In 1984 Michael Lissack left his job in an aluminum company to pursue his dream of becoming a professional magician. Thus Mr. Magik was born. Things were going well for Mr. Magik, but Michael noticed his clients kept asking him if he knew other entertainers they could hire for other gigs, so rather than turn them away, he saw an opportunity to create an agency that brought together acts of all types together giving birth to Top Talent Entertainment Agency. Michael’s son Nevil—aka The Marvellous Magician—took over the family business 15 years ago and has continued to grow it’s roster and client base. But what happens to a company who’s business is to provide live entertainment, during a time when that isn’t possible?
You can learn more about Top Talent Entertainment at toptalent.ca.
Credits:
Al Grego: Hello everyone. I'm Al Grego, and this is the season four finale of the Yes, We Are Open! Podcast.
Newmarket, Ontario, a town in the regional municipality of York, part of the Greater Toronto area, about an hour north of the city. Settled by the Quakers from the 13 Colonies in 1801, Newmarket's location on the Holland River enabled travel between Lake Ontario and Lake Simcoe. One of the many farming communities in the area, Newmarket developed an industrial center on the northern railway of Canada's mainland, which was built through what would become the downtown area. It also became a thriving market town with the arrival of the Metropolitan Street Railway in 1899. Over time, the town developed into a primarily residential area, and with the construction of both north-south highways, 400 to the west, and 404 to the east.
Newmarket became a bedroom town throughout the 1980s with many of its residents commuting to the city for work. Today, Newmarket's population is over 87,000 and growing. It has been identified as one of the Golden Horseshoe's 25 urban growth centers in Ontario's Places to Grow Growth Plan. The plan includes growth in business services and knowledge industries, as well as administrative, manufacturing, and retail. Some new market landmarks include the Upper Canada Mall, South Lake Regional Health Center, when I was born there it was called York County Hospital, the Main Street Heritage Conservations District, and Wesley Brooks Conservation Area, known by us locals as Ferry Lake. But today I'm not downtown. Instead, I'm walking through a mature residential crescent off London Road in Newmarket's North End, to the headquarters of this week's subject, Top Talent Entertainment Agency.
Nevil Lissack: Hi. How are you doing?
Al Grego: Not bad. How are you? You Neville?
Nevil Lissack: I'm Neville.
Al Grego: I'm Al.
Nevil Lissack: Nice to meet you, Al.
Al Grego: Nice to meet you too.
Nevil Lissack: Come on in.
Al Grego: Thank you. That's Neville, the owner. He welcomes me into his home and introduces me to his dogs, two sibling rescues from Ohio named Charlie and Lola, and another rescue from Thailand named Nova. Nova is a three-legged Banquo. After I passed the literal sniff test from Charlie, Lola and Nova, Neville escorts me into the kitchen where I set up for our interview.
Nevil Lissack: Hi, my name is Neville Lissack. I'm the owner of Top Talent Entertainment.
Al Grego: When did Top Talent Entertainment start?
Nevil Lissack: The company officially got underway in 1984 it was established. That was by my father...
Michael Lissack: Michael Lissack, a magician mainly.
Al Grego: Okay.
Michael Lissack: All kinds magic for children and adults, whatever.
Al Grego: When did you become a magician?
Michael Lissack: Well, I actually started Magic as a child in England and I did volunteer work in hospitals and I joined a magic club called the London Society of Magicians. They said I was the youngest member there. I was about 14, I think, at that time, and it really, that's how I started. Started at that time.
Al Grego: All right. But it was just a hobby at that point?
Michael Lissack: Yes.
Al Grego: All right.
Michael Lissack: Yes, exactly.
Al Grego: When did you come to Canada?
Michael Lissack: I've been in Canada a long time, 1974.
Al Grego: So your dad was a magician?
Nevil Lissack: Yes.
Al Grego: But before that, what was he doing?
Nevil Lissack: He had worked a few different jobs, including Sears, and he was a supervisor at an aluminum company. When the aluminum company closed down, he decided that he would get into something that he really loved doing, and magic was it.
Michael Lissack: I decided I'd always had a good interest, of course, still in magic, and I was still doing shows even while employed for around this company. But when I left the company, I had a choice of what to do, but I decided to just maybe do even more of my magic.
