Suits and Sneakers:Leadership Unfiltered is an interview series featuring candid conversations with leaders from diverse backgrounds and styles. The host, Carrie Tuttle, has a background in sales and marketing and started this series to fill the gap in formal mentorship opportunities and provide valuable insights. The main themes of the series include the importance of emotional intelligence in leadership, bravery, balancing performance vs. empathy, and learning from failures. Join in the conversation!
Urban Mining and Cross-Department Influence with Christy Valente
Host: Carrie Tuttle
Guest: Christy Valente
Telecom installers are trained never to cut a cable. Christy Valente’s program at TELUS asked them to start cutting.
Christy has spent over eight years with the company in progressive roles across network infrastructure, large-scale network transformation, and capital optimization, and holds an Executive MBA from the Haskayne School of Business. Today, she is Manager of Technology Strategy for RECO (Real Estate Central Office Optimization), running governance and the program management office for copper network retirement and central office redevelopment across British Columbia and Alberta.
Christy shares how her team built TELUS’s copper reclamation program from nothing, calling themselves “urban miners”, and how that work now frees up land for affordable housing and retail space in communities across Canada.
This episode digs into cross-functional influence, clean handoffs across more than 30 sites, and why her team’s job is to remove roadblocks for the teams they depend on. Christy is also candid about a leadership challenge many people never mention: knowing when to sponsor a great team member into a role beyond your own team.
This is a practical conversation about leading through relationships, clarity, and a willingness to start the hard conversations first.
QUOTE-WORTHY MOMENTS:
“I see myself as removing roadblocks for my team. I see my team removing roadblocks for the teams that enable our program.”
“You [as the leader] are not the technical expert. And you have people on your team that are going to be those technical experts.”
“How do I be comfortable with being vulnerable and having space to allow other people to grow into my team as well as out of my team?”
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
Copper reclamation turned retired network infrastructure into a new revenue stream for TELUS.
Retiring copper frees up central office land for affordable housing and community redevelopment.
Large cross-functional programs succeed or stall at the handoffs between teams.
Executive buy-in comes faster than buy-in from the operational teams doing the work.
Clear goals, expectations, and regular updates keep more than 30 sites moving in step.
A leader removes roadblocks so the team can do the same for the teams around them.
Real conversations clear up most misunderstandings faster than email.
Sponsoring a strong team member into a bigger role is a sign of leadership maturity.
Presenting in executive forums gives team members exposure and confidence.
New leaders do not need to be the subject matter expert in the room.
LINKS FROM EPISODE:
Christy Valente on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christyvalente (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christyvalente)
TELUS copper retirement: https://www.telus.com/en/social-impact/copper-retirement (https://www.telus.com/en/social-impact/copper-retirement)
Resources Mentioned:
Suits & Sneakers episode with Josée Thibault: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2vXymoZ4Ku2ZDBsGS82uze?si=xHX1YjYYSraDB4fYC-GbpA (https://open.spotify.com/episode/2vXymoZ4Ku2ZDBsGS82uze?si=xHX1YjYYSraDB4fYC-GbpA)
Lead With Engagement program @ Team Mojo: https://www.teammojo.ca/lead-with-engagement (https://www.teammojo.ca/lead-with-engagement)
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27 Oct 2026
Wealth, Leadership and Blind Spots with Lane Kawaoka
Host: Carrie Tuttle
Guest: Lane Kawaoka
Not every founder is a natural people leader. Lane Kawaoka, former engineer turned real estate investor and entrepreneur, will be the first to tell you he isn’t.
Lane started his career as an engineer and construction supervisor with one of the largest railroads in the US, leading track crews made up of men his grandfather’s age. He bought his first rental property in 2009 while still in that job. He went on to build a real estate investment business with more than 60 projects and over $2 billion in acquisitions, and today runs it much like a private equity firm. He founded and authored The Wealth Elevator.
In this episode, Lane and Carrie dig into the self-awareness it takes to acknowledge your own gaps out loud, and why Lane builds his team around partners and shared equity instead of salaries. He believes every leadership team needs a balance between someone who drives the vision and someone who brings people along. Lane is candid about the mistake of expecting his team to want what he wants, and why he pays for coaching and peer groups to support his own blind spots.
Lane also challenges whether a leadership promotion is always worth it, and explains the difference between trading time for money and owning a share of the outcome. His financial examples are US-based, and nothing in this episode is financial advice.
If you’re building a team and wondering how to motivate people who don’t think like you, or whether the traditional leadership path fits your goals, this conversation offers a different angle worth hearing.
QUOTE-WORTHY MOMENTS:
“Find a coach. Find a community around you that …will show you your shortcomings and show your blind spots.”
“I honestly don’t think I’m very good at being a CEO or management. It’s not my personal skill set, but it’s something I acknowledge and I’m trying to get better.”
