Meet Wally Bartfay

We were lucky to catch up with Wally Bartfay recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Wally, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

My parents immigrated to Canada in 1957 following the Hungarian Revolution. They came to Canada with the cloths on their backs and where given $5.00 Canadian and a train ticket to begin life in a foreign country. They did not speak English, but started to work the next day upon arrival on a farm in Fruitland, Ontario. They worked 16 hours days and slowly learned the language and saved-up what little money they earned. They subsequently moved to Montreal where my 2 uncles on my mother’s side were residing also. They were also Hungarian refugees. My mother worked in a garment factory long hours and my father worked for the railway. My father also attended university at night to earn a degree at McGill University. My mother managed to get a job doing portrait photography. They saved-up and managed to put down enough for a small bungalow in Chateauguay, Quebec.

I can’t remember a time I wasn’t doing odd jobs to save-up money as well from mowing lawns, shoveling snow in the winter, painting fences, and working in my uncles garage pumping gas, fixing tires and going oil changes on weekends. If you want something in life, it requires dedication and sacrifice.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

When I was a teenager, I took several lifeguarding courses and did this over several summers for pay for my college and university education. I became a health care professional and then pursued graduate studies. While doing my PhD at the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto, I had to sleep on the lab floor several nights per week because I could not afford to pay for 2 rents. My wife Emma was also a PhD student in Epidemiology at Western University in London, Ontario. I would commute to Toronto and do my clinical and lab based research, sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag. Later, I managed to get an old office that I shared with 3 others at Toronto General Hospital where I could sleep several nights per week while I finished my research.

I managed to secure several academic positions over the years and have lived in 5 Canadian provinces to date. I have taught at Red River Community College in Winnipeg, Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, University of Windsor and Ontario Tech University in Oshawa, Ontario. I have held various administrative positions including Associate Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and directorships also. I would put in 14 to 16 hour days and often worked weekends and nights with my graduate students. Under my leadership, I started the graduate program at Ontario Tech University for Health Sciences, Bachelors of Health Public Health specialization stream, and Bachelors of Health Administration programs.

I retired from academia in August of 2024 and currently pursing a second career as an indie country-rock songwriter and artist. I have had 2 songs to date (You’re My Beautiful & Little Sunshine Girl) hit No. 1 on the World Indie top 100 music chart list and also the Euro Indie Network music chart list.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

1. Stay away from negative people and naysayers. Make an effort to associate with individuals who give off positive vibes and are successful themselves and willing to take you under their wing for guidance and support.

2. Don’t be afraid of failure. Failure builds character and it provides the best learning opportunities in life to make adjustments and move forward.

3. Make time for yourself everyday. It is critical to destress and acknowledge and validate yourself daily. This can be in many forms such as exercise, mediation, taking a walk in nature or simply playing your guitar.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?

Music is my second career and love in life. I enjoy songwriting and recording country and rock music. I am just starting out as an Indie artist, but I have had global radio exposure already for 1/2 dozen songs I wrote or co-wrote with Stephen Wrench to date. I am looking for established singers and artist in the music industry who may be interested in collaborating on new productions and also recording my songs.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

I have the rights to all images taken.

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