Al Grego: This is stage name?
Nevil Lissack: Mr. Magik? Mr. Yeah. Children's Magician, Mr. Magik, but with a K, which makes it extra special, I guess.
Al Grego: So you started off in '84 and it wasn't just an agency, it was just you as a magician.
Michael Lissack: Exactly, exactly.
Al Grego: When did you decide to take on other acts?
Michael Lissack: Well, what happened was, in those days we used Yellow Pages. The physical yellow pages, which I don't think exists today. But people started calling me for booking me for shows, and then I started getting calls saying, "well, do you have clowns or jugglers?" Or all different types of magic? And I said, no. But then I realized after a while, I thought, wait a minute, why am I refusing these things when if I could find these performers I can get them work? And that's exactly what happened. I actually put an ad in, I think for entertainers, good Entertain had to be good, which I met with and saw their acts and everything. And that's how it started really. I got them bookings and everybody was happy.
Nevil Lissack: My dad is so high energy. He has so much fun. When he performs a magic show, I mean, he performs, I don't know, sometimes he out does me for energy, which is incredible. Yeah. He is just so good at it and he loves doing it. He loves making kids laugh. He loves children. He actually does magic for adults as well. But I think the kids shows are, especially at his heart.
Al Grego: Does he still perform?
Nevil Lissack: Oh, yes. Yeah.
Al Grego: When you first started, how was business? Was it successful right away or did-
Michael Lissack: Pretty much Yes, it was very good. And there was a time when, can't remember the year, when there was a bit of a downturn, generally in business in Canada. What I decided to do was a very strange thing. People thought I was crazy. Instead of downsizing my ads, I doubled it and I never looked back. That's weird. But it worked.
Al Grego: So 1984, your dad starts this company and he's a magician. So you must be pretty young at the time?
Nevil Lissack: Yes. I would've been, oh, I would've been 11.
Al Grego: Okay.
Nevil Lissack: Yes.
Al Grego: What was it like to tell your friends? My dad's a magician?
Nevil Lissack: Well, the reaction was always, can I see a magic trick?
Al Grego: Sure.
Nevil Lissack: Can your dad show me a magic trick? So yeah, he could, and he did quite a bit of magic for my friends over the years, and they always loved it.
Al Grego: Was your house, the house that everyone wanted to go to?
Nevil Lissack: It was, yeah. We had my dad, the magician. We had a good basement where we could hide out from my parents once they had enough of my dad. So it was a lot of fun growing up. Yeah.
Al Grego: Oh, how was your childhood? Talk a little bit more about that.
Nevil Lissack: My childhood was amazing. I mean, I loved my childhood. I played hockey, I played soccer. If you had a sport, I wanted to play it. And with my dad performing magic, as I said, from when I was about 11, professionally, I started to take a real interest in that. But yeah, great childhood parents were always around, and that was something I liked as well because my dad then started working from home. He did eventually get an office, but when he was home a lot, it was good because he was around a lot.
Al Grego: Was your mom in the biz too?
Nevil Lissack: No. She was a school secretary with the TDSB, and she did that for quite a long time. I was always one of those kids who talked to their parents a lot, so we had a good relationship growing up.
Al Grego: That's cool.
Nevil Lissack: Yeah.
Al Grego: You said around 11 years old, you started taking an interest in magic as well?
Nevil Lissack: Yes. Yeah, I did.
Al Grego: Usually you rebel against what your parents do.
Nevil Lissack: Well, magic was always there. Got to go with him to the magic shop. Number two in the town, Morrisey Magic and the Browser's Den and got to go to those places with him and see all the magic.
Al Grego: That was still when you're in North York?
Nevil Lissack: Yes. Yeah. I mean, throughout the years. Yeah.
Al Grego: What was your first gig, paying gig? Do you remember?
Nevil Lissack: A birthday party.
Al Grego: Okay.
Nevil Lissack: I don't remember the full details of it, but it was just a birthday party for very young children.
Al Grego: Okay.
Nevil Lissack: Ages, it was around three to six or something like that. And yeah, it was a show where I could be myself, which is generally silly and fun.
Al Grego: Okay.
Nevil Lissack: Yeah.
Al Grego: I mean, you're a magician. You've got this business going and then suddenly your son.
Michael Lissack: Yes.
