Category Personal

Jun 2 2015

What Advice Would You Give Your Younger Self?

my biggest life lessons

Personal blog by our CEO, Brent Mondoux

Today a friend of mine reached out to me and asked me to help her with a project that she’s doing. She asked me “Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to your younger self?”. Here are my biggest life lessons; there are personal stories behind each one of these lessons but I’ll spare you the details.

  • Strive to be happy; try not to let things you can’t control get to you

    Don’t worry about what you cannot change. Complaining about the weather, bad traffic, taxes, someone else’s stupidity or working is completely useless. Just be happy you’re alive, no matter what is suboptimal, it could always be worse.

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May 19 2013

Don’t ever let biases cost you or someone you love the chance to flourish

Don’t ever let biases cost you or someone you love the chance to flourish
Personal blog by our CEO, Brent Mondoux

Aiden MondouxAt the age of 3, Aiden was developmentally behind by 18 months. He hadn’t yet been able to crawl, couldn’t chew food, never focused on the television for more than 15 seconds, he couldn’t tell us what was causing the challenges. Specialists ranged from speech therapists, physiotherapists, eye specialists and a typical week included 3 specialist appointments each and every week for two years. Financial challenges aside, the stress and strain on our family was unbelievable and both Nat and I suffered a great deal of stress and tension that was extremely challenging to deal with. We both felt lost and afraid to share our fears with the ones around us who loved us and continued to support us through all of this.

As Aiden was nearing the age of 4, our team of specialists from La Ressource in Hull, Quebec (a phenomenal team of specialists each with their own respective areas of expertise) started to eliminate some potential causes for the challenges – he had no muscular issues, his eyesight posed no significant challenges (despite a birth defect called collaboma in both eyes) and his developmental delays weren’t being driven by any auditory disability.  At this point the specialists urged us to try a small dose of ADHD medication. This entwined my wife and I into a ball of emotional doubt, because like so many others we were uneducated and overreacted to the stigma that the media has put on the use of this medication. Our parents also held their own differing degrees of doubt, as they also struggled to cope with the unknown possibilities of the diagnosis.

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May 8 2013

N-VisionIT Interactive CEO Brent Mondoux receives Forty Under 40 Award

Ottawa Top Forty Under 40Thank you to my wonderful team at N-VisionIT Interactive for motivating me each and every day to give 100% and push myself outside of my comfort zone. Being recognized with a Forty Under 40 award is an honor and I consider it our entire team’s award, I couldn’t have done it without all of you.

Enclosed is a letter that our company sent to our customers and partners, but I’d also wish to thank all of my loyal blog readers as I sincerely appreciate your input, feedback and emails on a daily basis.

Dear Customer,

Every time we work on your website, mobile application or social media, we’re thinking about the big picture: How can we help you help others?

Because of N-VisionIT’s philosophy and because of the support of clients like you, our co-founder and CEO Brent Mondoux has just received the Forty Under 40 award from the Ottawa Business Journal and the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce. The award, which received 150 nominations this year, recognizes top entrepreneurs who give back to the community.

“I attribute this win to our team’s success,” says Brent, who co-founded N-VisionIT with Reid Ivens in 1999. Since then, our business has gone on to build websites, mobile applications and social media marketing campaigns for Fortune 500 companies including the likes of Sara Lee and Sony as well as both the Canadian and the U.S. government.

Just four years after we opened, N-VisionIT was named one of Profit Magazine’s Hot 50 Companies. Why? Because, as you know, N-VisionIT cares about helping you connect with and take care of your customers.

“We’re not here just to make clients more money. We’re making clients products and services that will help people, and this award is proof of that,” says Brent, who was named one of Ottawa’s Forty Under 40 because of his expertise in web development and social media, his achievements with N-VisionIT and real estate firm Amplified Investments, and his philanthropic efforts.

Thanks to a client list that includes you, we’re able to donate website creation and other resources to help charities and non-profit organizations help the less fortunate. Since we created N-VisionIT Gives Back, we’ve built websites that have helped raise money for rare diseases and donations for the homeless.

Please join us in congratulating Brent in his commitment to making the world a better place, and in his contribution to businesses like yours which are striving to do the same.

Sincerely,
The team at N-VisionIT Interactive

–

Brent Mondoux
CEO, N-VisionIT Interactive
brent@betterwebsites.ca

Ottawa web design

Nov 30 2012

The Day I Almost Lost My Son and Wife

aiden-hat

The Day I Almost Lost My Son and Wife
Personal blog by our CEO, Brent Mondoux

Let’s go back to March 17th, 2004…

It was a frantic day and everyone was tired.  My beautiful wife had been in labour for three days with no eating and mere minutes of sleep.  She somehow managed to keep a smile on her face but she was exhausted.  While one of the nurses had good intentions, she forgot to check the hospital registration forms prior to administering a drip that included a pain killer that Nat was allergic to.

After three inductions, the fourth one finally succeeded and our beloved son, Aiden, was on his way, but nothing could prepare us for what was about to happen.   I’ve replayed his birth over and over in my head and every time it feels as if time has stopped, just like it did that very day.

Our beautiful little boy, Aiden, was born but he wasn’t moving.  I looked on in fear as the doctor looked up at us and spoke in a calm, controlled tone as if it was routine “You cannot hold your baby yet.  Don’t panic, you won’t hear him cry for a while.”

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Jun 17 2012

Don’t Believe Your Own Lies or You’ll Kill Your Own Business

AssumptionsEach and every day I’m blessed with the opportunity to talk to dozens of leaders in various industries that span the globe.

One of the most common confessions that business owners have shared with me is that they are unable to keep up with the breathtaking pace of technology while keeping abreast of their own respective industries as they evolve.

The second most common confession is the one that troubles me the most.  Business owners have become so overwhelmed with technology that they are literally convincing themselves why they don’t need to adapt.

Some common statements heard in the last week alone include “My customers aren’t on mobile”, “Social media is a fad”, “News companies will cease to exist”.

Now let’s see… false, false, false!

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Feb 29 2012

Finish What You Start!

Finish what you startIt’s been 2012 for a little over a month and a half now and I already feel that I’ve accomplished so much more than in the entirety of 2011.

Every January instead of a making a New Year’s resolution, I opt to do something a little more useful with my time, a process which can make not just one positive change in my life, but potentially many.  I recap all of my accomplishments from the previous year.  This includes reviewing each week’s summary on my “to do list” and highlighting my most significant successes that were accomplished and then highlighting the most significant tasks that still were incomplete.

In doing so I noticed that I had put a lot of my priorities on hold because I was starting too many new projects and so I’ve made a commitment now to simply finish what I start.  This forces me to prioritize the options in which I choose to invest my time in and has already made a significant positive impact on my productivity.  How so?

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Jan 16 2012

What makes Brent tick?

While it’s only been a month since my blog has existed, I’ve already received dozens of emails from my readers, the majority complete strangers asking me to talk a little bit more about myself within my blogs.  As a result, I’ve made a decision that from now on I’ll also be including personal blogs within the mix starting with a brief introduction about what makes me tick and how I’ve gotten to where I am today.

If any of my personal blogs don’t interest you, please, feel free to skip them.  On the other hand, if they do and if you find that we have mutual interests and are compelled to reach out, even just for a chat over coffee, then give me a call.  If there are three things in life that make me smile every day, it’s family, friends, and coffee!

So then, what makes me tick? It’s story time… jump into my time machine and let’s go back a dozen years.

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