Shows
Unicorn LeadersEp.21 - Scaling Through Chaos: Why Startups Need Clarity, Not Corporate Playbooks with Ali FarrellIn this episode of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, host Fahd Alhattab sits down with three-time Chief People Officer Ali Farrell, currently CPO at Apprentice, to unpack what it really takes to build high-performing teams in fast-growth startups. Ali brings a rare blend of corporate, VC-backed, PE-backed, and bootstrapped startup experience—and she’s not afraid to challenge outdated HR norms.From navigating chaos to ditching performance improvement plans, Ali shares hard-won insights on what works (and what absolutely doesn’t) when leading through scale. You'll learn why clarity is more powerful than complexity, how to bring “just enough”...2025-05-0242 min
Unicorn LeadersSeason Two Kickoff - David vs Goliath: How Small Teams Win BigIn this season opener of the Unicorn Leaders podcast, Fahd Alhattab sets the stage for a new narrative—one centered around the underdogs. Drawing inspiration from the classic David vs. Goliath story, Fahd explores why small, scrappy teams often outperform their larger, better-resourced competitors. Using Google's historic win over Overture as a launch point, he teases a season packed with modern business stories—from tech startups to industry disruptors—showcasing how trust, speed, culture, and strategic clarity help small teams punch far above their weight.With upcoming guest interviews and deep dives into companies like Slack, Pixar, Netfli...2025-04-2805 min
Success Leaves Clues with Robin Bailey and Al McDonaldSuccess Leaves Clues - Ep233 - "Unlocking Unicorn Leadership" with Fahd Alhattab, Keynote Speaker & Founder of Unicorn LabsWhat separates good leaders from truly great ones? The answer often lies in psychological safety—the foundation of high-performing, innovative teams. In this episode of Success Leaves Clues, hosts Robin and Al sit down with Fahd Alhattab, keynote speaker and founder of Unicorn Labs, to explore how leaders can cultivate environments where people feel safe to speak up, take risks, and thrive.Fahd shares his journey into leadership and unpacks some of the most common pitfalls founders face—especially around ego and control—and how these challenges can make or break a team. He discusses why em...2025-02-1145 min
Inspirational Leadership for People Managers, Executives & HR LeadersUnlocking Unicorn Leadership for High-Performing Teams with Fahd AlhattabWhat sets exceptional leaders apart in today’s fast-paced work environment? How do they inspire high-performing teams while balancing individual growth with collective success? Unicorn leaders are leaders who prioritize team success over individual achievements.
In this episode of the Inspirational Leadership podcast, I speak with Fahd Alhattab about his early leadership and entrepreneurial experiences and the concept of unicorn leaders. Fahd Alhattab is a millennial workplace expert who teaches new managers how to lead multi-generational teams. He specializes in transformative leadership and team dynamics training for high-growth startups. He has spoken to +70K people across North Am...2024-09-0946 min
CanadianSME Small Business PodcastDisruptive Leadership Strategies: Lessons from Fahd AlhattabIn this captivating episode of the CanadianSME Small Business Podcast, we had the privilege of speaking with Fahd Alhattab, the Founder and Leadership Development Speaker at Unicorn Labs Inc. Known for his engaging speeches that have inspired over 65,000 people, Fahd has pioneered leadership development programs that help transform managers into effective leaders, with a particular focus on managing multi-generational teams. His innovative approach has earned him a reputation as one of the most dynamic leadership development speakers in the industry.Key Highlights:Fahd shares his personal journey and the pivotal experiences that led to the founding...2024-05-0330 min
IT'S SATURDAY63 - IT'S SATURDAY with leadership expert Fahd AlhattabThis SATURDAY we’re joined with special guest, Fahd Alhattab, an award-winning leadership speaker, coach, and consultant. He founded Unicorn Labs - a company that’s committed to providing leadership development and management programs that accelerate business success. Fahd helps organizations build high-performing, unstoppable teams by transforming their managers into leaders. We chat about leadership vs. management, public speaking strategies, entrepreneurship, team optimization, role transitions and more! This is an episode you won’t want to miss!
