CEO Global Network Podcast
🎙 Hosted by John Wilson, founder of CEO Global Network and author of GREAT CEOs and How They Are Made, this podcast delivers powerful insights for CEOs and executives looking to grow as leaders and drive lasting success.
Each episode features candid conversations with high-performing business leaders, expert speakers, and industry trailblazers—all focused on sharpening your leadership edge, building resilient companies, and improving your life, your team, and your impact.
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CEO Global Network Podcast
Tim Chugh - President, EPIC Educational Program Innovations Center
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What happens when the strategies that built a successful business are no longer enough to carry it forward?
In this episode of the CEO Global Network Podcast, host John Wilson sits down with Tim Chugh, President of EPIC Educational Program Innovations Center, to explore the power of continuous learning, adaptability, and stepping outside your comfort zone as a leader.
As the third-generation leader of a family business founded more than 30 years ago, Tim has spent over two decades helping EPIC evolve alongside the changing needs of engineers and technical professionals. From transitioning to virtual learning during the pandemic to developing AI education programs, Tim shares how listening to customers and challenging long-held assumptions have helped shape the company's future.
Tim also reflects on the value of surrounding yourself with leaders from different industries, why asking better questions is often more important than having all the answers, and how transparent communication builds trust when balancing immediate results with employee development.
The conversation takes a personal turn as Tim discusses his 5 AM routine, the discipline of tackling difficult things early, and the uncomfortable but necessary conversations involved in changing the direction of a family business.
In this episode, you'll learn:
- Why great leaders must remain students, regardless of their experience.
- How outside perspectives can challenge assumptions and uncover new opportunities.
- Why transparency matters when balancing business performance and employee growth.
- How daily routines can strengthen discipline, confidence, and decision-making.
- What it takes to challenge established business practices while honouring a company's legacy.
- Why stepping outside your comfort zone is essential for long-term leadership growth.
With EPIC having supported more than 70,000 engineers and technical professionals worldwide, Tim brings practical insights into building a business that continues to evolve without losing sight of its original purpose.
Whether you're leading a family business, navigating industry disruption, or looking to become a more effective CEO, this conversation offers valuable lessons on curiosity, accountability, and the courage to embrace change.
Tune in to the CEO Global Network Podcast for an insightful conversation on what it takes to keep growing as a leader.
Tim, I can't thank you enough for being on the CO Global Network podcast today. It's great to see you again. It's been a little while, hasn't it?
Tim ChughIt has been, John.
John WilsonGreat to see you as well.
Tim ChughAnd I'm happy to be here, John.
John WilsonYeah, thank you so much. It was probably at one of our speaker sessions that I saw you last. And so I look forward to seeing you again soon in person. But thank you for being on the podcast with us. And I just want to take a second and introduce you to our listening audience and those who are watching us on YouTube and all the other socials. And I just want to let everybody know that our guest today is Tim Chug. He is the president of Epic and the Educational Program Innovation Center. And they're based in Mississauga, Ontario. I want to let you know that Epic was founded more than 30 years ago by Tim's grandfather. And it was founded to support internationally educated professionals who were getting established in Canada. And Tim is the third generation president, okay, of third generation of his family running the company. And good for you, Tim, keeping that drive alive, right? Keeping that drive alive. Now, today, Epic develops over 300 courses a year for engineers, technicians, technologists across, you know, across every discipline, chemical, civil, electrical, mechanical, municipal engineering, teaching working professionals how to stay current in a field that never stands still. And with the courses designed and taught by specialists from industry and academia, uh, they got fantastic faculty. And it still runs the technical exam preparation programs that carry on his grandfather's original mission. And good for you for doing that, Tim. Epic has helped over 70,000 engineers. I was shocked when I saw how big that number was, Tim. Over 70,000 engineers and technical professionals in their continuing education across Canada and around the world. He's passionate about strategic growth. He is a lifelong learner for sure. And he's passionate about building high-performing teams. And we'll hear a little bit more about that in a second. I want to let everybody know he's a member of CEO Global Network. And Tim, you're in Pierre Barsick's group. And you've been in that group for quite some time, haven't you? I have been, yes, since 2019. Since 2019. Yeah, that's great. Tim, welcome. Welcome to the podcast. It's great to have you with us.
Tim ChughThank you, John. I'm happy to be here. It's quite the intro.
John WilsonYeah, well, uh, thank you for that. I have a few questions for you. Okay, and we'll just fire away and let's get started. You spent over 20 years growing Epic. What has kept your vision fresh over those years? How do you stay fresh?
Tim ChughYeah, that's a great question, John. You know, in my time at Epic, I watched it become something different about four times. And, you know, really too for a while. We were focused on serving practicing engineers instead of new ones. Then COVID hit. We went from classrooms to online in about three weeks. And I'd have told you that was impossible the month before. We deliver courses in French. And now, really, the thing that's really taking most of my time up now is building AI courses for engineers, which really wasn't on anyone's roadmap, you know, two or three years ago. So, quite frankly, two, I'd say I'd be lying if I kept the vision fresh. It's really our clients. We're engineers, and their profession keeps getting rebuilt underneath them, and we either move with it or we're selling something that nobody really needs.
John WilsonYeah, that's a good point. Yeah. And listening to the customers to develop those programs, right, Tim? Exactly. I mentioned earlier that you are a lifelong learner, and and I know you're a strong advocate for continuous learning for everyone. What's one lesson that every CEO should keep learning, no matter how experienced they become?