“I’m trying to overlay my own expectations and needs and wants on other people, and it may not be their thing.”
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
Self-awareness about your weaknesses is the starting point for building the right team.
Strong leadership teams balance a vision driver with someone who brings the team on board.
Team members aren’t always motivated by the same rewards as their leader.
Equity and shared upside can motivate partners in ways salary alone often doesn’t.
Coaches and peer communities help leaders see blind spots they can’t see on their own.
Gut reactions are not always the best guide for leadership decisions.
Transparency and authenticity build trust with clients, investors and team members.
Getting results matters more than the number of hours spent at work.
A leadership promotion is a trade-off worth weighing against your own long-term goals.
Wealth goals and strategies change as net worth crosses key thresholds.
LINKS FROM EPISODE:
Lane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lanekawaoka/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lanekawaoka/)
Website: https://thewealthelevator.com/ (https://thewealthelevator.com/)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewealthelevator/ (https://www.instagram.com/thewealthelevator/)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheWealthElevator (https://www.youtube.com/@TheWealthElevator)
Resources Mentioned:
Free PDF copy of The Wealth Elevator: https://api.teammojo.ca/preview/KxhshEVINBwNyHDWJtvR (https://api.teammojo.ca/preview/KxhshEVINBwNyHDWJtvR)
Predictive Index (behavioural assessment)
Explore the Lead with Engagement program @ Team Mojo: https://www.teammojo.ca/lead-with-engagement (https://www.teammojo.ca/lead-with-engagement)
----------
Like What You Heard?
Don’t forget to subscribe or follow us on YouTube or your favorite podcast service, so you never miss an episode!
Interested in being a guest on Suits & Sneakers? APPLY HERE (https://shorturl.at/ih4Fj)
13 Oct 2026
Trusting Your Voice as a Founder with Andrea Oh
Host: Carrie Tuttle
Guest: Andrea Oh
Most entrepreneurs are taught to fake it till they make it. Andrea Oh built her company around removing that need entirely.
A four-time tech founder with two successful exits, Andrea is now CEO and co-founder of Savvy Knowledge, a skills validation platform built for high-risk industries like government, defense, healthcare, and cybersecurity. She is also an entrepreneur in residence at Platform Calgary and a former competitive volleyball player.
Andrea joins Carrie for a deep conversation about the myth that starting a company guarantees an exit, how Andrea defines imposter syndrome, and why she coaches founders as a teammate rather than an expert.
Andrea shares what it takes to build trust, give honest feedback, and ask for help, along with what her years as a competitive athlete taught her about connecting personal goals to company goals. She also talks candidly about losing confidence in her own voice after her second company and what it took to get it back.
The discussion gets deep when they talk about what good coaching actually feels like for the person being coached, why vulnerability builds more trust than having answers, and how trusting her own voice again after a difficult stretch changed the way she leads today.
This episode is a must-listen for leaders and founders who want a more honest look at imposter syndrome, building trust, and bringing out the best in the people you lead.
QUOTE-WORTHY MOMENTS:
“Your role is not to be perfect. Your role is to be relatable.”
“If I care about the person, I will say the things they need to hear because I want what's best for them.”
“Starting a company doesn't guarantee an exit.”
EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:
Starting a company does not guarantee an exit, and mistakes are part of the path to success.
Imposter syndrome is a false feeling of not being good enough that most people experience.
Trusting your voice and your instincts matters more than being popular.
Coaching works best when the coach acts as a teammate rather than an expert.
Effective coaching starts with building trust and avoiding transactional interactions.
Honest feedback is easier to hear when it comes from a trusted relationship.
People being coached should leave feeling lighter, heard, and ready to move forward.
Leaders can ask the people they lead for help and build a reciprocal relationship.
Connecting each person's own goals to company goals builds autonomy and stronger teams.
Founders and coaches both benefit from asking for honest feedback and being open to it.
LINKS FROM EPISODE:
Learn more about Savvy Knowledge: https://www.savvyknowledge.com/ (https://www.savvyknowledge.com/)
Andrea Oh LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-oh/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-oh/)
Andrea Oh Instagram: @sixfootcanasian
Resources Mentioned:
Book: Quiet Champions by Ian Chisholm
Founders Podcast with David Senra: https://www.founderspodcast.com/ (https://www.founderspodcast.com/)
Take the sales team performance diagnostic: https://api.teammojo.ca/widget/quiz/Ft18WA4QmmbTNieprM6P?notrack=true (https://api.teammojo.ca/widget/quiz/Ft18WA4QmmbTNieprM6P?notrack=true)
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Like What You Heard?
Don't forget to subscribe or follow us on YouTube or your favorite podcast service, so you never miss an episode!
Do you have a leadership story to share? APPLY to be aguest HERE (https://shorturl.at/ih4Fj)
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