xoxo Tash & Ro
#itsaturdaypod
No Day...2023-12-091h 10
Unicorn LeadersEp. 20 EmpowerED - A Bottom Up Approach to Employee Development with Eva ManoleIn episode 20, Eva shares her use of a product led mindset for developing new strategies of learning and development at Fullscript with about 800 employees. She dives into how the traditional models of learning and development are not always agile or adaptive especially with the rise of AI, remote and hybrid work environments. Eva dives into a new strategy she used to build community among teams in her current role. She shares the tools, resources, and approach used in developing opportunities that helped individuals blossom in their own way. 2023-11-0156 minUnicorn LeadersEp. 19 - Leading with Purpose: Unveiling the Secrets of Impactful Leadership with Andre FernandezIn episode 19, Andre dives into how he found his way into creating a socially impactful business while sharing valuable lessons and principles that he embraced on his journey to success as a leader. From letting go of micro details to building high performing teams and influencing decision making processes, discover some actionable insights that will transform your leadership approach and help you create a meaningful impact. Get ready to unleash the unicorn leader within! Tune in to hear about Andre’s experience and journey.2023-10-181h 24Unicorn LeadersEp. 18 - What got you here won’t get you there with Jonah MidanikIn episode 18, Jonah Midanik shares his journey and experience in a growth mindset of recognizing that ‘what got you here won’t get you there. He has been lucky enough to have seen the startup journey from a variety of perspectives: as a successful bootstrapped founder/CEO, having helped launch new corporate divisions at BigCo, and as the founder/CEO of Limelight, a Venture backed company. Jonah currently spends his time helping companies grow with Forum Ventures as the COO and General Partner. Jonah shares a crucial tip in the discussion around ‘what got you here won’t get you t...2023-10-041h 07
The Talking Raven*Bonus Episode* Your Story To TellEvery story deserves an epilogue! In a season filled with so many awesome conversations, we invited Fahd Alhattab to help us tell one more story. Fahd tells us why it's important to own your journey, when's the right time to explore vs exploit, and how an appearance from one of Michael Jordan's sons set him on a path to Carleton and beyond. Let's keep the conversation going #Talkies!!!
To find out more about Unicorn Labs, please visit their website https://www.unicornlabs.ca/2023-05-3130 minUnicorn LeadersEp. 17 Breaking the Glass Ceiling/Inspiring Women Leaders in Tech Startups with Jeanette DorazioJeanette Dorazio, CEO of Leadpages, a no-code website and landing page builder. She has had various executive-level positions at leading organizations, including Oracle, 8thBridge, Verifone, and Solera. Jeanette’s passion comes from breaking down barriers and championing the inclusion and success of women in STEM fields as female leaders in tech.In episode 17, Jeanette lays out how to reach the next level of your leadership career. She shares 3 lessons gained through her journey: knowing what is happening in the market, which she calls “outside in” because “nothing important happens in the office,” listening first and understanding all sides befo...2023-04-051h 13Unicorn LeadersEp. 16 - Creating Talent Strategies with Krista SkaldeOn this episode we look at organizational systems and how to think when designing the organizational structure. Realizing that it should not be designed from a people centric place but rather around the needs and direction of your business. It’s important to be mindful when you do design around people and whether it is sustainable long term. Krista shares the top two reasons to consider when looking to expand a team. First, think about whether the growth is significant and if in fact, a talent acquisition specialist becomes a specialty that is needed. Second, you reach a po...2023-03-221h 09Unicorn LeadersEp. 15 - The Work of a Startup CEO with Kyle RackiKyle Racki, the co-founder and CEO of Proposify, Kyle helps thousands of businesses remove the bottleneck of proposals and get more visibility into the close. In true serial entrepreneur form, Kyle also co-host his own podcast, The Racki and Symes Podcast, where he discusses ideas and strategies to push through growth.Kyle got his start in marketing and design, and ran a digital agency for over five years before selling it and starting Proposify.Since then he’s amassed a wealth of experience and lessons that he shares with us in this episode.2023-03-081h 04Unicorn LeadersEp. 