Tim ChughIs there one thing that comes to mind? Definitely. I, you know, you know, last year I sat in on a nine-month AI program for executives. It was two hours a month, very small group. I showed up with a, as a student, notebook in hand, or, you know, homework, the whole thing. You know, really, I'm always a guy that signs off on things, but I was in a learning environment. And, you know, it was, it shouldn't be unusual for me, but especially running a training company. And my background is in business. I have a business degree. I don't have an engineering one. Both my grandfather and my father did and do. Most of our instructors do. So, you know, I've spent a long time quietly treating this as a thing to work around. And I think really the most useful thing I found is just being in a scenario where I always have to ask questions. And that's typically the case every time I do walk into a room, I have to ask. And that's a lesson that doesn't stay learned. And I think the longer that you know you're in leadership, the more people expect you to have the answer. And the easier it gets to give them one type of thing.
John WilsonYeah, 100%. Yeah. And continuing to be curious and seeking first to understand a so important. 100%. I've heard you say that networking has changed your career. Okay. How is one unexpected relationship influenced your leadership journey, Tim?
Tim ChughSo I think as you already mentioned in that fantastic intro, John, you know, I'm part of Pierre Barsix group, which I joined back in 2019. And I remember when I first joined the group, looking around the table, thinking that these people really can't help me. In the manufacturing space, the pest control space, pallets, distribution, nobody really within a mile of what I do. And the first time I brought a problem into that group, either, you know, Rebelto half written in my head that you won't understand my industry. And they just started asking me questions nobody in my industry would ever ask because they didn't know what we all assumed to be true. And most of what I'd been calling constraints turned out to be habits. We just never questioned. And actually, one of the guys in the room that the AI program I just mentioned, that's how I ended up in it. And then the other piece, too, is that working with Pierre, I give him a short written update every week, just really around what's actually moved and not what I intended to do. So writing that is uncomfortable, but it's very, very useful.
John WilsonNo, be extremely useful. Yeah, thanks for sharing that with us. As a leader, how do you balance driving results while investing in your people's long-term growth? How do you balance those things?
Tim ChughSo, you know, I think that most of their say these things are intention and they don't buy in it. I mean, any given quarter they are. The person who takes learning a little bit longer, they tend to make more mistakes. And sometimes there is a client watching it happen. So what I try to do is just stay in a mode where we're in out loud. And if something's urgent and I'm taking it back, I say that's what I'm doing and why. And then I go back afterwards and walk through how I handle it. So it actually just costs you the trust isn't stepping in. The person is left wondering whether they got it wrong or whether you panicked. So the honest version is I don't balance it, I just try not to be quiet about what I'm choosing. Yeah, yeah.
John WilsonThank you for that. You know, as I was getting ready for this for this call, Tim, I was surprised to see that you're part of the 5 a.m. club. And how has your daily routine shaped the way you lead and make decisions being part of the 5 a.m.
Tim Chughclub? So 5 a.m. is my workout time. I go to a local CrossFit gym. It really took me years to understand what that hour was actually doing for me. And, you know, it's obviously the fitness and discipline aspect of it, but it's also really about a sequence. And by the time I'm at my desk, I think I've already done the hardest thing I'm gonna do that day. And so when something lands in my inbox or I have to have a difficult conversation there or stuff that I don't want to deal with, it's not the first hard thing that I've come that I've dealt with. It's the second, and that's just a completely different feeling for me. And the other piece too, it's it's also the only hour nobody can really book my time book from me. So which I really love that.
John WilsonYeah, it's it's very special time for you. Well, good for you for doing that, Tim. That would be a game changer for you.
Tim ChughDefinitely, yes.
John WilsonTo be a game changer, no, for sure. I have one last question and then we're gonna wrap up, okay? So the last question to you is looking back, what challenge pushed you furthest outside your comfort zone and made you a better leader because of it? Does something come to mind?
Tim ChughDefinitely, yes. So, really, it was just really sitting across from my father and telling him a part of the business my grandfather built that always worked was going the wrong way. You know, my father's a CEO of the company, he's the one who bought this my grandfather who founded it. And really, the public courses are a thing that this company does extremely well. And, you know, we always took this wait and see approach, and really in that conversation I had with my father, was really just talking to him about building a sales function. And that's something that we'd never built. And, you know, that meant prospect lists, you know, real mythology around outbound sales. And that's something I'm actually currently managing for the foreseeable future, which is so I can get a better understanding of that. It's pushed me outside of my comfort zone. I'm having conversations with clients that I didn't ever have. So, really, my objective here is to get to the point where I can learn it and then share my experience with someone else that can just run with it.
John WilsonYeah, that's a terrific lesson. And outside of the comfort zone for sure for many people, I to have that type of a conversation and to and then to go in that direction. I remember meeting your dad the first day that you and I met. Remember, we were at that breakfast, that's that breakfast at the Mississauga Border Trade, and I met your dad and I met you, and here we are, right? I mean, how good is that?
Tim ChughI know, John, it's unbelievable that was back in 2019. I just it's hard to avoid. Wow. It's it's it's scary. Yeah.
John WilsonYou really shared some solid leadership lessons that we can all learn from. So we appreciate you sharing those with us and really taking the time to be on this podcast. It really means a lot to us. So thank you so much for doing it. Thank you for the opportunity, John. My pleasure to help. No, thank you so much.
