What happens when entrepreneurship starts before most people are even old enough to drive?

In this episode of the PowerHaus Podcast, Gabrielle Caine sits down with Bryce Kander, a Red Deer–based realtor, investor, coach, author, and founder of the Central Alberta Real Estate Investor Network.

Bryce has built a 25+ door portfolio, mentored 100 investors through his TeamKander coaching programs, founded CAREIN — a free monthly investor event whose sponsors credit it with more than $100 million in transactions over two years — and hosts the Alberta Investor Network show on Rogers TV.

But this conversation isn’t just about the wins.

Bryce shares how he got started at an unusually young age, the influence his mom had on the way he thinks about risk and opportunity, and some of the mistakes and difficult lessons that came with building his business and investment portfolio.

Gabrielle and Bryce talk about what happens when deals don’t work out the way you expected, the importance of trust in partnerships, learning when to walk away, personal risk tolerance, and why some of the best lessons come from the decisions you wish you had handled differently.

They also explore mentorship, personal brand, opportunity creation, outsourcing, leadership, and the difference between being busy in your business and actually building something that can grow.

• How Bryce got started in business and investing at a young age
• The role his mom played in shaping his entrepreneurial mindset
• Why not every “successful” deal is actually a success
• Lessons from projects that went sideways
• How Bryce thinks about risk and decision-making
• The importance of choosing the right partners
• Why your network and personal brand can create unexpected opportunities
• Building community without putting everything behind a paywall
• The value of focusing on high-impact work instead of trying to do everything yourself
• What Bryce is building toward next

Bryce Kander is a Red Deer–based realtor, investor, and coach who has built a 25+ door portfolio using creative real estate strategies including seller financing, BRRRR, MLI Select, joint ventures, and condo deconversions.

He has been licensed with Realty Executives Alberta Elite since 2010 across residential, commercial, and rural real estate, was named Top 40 Under 40 Alberta in 2025, and was part of the Gold Top Team in the World for Realty Executives.

Bryce founded the Central Alberta Real Estate Investor Network (CAREIN), a free monthly investor event, hosts the Alberta Investor Network show on Rogers TV, has personally mentored 100 investors through TeamKander, and is the author of the #1 Amazon bestseller If You Can Buy a Property for $10,000 or Less, Just Do It: 67 Ways to Buy Property.

If You Can Buy a Property for $10,000 or Less, Just Do It: 67 Ways to Buy Property

https://www.amazon.ca/You-Can-Property-Less-Just/dp/B0H54QNH9N

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/brycekander

YouTube:

https://youtube.com/@brycekander

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/share/1JXrbSKxti/

PowerHaus pulls back the curtain on success.

Real stories. Real lessons. Real possibility.

If this conversation gives you something to think about, follow the PowerHaus Podcast, share the episode with someone who would benefit from Bryce’s story, and take action on your dreams today.

What if the biggest thing shaping your life isn’t who you are — but who you learned to believe you were?

In this episode of the PowerHaus Podcast, Gabrielle Caine sits down with Doug Dane, author of Mistaken Identity, for an incredibly open conversation about childhood trauma, identity, self-image, healing, personal responsibility, and the beliefs that can quietly shape our lives for decades.

Doug spent 30 years trying to recover from a childhood he now speaks about openly. He tried therapy, self-help, programs, and many of the approaches he was told would help — but none created the change he was searching for.

Eventually, Doug began questioning something deeper: the identity he had formed from those experiences and the beliefs that had been quietly influencing his life ever since.

That discovery became the foundation for his book, Mistaken Identity, published by Forefront Books and distributed by Simon & Schuster.

In this raw and deeply personal conversation, Doug and Gabrielle explore childhood adversity, self-image, emotional patterns, resilience, forgiveness, personal responsibility, and what can happen when you stop allowing the past to define who you believe you are.

Doug also shares powerful stories from his own life and the people he has worked with, along with a simple idea at the heart of his work: sometimes meaningful change begins by recognizing the story you’ve been carrying — and deciding whether it still belongs to you.

• How childhood experiences can shape identity long after the experience itself
• The difference between what happened to you and who you believe you are
• Why self-image can influence decisions, relationships and success
• Doug’s journey through trauma, healing and personal transformation
• The role of personal responsibility without denying painful experiences
• How our beliefs can quietly become the operating system behind our lives
• Why lasting change may begin with something much simpler than we expect
• One practical step you can take to begin examining your own story

Doug Dane spent 30 years trying to recover from a childhood he'll talk about openly — and trying everything the self-help and mental health industry told him to try. None of it worked.

When he finally figured out why, it turned out to be simpler than anything he'd been sold.

