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This morning we had the pleasure of hosting Robert Herjavec at our First Canadian Place store as the second guest in our new speaker series. Robert Herjavec, in case you haven’t heard, is one of the stars of the hit CBC show Dragons’ Den. Typically known as ‘the nice Dragon’, Herjavec is a self-made millionaire with a rags to riches success story that led to his recently-released best-selling book Driven: How to Succeed in Business and in Life. In it, he talks about the lessons he has learned over a twenty-year career launching and operating computer and Internet businesses, including his current company The Herjavec Group.

Among other things, Robert told us all about what it’s like being on two hit TV shows (Dragons’ Den and the similar US version, ABC’s Shark Tank). He shared entertaining stories about his early beginnings (working at two Harry Rosen locations to learn about salesmanship and the importance of dressing well); the lessons he learned from his parents that have served him well throughout his rise to fame and fortune (always be polite, don’t complain and work hard) and the perks of fame (meeting superstars like Bono and Oprah). Though he didn’t necessarily tell us how to become millionaires ourselves, we suspect it has a lot to do with the basic principles of hard work, ambition, drive – and as he says, a little bit of luck. Guess we’ll just have to read the book to find out the rest of his secrets!

Stay tuned for more information on future speakers next season.