Poseidon

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Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)

Herald

Deliver GTM audits, messaging overhauls, and strategic 90-day plans for mission-driven companies between $3–5M in revenue to unlock new growth.

Provided insight on outbound performance, show-up rates, and close metrics to sharpen GTM execution.

Advise founders on positioning, sales strategy, and offer design to increase close rates and shorten sales cycles.

Lead client training sessions to align sales teams with offers and positioning that convert.

Launched and grew the founder’s podcast, reaching 1,000 subscribers, 20,000+ downloads, and 100 five-star reviews.

Growth Strategy, Sales / GTM / Performance Marketing

Colorwave

Serve as a core mentor and speaker for Colorwave’s flagship fellowship, guiding underrepresented professionals as they break into tech and startups.

Lead coaching sessions on high-leverage topics like equity compensation, negotiation strategy, and how to evaluate startups like a VC.

Colorwave Speaker and Community Leader

First strategic hire who helped niche the GTM focus to RIA firms while working daily with the product team to shape the roadmap based on sales feedback.

Onboarded new reps in under two weeks with custom playbooks, training decks, and live enablement sessions.

Built and led a guerrilla campaign at SaaStr that generated over $300K in qualified pipeline in just three days.

Launched and scaled G2 review engine from scratch, driving 40+ reviews and earning six industry badges, including Top Performer.

Led outbound strategy across LinkedIn, email, and phone, achieving 43% open rates and 55% connection rates on cold outreach.

Vice President, GTM Strategy

Concord Project Technologies Inc.

Scaled the company to $5M in revenue while leading client delivery, relationships, and contract growth. Projects focused on improving the execution of $100M+ mega projects for EPC clients like Exxon, Shell, and Rio Tinto.

Took Concord Academy, an AWP certification body, from idea to global education platform with 3,000+ students across 25 countries and 60+ enterprise clients in year one.

Opened the Latin American market by localizing training and pricing, making Concord the go-to provider for the South American mining sector.

Led ISO 9001 certification from zero to audit-ready, completing two external audits and earning certification in under 90 days.

Built and executed GTM and ops strategies that drove new business lines without adding headcount or burning marketing spend.

Operations Manager, Sales and Partnerships

1Strive

Built and ran an entrepreneurship / leadership program for first-time founders.

Created a jobseeker-to-founder transition mentoring community: 40+ mentors coached 55+ mentees through new roles or launches.

Delivered 1:1 and group coaching on sales, clarity, and execution for early-stage founders.

Launched a startup community for founders building in public. 

Conference speaker and local consultant for small business and high school programs.

Founder

South Texas College

Strategy, Event Planning, and Event Marketing: Served as advisor for 4 student organizations. Organized 20+ campus events, attracting an average of 300 attendees and improving the quality of the collegiate experience.

Social Media Marketing: Developed social media promotions, expanding advertising of department’s services to students.

Student Activities Specialist

The University of Texas - Pan American

Student Coordinator

Eliminating Gaps in Revenue Strategy for 7-Figure Brands Wanting to Become 8-Figure Brands | Sales and GTM Operations Leader | Selling is Serving

I have 10 years of experience helping early-stage startups unlock revenue by building the GTM systems they should have started with.

As a strategic operator, I work across sales, customer success, and product feedback loops to drive meaningful results. I’ve helped grow both internal teams and client companies to $5M+ in annual revenue by tightening execution, sharpening messaging, and aligning GTM strategy with real customer needs.

I’ve been an entrepreneur my entire career. Along the way, I’ve learned that doing what you can now is the only way to earn the freedom to do what you love later. That mindset also shapes how I approach AI. It's already reshaping and disrupting the world I work and thrive in. I have a responsibility to my family to prepare for what’s coming, not just react to it.

I share on LinkedIn and invite anyone to join the conversation. If you identify with anything below:
✓ building in public 
✓ startups, investing, and legacy building
✓ coffee and photography (for the creatives 😉 ) 

Connect or say hi. 

Much love, 
Aaron

Aaron Barreiro

Sun Peaks Resort

Director of Employee Experience & HR (Winter Contract)

Okanagan Elevator

Established business in Kelowna and expanded market reach, exceeding sales targets and tripling revenue through in-depth market analysis, business development and scaling processes and talent.

Developed and executed HR strategy in a challenging hiring market for the skills required, achieving zero turnover through retention initiatives.