14 - Leading Effective Teams in a Remote Environment with Natalie FurnessNatalie Furness, CEO of RevOps Automated and Revenue Operations Consultant shares her journey and learnings along the way onto remote work and falling into the world of operations.She speaks of finding your people through value alignment for both the work you do and the work environment you prefer. Though she’s the biggest remote work proponent, she acknowledges that its’ not for everyone and a reshuffling can and should naturally occur for the best possible match.She encourages remote individuals not to lose sight of their personalities and not allow slack only to be a pl...2023-02-221h 09Unicorn LeadersEp. 13 - The Value of Vision for Employee Engagement and Success with Chris WilliamsChris Williams, former VP of HR at Microsoft has over 40 years of experience building and leading teams.Through his journey, starting from installing car stereos and while being pulled into firing employees because of his people skills, to eventually transitioning to a computer science and going on to start a consulting business before selling it to Fox Pro before eventually starting his work with Microsoft. At Microsoft he worked in product before stumbling into HR and eventually becoming VP of HR and responsible for 32,000 employees.Through it all, he’s seen his share of bad le...2023-02-0856 min
The Wealthy Speaker Podcast – Jane AtkinsonThe Systems Required to Scale with Fahd AlhattabHow is your speaking business running? Are you happy with the systems you have in place, or could they use some improvement? We’re continuously looking to scale and create best practices to help enhance the bottom line, but how do we get there? On this episode of The Wealthy Speaker Show, I am happy to welcome my client and start-up expert, Fahd Alhattab to share some of his thoughts on how to utilize your content and take your business to the next level. If you would like to learn some great techniques that can hel...2023-02-0241 minUnicorn LeadersEp. 12 - Finding Purpose In Your Work That Drives You with Florent SchmahlFlorent Schmahl, Chief of Staff of highly purposeful agtech company, Growcer, shares his journey and learnings along the way as he shifted his work from being focused on developing hard skills to now pursuing purposeful work.Over the years he’s has time to gather his insights on finding the work that drives you and how important it is in today’s labour market pressures.Despite this, Florent’s advice releases that pressure from the concept of pursuing purpose and instead reframing it as a journey.He encourages instead to explore of what drives...2023-01-2556 min
The LifeIQ PodcastOkay With Almost Drowning with Fahd Alhattab (Part 2)Fahd Alhattab discusses his journey through leadership, public speaking, and entrepreneurship and the internal pressure he places on himself to know what's next. This is the second part of a two-part conversation with Fahd.2022-12-0546 minUnicorn LeadersEp. 11 - The importance of creating a people-first company with Shawna StewartToday we have Shawna Stewart on the podcast, VP of People and Operations at Railz Financial. Shawna is truly a people-focused leader, she has extensive background in psychology and organizational behaviour and experience involving performance management, full scope operational effectiveness, succession planning, employee engagement and talent development. I’m so excited for you to listen to her episode because this was one packed full of with incredible insights, the common realities of today’s labour landscape and more. Not to mention Shawna shares her personal people-first approach and how that has helped her ability to deliver and colla...2022-11-301h 00Unicorn LeadersEp. 10 - How Leaders Build Company Culture with Laura MindorffLaura Mindorff is the brilliant COO at Wicket. Laura has developed years of experience under her belt and shares her very tactical advice on how to create effective culture through things like rituals, culture champions, and what metrics to watch out for to check-in on your progress.I’m so happy to bring you this conversation because of Laura’s purposeful and relentless approach to constantly prioritizing culture and fostering relationships in her own team and how you can borrow her practices to do the same.When things pile up for leaders, it’s easy to pus...2022-11-1659 minUnicorn LeadersEp. 9 Why Candidate Experience Matters When Building Your Team with Julia FultonIn episode 9, Julia gives us insight into how she uses her humane recruiting approach to create a reputable employment brand that plays big dividends both inside and outside the company.She offers actionable tips on how to initiate trust on a team, how to lead the recruitment process to attract candidates with best practices, and how to show up in with an effective employer brand no matter the labour market conditions.Her main piece of advice is to lead the recruitment process in a humane way as at the end of the day - all c...2022-11-021h 04The LifeIQ PodcastOkay With Almost Drowning with Fahd Alhattab (Part 1)Fahd Alhattab discusses his journey through leadership, public speaking, and entrepreneurship and the internal pressure he places on himself to know what's next. This is the first part, of a two-part conversation with Fahd. 2022-10-3142 minUnicorn LeadersEp. 