“Skateboarding and some great teachers changed my whole life,” Jay Mandarino, CEO of CJ Group of Companies, told Career Buzz listeners (June 17, 2015). As a child Jay had many problems and almost didn’t make it. But skateboarding “helped me learn self-confidence and to believe myself.”

Confined to bed after an injury in his early 20s Jay started selling printing jobs. “I tried to go back to university but I had too much business so I couldn’t do it. It just grew and grew. Now we have 200 plus employees, 23 companies and 30 million dollars in sales.”

How the clues apply to you: Listen hard to the interview to learn how Jay’s business success is intimately tied to his philanthropy and spirit of giving — which in turn has led to meetings with celebs like Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

Download and enjoy learning from the June 17 podcast, also featuring Michelle Dittmer of mygapyear, gapper Thomas Murphy, and Denis Luchyshyn of roadtoemployment.

*The views expressed by our authors are personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the views of the CCPA