Co-founder & Owner / VP People & Sales

BSharp Coaching & Consulting

- Executive and career coaching
- Business and board consultant
- Organization design and development
- Strategic development, process creation and continuous improvement

Consultant & Executive Coach

Numeris

Hired to transform from reactive research focus to a proactive data company; strategic workforce exercise to review company talent end-to-end, prioritize future needs and address skills/training gaps. 
•	Led and managed a multi-level team across Human Resource Business Partners, Generalists, Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, DEIB, Wellness and Recognition. Elevated the function to get out of reactive supervisor level thinking, into proactive strategic management.

Director of People & Culture

FreeAgent CRM

Recruited by Co-Founders to lead HR operations, focusing on talent acquisition and retention for CRM platform during a market downturn. CRM niche focused in the medical field. 
•	Launched and executed an employer brand campaign, increasing job applications by 300%, attracting top talent from Apple, Slack, and EA Games to an unknown B2B SaaS CRM start-up. 
•	Revamped employee relations and talent strategy for a remote and on-site workforce across India, Mexico, the US, and Canada. Restructured the sales organization and solutions consultants.

Head Of Human Resources 

Interior Health Authority

In the Organization & Leadership Development function:
Succession planning framework for a health authority serving 800K people in a forest fire-prone region. 

•	Assigned to complete a case study for recruitment for a prior Director, reviewing the health authority mandate, available data, high-level root causes, issues and make key recommendations to resolve. 
•	Uncovered talent reporting and succession data and insights that were previously unknown to the management team responsible for recruitment and L&OD at the time.
•	Proposed several tactics and plans to approach executive succession planning, and succession planning across Interior Health; including hands on support with a request process available to the entire organization, a full executive team review, and partnering with the VP and board. 

Contract role converted to permanent; left for a headhunted contract opportunity and promotion.

Consultant - Executive Succession Planning & Leadership Development

WestJet

During my tenure at WestJet, I was entrusted with leading the comprehensive People & Culture strategy leading up to the airline’s acquisition by Onex. This included developing and executing a global strategy, ensuring alignment with corporate goals, and optimizing workforce strategies. I spearheaded the creation of a P&C "war room" to facilitate complex planning, which later evolved into a COVID command center. 

In addition supporting the governance and all People & Culture board documents, I was deeply involved in shaping WestJet’s long-term people strategy, from improving organizational culture to enhancing employee engagement and leadership development. My proactive approach and ability to pivot under pressure helped the company maintain strong leadership during uncertain times.

People & Culture - Executive Strategy

Continuously promoted through over a decade long career in Aviation; successful in working across multiple verticals from HR, Operations, Commercial and Finance. Known for my approach to leadership and talent management, and mentorship program experience – recruited to help teams shift performance and strategy.

•	Promoted to oversee and support a 150-person team, developing a five-year people strategy to drive the airline's expansion. This included building a talent strategy to identify the critical skills needed for the future of the airline, while investing in improved technology and advanced network capabilities.
•	Creation and management of a $$MM department budget, and close collaboration with all business unit leaders across the company to ensure HR needs were met through budget and operations. 
•	Developed P&C metrics and a five-year scorecard and strategy with Power BI to help optimize and measure successful delivery.

Executive Advisor to the People and Culture team

•	Promoted to direct three teams across Canada (logistics, customs, dangerous goods). Created technical talent strategy for areas of expertise outside of my wheelhouse by building trust and relationships with the team, active listening and root cause problem solving. Identified talent needs, created a candidate pipeline, and put in place a five-year succession plan that went on to sustain the airline to present-day (on their third planned move of five, years after I left).
•	Reshaped team structure for scalability, accelerated recruitment process and hired new customs specialist to support the recovery of $1M in duties.

Manager - Global Logistics

•	Leveraged ADKAR and Prosci methodology, combining change management and project management approaches to drive the adoption of new initiatives. My approach was commended and used as a template for the organization roll-out. 
•	Led change management initiatives, including WestJet’s shift to a global airline, Office 365 implementations, and the transition from on-premises drives to Microsoft Teams, improving operational efficiency and collaboration.

Change Management Lead

•	Developed a cross-functional talent pipeline, guiding seven team members to 2-3 level promotions over two years by equipping them with new skills and career interests.
•	Implemented an AI audit vendor procurement that reduced the audit cycle from three months to three days and upgraded a custom industry platform to align with a new commission model.

Manager - Travel Agency Payment Services

•	Recruited, mentored, and developed team members, driving professional growth and elevating team performance from last place to 4th through data-driven strategies.
•	Developed a custom mentorship program for new leaders and large volumes of peak period coverage.
•	As a new leader in the department, identified a pattern in reporting of time theft and fraud. Collaborated with HR to address, leading investigations that resulted in the termination of 50 employees and then trained existing leaders in their system on fraud detection.