8 - Productive Conflict with Shawn MacDonellShawn MacDonell shares his unconventional story of saying yes to experiences from sports coaching, to facilitating tools for teaching in Columbia, to branding strategy, to professional coaching, to founding a creative agency.He speaks to how all of these offered him the experience of not being afraid of conflict and instead reframing it to curiosity and exploration. To understand why people make certain decisions and encourage them to learn to ask the same questions.In episode 8 he shares with us how to reframe conflict from being a dirty word, the importance of believing in yourself...2022-10-191h 14Unicorn LeadersEp. 7 - How to Foster a Culture of Development to Improve Your Team’s Performance with Brittany ForsythWhat does leadership mean to you?Ex-Shopify Chief Talent Officer Brittany Forsyth, used to think it was the same thing as management. Over the years and various leadership roles she realized it means creating a following and driving that following towards a common shared goal. In episode 7 she gives us insight into how she recognized her natural leadership tendencies and how they helped her land different roles - from managing a bar to becoming a C suite executive. She also shares the tricks she learned first hand to manage a team and create th...2022-10-0550 min
The Innovative Founder#17: Adventures In Creating Unstoppable Teams In High Growth Startups w/ Fahd AlhattabKey Takeaways:[08:01] Fahd shared how he got involved in leadership programs. He does many gigs in high schools and universities and helps with student leadership. But he had no idea that he could make a career out of it.[17:52] One of Fahd’s friends has his own startup and has many challenges. He asks for Fahd’s help to do a workshop on personality dynamics and how to work better together.[20:59] Fahd continued to teach at the University of Ottawa, where they teach leadership development, social innovation, social impact, using problem-based skills, and social studies to innovate.[25:36] Fahd explained that team...2022-10-041h 00Unicorn LeadersEp. 6 - Team Composition: How to Attract and Hire Stars Employees with Amanda Gordon“If you are building a talent strategy that’s based on a sample you saw online or a great book you read, you will not match what your business needs and so I think whenever I’m doing any kind of talent strategy or when I was consulting I was always asking people “what’re your business goals” and it was shocking to me where I would look then at the talent strategy and I couldn’t see the business connect. I couldn’t see the EVP (the employee value proposition) connect. And I’m like that’s why you’re struggling, b...2022-08-1056 minUnicorn LeadersEp. 5 - Create a Compelling All-Encompassing Vision with Sam Witherspoon (CEO of IMRSV Data Labs)Have you ever been in a position where you didn’t feel proud of what you were doing in your career? Has your chosen field ever caused you emotional distress?Sam Witherspoon is the founder and CEO of IMRSV Data Labs, a company dedicated to increasing the safety and security of Canada and its allies through the effective, transparent use of data.In episode #5, Sam talks about how important it is to not chase money for the sake of making money and staying true to yourself and your vision. 2022-07-271h 09Unicorn LeadersEp. 4 - What Motivates People? Understanding Motivation in the Workplace with Cassy Aite (Co-Founder and CEO of Hoppier)We often have the preconceived notion that leaders have to treat everyone the same in order to be fair. However in truth, managers need to respect everyone’s individual needs and motivators.On episode #4, Cassy Aite, the co-founder and CEO of Hoppier, shares how different values, environments and involvement can influence your employees’ motivation in the workplace. Cassy also discusses the importance of being genuine with your employees and how recognizing an achievement can backfire if you’re not careful.Lastly, we dive into why he chooses to be transparent with his team and ral...2022-07-1350 minUnicorn LeadersEp. 