He wrote Mistaken Identity, published by Forefront Books and distributed by Simon & Schuster, and has spent 25 years showing others the one simple thing that's been quietly running their life — the thing nobody else in this space has been willing to name.

Mistaken Identity:

https://www.dougdane.com/mistakenidentity

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/doug.dane/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/dougdaneofficial

YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/@DougDane

TikTok:

https://www.tiktok.com/@dougdane

PowerHaus pulls back the curtain on success.

Real stories. Real lessons. Real possibility.

If this conversation gave you something to think about, follow the PowerHaus Podcast, share this episode with someone who may need to hear it, and take action on your dreams today.

What do you do when the career path you planned keeps disappearing underneath you?

In this episode of the PowerHaus Podcast, I sit down with Brandon McLaughlin, an experienced real estate investor whose career has taken more turns than most people would experience in several lifetimes.

Brandon’s journey has included architecture, aerospace, home inspection, energy auditing, driving a school bus, working at a hobby shop, working as an airship test pilot, and eventually building a real estate portfolio across residential and commercial properties.

And almost none of it happened according to plan.

Throughout our conversation, Brandon shares the layoffs, pivots, setbacks, opportunities, and decisions that shaped the way he approaches business, investing, and problem-solving today.

We talk about:

• how 9/11 abruptly changed the direction of his aerospace career
• what repeated layoffs taught him about adaptability
• why knowing your desired outcome can completely change how you handle difficult situations
• the pressure and responsibility that comes with home inspection
• the unexpected path from school bus driver to a hobby-shop to airship test pilot
• how he transitioned into real estate investing
• deal analysis and staying disciplined with your numbers
• tenant screening and managing landlord risk
• negotiation strategies inspired by Never Split the Difference
• the story behind an $850,000 property negotiation - and an offer of $750,777
• financing, leverage, and making investment decisions based on the actual numbers
• why your employer, client, tenant, or investor is ultimately your customer
• and how problem-solving becomes a skill you can carry into every part of your life

One of the recurring themes in Brandon’s story is simple:

Know your outcome.

When you know what you’re actually trying to accomplish, the path toward it becomes much easier to navigate - even when things go completely sideways.

This is one of those PowerHaus conversations that moves naturally between business, real estate, career pivots, negotiation, family, mistakes, unexpected opportunities, and the occasional ridiculous story along the way.

It’s raw. It’s practical. And it’s a reminder that your path doesn’t have to make sense while you’re in the middle of it.

Sometimes you just have to keep solving the next problem.

Brandon McLaughlin is an experienced Real Estate Investor with a proven track record for finding, qualifying and managing tenant relationships. Brandon prides himself on his ability to help take the fear out of being a Landlord and allowing investors to focus on their passions.

Brandon currently manages a portfolio of properties including one commercial retail property, two residential duplexes and one residential duplex plus ADU. With a passion for helping others, Brandon enjoys sharing his insights with the community and adding value wherever possible.

As an architectural technologist, former home inspector, project manager and experienced facilitator of new home construction as well as renovations, Brandon utilizes his unique mix of talents and expertise to position his real estate investments for success.

📘 Facebook: Brandon McLaughlin

📸 Instagram: @Brando_R_Mac

🌐 powerhauspodcast.com

📸 Instagram: @thepowerhauspodcast

🎵 TikTok: @powerhauspodcast

𝕏 X: @PowerHausPod

▶️ YouTube: @PowerHausPodcast

🔗 LinkedIn: PowerHaus Podcast

If this episode gives you something useful to think about, like, share, and subscribe — because you never know what gold nugget someone else needs to hear.

My name is Gabrielle Caine. This is the PowerHaus Podcast, and I strongly encourage you to take action on your dreams today.

What if success had less to do with how much you have — and more to do with how fully you’re actually living?

In Part 2 of my conversation with Deanna Boyden, we go deeper into the mindset, decisions, relationships, and life experiences that have shaped the way she defines success today.

Deanna is a real estate investor, entrepreneur, coach, and founder of REAL Power, a community created to support and connect women in business, investing, leadership, and personal growth. Her background spans corporate leadership, technology, real estate, entrepreneurship, coaching, and community building. She has also served on Calgary’s housing advisory committee and continues to work across real estate development, investment, education, and leadership.

This episode is less about chasing the next milestone and more about asking a much bigger question:

Are you actually building a life you want to live?

Deanna shares her personal framework for measuring success through what she calls her “F words” — faith, family, friends, finance, fun, fitness, finding and learning, and doing things for others.

