In late summer 2026, I’m opening my own compounding pharmacy in downtown Toronto.

Non-sterile compounding is a specialization that allows pharmacists to prepare customized medications – the right dose, the right formulation, the right delivery method – for patients who can’t be served by mass-manufactured drugs. It’s a space that requires significant training, precise standards, and a commitment to patient care above convenience.

I recently completed hands-on lab training in Montreal and I’m deep in the process of securing a location. This has been in the works for years. It’s the natural next step after nearly a decade in pharmacy.

Why Compounding?

Standard pharmacy is a volume game. More prescriptions, faster turnaround, thinner margins. Compounding is different – it’s a precision service that requires expertise, not just throughput. It serves patients that the mainstream system underserves. Dermatology, pain management, hormone therapy, pediatric formulations, veterinary medicine – these patients need medications tailored to them, not the average.

That specificity is valuable. And it aligns with how I’ve always approached my work: find the underserved need, build the capability to serve it well, and execute with precision.

What This Means

This is a new business I own outright. It’s the beginning of what I intend to build into a multi-location pharmacy network over the next decade. The first location proves the model. What comes next depends on how well we execute the first one.

I’ll document the journey here – the challenges, the decisions, the lessons. Building a regulated healthcare business in Canada is not simple. But it’s worth doing right.

More updates to come.

If building yourself is the foundation and relationships are the architecture, then assets are the engine. They’re what generate energy without you constantly feeding them. Done right, your assets work while you sleep, while you travel, while you’re at your daughter’s first birthday. That’s the point.

But most people build this pillar last – or not at all. They spend decades building skills and relationships without converting that value into assets that compound independently. I made that mistake early. Now, building assets isn’t something I do when I have leftover money. It’s a discipline baked into every financial decision I make.

What Is an Asset, Really?

An asset is anything that produces value over time without consuming your time proportionally. A business you’ve systematized. Real estate that generates rent. Equities that appreciate. Intellectual property that earns royalties. A brand that attracts opportunity.

Time-for-money is not an asset. A job is not an asset. A freelance practice where everything depends on your presence is not an asset. These are income sources – valuable, necessary – but they don’t compound.

The goal is to build things that don’t need you to grow.

The System Behind the Strategy

I run every business and my personal finances on the Profit First methodology. The premise is simple: allocate profit first, before expenses, before anything else. Most businesses – and most people – operate on what’s left after spending. Profit First flips that. You set aside profit on every dollar that comes in, automatically.

This sounds small. It isn’t. It fundamentally changes your relationship with money because it creates a discipline that doesn’t rely on willpower. The system enforces the behavior.

If you run any business and you’re not using Profit First, start today. Not next month. Today.

The Two Types of Asset Building

Business assets: The businesses I’ve built – in digital services, specialty pet care, and healthcare – are assets because they’re systematized. I’m not the ceiling on their growth. I’ve built teams, processes, and systems so the businesses can function and scale beyond my direct involvement. That took years. But each system I built is now a multiplier I don’t have to rebuild.

Financial assets: I invest consistently and deliberately. Not reactively. Not based on market news. I dollar-cost average into positions I’ve researched and believe in long-term. I maintain a cash reserve in money market funds as a buffer. I use registered accounts to maximize tax efficiency.

The key principle: consistency beats timing. Every time.

The Compounding Math Most People Ignore

Compounding is not complicated – it’s just underestimated. The problem is that humans are bad at thinking exponentially. We intuitively understand linear growth: do more, get more. But compounding is different. It starts slow, looks boring, then becomes unstoppable.

The implication: the time to start is always now, not when conditions are “better.” Every month you delay investing is a month of compounding you can’t recover. This isn’t theory – it’s arithmetic.

Diversify the Types, Not Just the Holdings

I believe in owning multiple types of assets: businesses, equities, real estate, and emerging stores of value. Each behaves differently in different economic conditions. Businesses generate active income. Equities offer liquidity and market returns. Real estate provides leverage and tax advantages. Diversification across types is more powerful than diversification within a single type.