Al Grego: Shows an interest in magic as well. Yes. What did you think of that? I mean, were you like, no, you need to be a doctor or a lawyer or something, or were you happy for him?
Michael Lissack: Well, no, he started off not just interested in magic, but an interest in the business.
Nevil Lissack: He always encouraged, I think, with my sister and I, he encouraged us to do the things that we enjoyed. And one of the things that we really enjoyed, that I really enjoyed was the magic. But for years, there was a slight rebellious phase. So when I was about, I'd say 17 or 18, probably pretty standard rebellious age, I decided I wasn't want to do it. I didn't even want to be part of the business at that point. And I went to live in England for a little while. I have family there, and when I came back I decided, no, you know what? This is a good life. This is what I want to do. I want to do what makes me happy.
Al Grego: Sure.
Nevil Lissack: And I went into the business, then I started properly performing magic shows as well.
Al Grego: What's your stage name?
Nevil Lissack: I'm the Marvelous Magician.
Al Grego: All right. And your sister, did she get into this?
Nevil Lissack: She did not. No, she did not.
Al Grego: She was a rebellious?
Nevil Lissack: She was really rebellious. Yeah. Terrible sister. No, I'm just joking, she was great. She is actually a teacher with the York Region School Board, but yeah, she's a special education teacher
Michael Lissack: And he joined me in that business because it needed at least two people in the office part of it, anyway. It was a great move because since then he's expanded the business no end. He's much more computer savvy and everything than I am, although I'm not too bad at it. But he's done all kinds of stuff. And also what he has done is increased dramatically the type of clientele that we have. Now, the people that book us very often are corporate. You see, when I did it, when I started off it was just the opposite to that. It was birthday parties and stuff like that. Now he's with all the big people from coast to coast. That's another thing he's done. It's expanded it that way. So he can provide entertainers in Vancouver or anywhere, all the provinces really, and we have done.
Al Grego: When do you take over the business then?
Nevil Lissack: Yeah, so we're looking about 15 years ago. I took over full-time.
Al Grego: Okay. And just because your dad wanted to retire?
Nevil Lissack: Well, no, he's still not... You can't say the R word around him.
Al Grego: Right.
Nevil Lissack: He doesn't know that word.
Michael Lissack: I decided that as I was about 30 at the time that I decided to, he was so much into the business that really I thought, well, it's about time I sort of backed off a bit and that's what I did. And Neville's taken over and it's his business and that's fine with me.
Al Grego: You're still performing though?
Michael Lissack: I'm still performing.
Nevil Lissack: Really, the technology was starting to get more advanced and my father was a bit more challenged with it, so I was helping on that front and websites and emails and everything. And well, the fax machine was slowly in decline, and so I think, like my dad said, and a lot of people around, they said that I sort of brought the business forward into present day, so to speak.
Al Grego: You mentioned your wife was in the business?
Nevil Lissack: Yes.
Leslie Jones-Li...: My name is Leslie Jones-Lissack. I am a teacher, an elementary school teacher, and I am a former performer of many different characters and so on. And now these days I'm mostly doing face painting and a little bit of balloon animals and so on for the company.
I was in university, and we met through mutual friends. We met and started our relationship. Then I found out what he did. One of the first times we went on a date, we were heading somewhere, but he said to me, "Do you mind if we just stop and I do this one job and then we'll go on to...", I don't know if we were going out for dinner or whatever. And I'm like, okay. And I said, what are you going to do? And he said, "Well, I'm going to do a Gorilla Telegram." So I was there in the car and he's like, here, can you hold these balloons? And he had prepared this poem to read, he's not a singer, so he would recite a poem that he had created from information that the client would give. So I was sitting in the car and then he gets out of the car, opens the trunk, and then he proceeds to get dressed in this full gorilla costume.
And then he comes to the side of the car and he's like, "Can you hand me the flowers, please? And okay, now hand me the scroll and okay, you hold onto the car keys and I'll be right back in about 10 minutes or so." So I'm like, okay. And I always remember that this sort of out of body experience, seeing myself sitting in the passenger side of this car, watching my new potential boyfriend go disappear into this stranger's house and just waiting for him. And then he comes back out and he hands me an envelope and goes to the back of the car, gets undressed, and then gets back in the car and we go on our date.
