Who is your money hero?
One of my fellow “dragons,” Wes Hall, who I got to know a little bit this year, during filming. I’m so inspired with how he spends money. He’s very different from me in the sense that he’s got the fancy cars and the big mansion and so on. I drive my Ford pickup truck and I have a modest home. But I’m inspired by how he puts charity first. He takes care of other people before he takes care of himself. He grew up in Jamaica. He didn’t have a lot, but he says, “This is about helping others.” He’s made it, and I think that’s what money is all about.
How do you like to spend your free time?
I love traveling. I love eating. For example, this summer, I went to France with my family. It was just a combination of family, friends, great food, some wine, practicing my French. That ties in everything I love.
My wife and three kids—we were in Paris as a base, we went down to Cap Ferret, which is just south of Bordeaux—a beautiful little peninsula, beach town. We hung out in Lille for a little bit to watch the Olympic basketball. We spent time in Bordeaux and went to some wineries. Paris is such a well-travelled place, so we had dinners with different friends and their families who were in town. I just I love that country.
What’s your first memory about money?
My dad, who’s a liver transplant surgeon, is not an entrepreneur or a business person. But he taught me early on to be purposeful with money. What am I doing with even the cheques I would get from aunts, uncles and grandparents for the holidays? He had me write thank-you notes, which no kid likes to do. I had to tell them how I was using the money they gave me.
My dad really hammered into me to save that money for education. And I did, but it was really ironic, because here I am, a high school dropout, a university dropout. But I valued learning about money from my dad and just being wise with how I spend it and being purposeful.
But one of my early memories was when I saved up my life savings as an eight-year-old and bought a brand-new bike. A couple of days later, I put a big basket on it so I could deliver newspapers more efficiently. I put that prized bike to work. I learned from my dad that money was about investment—a purposeful investment.
There’s also a frugal side of me that thinks, “Do I really need that?” Fancy cars wouldn’t bring me joy. Would I rent a Ferrari for a day on the coast of Italy? Heck, yeah. Would I ever buy one? No. And he got me to think about the value of money and what you can do with it.
If money were no object, what would you be doing right now?
Nothing different. I have the dream job. I am so excited to be a “dragon” and to help inspire others, give some wisdom, shared learnings to the pitchers on Dragon’s Den. I love building and growing my companies. Not to make more money, but to grow opportunities and possibilities for other people, and for the freedom to travel and spend time with family and friends, which I love to do.
