Frank O'Dea

From the Bowery to the Boardroom

In his early teens, Frank O’Dea’s life went off the rails into a downward spiral. Within a few years, he was living in 50-cent-a-night flop houses in Toronto’s bowery district where just surviving was about all one could do in a day.

At 23 years of age, with the courage to hope for a better life, and the spirit to forge ahead, Frank began the long road back. Fighting all of those obstacles that hold back the homeless, the impoverished and the destitute, he overcame and rejoined society.

Then, if that were not enough, he turned that same determination to the obstacles of life that challenges all of us. Within a few short years, he co-founded The Second Cup, which soon became the largest chain of gourmet coffees and teas in the country. Building on that success, he was instrumental in the founding of Proshred Security, a company that pioneered the entire industry of on-site document destruction. This company soon became an international organization with franchised operations in Canada, Europe and the United States.

As a successful businessperson, Frank took steps to give back to the community. Even as a struggling entrepreneur, he began serving on the boards of directors of charities and not-for-profit organizations. But the entrepreneur’s desire to innovate and build was not to be denied. In 1985 he co-founded Street Kids International, an organization developed to help homeless children in third world countries, through education and self-reliance programs. A few years later, he became the founding Chair of War Child (Canada), an organization that provides assistance against suffering and abuse for children in war affected countries. In the same year, Frank co-founded the Canadian Landmine Foundation, an organization that raises funds for the dismantling on minefields around the world. With support from the likes of Colin Powell, Sir Paul McCartney and Kofi Annan, he went on to initiate that organization’s most successful, worldwide fund raising program, “Night of a Thousand Dinners”, with participation of some 30,000 thousand people in 29 countries.

Frank’s achievements are, of course, a work in progress for which he has received much public recognition. He has received the Ontario Volunteer Award, two honorary university degrees and has been invested as an Officer of the Order of Canada. This incredibly inspiring story of resilience and triumph in the face of adversity is retold in his best-selling memoir, “When All You Have Is Hope”.

In the business world, Frank’s success, along with his service to NGOs has created a demand for his services in boardrooms across the country. He is also in demand as an inspiring speaker. In addition, he is currently the Chair of Royal Roads University Foundation and is the CEO of ARXX Green Building Systems, an international manufacturer of energy efficient homes.

Frank O'Dea has triumphed over adversity to become one of Canada's very successful and celebrated entrepreneurs, He has founded a number of businesses, including The Second Cup. In addition to his string of business successes, Frank's achievements in the not-for-profit sector, both in Canada and worldwide, are extraordinary. In recognition of these many achievements, to-date (Canadian Landmine Foundation, Street Kids International), The Government of Canada recently invested him as Officer in the Order of Canada. His ideas on entrepreneurship and his visionary thinking make him a compelling and sought after speaker.

Topics:

Blue Ocean Strategy - Creating Uncontested Market Space and Making Competition Irrelevant
Cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool, according to celebrated Canadian entrepreneur, Frank O’Dea. In order to succeed then, we must create value in a product or service to a market that is currently not on the radar. His latest talk, Blue Ocean Strategy, is inspired by W.C. Kim and Renee Mauborgne’s phenomenal best-seller of the same name, in which success is linked to the ability to create “blue oceans” – untapped new market spaces that are ripe for growth. O’Dea illustrates how he experienced this philosophy when he founded The Second Cup. In the face of an unattractive market, he took a mundane product like coffee and created a whole new market (a Blue Ocean), establishing a brand that changed the business of selling coffee forever and is still strong 30 years later. As a successful businessperson who has repeatedly created new markets for his companies, O’Dea shows how this concept can work for any organization.�

References:

"You could have heard a pin drop when Frank was speaking; he had the audience spellbound with his emotional and inspirational message." Queensway Carleton Hospital

“His message hit home and certainly got our folks out of the comfort zone." Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation

"What makes Frank O'Dea a master is his virtuosity as a story-teller. As a former theatre critic, I appreciate the man's technique: the strong voice, the rhythmic pauses, the pacing, and the unerring sense of structure. As a member of his audience I am swept away like the rest of the room. Rapt, enthralled, moved. It's a heck of a combination. It's hard to recommend him highly enough." M. Burrows, former theatre critic

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Frank O'Dea

From the Bowery to the Boardroom

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