The Founder Mindset

Leah Sarich interviews Jenn Hunter, Co-Founder of PayShepherd, a contractor management platform for heavy industry. They discuss Jenn's journey into entrepreneurship, the challenges of digitizing workflows in heavy industry, and how PayShepherd has transformed contractor-client interactions. They also touch on the experiences of working in a male-dominated field and the changing landscape for women in heavy industry.

Jenn shares her journey of balancing entrepreneurship and motherhood while prioritizing personal wellness. She discusses transformative changes she implemented, including better nutrition, sleep, and physical movement, which enhanced her productivity and well-being. Jenn also emphasizes fostering a healthy work culture at PayShepherd, highlighting flexibility, team support, and the value of life’s big moments. She explains how the company’s approach positively affects clients and their communities, offering valuable lessons for entrepreneurs and business leaders.

About Jenn Hunter

Jenn Hunter is a Co-Founder of PayShepherd, a contractor management solution that automates contract compliance, resulting in real-time cost reporting, shared accountability, and effective risk management, providing clients with improved operating margins. PayShepherd is ranked #13 in “Forbes 2024 Best 200 Canadian Startup Employers” and “2024 Products That Count” winner in the category of AI & Data.

Jenn's focus is on customer outcomes. She brings deep domain expertise from her background in heavy industry and has navigated every phase of the customer journey, from solutions and delivery to end-user support. Jenn is an EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 finalist, an associate member of the A100, as well as mother to 3 boys under the age of 5.

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Contact Thin Air Labs:

• Website: ThinAirLabs.ca
• LinkedIn: Thin Air Labs
• X: Thin Air Labs
• YouTube: Thin Air Labs

Contact Jenn Hunter:

• Website: payshepherd.com
• Linkedin: Jenn Hunter

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Transcript

Jenn 00:02

It's all personal to me. It's my baby, like I've sacrificed so much personally for this, and this has afforded me so much personally as well. And so the blend to me is just, it's just my time. And you know, whatever is the highest priority in the moment, gets my time.

Leah 00:19

Hi, thanks for being here. And welcome to Season Two of The Founder Mindset, brought to you by ATB. I'm Leah Sarich, your host, and I'm super excited to talk to more founders about the human experience of being an entrepreneur. In this podcast, we're digging into what it really feels like to build a company from nothing. I was a broadcaster for over 20 years. So, I've interviewed thousands of people, but entrepreneurs, not that many, and yet they have the best stories. They're solving big problems, and they're creating an incredible impact. But it is hard work. So, why would they do this? Let's find out.

Leah 01:06

Joining me in studio today is Jenn Hunter, co-founder and director of operations for PayShepherd, a contractor management platform for heavy industry. Hey, Jenn.

Jenn 01:14

Hey, Leah.

Leah 01:16

Thanks so much for doing this.

Jenn 01:17

Of course happy to.

Leah 01:19

So fun to have you in the studio. Let's go right back to the beginning, as we do with all of these conversations, how did you actually get into entrepreneurship?

Jenn 01:27

I wouldn't have thought that I would be an entrepreneur. It definitely wasn't something I thought about growing up. But it wasn't something I was exposed to a lot. But a colleague that I'd worked with for many years had, you know, left the company that we were both at, and he was starting something and he asked if my husband and I wanted to invest. And so I actually got to kick the can without taking a lot of risk. I still had a full-time job, I didn't have to, you know, lose that financial security for my family. But I was able to kind of join the hustle and see what that was like. And it was a really great stepping stone for me to actually take it on full-time, which I would consider kind of the real baby as PayShepherd.

Leah 02:01

Okay, cool. So, you dipped your toe in the water with this first operation? And how did you feel about it? Even from the get-go? What did it feel like to you?

Jenn 02:10

I mean, it felt really natural for me like the hustle, you kind of like picking up the evenings and...

Taking the reins of a struggling tech company might seem daunting, but for David Lod, it was an opportunity to build something extraordinary from the ground up. As CEO of VEERUM, David inherited a company facing significant challenges—from financial instability to a fractured internal culture. Rather than backing down, he leaned into the adversity, focusing on refining the company’s core software and transforming its workplace culture into one built on trust and collaboration.

In this episode, David shares how he navigated VEERUM through the early days of the pandemic, doubling the company’s size and client base at a time when most businesses were shrinking. He opens up about the tough decisions, including downsizing the team and shifting the company’s focus, while building a supportive environment that empowered his employees to thrive. From securing critical capital to overcoming personal and professional hurdles, David's journey is a powerful lesson in leadership, resilience, and creating lasting impact.

Tune in to hear how David turned a near-failure into a fast-growing tech leader and how his approach to crisis and opportunity helped shape the future of VEERUM.

About David Lod

David is the CEO of VEERUM. Under his leadership, VEERUM has experienced tremendous growth, becoming a recognized powerhouse in the world of heavy-industry asset management and visualization.

Prior to joining VEERUM David was responsible for building and managing critical data centres facilities for Shaw Communications Inc as VP and GM overseeing the P&L, operations, key client relationships and product development.