3 - How You Can Build a Culture of Leadership at Work with Aydin Mirzaee (Co-Founder and CEO of Fellow.APP and Creator of the SuperManagers Podcast)Did you know that 70% of employee retention is based on their manager and no other factor? People don’t leave jobs, they leave managers.Aydin Mirzaee is the co-founder and CEO of Fellow.app, a meeting productivity platform that helps organizations have fewer, better meetings.In this episode Aydin talks about how managers can influence team performance and shares his thoughts on why he thinks getting advice can be dangerous.He also discusses statistics and studies that help explain why it’s necessary for you to incorporate missions, values and self-reflection in your managem...2022-07-0649 minUnicorn LeadersEp. 2 - Why Your Leadership Won't be Effective Without Psychological Safety with Craig Handy (Team Lead at Shopify, Founder of Jameson Strategies Consulting)When you’re busy fighting for survival is there any room for growth?When any failure means disaster, the stakes are too high for you to take risks — this means you’ll always choose the safe route.Craig Handy leads a Global Revenue Operations team at Shopify, a fast growing startup, and he is also the founder of Jameson Strategies, his own RevOps consulting firm. He’s most passionate about how we can use psychology and human performance to dig deep and create team environments where high performers can thrive.On episode #2, Craig shares why...2022-06-2258 minUnicorn LeadersEp. 1 - The Future of Leadership and Management with Michael Johnson (President & CEO, Multiview Financials)“We ultimately believe that it’s our role as leaders, as coaches, to find out what about that individual is going to make them fulfilled and be able to achieve their best outcomes in both work and in life and in order to do that you have to be radically committed to that employee.”- Michael JohnsonDo managers always have a negative reaction when a cherished employee decides to leave their team or even their company?Why is it such a new idea that a leader should champion for what the individual employ...2022-06-2256 minUnicorn LeadersThe Beginning of Unicorn LeadersFahd is a consultant, coach, leadership speaker, and millennial workplace expert who teaches new managers how to lead multi-generational teams. He specializes in transformative leadership and team dynamics training for high-growth startups.He created this podcast to take a deep dive into the world of building a billion-dollar company (a unicorn) in every episode. Join us while we explore the leadership and environments that create unicorn startups straight from those with first-hand experience (startup founders, VPs of talent, and more). 2022-06-0610 min
Thought Leader81. Fahd Alhattab & A New Way of Leadership🤓 Short practice of Arabic: born in Kuwait but has lived in Canada for 23 years. 00:49🧆 Kuwait and Iraq cuisine is very similar: fish market. 02:19☮️ Peace is possible. 03:26😇 Fahd visit to New York: being a translator of culture and truth in the USA in the ’90s 04:38🦄 Building a leadership development agency that works specifically on intergenerational leadership. 07:58🎩 All Fahd’s leadership hats: It all started when he was 17. 10:05🎓 Education failed in building leadership skills: Obsession with specialization in universities. 14:51💲 What is a unicorn company: Without people, you can’t create a unicorn startup...2022-02-0929 min
Reputation Capital15. Fahd Alhattab & Building Billion Dollar People 🦄 Unicorn Leadership coach. 02:05 📚 About Fahd’s experience as an immigrant and the subjectiveness of truth. 05:52 💡 What is intergenerational leadership? 09:12️ 💰 His first leadership role: As a high school student, Fahd and his friend created a camp for children that ended up helping over 250 families. 11:20🎯 Technology’s impact on learning how to effectively manage human relationships. 16:05🧑🦱 If you want to build a billion-dollar startup, you have to build billion dollar people. 18:19📈 Effective leaders create high-performing teams. 21:27️☝️ Fahd emphasizes that training, learning, and development are channels for a larger vision. 25:26⚡ "If you think motivation is your problem, we have other problems to de...2021-08-0731 min
imperfect: The Heart-Centered Leadership PodcastEpisode 111: Building Unicorn Leaders with Fahd AlhattabThis episode is sponsored by Davwill Consulting. Emotional agility? Yep, it's needed more now than ever. Let's chat! Click HereFahd is a millennial workplace expert who teaches new managers how to lead multi-generational teams. Using humor, storytelling, and actionable advice, his keynotes have inspired over +50K people to become Unicorn Leaders who develop unstoppable teams that attract and retain top talent.Website: www.unicornlabs.caFacebook: www.facebook.com/fahd.unicornlabsTwitter: www.twitter.com/fahdalhattabInstagram: www.instagram.com/fahdalhattab/Youtube: www.youtube.com/c...2021-07-0738 min
8 Billion GiftsLeadership Lessons with Fahd AlhattabFahd Alhattab is a social entrepreneur turned keynote speaker who has spoken to and trained over 50,000 youth across the country on leadership, entrepreneurship, and social innovation.
