In conversation with Mississauga entrepreneur, Pablo Dassen.

1. What attracted you to initially becoming an entrepreneur?
I am an “accidental” entrepreneur. I was working in the corporate world for over 20 years when a sudden layoff occurred. My wonderful, remarkable, talented, inspirational, intelligent, astounding, amazing wife got me to start performing again as a hobby initially. One thing led to another and six months later, we established The Pablo Dassen Company. She comes from a business owning family and we were both attracted by the chance to establish a vision and the challenge of making that vision a reality.

2. What exactly is a Pablo Dassen and what does he do?
Pablo Dassen is an Emcee, Event Host and Entertainer. The “Company” in our business name comes from a theatre company and recognizes our team of excellent contributors. Our business is showcasing talent.

3. You've hosted/emceed several events - which one was the most memorable and why?
Studio Night Live for sure because a) it was great collaborating with The Studio Paint Bar and Modern Mississauga Media and b) it’s a unique project with a lot of room for creativity. I strongly believe that the talk show format is an excellent platform to showcase talented performers and happens to be the best fit for my personal skills as well.

4. What one succinct piece of advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?
Succinctly, I’ll say that there’s truth in clichés!
Time matters more than money. Nothing ever goes exactly how you planned, plan anyway.
Perfection is an illusion. Work smarter, not harder. Change is constant and #FollowYourPassion, which is our main hashtag!

5. Describe your 2019 in six words or less
Game of Thrones. Hiatus. Learning. Renewal.

6. Describe what you vision 2020 as in six words or less
Overcoming challenges happily to create opportunities.

7. What's been the biggest obstacle in your entrepreneurial career?
Mentoring. Reinventing the wheel takes unnecessary resources. Learn from someone who has been there before. I do my best to share my experiences with those just starting out, so that they can learn from both my successes and failures.

8. What projects do you have on the horizon?
Lots planned in the first half of 2020! I’ll be hosting Family Day at the Living Arts Centre. Studio Night Live returns in the Spring. We’re also bringing back The Humble Badger Podcast, this time with a more local focus. Since our tour guide / foodie posts get such great response, we’re looking to launch a new project in that vein around June. It will be after our Pacific Tour in April when we’ll visit San Francisco, Los Angeles, Melbourne and all across New Zealand.

9. What three things in life can you not live without?
My internet connection, my travel rewards credit card and my passport.

10. I give you a time machine. Do you go forwards or backwards, to what moment and why?
I input the phrase “forward to a time when I have everything figured out”. The machine responds with an error message!

11. Fill in the blank - ___________ is my favourite Canadian artist
Bryan Adams on a global scale and From Far & Wide locally.

Connect with Pablo here.