Previously, he was Vice President of Enterprise Sales for Rogers Communications Inc. and Executive Vice President & Co-Owner for Pivot Data Centres (a high-growth firm that was acquired by Rogers Communications Inc. in 2013). David has supported clients across the world in his career.

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Contact Thin Air Labs:

• Website: ThinAirLabs.ca
• LinkedIn: Thin Air Labs
• X: Thin Air Labs
• YouTube: Thin Air Labs

Contact David Lod:

• Website: VEERUM.com
• Linkedin: David Lod
• Email: [email protected]

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Transcript

David 00:01

My best friend from junior kindergarten, he went the software route, and has been a CTO in a bunch of construction tech, Big Pharma software companies, and had an incredible background doing that. And him and I have been best friends forever, and we always wanted to work together. So when I got on the bench here as CEO, I said, Rob, I think I found the one.

Leah 00:24

Hi, thanks for being here and welcome to Season Two of The Founder Mindset, brought to you by ATB. I'm Leah Sarich, your host, and I'm super excited to talk to more founders about the human experience of being an entrepreneur. In this podcast, we're digging into what it really feels like to build a company from nothing. I was a broadcaster for over 20 years. So, I've interviewed thousands of people, but entrepreneurs, not that many. And yet they have the best stories. They're solving big problems. And they're creating incredible impact. But it is hard work. So why would they do this? Let's find out.

Leah 01:08

Joining me in studio today is David Lod, CEO of VEERUM, a platform that empowers teams with their visual operations capabilities, allowing companies around the world to manage their industrial assets in 3D. David, welcome. Thank you so much for being here.

David 01:24

Thank you, Leah, thrilled to be here today. So.

Leah 01:26

Thank you. Well, let's start right at the beginning and talk a little bit about like VEERUM. Let's start there with what VEERUM is today, and then we'll go back a little bit in time. So let's start with what VEERUM Is today.

David 01:37

You described it spot on. This is about changing industrial operations for large facilities and assets. So these are traditionally oil and gas facilities. They could be utility, large manufacturing facilities as well, as you know, utility and mines as well. So what we saw was a very antiquated approach to working, providing operations and maintenance, project controls construction with all these large facilities. So what VEERUM has been able to do is create what I call a single pane of glass. So you just log into your one laptop and you can see your engineering models, your geospatial data, your document management, everything together, including your real-time, whether it's Io...

“It’s been 13 years... and the way she talks about the future, the way that she talks about how the opportunity has never been greater, she’s never been more excited... It’s easy to understand why we’d make an investment in a person like this.” —James Lochrie on Orpyx CEO Breanne Everett

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, Dr. Breanne Everett, Founder and CEO of Orpyx, chats with Leah about:

• Why she went from surgeon to entrepreneur
• How she navigated the premature birth of her first child and fundraising at the same time
• Why the opportunity for impact keeps her going through the inevitable challenges

BONUS CONTENT

At the end of the episode, Leah gets reaction to her conversation with Breanne from James Lochrie, Managing Partner of Thin Air Labs which invested in Orpyx.

Learn more about how James deeply admires Breanne’s growth as a leader, her emotional resilience and her drive to create meaningful human impact with her company.

“Through and through, one of the most competitive entrepreneurs that we’ve invested in, and that’s saying a lot because the bar is pretty high for the competitive average for our entrepreneurs, yea this guy, he will not quit.” —James Lochrie on Provision CEO Erik Westblom

• In this episode of The Founder Mindset, Erik Westblom, Co-founder and CEO of Provision, chats with Leah about:
• Why he wants people to really understand the stress of being a founder
• How he thinks about shame as motivation
• Why he’ll always be obsessed with the bank balance

BONUS CONTENT

At the end of the episode, Leah gets reaction to her conversation with Erik from James Lochrie, Managing Partner of Thin Air Labs which invested in Provision.

Hear how James relates to Erik’s candid truths about the impact entrepreneurship can have on families. Find out what James has learned about processing the stress of being a founder, and how that’s helped him become a better investor and mentor to founders like Erik. And hear what led James to offer a rare investment on the spot into Provision.

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“This is a guy, an accidental entrepreneur, with a low risk tolerance - a guy who stumbled into entrepreneurship because someone opened a door for him, and now he talks about it like a north star. He’s got it.” —James Lochrie on ZayZoon CEO Darcy Tuer

In this episode of The Founder Mindset, Darcy Tuer, Co-founder and CEO of ZayZoon, chats with Leah about:

• Why he’s continually drawn to being a founder
• How he thinks about rejection
• What he’s learned from facing several ‘go or no go’ points in his startup journey

BONUS CONTENT

At the end of the episode, Leah gets reaction to her conversation with Darcy from James Lochrie, Managing Partner of Thin Air Labs.

Hear how James deeply respects Darcy’s desire to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives, how he shares Darcy’s low risk tolerance and love of problem-solving as risk mitigation. And learn more about James and Darcy’s love of the Calgary innovation ecosystem.