About this Event
Messed Up Mondays is Edmonton's only entrepreneur networking event built entirely around what didn't work, told by the people who lived it.
This month's speaker is Patrick Callaghan. In the mid-2000s he walked away from a large construction firm with no plan. One favour, laying a laminate floor, turned into a referral, then another, then a construction company he co-owned for close to two decades.
From the outside, he made it. The house. The trucks. The income. On the inside, he was running on empty.
He's coming to Messed Up Mondays to talk about the side of entrepreneurship nobody puts in the marketing.
"It's okay to not be okay."
Patrick Callaghan
What He's Actually Going to Talk About
One rushed decision that nearly sank the company, and the year without a paycheque that followed. What that pressure did to his marriage. Years of answering "How are you?" with "I'm good" and a joke. Burnout that built quietly until it hit a breaking point. And the small moment that pulled him back, plus what he rebuilt after: his health, his relationship with his kids, and work he actually loves.
Heads up: this conversation touches on burnout and mental health.
How the Night Runs
Doors open at 6:00 PM for an hour of unhurried networking. No rushed mingling. No pitch stack handshakes. At 7:00 PM, Trystan sits down with Patrick for a live interview. No slides. No prepared talk. No selling from the stage. At 7:30 PM we open the floor to live audience Q&A, then close out the night with sponsor recognition.
What to Expect Inside
- Open networking from 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM
- A live, unscripted interview with Patrick Callaghan from 7:00 PM to 7:30 PM
- Audience Q&A immediately after
About Patrick Callaghan
Patrick spent his whole early career in construction and built his company the way most people in the industry do: cards held tight, everyone else a competitor. He's since dropped that for collaboration. Today he works in business development and human performance, helping people who are in the spot he once was. He's shared his story on stage at a men's mental health conference, and he's open about why he does it. If one person in the room needs to hear it, that's enough.
Why This Event Exists
My birthday is October 4. Rather than make the month about me, we turned it into a charity event two years running. Last year I was the one in the interview chair, which was fun, but this year I would rather hand that seat to someone with a story worth twenty two years of build.
Messed Up Mondays started because Edmonton had plenty of networking events and none of them were honest. So I built one.
In Three Words:
Vulnerable. Real. Connecting.
Agenda
🕑: 05:30 PM
Doors Open
🕑: 06:00 PM - 07:00 PM
Networking
🕑: 07:00 PM - 07:30 PM
Patrick Interview
🕑: 07:30 PM - 08:00 PM
Open Q&A
🕑: 08:00 PM
Networking
Event venue & nearby stays
Brighton Block, 9666 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, Canada
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.