Nevil Lissack: So she started off, she must be about 18, she had finished university. No, so she must have been 20. And she wasn't sure what she wanted to do exactly at that point. And she decided to go into business doing clowning.
Leslie Jones-Li...: The clowning was part of it. And then I did multiple characters for the birthday parties and things like that. So yeah, I didn't officially take any clowning courses or anything like that, but I learned some of the skills through my drama experience and also skills like balloon animal making.
Al Grego: Right.
Leslie Jones-Li...: Through Neville and his father Michael.
Nevil Lissack: She's got an amazing singing voice. She was in Claude Watson School for the Arts for Vocal, so she was singing and all that. So the natural progression from that was, Hey, you could do singing telegrams. So she started-
Al Grego: Do you still do that?
Nevil Lissack: Well, they've really been in decline the past, I'd say eight, nine years. But they were very popular at one time. I mean, I did Gorilla Grams at one time.
Al Grego: So I mean, this is a true family affair. Because your dad's involved in this as well?
Leslie Jones-Li...: Yes.
Al Grego: What does he do?
Leslie Jones-Li...: He is Santa Claus.
Al Grego: The Santa Claus.
Leslie Jones-Li...: The Santa Claus. Well, he has been the Bayview Village Santa Claus for many, many years. At least 10 to 12 I'd say.
Al Grego: Wow.
Leslie Jones-Li...: And Bayview Village actually came to Top Talent and said, "We're looking for a Santa Claus." And my dad was available, he's a retired high school music teacher, and he said he would do it. So the first year he didn't have a real beard, and then the next year it was kind of like a magical thing. He was able to start growing the white beard. So he's, he's been one of our biggest performers at Top Talent for 10 to 12 years.
Al Grego: Probably one of your more famous performers?
Leslie Jones-Li...: Definitely. Definitely. They've done big ad campaigns with him and yeah, it's been great. And he loves it too.
Al Grego: Do companies pay a premium for a Santa where you don't have to worry about the beard?
Nevil Lissack: Yeah, the real bearded Santa's are definitely pricier than false bearded Santa's.
Al Grego: That's hilarious.
Leslie Jones-Li...: Yeah.
Nevil Lissack: There's a whole class thing, but we won't get into that today.
Al Grego: Right. You have kids?
Nevil Lissack: Yes, two children.
Al Grego: What do they think of mom and dads job?
Nevil Lissack: I think by the 12th birthday party of having a magician every year, they got bored. No, no, no, we didn't do that to them.
Al Grego: How old are they?
Nevil Lissack: My eldest is 20 and the youngest is 17.
Al Grego: Have any of them expressed any interest in the business?
Nevil Lissack: Unfortunately not. We were hoping someone would, but no.
Al Grego: How many acts do you represent?
Nevil Lissack: Whew, that is a big question. Hundreds. Hundreds of performers we have on the roster. Yes, we've got a lot of performers. We do a lot of events.
Al Grego: Do you have many other magicians?
Nevil Lissack: Many other magicians, yes. We've got all sorts of circus artists from jugglers and stilt walkers to aerial performers, aerial trapeze, aerial silks, hoops. We have fire performers. We have LED performers, we've got fortune-tellers, caricature artists. The list goes on and on. And if we don't have it, if you think of something that I haven't said, chances are we still have it. I would say we are the biggest general entertainment agency in Ontario, meaning that we offer the biggest variety of acts to the biggest variety of clients. Nationally, I'm not sure we're the biggest, but we're definitely growing nationally.
Al Grego: Up next, Neville has taken his father's company to the next level and enjoyed his best year to date in 2019. But then the pandemic hits making it impossible for any live performers to make a living. So what do they do to survive? Stay tuned to find out. You're listening to Yes, We Were Open. Michael Lissack left his job to pursue his dream career as a magician when he noticed his clients were asking for different acts, he pivoted from being a one man show to a full on talent agency, and he's succeeded spectacularly. Michael's son, Neville has taken on the family business and taken it to yet another level growing Top Talent Entertainment Agency nationally, and taking on more corporate clients. But will Michael and Neville's Magic be enough to keep their company afloat during the pandemic? Let's find out.
I'm going to ask you if there was anything that happened that put your business in peril, what would that be?
