A unique memoir that weaves together stories of personal triumph, love, loss and lessons learned, Notes for the Children follows Pat Priestner throughout his life as a son, a brother, a car salesman, an award-winning automotive entrepreneur—and his most rewarding roles, as husband, father and grandfather.
Through his engaging and inspiring storytelling, Priestner transports readers from the streets of his childhood neighbourhoods to the bustling car dealership where he made his first sale. He reveals the challenges and joys of his relationships with family members and loved ones and how music and Buddhist philosophy helped him cope with the struggles that life threw his way with compassion and forgiveness.
Notes for the Children is a testament to the power of making small changes in life in order to heal, inspire and connect. Priestner’s moving words offer reflection on life and its many lessons and show how the threads of experience make up the tapestry of life.
All proceeds of Notes for the Children will be donated to Well-being Canada.
In an extraordinary gift to his children, one father shows how the power of mindfulness and self-compassion can help chart a path through life’s challenges toward solace and joy.
How can we show compassion for our children and parents, if we are unable to find compassion for ourselves? If we can’t accept our own faults, how do we accept the faults of others? If our compassion does not include ourselves, then how can it be complete compassion?
COMPASSION:
BE A GOOD FRIEND TO YOURSELF
READ AN EXCERPT
PRAISE FOR NOTES FOR THE CHILDREN
Notes for the Children, A Life’s Journey on a Broken Road, by Patrick Priestner, is a book that takes that less travelled path where success is measured not only in balance sheets and quarterly earnings, but also in terms like self-fulfillment, happiness and optimistic resilience.
Those looking to sharpen their business acumen or identify a more fulfilling personal path will likely find inspiration from Priestner’s ethos that is grounded in his relentless commitment to self-accountability.
Overall, Notes for the Children serves as a beacon of hope and a road map for personal growth, seamlessly blending intimate narrative with practical self-improvement advice.
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Molly Peck, USA Today
He pays forward the incredible knowledge he has learned and adopted by talking about his personal experience with poor mental health. He talks about how taking care of himself and his team has helped his firm succeed, and he gives advice to entrepreneurs (and everyone else) on how to prioritize workplace well-being and more.
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With his incredible memoir, Notes for the Children: A Journey on Life’s Broken Road, he emphasizes this message of prioritizing mental health and self- compassion to connect and heal internally so that we reflect positive energy in the outside space.
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Marc Castaldo, City Life
Patrick Priestner, the CEO of CanadaOne Auto, stands as a testament to the power of perseverance, vision, and unwavering dedication. His journey from a teenage car salesman to the helm of a billion-dollar automotive empire is nothing short of inspirational, showcasing how determination and innovative thinking can lead to extraordinary success.
Notes for the Children is a book that offers valuable insights for readers from all walks of life. Whether you are an entrepreneur, corporate leader, or someone seeking personal development, Patrick’s reflections on life and its many lessons provide a roadmap for navigating life’s challenges with mindfulness and self-compassion.
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Refreshingly, Priestner makes no attempt to sugar coat just how difficult it is to find a balance between personal happiness and business success.
He also candidly shares the harsh realities of his difficult upbringing with an alcoholic father and a mother with addiction issues of her own. One could easily argue that simply surviving and having anything resembling a normal life would be considered a massive success given the stories he shares about growing up.
Yet it quickly becomes clear to readers that Priestner was driven to become something more that just average
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Harry Miller, Canada News Media
In Notes for the Children, Patrick Priestner offers a unique perspective on achieving success in a competitive business environment while maintaining integrity, kindness, and compassion. His voice is engaging and relatable, blending spiritual insights with the experiences of a CEO, family man, and an avid fan on modern music.
Priestner’s wisdom, which is grounded in humility and integrity, comes across as credible, compelling, and achievable.
The book emphasizes the importance of positive thinking, mindfulness, and understanding one’s inner voice. It serves as a reminder that these practices can transform lives, even against the backdrop of our post-pandemic world rife with war, climate change and soaring inflation.
In the poignant new memoir Notes for the Children, author Patrick Priestner demonstrates that he is another example of someone who became significantly successful despite humble beginnings and an inherited legacy of abuse, alcoholism, and a reliance on pills.
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His book is one part memoir and one part self-help manual, and overall, it is an instruction guide for life written for the benefit of his children and grandchildren.
The origin of the book is a series of notes and reflections Priestner compiled over five decades of business meetings, family strife, and personal turmoil and triumph.
This would be a new addition into my favorite reads. I loved reading about his life experiences and lessons for us to be a better leader, parent, and human.
Comes down to simply to be compassionate, grateful, kind, mindful, disiciplined and consistent people.
Highly recommend, it if you’ve been reading lots of self help and spiritual books. This book demonstrates how those theories can lead you to a happy, successful life with healthy relationships.
