Who: Daniel Lewis, entrepreneur, customer experience expert and motivational storyteller His story: In 2009, Lewis, then a musician, was stabbed and nearly died. While in the hospital, he had an epiphany, prompting the search for a new purpose in life. “And funnily enough, that became tea. I stopped drinking alcohol, I stopped living the way I was before. And I fell in love with tea. And then one day I asked myself, ‘What if I was able to create a tea company based on my new outlook on life and use it to impact people’s lives in a positive way, and market myself with what I learned in the music industry?’” T by Daniel opened soon thereafter. It has been renamed Daniel’s Chai Bar and operates as an online store with pop-up locations. In 2017, Lewis and his wife and co-founder, Renata, served tea to then Prince Charles on his visit to Canada. Topics: Branding, experiential marketing, customer experience, leadership, negotiating, work culture. Book him for: Customized presentations informed by his people-focused outlook on entrepreneurship and his experiential business tactics. Working with him: “I start with a discovery call,” says Lewis. “What is the heart of the event? What’s the temperature of the audience you’re expecting? What are some themes or highlights or history of the event? It’s from those conversations that I put together something that the audience will appreciate and get value from.” The vibe: As you’d expect from a former musician, Lewis’ delivery is entertaining and high-energy, but with a well- honed theme: “My superpower when it comes to speaking, irrespective of the topic or audience, is extracting the humanity. When I finish, attendees should understand that what they do can impact another person’s life in a positive way. And that is my umbrella theme. Whether we’re talking about marketing, resilience, workplace culture or human resources, what is the human element that we need to understand in order to provide valuable takeaways that people can apply to their work or life?” Past gigs: The Town of Newmarket, the Town of Caledon, Canada’s Wonderland, SickKids Hospital, HubSpot and Staples. Available for: Keynotes, workshops and emceeing. taspeakersmanagement.com Good to Know Watch Daniel Lewis in action. Scan the QR code or visit ignitemag.ca Speakeasy Spilling the Tea by Laura Bickle 12 | Ignitemag.ca | Fall 2023 meet in real space tourismtofino.com/meetings