Leader - Contact Centre

•	Talent strategy for mid-to-executive level in multiple teams and over 50 locations: design and launch of innovative company-wide talent programs, both formal and self-serve, including planning and facilitation of leadership learning and conferences with 200 network leaders. 
•	Creation and facilitation of coveted mentorship programs, and other tactical development plans to address talent gaps in multiple difficult to hire regions – leading to 85% promotion rate. 
•	Successful in gaining executive sponsorship and funding for enterprise-wide cloud implementations related to global talent and recognition.

HR Operations Manager (Various roles and promotions in the same team)

- Workforce planning 
- High volume recruiting
- Scheduling relief duties
- Crew Chief & shift leadership
- Project based assignments, process optimization and change management

Various roles

BSharp Big Arts

An idea made into a colourful reality and social experiment to remind adults in a variety of corporate settings of the power of play in creativity and innovation. Large scale interactive art company partnering with TD Bank, GoPro and Travel Alberta and more. We wrapped up operations with the onset of Covid-19.

Co-founder & Owner

Kim Standeven Coaching

Business and Support Service Manager

Hilton

I cut my teeth in hospitality as a server and room service attendant. This was a fun role that gave me insight to hospitality and tourism and led to a 13 year career at WestJet Airlines in Calgary.

Server & Room Service Attendant

Executive Leader | HR Strategist | Community Builder | Creator of #Hirethishuman

With over 15 years of senior leadership experience across aviation, healthcare, research, tech, and startup environments, I specialize in aligning strategy, culture, and operations to drive scalable growth. From founding and scaling businesses, to leading remote work transitions and building talent pipelines with award-worthy culture programs, I bring a unique blend of strategic foresight and hands-on execution that elevates both business performance and employee experience. I’ve led enterprise-wide change in complex environments — from airlines navigating global expansion to tech startups scaling in volatile markets.

As a trusted advisor to C-suite teams and Boards, who also connects authentically with my teams and frontline employees, I’ve built high-impact organizations and functions from the ground up (E.g. Operations, Sales, People & Culture and Logistics), designed leadership succession models, and turned undervalued employer brands into talent magnets. I’ve led teams across Canada, the U.S., Mexico, India and more, always focused on fostering belonging with inclusive, high-performing cultures whether on-site or remote. My approach is both analytical and human — using data and insights to inform action, and empathy to build trust and resilience through change.

I’m currently open to executive, strategic and business partnering opportunities where I can solve real world problems and contribute to long-term value creation. Whether it's scaling a growing business, supporting founders through transformation, or bringing calm clarity to complex organizational challenges, I thrive at the intersection of people and performance. Let’s connect!

Laurel Burns

West Kelowna 👇📚

One of my favourite times of year is here. A Friends of the Library sale! 

Today from 10 to 4pm at the West Kelowna Library.  

Check out your local Library and see how you can support them and related non-profits. Fun fact: at some libraries you can rent audio books, specialty tools like Cricuts and more!

Cheers to Tourism Kelowna for sharing this gem. 👏

I missed the Kelowna one and am excited to still have a chance to support this important cause in 2025.

Exec Leader & Strategist | 15+ Years of Driving Org Growth & Transformation | Entrepreneur & Founder | Ex-Airlines/Research/Health Care/B2B SaaS | Creator of #Hirethishuman

Interesting watching this Canadian company grow and strategize. 

The Canadian Tire Corporation stepped up their game in Kelowna with a brand new super centre, built in the old Costco Wholesale location.

Curious to see how the roll out of the Hudson Bay line goes. From a consumer perspective, their adaptation and acquisition of Party City and Mark's over the years has been well executed (significantly elevating and diversifying the Mark's brand). 

I have long finished my MBA but always have a learning mindset. This would have been a strong case study for strategic M&A on Canadian soil in the last decade!

Kudos to the team who designed the Kelowna project for putting a piece of local tourism pride right in the entrance to boot. Simply inspired!

How you speak to children changes their world. Take this one further, and ask them their favourite way to play. 

Ask them what they are doing when they are lost in time and help them find more of what they are drawn to, in curiosity. 

It is completely possible to love what you do every day, and to solve problems along the way.

taplio

The Battle

Aaron Barreiro

Laurel Burns

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taplio

The Battle

Aaron Barreiro

Laurel Burns

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Laurel Burns's LinkedIn Performance

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