Dan Nesbitt
ACE Instructor
Leap Botanicals & Mind Body Leadership

Our nonverbals do govern how we think and feel about ourselves…[a]lso, our bodies change our minds.  –Amy Cuddy

When first reading the quote above, an important question that comes to mind is “just how do our bodies change our minds?” Amy Cuddy has shown this relationship between body and mind through her research, involving job interviewees who did either high-power or low-power poses as they participated in interviews, which were recorded and included interviewers giving no nonverbal feedback to them during the interview. Ultimately, the video of each interviewee was reviewed, and the video reviewers (who did not know the hypothesis of conditions of the research) determined that they wanted to hire those who did high-power poses.

So what is the driving cause of this decision? When we are communicating, we are creating an impression of who we are. As Amy Cuddy notes, by communicating nonverbally in an open and confident manner, we are “bringing [our] true selves” (Cuddy, Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are, TEDGlobal 2012). As an entrepreneur, communicating our true selves is critical to forming strong business relationships with those we work with. Moreover, by practicing good posture and confident nonverbal communication, it helps us combine the strength of both our mind and body to practice self-leadership through a disciplined approach, helping us unleash our full potential.

In the ACE Program, we are grateful for the opportunity to work with Dan Nesbitt, who shares his expertise as an executive coach, facilitator, team builder, and expertise in mind-body leadership practices with entrepreneurs so they can reach their full potential and maximize their skills to be leaders in the community.

Dan Nesbitt is a professional engineer, with over twenty years of experience in product design and product management across multiple industries, including packaged food, medical device, telecommunications, semiconductor and mobile device industries. Dan began his education through a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Victoria, which he graduated with in 1993, and furthered his education through a Master of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia, which he graduated with in 1995.  Dan has also studied Cell Biology and Biochemistry at the University of British Columbia, and is registered as a Professional Engineer with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of BC.

Dan combines his expertise from his education with professional experience that includes industry experience and academic appointments, including work in the academic sector in brain research at the University of British Columbia (UBC). In 1993, Dan began his professional career as a Research Engineer for the BC Cancer Research Foundation and Xillix Technologies Corporation, where he created computer software used by radiologists to assist in detecting and characterizing abnormalities in screening mammogram images. In 1995, Dan went on to work as a Systems Engineer for Xillix Technologies, and continued his engineering career by going on to work with Broadcom as a Staff Design Engineer, where he designed a wide-array of embedded software platforms for telecommunications and mobile devices.

In 2007, Dan began his term at UBC as a Software Engineer, combining his expertise in the medical device industry with his software engineering expertise to design image-processing software analyzing medical images, in addition to supervising the management of computing infrastructure. In 2009, Dan went on work as a Principal Architect with MobilQuest Systems Inc. designing a rich variety of mobile apps where he worked until 2016.

Did you know that Dan has over seventeen years of experience practicing traditional martial arts, including Aikido, Karate, Wushu, Wing Chun Kung Fu and Tai Chi? 
Did you know that Dan edited Understanding the I Ching: Restoring a Brilliant, Ancient Culture – Presenting Ancient Wisdom to Modern Readers , written by Taoist Master Alfred Huang, the bestselling author of The Complete I Ching and Complete Tai Chi?

Currently, Dan is the Co-Founder and Senior VP of Leap Botanicals, which began operations in 2016, and is focused on advancing health and wellness through ethical and sustainable sourcing of natural plant ingredients. The company’s flagship product, Vytogo, launched in the Canadian marketplace in December 2016. Vytogo is a superfood product, which is best summarized by the tagline, “Optimal nutrition. Simplified.” Vytogo is a product designed inside a commitment to make nutrition a right…for everyone…everywhere. Currently, Vytogo is partnered with the Vancouver-based organization, Lift the Children, to donate a one-month supply of moringa to orphaned youth in East Africa for every bag of Vytogo sold. Moringa’s eclectic range of nutrients and unusual nutrient density makes it highly effective at treating, and often curing, the effects of malnutrition. Moringa also possesses the unique property of thriving in many of the areas of the world prone to famine and drought.

Dan also devotes much of his time to sharing his professional expertise with others through teaching and coaching. In 2011, Dan instructed a course at BCIT focused on designing and creating apps for iPhone and iPad, providing students with lecture and hands-on experience developing applications. Dan also shares expertise as a coach for executives through his work as part of the Synergy Complete Management Consulting team to empower business leaders, and in 2012 Dan co-founded Mind Body Leadership with ACE Program Educator, Greg Martin, where he works with adults and youth to optimize physical, mental and emotional learning to increase their self-capacity.

A client of Dan’s from Mind Body Leadership states that he “is an inspiring, gentle and courageous leader. He is also willing to do whatever it takes, step outside of his comfort zone, in order to make a difference for the people around him and the communities he’s out to impact” (Stephanie Jhala, LinkedIn). Dan leads by example, as his focus on community is evident both in his teaching and in his work where he “frequently acts as a mentor in community based projects” (Synergy Complete Management Consulting, Our Team – Dan Nesbitt). 

In the ACE Program, Dan’s focus on community and empowering entrepreneurs through increasing self-capacity is demonstrated through the workshops and coaching he provides to entrepreneurs in collaboration with Greg Martin, focusing on the values of traditional warriorship and mind-body leadership training. Through mind-body leadership training, Dan and Greg share their professional expertise, as well as their expertise in martial arts and traditional warriorship concepts. Dan and Greg work with entrepreneurs to optimize their learning through a workshop sharing the components of mind-body leadership and the relationship between mind-body leadership components through both lecture and interactive exercises. Through working with Dan and Greg, entrepreneurs have the opportunity to apply mind-body leadership training to their learning process and the challenges that entrepreneurs face.

Dan has worked with students and faculty of the ACE Program to share his combined expertise in martial arts, business, coaching, facilitating, team building, and leadership since 2013. We at ACE are honoured to have the opportunity to continue to work with Dan to provide entrepreneurs with the tools so they can be leaders and mentors in their community.

To learn more about Dan and his work, visit these links:


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