We talk about:

• redefining success beyond money and status
• why presence can matter more than productivity
• learning to recognize when a chapter of your life is complete
• making decisions with a “hell yes or no” filter
• letting go of things you’re only doing because of ego or obligation
• the importance of regular life check-ins
• rest, reset, and recharge
• removing yourself from people and situations that consistently drain you
• reverse-engineering the life you actually want
• building confidence through small, consistent actions
• why mortality can create urgency instead of fear
• and why nobody is coming to save you — which means you get to decide what happens next

Deanna also shares some incredibly personal stories about family, loss, relationships, real estate, lifestyle design, and the moments that made her stop measuring success by traditional metrics.

And because this is PowerHaus, we kept some of the real-life conversation too.

At the end of the episode, you’ll hear bonus material from before the official interview began, including a few failed intro attempts, an emotional real estate memory from a jet-ski ride, conversations around men’s mental health and perimenopause, my hit-and-run/insurance story, an off-roading adventure in a rental Jeep, and somehow... a very serious discussion about In-N-Out Burger. 😂

It’s raw, honest, funny, and exactly the kind of conversation I never wanted to leave on the cutting-room floor.

One of my favourite takeaways from Deanna:

“If it’s not a hell yes, then it’s a no.”

And perhaps the biggest reminder from this conversation:

Nobody is coming to save you. Decide what you want, start taking the steps toward it, and build a life that actually makes you happy.

Deanna Boyden is a real estate investor, entrepreneur, coach, and founder of REAL Power, a network focused on supporting female entrepreneurs and investors through education, connection, mastermind programs, events, and community. Her career has included corporate roles in the airline industry, CMHC, and technology before transitioning more deeply into entrepreneurship, real estate, coaching, and leadership.

Her work today centres around helping people gain clarity, build confidence, take meaningful action, and create lives and businesses that align with what actually matters to them.

🌐 REAL Power: https://www.real-power.ca/

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dboyden/

📸 Instagram: @realpowerladies

👤 Socials: Deanna Boyden

🌐 powerhauspodcast.com

📸 Instagram: @thepowerhauspodcast

🎵 TikTok: @powerhauspodcast

𝕏 X: @PowerHausPod

▶️ YouTube: @PowerHausPodcast

🔗 LinkedIn: PowerHaus Podcast

What happens when the life you planned falls apart — and the detour becomes the thing that changes everything?

In this episode of the PowerHaus Podcast, Gabrielle Caine sits down with Bobby Puim, Vice President of Operations at REC Canada, entrepreneur, process automation specialist, and longtime builder of scalable businesses and high-performing teams.

Bobby’s path has been anything but linear.

He became a licensed chiropractor, opened his own clinic, launched an imaging centre, and even opened a bar — all before pivoting into real estate and eventually stepping into leadership, operations, systems, and technology.

But some of the most important chapters of his story came from the moments that didn’t go according to plan.

In this conversation, Bobby shares:

• what it was like to build multiple businesses at a young age
• how a major immigration setback forced him to completely start over
• why being removed from the U.S. ultimately became one of the biggest turning points of his life
• how persistence, humility, and showing up opened new doors
• what he learned from flipping burgers after already earning a professional doctorate
• how he moved from entrepreneurship into real estate operations and technology
• why strong systems are often the difference between chaos and scale
• what most consumers don’t realize about real estate agents and representation
• the problem Kobi is trying to solve in the real estate industry
• why integrity, transparency, and consistency matter when building anything long-term
• how his perspective on failure and problem-solving has changed over time
• why sometimes you are the problem — and that’s actually empowering
• a simple exercise for breaking down difficult problems and making them easier to solve

This episode is a conversation about resilience, reinvention, discipline, systems, perspective, and what can happen when you stop treating setbacks like the end of the story.

Sometimes the thing that turns your life upside down is the exact thing that redirects you toward something better.

Real stories. Real lessons. Real possibility.

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bobby-puim

📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robert.puim

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobbypuim/

🌐 Website: powerhauspodcast.com

📸 Instagram: @thepowerhauspodcast

🎵 TikTok: @powerhauspodcast

𝕏 X: @PowerHausPod

▶️ YouTube: @PowerHausPodcast

🔗 LinkedIn: PowerHaus Podcast

If this conversation gave you a new perspective, follow, subscribe, and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.

The PowerHaus Podcast pulls back the curtain on success through honest conversations with entrepreneurs, leaders, and high achievers — exploring the decisions, risks, failures, pivots, and lessons behind extraordinary journeys.

What if the life you want isn’t built by chasing money — but by deciding what kind of life you actually want first?

In this episode of the PowerHaus Podcast, Gabrielle Caine sits down with Pawel Blazejewicz, an IT professional, real estate investor, husband and father whose journey has taken him from Poland to Ireland and ultimately Canada.

Pawel’s approach to success is refreshingly long-term.

