The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 65: Why smile when it rains? It's raining outside. Across the street, the owners of the coffee shop, the grocery store, and the fashion boutique are discouraged. To them, rain usually means lower traffic, which leads to the mounting pressure of meeting payroll, covering rent, and managing the cost of goods... all while trying to provide for their own families. The bakery owner, however, loves the rain. It brings back joyful memories from his youth: jumping in...
13 days ago • 1 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 64. Consistency Beats Intensity: How to Move Your Mountain Hi friend, We all have one. That single, looming challenge that feels less like a hurdle and more like a brick wall. Maybe for you, it’s a mountain of financial debt that keeps you up at night. Maybe you’ve been job hunting for six months, and the silence from recruiters is starting to feel personal. Perhaps it’s a health crisis, or the emotional weight of supporting a loved one through their own dark...
21 days ago • 2 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 63: Build Ladders for Others Hi friend, We often measure success by what we accumulate: our titles, our networks, or our financial milestones. But the true measure of a life well-lived is often found in the "ladders" we leave behind for others to climb long after we are gone. This week, I’ve been reflecting on the legacy of Andrew Carnegie. His journey from a "bobbin boy" in a cotton factory earning $1.20 a week to becoming the richest man in the world is a...
27 days ago • 2 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 62: Serve the pubic good, even when it costs you. Hi friend, Have you ever done the right thing and suffered losses because of it? William Peyton Hubbard did. And he kept going anyway. Hubbard was born in 1842 in a small cabin near what is now Bloor and Bathurst, the outskirts of Toronto at the time. His parents, Mosely and Lavenia, had escaped enslavement in Virginia and made their way to Canada via the Underground Railroad just two years earlier. From those...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 61: Your Bucket List belongs on the calendar. Hi friend, There is a lot to be thankful for right now. It’s easy to feel weighed down by the headlines: the economy, politics, and the complexities of our physical and digital security. But the truth remains: we are here. We have the opportunity to make a positive impact in the time we have. Whether it’s loving our families, building a business that solves real problems, or acting as intrapreneurs for the common...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 60: How to Lay Foundations That Endure Hi friend, While preparing for the upcoming Riverdale historical tour, I spent time reading a carefully researched paper by T.A. Reed titled “The Scaddings, A Pioneer Family in York” Reed begins with a sentence that feels remarkably contemporary: “In these modern days we are prone to forget those who went before, to whose vision, foresight and courage we owe the foundations which were so well and truly laid.” That...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 59: Build where you are Hi friend, What if success looked less like movement and more like staying put?What if wisdom sometimes meant building slowly instead of chasing the next opportunity? This is the story of Sarah Ashbridge. In the late 1700s, Sarah Ashbridge was a Quaker widow living in Pennsylvania.She had lost her husband and was responsible for a large extended family.They came from modest farming backgrounds and were used to hard physical work. In...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 58: What is your life’s story? Hi friend, What is your life’s story thus far?What is your family’s history?What is your city’s history?How are these three stories woven together? Most of us move quickly through our days.Work, responsibilities, commitments, deadlines.We rarely stop to reflect on where we came from or how we arrived where we are. That pause for reflection is what led me to start #ExperienceTO. Since July 2022, I have been hosting free, in person...
2 months ago • 3 min read
The Rășcanu Weekly Update Lesson 57: Plant what will outlive you Hi friend, While researching in preparation for the #ExperienceTO: Leslieville Historical Tour, I've been thinking about a man whose work still touches Toronto in a surprisingly practical way: George Leslie Sr., the namesake of Leslieville. George Leslie was born in 1804 in Scotland. He immigrated to Upper Canada (now Ontario) with his family, with sources commonly pointing to 1824 or 1825, and they settled first in what is now...
2 months ago • 3 min read