Meet the Speakers at CC Connect 2026: Real Builders, Real Talk
The best panel you've ever been on has nothing to do with the stage.
It has everything to do with who's at the table, how honest they're willing to be, and whether the people asking questions actually know what they're asking.
CC Connect 2026 was built around that idea. Four short talks. No pitches. Speakers who are doing the thing, not just talking about it.
Here's who's coming.
ALEX McFADYEN
Money Mindset, Real Estate & Wealth Building
The Mortgage Pug | Flow Mortgage Co.
Alex McFadyen has one of the most recognizable personal brands in Canadian mortgage and finance, and it's not because he says what people want to hear.
He goes by The Mortgage Pug, and the name is earned: direct, clear, and harder to ignore than something three times its size. Alex operates under Flow Mortgage Co. and has built an audience around one core belief: that most people don't have a money problem, they have a money mindset problem.
At CC Connect 2026, Alex talks about wealth building from the ground up. What most founders get wrong about real estate as an asset class. The connection between financial identity and financial outcomes. How to actually start building equity when you're pouring everything into a business at the same time.
He'll leave a free resource. No offer. No follow-up sales sequence.
AUBTIN SHARIFPOUR
Growth Systems, Founder Leverage & Operating Playbooks
Growth Lead, Martell Ventures
Aubtin Sharifpour was one of the standout speakers at CC Connect's 2025 inaugural event. He's back in 2026, going deeper.
Martell Ventures is Dan Martell's Kelowna-based venture studio, which means Aubtin spends his days inside fast-growing companies, running experiments, building systems, and figuring out what's actually creating leverage versus what just looks like progress.
His talk for CC Connect 2026 focuses on the operating playbooks that separate founders who scale from founders who grind. Growth systems that don't require you to be the bottleneck. What it looks like to build a team that runs without you being in every decision.
If you're past the early hustle stage and trying to figure out how to build a business (not just a job you own), this is the talk to pay attention to.
JOHANNES VAN LEENEN
Real Estate Development, Raising Capital & the Developer Playbook
Founder & President, Fifth Ave Properties
Johannes van Leenen is one of the people making things happen in Okanagan real estate. As the Founder and President of Fifth Ave Properties, he moves projects through the full development cycle: from site acquisition and rezoning to capital raises and project completion.
His talk at CC Connect 2026 covers the developer playbook. How to identify the right project. How to structure a raise. How to navigate the BC development landscape. What most people misunderstand about the risk-return profile of real estate development.
He's not here to sell you a course. He's here because he believes the Okanagan needs more people who understand how the valley actually gets built.
Johannes also leads the VIP dinner session at Urban Distillery the same evening: an intimate small-group conversation with 30 VIP ticket holders, and a free resource to take home.
+ A FOURTH SPEAKER (COMING SOON)
The fourth speaker slot is being held for a name worth waiting for. Follow CC Connect on Instagram or sign up below to be the first to know when they're announced.
WHAT THESE TALKS HAVE IN COMMON
They're not sales presentations. They're not polished keynotes padded to fill time. They're 10 to 12 minutes of someone who's done the thing telling you exactly what they learned and handing you something useful before they sit down.
No pitching at CC Connect. That's the rule, and it's the reason people actually pay attention.
JOIN THE ROOM
Sunday, August 2, 2026. Perch Sky Lounge, Kelowna. 4:00 to 8:00 PM.
100 tickets. 30 VIP includes Urban Distillery dinner.
Presented by CC Connect in partnership with Kelowna Founders Club.