Nevil Lissack: I mean, the only struggle we've had has been the struggle that every business in this sort of industry has had. And that, of course is Covid. There was a time during Covid where I wasn't making anything. Government support hadn't really started yet, and I was saying, what do I do? Luckily, my wife has a very good job, so we were okay. But-
Al Grego: She was a teacher. She was working from home, I guess?
Nevil Lissack: She was, yes, she was working from home. But we're two income household. And when one of those people aren't making any money because you're not allowed to work, it gets a bit dodgy. So I actually did Uber Eats for a little while because you got to do what you got to do.
Leslie Jones-Li...: It was tough. Definitely. I think I felt very badly for him, especially because this is his life, this is his passion, and it was gone, really gone. So it was tough emotionally as well as just monetarily and so on.
Michael Lissack: Well, yeah, we were all affected, but we managed and somehow a lot of businesses did, a lot of individuals did as well; we just got through it. That's all that, I mean, it is what it is, and it was what it was. So we had to accept that and just move on.
Al Grego: I mean, that doesn't minimize. I mean, I'm a performer too. I'm a musician. I missed two years of live audiences. It was difficult.
Michael Lissack: Okay. Well-
Al Grego: How did you feel personally when you couldn't do these shows? Did you miss it or were you-
Michael Lissack: Yes, I missed it, but I think I did some shows as well, under certain circumstances.
Al Grego: A [inaudible 00:21:09]
Michael Lissack: Yes, you still had some shows going on. And also, Neville, what Neville did, he did it himself for himself and for many of our entertainment. He did a lot of virtual shows, the online... Through the computer. So he did a lot of those. So all you can do is what you can do your best.
Nevil Lissack: And then the government supports kicked in, and then we started coming up with virtual shows. So we pivoted to try to do that. Virtual shows were okay, but they never caught on too much.
Al Grego: Describe those for me.
Nevil Lissack: What we did was we did live virtual shows. So a client, if it was their child's birthday and they wanted to have a performance, a magic show. Well, Covid, we can't even get together at someone's house these days. So they would sit down with the brother, their kids in a living room, put on their computer, and I would perform live for them with a camera on my end. Do a complete interactive show, speaking with them, having them take part in the magic. And that was it.
Leslie Jones-Li...: Yeah, I think we tried to do a couple online telegrams. I think I did one online telegram or prerecorded a telegram for somebody, but there either wasn't the demand or just obviously there was no going out to places. So yeah.
Nevil Lissack: We did a few shows for seniors where we sent a performer to seniors homes, but they never went in because they weren't allowed to. But the seniors would gather in a dining room with Windows, and we would have a Bluetooth speaker, for instance, handed to the staff who would take it in and the performer would perform outside and everybody would be able to watch and everything. So it was something.
Al Grego: That's creative. I mean, why not? Yeah, do what you can.
What Kind of communication were you having with your talent?
Nevil Lissack: Not a great deal. I mean, I've reach out to them once in a while, see how they're doing, because I know a lot... I'm in a very lucky, privileged position, and I appreciate that. And I'm very, as I say, I'm lucky to be there. But I know a lot of the performers, they really rely on these gigs because this is what they do. A lot of them are single income households, and when it was cut off again, especially before government support, pretty worried about them. So yeah, I mean, I reached out to quite a few and see how they were. And a lot of them were okay, but some of them were struggling a bit.
Al Grego: Did you find yourself almost being a therapist for them?
Nevil Lissack: At times, yes. There were a couple of people who I spoke with at length quite a few times and trying to help them to see that we're going to get through this, this is not going to be the end of the business and the industry will come back.
Al Grego: When would you say things finally started coming back to normal for business?
Nevil Lissack: Last summer. Last summer, yeah. 2022, in the summer, things started to improve a lot. People were outside, everybody was getting into, I'd say higher spirits because there was light at the end of the tunnel. Vaccines were widespread and people wanted to celebrate. So we started to get very busy last summer.
Al Grego: When things started opening up again, according to Neville around last summer is when kind of things got back to normal. I mean, how did you feel about that?
Michael Lissack: Well, it was great because everybody thinks happier, and both ourselves as a company and also clients, everyone was happier to things of getting back to normal. And I mean, at first we were doing shows still with masks on and everything, but then gradually the masks got thrown away, that kind of thing.
