. In a crisp corner adjacent to an expansive table with over 20 chairs tucked under its skirt is a surprising twist of green, standing in the form of a cactus tree. No one really knows why the plant, often found in arid climates, is there. But when Justin R. Fogarty steps into the boardroom [Read more]

Jacqui Cohen: Philanthropist, and Entrepreneur

As she stares into the pristine shadows of the night in the solitude of her own backyard, Jacqui Cohen feels the moonlight caress her cheek. The eyes of this accomplished woman meet with a sea of shining stars. “At that moment, I just felt so undeserving of all this. My life is so full and fortunate and I’m just so appreciative,” says Cohen, who can deservedly call herself an altruist.

Cohen is the founder of Face the World Foundation, a charitable organization that caters to those in need, including the hungry, the homeless, abused women and children. In her early 20s, while living in Los Angeles, she attended an event called SHARE, which inspired the idea. When she moved back to Vancouver at the age of 30, she contemplated starting her own charity – and the rest is history. [Read more]

The life pursuits of Bobby Genovese

Introducing himself facetiously as Brad Pitt, debutant Bobby Genovese is blond and blue-eyed and living the American Dream.

He travels to worldwide meetings on his private Learjet. He indulges in chocolate chip cookies, Krieger and Cartier. He floats on glamorous Aspen powder and dives off his multi-million-dollar yacht as it skims the froth of Florida’s South Beach. “It’s such a big world with so much to do and I haven’t even started. Do up your seat belt and hang on,” he says with a grand smile. [Read more]

Mark McEwan: Leaving a Mark on the Palate

For Mark McEwan, who’s dedicated a lifetime to culinary perfection, whipping up a work-of-art needs nothing more than a spatula and some quality ingredients.

As I’m chaperoned into a private second-floor office in Toronto’s newest gourmet grocery store mcewan, a wide-grinned face throws a subtle stop into my path. The tall figure is casually decked out in jeans and a blazer, making him almost unrecognizable to audiences of The Food Network’s The Heat, who might expect the no-nonsense chef in a white coat. Sitting down for some premium-brand Chasers orange juice, I’m told: “You’re [Read more]

Candy Queen: Dylan Lauren

Beliving the colours and magic and innocence of your childhood is easier than you think.

Hailed as an American icon and must-see destination by daytime diva Oprah Winfrey, the award-winning Dylan’s Candy Bar fuses the history of candy with realms of art, popular culture and fashionable apparel. “Dylan’s Candy Bar brings out the inner child in everyone while inspiring creativity,” says its ingenious founder, Dylan Lauren.

As the daughter of renowned American fashion designer Ralph Lauren, she has created her own empire of success. [Read more]

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