After experiencing Poland’s economic instability firsthand, moving across countries, learning entirely different financial systems, and eventually building a real estate portfolio in Canada, Pawel learned that wealth isn’t created by blindly following what everyone else is doing.

It comes from understanding the numbers, surrounding yourself with the right people, staying curious, and building a life intentionally.

In this conversation, Pawel shares:

• How growing up in Poland shaped his views on money, inflation and real assets
• Why earning euros in Ireland opened the door to his first real estate investments
• The financial differences he discovered after moving to Canada
• Why Canadian mortgages and refinancing initially made no sense to him
• How investing in education helped him finally understand the Canadian real estate market
• Why he focuses on long-term buy-and-hold investing
• The importance of choosing the right markets, professionals and partners
• How leverage can accelerate growth — and why it must be used responsibly
• Why family and personal values influence nearly every major decision he makes
• The Wheel of Life exercise he uses every three months to reassess his priorities
• How health, fitness and discipline became part of his definition of success
• Why designing the life you want should come before determining how much money you need

One of Pawel’s strongest lessons is simple:

Success looks different for everyone.

The goal isn’t necessarily the biggest portfolio, the most money or the flashiest lifestyle. It’s creating enough freedom, control and opportunity to build the life that matters to you.

Real stories. Real lessons. Real possibility.

🏠 Real Estate: Facebook & Instagram

💻 Technology / Data Centres: LinkedIn

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pawel.blazejewicz

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pawel_blazejewicz/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pawelblazejewicz/

🌐 Website: powerhauspodcast.com

📸 Instagram: @thepowerhauspodcast

🎵 TikTok: @powerhauspodcast

𝕏 X: @PowerHausPod

▶️ YouTube: @PowerHausPodcast

🔗 LinkedIn: PowerHaus Podcast

If this conversation gave you a new perspective, follow, subscribe and share this episode with someone who needs to hear it.

The PowerHaus Podcast pulls back the curtain on success through honest conversations with entrepreneurs, leaders and high achievers — exploring the decisions, risks, failures, pivots and lessons behind extraordinary journeys.

In this episode of the PowerHaus Podcast, Gabrielle Caine continues her conversation with Mike Seal for Part 2 of their interview.

In Part 1, Mike shared his journey through real estate, mortgage financing, development, investing, and the lessons he learned through pressure, pivots, and experience. In Part 2, the conversation gets more tactical.

Mike breaks down what new real estate investors need to know before buying, why building the right team matters, how to coordinate trades, and why due diligence can make or break a deal.

This episode is packed with practical real estate insight for anyone looking to invest, grow a portfolio, analyze markets, work with tenants, or avoid costly mistakes. Mike shares real examples from renovations, development, tenant relationships, market cycles, infill projects, new construction, and investor-focused opportunities across Canada and the U.S.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How new investors can build the right team
• Why communication between trades is critical
• The importance of project planning before renovations
• Why investing close to home can reduce risk
• How to analyze markets before buying
• Why cheap real estate does not always mean good real estate
• Tenant profiles, transportation, jobs, hospitals, and local demand
• Opportunities in smaller markets outside major cities
• New construction, infill projects, and missing-middle housing
• How experienced developers and builders pivot through market cycles
• Why good real estate investors need strong lawyers, tax professionals, mortgage people, and investor-focused realtors
• How landlords can build better relationships with tenants
• The importance of communication, integrity, and compassion in real estate
• What desperation, resilience, and pressure can teach entrepreneurs
• Current real estate opportunities and market shifts
• Why experience matters when choosing who to work with

Mike’s message is clear: real estate investing is not just about finding a deal. It is about understanding the market, building the right team, doing proper due diligence, communicating well, and knowing when to pivot.

Whether you are a new investor, an experienced investor, an entrepreneur, or someone trying to understand where the opportunities are in today’s market, this conversation is full of practical lessons and real-world perspective.

Listen to Part 1 first if you haven’t already, then come back for this tactical second half.

Connect with Mike Seal:

Website: mikeseal.com

Company: Realty ONE Group Iconic

Email: info@mikeseal.com

Subscribe to the PowerHaus Podcast for real conversations with entrepreneurs, investors, leaders, and high performers who are building powerful lives on their own terms.

#PowerHausPodcast #MikeSeal #RealEstateInvesting #RealEstateInvestor #RealEstateStrategy #CanadianRealEstate #RealEstateDevelopment #RealEstateTeam #DueDiligence #InvestorMindset #MortgageFinancing #RealEstateMarket #LandlordTips #TenantRelations #InfillDevelopment #NewConstruction #MissingMiddleHousing #EntrepreneurMindset #WealthBuilding #FinancialFreedom