The Discipline of Delayed Gratification

Building assets requires saying no to consumption today so you can say yes to freedom tomorrow. This is the hardest part – not the strategy, not the research, not even the execution. It’s the sustained discipline of choosing long-term over short-term, repeatedly, even when it’s painful.

I’ve made that trade many times. I don’t drive the nicest car. I don’t take the most vacations. I put the money to work instead. Not because I’m depriving myself – but because I know exactly what I’m building toward, and I know it requires fuel.

The Third Pillar Closes the Loop

Self-development gives you the tools. Relationships give you the support and leverage. Assets give you the freedom to deploy both fully.

When you’ve built yourself, surrounded yourself with the right people, and created assets that compound independently – you’ve closed the loop. That’s the foundation of a life that doesn’t depend on any single circumstance going right.

Build the three pillars. In order. With patience.

That’s the framework. The rest is execution.

If building yourself is the foundation, then relationships are the architecture built on top of it. They’re the walls, the structure, the rooms that give your life purpose and meaning. And like any structure, the quality of your relationships directly determines the stability of everything else.

I’ve come to believe that most people underinvest in relationships – not because they don’t care, but because relationships don’t have a clear return on investment visible in real time. You don’t see the compounding effect of a strong marriage or a deep friendship until years later, when it either holds you up or falls apart under pressure.

The Relationship You Build First

Before business partnerships, friendships, or professional networks – your closest relationships demand the most intentional investment. For me, that’s my relationship with my wife Samantha. We run a business together, we’re raising our daughter Amelia, and we navigate the chaos of entrepreneurship side by side.

What I’ve learned is that proximity doesn’t equal connection. You can share a home with someone and still drift. So we built a practice: a monthly relationship review. Once a month, we sit down and answer structured questions together – what’s working, what’s not, what do we each need more of. It sounds clinical, but it’s actually the most intimate thing we do. It forces honesty before small things become big things.

If you’re in a partnership – romantic or professional – and you’re not doing deliberate check-ins, you’re flying blind.

The Quality Over Quantity Principle

I used to think networking was about meeting as many people as possible. That’s wrong. The highest-value relationships in my life are a small circle of people who challenge me, support me, and are honest enough to tell me when I’m wrong.

I’ve found that a handful of strong relationships – built on reciprocity, trust, and shared values – outperforms a wide network of shallow connections every single time. When things go sideways in business (and they will), it’s the deep circle that shows up. Not the LinkedIn connection you met at a conference.

Business Relationships Are Relationships Too

The team members you hire, the partners you work with, the clients you serve – these are relationships with stakes. I’ve learned that investing in your team’s growth isn’t charity, it’s strategy. When the people around you thrive, your businesses thrive. A team member who feels seen and incentivized doesn’t just show up – they show up fully.

Incentive plans, clear expectations, honest feedback, regular check-ins – these aren’t HR formalities. They’re the maintenance work that keeps your most important relationships from deteriorating.

The Compounding Nature of Relationships

Here’s what most people miss: relationships compound just like money does. A friendship built over ten years of consistent trust and reciprocity becomes something you can’t buy at any price. A mentor relationship cultivated with patience and genuine curiosity opens doors that no resume ever could.

The flip side is also true. Neglected relationships deteriorate. Bridges you burn rarely get rebuilt. The person you dismissed in your 20s shows up again in your 30s – sometimes as a competitor, sometimes as a gatekeeper.

Invest early. Stay consistent. Show up when it’s inconvenient. That’s the compounding formula for relationships.

The Bottom Line

Building relationships isn’t soft work – it’s strategic work. The strongest version of your life is built with people in it, not despite them. Your business, your health, your wealth – all of it is easier with the right people alongside you.

Work on your relationships like you work on your investments: with intention, consistency, and a long time horizon.

Next: Pillar 3 – Building Assets: The Engine of Financial Freedom