At the corner of King & Spadina in Toronto, there used to be a big brownstone-y building that housed a back packer’s hostel.  Visitors to the city shacked-up there and used it as a pivot point to explore the local scene, meet interesting people and ultimately gain new experiences.  A few years ago, this hostel was replaced by an entirely new kind of business, one that hoped to offer visitors a different kind of knowledge, but as I found out the differences were not that big.

Brain Station is a company that hopes to empower 1 million people in the next 10 years to learn the skills necessary to live in a fast-paced digital world, economy and workforce.  The company’s co-founder, Jason Field, saw that there was a huge gap in his own knowledge and thought he should do something about it. 

The rumour I heard was that the idea for the start-up hit Jason and the other founders during one of their workouts. Sweat and business is very linked in his world. 

He credits sports and working out regularly as a huge contributor to the success of Brain Station and building a great team over the years.  In 2013, he issued a challenge to himself to “sweat” every day that year. He did that and more: running, walking, yoga-ing and CrossFitting more than 365 times and charting his progress online via a blog. Before Brain Station, Jason backpacked through Asia gaining an appreciation for the challenges and opportunities that travel offered. When he returned home from travel, he knew he wanted to be a leader and work on something big. 

It’s fitting that his company eventually found its home in the old backpacker’s hostel. The building on the corner of King & Spadina still offers visitors a chance to explore, but in a very new and digital way. Hope you enjoy this episode.

------------------Jason Field / Co-Founder of Brain Station / @field37 / www.brainstation.io