I was fortunate to have the opportunity to interview Hayley Wickenheiser, CEO of Wick Hockey and a decorated Olympian, regarded as one of the best female hockey players in the world, after seeing her speak at the recent Deloitte 360 Conference in Ottawa.

Wick Hockey is Hayley’s international initiative to grow the grass roots of the game of hockey around the world.

Paolina: What has been your hardest experience dealing with your business and finance and what did you learn?

Hayley:

The hardest thing is staying on top of all the business dealings and staying educated on current topics and finances. You really have to be your own boss when dealing with your finances and the hardest thing for me is to stay on top of it vs. rely on my ‘people’ to do it. It takes work and effort but its worth it in the end.

Paolina: What advice do you wish you had gotten about finance when you were first starting your business?

Hayley:

I think I got a lot of great advice starting at age 15 when I was starting to invest money. I guess perhaps one thing I wished I had was access to the best thinkers of the time, and a bit more education on current and future business trends, but, all in all I think I have had great advice through the years.

Paolina: What topics would you want to learn more about when it comes to finance and your business and why?

Hayley:

Definitely crypto currency and block chain as I think these are unavoidable for the future of the world. Also, you can never learn enough about tax laws and how they may affect you and I also think its important to keep broadening your horizons in your current field and stay up to date on hot topics and trends; for me, those include, med and sports tech, marketing, finance, as well as social trends.

In 2017, Hayley was on Canada’s Top 40 under 40 list and was featured in an interview with the Business News Network.