He has founded a camp for underprivileged children and raised more than $1.2M dollars for local charities. His mission is to share empowering lessons with the next generation of resilient leaders.
Connect with Fahd:
https://www.fahdspeaks.com/
https://www.unicornlabs.ca/2020-11-2300 min
It's Not That Deep PodcastFahd Alhattab | Culture of CommunityThis week’s guest is award-winning, Canadian 20-under-20 Fahd Alhattab! Passionate about building community, Fahd launched numerous camps and initiatives for underprivileged children that've raised over $1.2 Million for local charities. No wonder he was awarded United Way’s Community Builder award.
Fahd is also a professional keynote speaker who has inspired over 50,000 people to become 'Unicorn Leaders' (who develop unstoppable teams that attract and retain top talent).
An entrepreneur at heart, Fahd founded Unicorn Labs, which leverages his expertise in the millennial workplace to teach managers how to lead multi-generational teams. He specializes in transformative leadership and team dynamics training for hig...2020-03-231h 12
Life in Red PodcastFahd Alhattab | LIR on LeadershipOn this episode: Fahd Alhattab, a Leadership Speaker and Founder of Unicorn Labs, comes on Life in Red to talk about how he develops powerful leaders & teams in the workplace. He shares tips on how to become a strong leader, what we can do to empower people at work, how he became and maintains being a successful entrepreneur, and so much more!
Get in touch for his services at www.unicornlabs.ca!
Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube & Instagram: @fahdalhattab2020-03-051h 28Life in Red PodcastFahd Alhattab | LIR on LeadershipOn this episode: Fahd Alhattab, a Leadership Speaker and Founder of Unicorn Labs, comes on Life in Red to talk about how he develops powerful leaders & teams in the workplace. He shares tips on how to become a strong leader, what we can do to empower people at work, how he became and maintains being a successful entrepreneur, and so much more!
Get in touch for his services at www.unicornlabs.ca!
Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube & Instagram: @fahdalhattab2020-03-051h 28
Leaders Of Tomorrow Podcast079 | Fahd Alhattab | Six Critical Elements for Building Unicorn Teams and BusinessesIn today’s show, Chris interviews Fahd Allhattab, entrepreneur and keynote speaker. Fahd shares some crucial elements which can help leaders achieve the audacious goal of building a billion-dollar business.
This show starts with our guest, Fahd’s sharing his background information. Originally from Kuwait, Fahd moved to Canada when he was in grade 8. Even at a young age, Fahd reveals he was deeply motivated to contribute towards the greater good of the society. When he just 17, Fahd recalls how he, along with a friend set up a daycare camp for less privileged kids.
Fahd is cu...2019-10-011h 01
My Social Life: How Content Creators Grow on YouTube & TikTokTakeaways: Fahd AllhattabTakeaways is a bonus piece episode I put out every week where I sit down and talk to you about the most recent episode of the podcast. Today I'm discussing my conversation with Fahd Alhattab.2019-06-0621 min
My Social Life: How Content Creators Grow on YouTube & TikTokFahd Alhattab - Leadership Speaker and ConsultantFahd Alhattab is a leadership speaker and consultant. He was once named Canada’s Top 20 Under 20, he was a speaker at We Day where he spoke in front over 16,000 people in a filled arena, and more!2019-06-0349 min
It's a MonkeyEpisode 104 - Fahd Alhattab & Moe Omer - Frank TechnologiesIn this week's Podcast co-host Kate Frappell talks with Fahd Alhattab and Moe Omer.
Fahd and Moe are the co-founders of Frank Technologies, the company behind "frank." - a new consumer-friendly smartphone that only costs $180. During the chat with Kate, they reveal Frank's point of difference, share the history of their product and discuss the challenges of being young entrepreneurs launching a Indiegogo campaign. 2017-09-0548 min