I’ve said before that my job – and my unique opportunity as a successful businessman – is to reach back and pull as many people out of poverty as I can. Pat has a similar mission. He wants the next generation to have it better: a better education, a better balance, better opportunities. Maybe it’s because we both came from challenging circumstances, but I see that same drive in him. Notes for the Children is a great playbook for the next generation. Pat’s a leader in the business community for a reason.
Wes Hall, Canadian businessman and entrepreneur, best known as a "Dragon" investor in the Canadian edition of the reality television series Dragons' Den
This is a book about how to be wildly successful in a hugely competitive business while moving through the world with the utmost integrity, kindness, and compassion. I’ve read countless books filled with profound life wisdom, but I have never encountered a voice as captivating and down-to-earth as Patrick Priestner’s. He is a fascinating blend of spiritual seeker, CEO billionaire, devoted husband, father, and grandfather, all rooted in a hardscrabble life and a restless rock ‘n’ roll angst. His unconventional and remarkably successful business and life wisdom contained in these ‘Notes' was hard-earned, and his humility and integrity are unquestionable. Notes for the Children may have started off as a gift from a father and grandfather to the children he loves, but along the way, it became a gift to us all.
Gail Hudson, New York Times bestselling co-author with Jane Goodall, of The Book of Hope, A Survival Guide for Trying Times and Seeds of Hope: Wisdom and Wonder from the World of Plants
I’ve always been an outspoken advocate for fearless candor, for making real connections, for active listening – and so many of the other skills that go into a healthy life and healthy relationships. We need those skills now more than ever because too many people have found themselves lost and suffering. Notes for the Children is a great read if you want to see what can happen when you choose to think and act more positively and what effect mindfulness and a healthy awareness of your inner voices can have on your life. Pat does a great job of showing us how it’s done.
Dr. David Baum, organizational psychologist, consultant, coach and speaker.
Fueled by a brave accounting of his hard-won wisdom, Pat Priestner’s Notes for the Children hews closely to the divine principle that what is most personal is also most universal. An infinitely readable and powerful call to mindfulness, Notes for the Children is a scrapbook of quotes, lyrics, and teachings, interwoven with intimate reflections on life. The result is not only a compelling narrative about finding purpose, success, and compassion in one’s journey, but a workbook for lifelong learners about how to live in integrity with oneself and the world at large.
Stephen Kunken, American actor, known for the roles of Ari Spyros on Showtime's Billions and Commander Putnam on Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale
Notes for the Children is a courageous exploration of Pat’s personal struggles and triumphs. His candidness is both heart-wrenching and inspiring and creates a bond with readers who might see their own struggles mirrored. Beyond just sharing, the book is a beacon of hope, offering practical, actionable advice for reshaping one's mindset and managing emotions. It bridges the gap between raw confession and a self-help guide. Anyone seeking understanding or tools to navigate similar challenges will find this work invaluable. It's more than a book; it's a lifeline to tranquility.
Gerry Connelly, former Director of Education of the Toronto District School Board, Director of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Branch in the Ontario Ministry of Education, and adjunct professor, York University
Change happens when people are empowered, when they have access to the tools, knowledge and opportunities they need to transform the world. But every movement starts with people – individuals who are willing to take on the challenges and hardships that real change requires. We love Pat’s new book, Notes for the Children because it so clearly demonstrates the effort and struggles behind real success. Pat began his journey faced with almost insurmountable challenges and he succeeded – thanks to hard work, great mentors and an unfailing ability to get back up every time he was knocked down. It’s an amazing story of resilience we can all learn from.
Craig Kielburger and Marc Kielburger, social entrepreneurs and New York Times bestselling authors, who found success scaling and operating movements
MEET PAT
Pat Priestner launched his remarkable career as a teenager (17) selling cars at a Calgary dealership and, by age 18, became the top Chrysler car salesman in Canada. By 26, he acquired his first dealership, and, over the next three decades, he founded and developed two of Canada's most successful automotive businesses with billions in annual sales.
In 2008, Priestner was awarded the CADA Innovator Laureate, and in 2015, he received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Prairies award. He is deeply committed to philanthropic work, supporting hundreds of community organizations. Priestner and his wife Diana are the founding supporters of Well-being Canada, a platform that empowers Canadians with positive mental health tools and resources.
Priestner is a dedicated advocate for mental health initiatives. His life journey has been defined by overcoming a difficult childhood, documented in his debut book, Notes of the Children. Priestner reflects on the high expectations placed on him and his four siblings by his parents, who struggled with alcohol. Growing up with financial instability and chaos fuelled Priestner's drive to succeed. He quit drinking altogether in 2007, deciding to "break the legacy of destructive family chaos," and began practicing Buddhism, mindfulness, gratitude and self-compassion, which transformed his life and influenced his business practices.
Priestner, a father of five and grandfather of four, lives in Edmonton, Alberta, with his wife Diana.
WHY I WROTE THE BOOK
THE INSPIRATION BEHIND
THE BOOK
In these honest, heartfelt interviews, Pat shares why he decided to write Notes for the Children and what he hopes people will take away from his story.