The Billion-Dollar Lesson in Being Different - Toronto - Canada's Entrepreneur

About this episode

Michael Shapiro discusses his journey as a cultural entrepreneur and the importance of embracing individuality.

Come into any situation with a clear idea of what you can contribute, and what you would like to get out of it. Michael Shapiro is a cultural entrepreneur, author, and language enthusiast passionate about reviving ancient Jewish traditions through modern innovation. He's spent my life embracing what others might call "personal weirdness" and turning it into something extraordinary. He’s always been fascinated by languages, alphabets, and the meaning of words. At age twelve, he took a Hebrew calligraphy class and in high school, he was the Hebrew language valedictorian. After earning his MBA from the University of Michigan, he spent two years in Brand Management at Procter & Gamble, but the corporate world felt too narrow for his creative spirit. In December 1994, he left P&G and flew to Israel to study at the Pardes Institute. By June 1995, he met his first Ketubah (artistic Jewish marriage contract) artist. In 1996, he registered Ketubah.com. What he had envisioned as one product line for a gallery soon became his entire focus online. Nearly three decades later, Ketubah.com has become the largest Ketubah publisher on the planet, featuring 75+ leading artists and 900+…

People in this episode

Host: Canada’s Entrepreneur

Guest: Michael Shapiro

Topics covered

• cultural entrepreneurship
• innovation
• Jewish traditions
• language
• personal development

Keywords

• cultural entrepreneur
• Ketubah
• Hebrew names
• innovation
• Jewish traditions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Ketubah.com, Procter & Gamble, Pardes Institute, JPS

Books & works: Ketubah Renaissance

Places: Israel, Toronto

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