Leslie Jones-Li...: Oh, much better. But it was slow. Yeah, it was a slow start. I think people were still feeling very apprehensive and it took a while to get the wheels going back to "normal" again. Yeah, I'm not even sure if it is completely back to that stage. It was before, and that was the bitter-sweetness of it, because the business had basically its best year yet the year before covid, and then it was just cut off. So that was a really bitter pill to swallow as well.
Nevil Lissack: Going into the holiday/Christmas season was where we were a little nervous because everything moves indoors. And we found that last year, most of the companies, I'd say about 60 to 70% of the companies refrain from having parties and gatherings. We're talking companies who have booked through us for 10, 15 years longer, and they weren't doing anything again. Some did, some didn't. You know, had cancellations of some of the major sporting events the years before that we provide entertainment for.
And then moving into past that Christmas, we realized, okay, this has to be it next year, this year, 2023 is going to be the year where we get back to normal. And it's been good. It is a little up and down at first until the warm weather hit, and once the warm weather's hit, people are booking. The festivals are back. And our major sporting event that we provide entertainment for is back just finalizing everything with them right now actually.
Al Grego: And that, can you mention it?
Nevil Lissack: Yeah, I don't think it's a problem with it. It's the National Bank Open. We deal with Tennis Canada.
Al Grego: Oh, okay.
Nevil Lissack: Yeah. So we provide entertainment for them. We have done for about 16, 18 years now.
I spoke with Moneris because when we were doing zero business or very limited business, a lot of people weren't paying on credit card. And I said to him, look, our business, you can see the business that we used to do. And obviously during Covid we're not doing it. So I said, can you guys help me out at all with the monthly fees, just the set monthly fees? And they did. They got rid of them for quite a while for me and helped out for the duration, really, of the pandemic. It was really appreciated.
Al Grego: Coming up after the break, we find out what the future holds for Top Talent Entertainment.
Cass McPhee: Success in business doesn't come without moments of struggle moments when you had to face your challenges head on. As the proud partner of Canadian business, Moneris plays a critical role in empowering businesses with the payment processing tools they need to succeed. Together, we are building stronger businesses where business owners everywhere can stand up to their challenges without slowing down. Moneris, proud partner of Canadian business.
Al Grego: Welcome back to Yes, we are Open. According to Neville Lissack, business at Top Talent Entertainment is about 80% back to pre-pandemic levels, and he's optimistic that the bounce back will continue through the rest of this year. So what does the future hold for Top Talent Entertainment? Let's find out.
What is the future outlook for Top Talent Entertainment?
Nevil Lissack: Well, that's a good question. I mean, I love the business and I'm just going to stay in it. I mean, as my wife has said on many occasions, she said, "When I retire, you're probably still going to be doing this, aren't you?" And I said, probably.
Leslie Jones-Li...: Well, I enjoy still doing the bookings for Top Talent for what I still feel comfortable doing, like the face painting, like the balloon animals. We do a lot to together. So it's kind of nice because we can go out to an event together. He does balloon animals, I do the face paintings, so it's a nice gig.
Al Grego: Right. Does he ever saw you in half?
Leslie Jones-Li...: No. I am privileged to some magical secrets, though, that is true. But yeah. And then out outside of the business, yeah, I think I'll always be performing in maybe choirs or musical theater, community theater, that kind of thing. So that's always a big love of mine. And then of course, having it at school, that's a big part of my job, getting kids to love music and performing and being up on stage and so on.
Michael Lissack: Basically I'd just like to see it carry on the way it is now really. I mean, improving, always increasing the amount of bookings you get and the amount of good entertainers that you get hold of as well, because that's the key to this, you know?
Al Grego: Did talk about before the pandemic you were doing a lot more national-
Nevil Lissack: Yes.
Al Grego: -stuff. Are you hoping to expand that?
Nevil Lissack: I am hoping to get back more to the national campaigns. I think our major client who was having loads of national events, I think they'll get back to it, but they had to be a little careful during the pandemic, and they don't want to rush things too much. I know that they did have to slow things down a lot because of losses during the pandemic. So they'll get back there and I'm sure they'll come back to me and we'll provide fantastic entertainment for them. But we'll get there. I mean, I'm happy the business is doing well, as I say, it's getting back there and in the future, certainly that's something I'd like to target. I mean, Ontario's great love providing performers in Ontario and traveling all over the place myself, but nationally is something that excited me a lot in 2019.
