About greg
My name is Greg, and for the first time in my life, I feel like I am exactly where I’m supposed to be, doing exactly what I’m meant to do.
Laying it out there: I’m a white male, born into a middle-class family in a small town in Ontario, Canada. By all accounts, I’ve been given a world of privilege, which set my life on a smooth and consistent upward trajectory from a young age. I was more than happy to check all the boxes the world laid out for me, believing this was the path to happiness:
After high school, I attended a prestigious university and earned a business degree.
I began my career with an impressive corporate job and worked my way up to become an executive at one of Canada’s fastest-growing companies by the age of 30.
I got married, had three children, bought a home—then another, and another—and settled into a ‘perfect’ neighborhood. We even bought a van.
I volunteered, joined boards, and built a reputation as a ‘fine young man with a bright future’ in my community and among my family.
Before I could begin to figure things out, life intervened. My wife and partner of 15 years, Allison, was diagnosed with stage 4 brain cancer in February 2020 and passed away in June, just as COVID-19 was tearing through society. Suddenly, I became a single father to three children under five, and all the expectations I had for my life went out the window.
As almost everyone I knew retreated into their ‘COVID bubbles,’ my immediate family—estranged after years of receiving little to no attention from me in favor of my in-laws—stepped in. So did my three best friends, a small army of new friends who became my lifeline, and Whitney—now my partner and personal champion. Together, they embraced the mess that was my life, navigated both their own and my grieving processes, and helped me begin building a new life for myself and my three resilient, inspiring kids.
Fast-forward to 2023—Whitney and I got married, and her ex-husband and his new partner gave a speech (we returned the favor at their wedding later that year). Whitney has become the ‘Earth mom’ to my three kids, I’ve become a stepfather to her son, and together the eight of us have built a modern family rooted in values, mutual respect, and love.
The company where I became an executive at 30 sold for $350M in 2021, so I left in search of a new challenge and joined two of Canada’s top entrepreneurs to build a new business. We grew the team to 100 staff, reached $5M in revenue, and helped secure a Series A round of funding. Life felt like it was ‘back on track’—but to my surprise, I found myself slipping back into the same patterns of anxiety and crushing expectations that had left me feeling stuck in 2020.
Once again, life intervened. Our business faced challenges in mid-2023, forcing us to downsize and pivot to a new market. We managed to steady the ship, and at the end of 2024, acquired a business that will expand our offering, stabilize our operations, and puts the business on a path to sustainability. With that deal done and the business in good hands, I felt that it was time to step away and begin another new chapter.
Vienna Waits is that new chapter.
I’ve been avoiding doing this for TEN YEARS, questioning myself and whether the work we’re striving to do is work I’m capable of doing. But somehow, the fog has lifted, and now, together with my inspiring partner and wife, I’m ready to get started. It’s time for me to share my stories and invite others to do the same—with the goal of being intentional about making the most of this one life we have. Life intervened for me, and things happened to work out—but I got lucky. Leaving it to chance is just too risky.
For the first time, I’m in the place I’m meant to be, doing the work I was meant to do. I’m no longer anxious and feel more energized and fulfilled than at any other point in my life. You can feel this way too. And I’m so glad you’re here.