Al Grego: When You see what Neville's done with the company, how do you feel about Neville's?
Michael Lissack: I feel great. I think it's a great thing. I'm very proud of what he's done because when I started this thing, it's nice to see it now in somebody else's hands, more forward-looking ideas and things like that and everything the way he's done.
Leslie Jones-Li...: It's been great to see him take the reins and expand. And he has a great rapport with people at larger companies. He really is able to form a trust with them and deliver the kind of integrity that they're looking for.
Nevil Lissack: I'm very happy. I mean, there've been challenges that I've faced. Basically running the company myself I've had to learn everything, as I'm sure any small business owner would tell you. You're doing everything, advertising, accounting, just everything. And I think I'm proud of the way I have adapted to the needs of my clients, and I'm proud of the way that we've been able to build a great roster of performers, which I feel is unmatched in the business. I can see myself just sticking with it because I love the company that my dad started. I love the company that we built together, and I love the company that I'm running today with his help. It's something I'm proud of. I'm proud of the company.
Al Grego: Neville, Michael and Leslie, is Top Talent Entertainment Open?
Nevil Lissack: Yes. We are open.
Al Grego: Amazing. Thank you.
That's the story of Top Talent Entertainment. For the second week in a row, we have a story of a family business. Last week it was at Charles sisters with her mother as investors starting Sugar Cane, and this week we have Michael Lissack starting Top Talent Entertainment 40 years ago, and his son Neville taking it over and growing it nationally. Both are very different stories, but both are grounded in one principle and that is a strong family bond. What struck me most about the Lissack family isn't all the magic talk, although I did find that pretty cool. It was their commitment to improving the lives of others. Case in point, they're in the business of entertaining others, of bringing them happiness. They own three rescue dogs, and even the family members that aren't in the business work or worked in education. It's like they were brought up caring about something bigger than themselves and living their best lives thanks to that upbringing.
So how does this kind of life of service translate to business? Well, if you've been paying attention the last couple of weeks, then you might think it translates really well. Which makes sense after all, when everyone's on the same page, working with the same values and pulling in the same direction, achieving your goals becomes much easier. As the saying goes, more hands make less work. Most corporations spend a lot of time, money, and work to achieve similar cultures on their teams. Those that succeed, well, they succeed. That is why I have no doubt in my mind that the Lissack family will succeed in making Top Talent Entertainment one of the best agencies in the country.
Yes, we were open as a Moneris podcast production. I'd like to thank Leslie, Michael, and Neville for taking the time to share their story. You can learn more about Top Talent Entertainment toptalent.ca. Follow them on Facebook at Top, Talent Entertainment, and on Instagram they're at Top Talent1. For more information about this podcast, visit the site. Yesweareopenpodcast.com.
If you'd like to support us, please write us a review on Apple Podcasts, or rate us on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're a Canadian small business owner or know of one with an interesting story of perseverance to tell, I'd love to help tell it. You can contact me @podcastmoneris.com and that does it for yet another season. I hope you enjoyed it. I'd like to thank everyone on the Moneris Marcom team for their help and support in putting this season together.
There are too many to name, so please check the show notes for their names. I'd like to also thank the amazing merchants who welcomed me into their place of business and allowed me to tell their stories this season. Sackville Curling Club, Brooks Pepper Fire Foods, Spin It Records and Video, Landscape Ontario, Doghouse, Timber Lounge, Sugar Cane, and Top Talent Entertainment. Please support them by supporting their business.
Production on season five will begin later this summer. So expect a whole new season of small Canadian businesses and their stories by October of 2023. Keep an eye on this feed and I'll post updates as Season five approaches. And finally, I'd like to thank you, the listener for listening, subscribing and spreading the word. Your support has once again helped this podcast earn a nomination for branded Podcasts of the Year by the Quill Podcast Awards. No win this time, but it's always an honor to be named among the best. So a huge thank you to all of our listeners. Without you, this would not be possible. So on behalf of all of us at Moneris, sincerely thank you for listening to the Yes, We are Open Podcast. I'm Al Grego. See you in season five.