2019
PLATINUM SPONSOR
GOLD SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS
—— BRITISH COLUMBIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
— TAKE YOUR CAREER TO THE NEXT LEVEL. BUSINESS AND MEDIA EDUCATION FOR A COMPLEX WORLD. The business world is changing at its fastest pace ever. With over 50 programs and 300 courses that can be completed part time, BCIT Business can help enhance your skills and improve your marketability. Register for part-time studies at bcit.ca/business/pts
—— BCIT Burnaby Campus
Dedicated to engaging leading entrepreneurs to learn and grow
ABOUT EO The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) is a $124 billion global, non-profit educational organization exclusively for entrepreneurs. The members are business professionals who are the owners, founders, co-founders or controlling shareholders of companies that achieve annual sales of $1 million USD or more. The EO objective is to support, educate, and encourage entrepreneurs to succeed in building their companies. EO meets this objective by providing a continuous cycle of peer-to-peer networking opportunities, world-class learning events, and monthly forum meetings for all members. The out put is a well-connected, well-educated and well-balanced entrepreneur with access to the needed resources to thrive in the competitive business landscape. EO offers Alliance Partners the opportunity to interact directly with some of Vancouver's top entrepreneurial leaders, and companies.
EO GLOBAL STATS
EO VANCOUVER STATS
$5M
13K+
43
MEDIAN SALES US$5.0 million per year
TOTAL MEMBERS 13,000+
AVERAGE AGE
3.4M
262
EMPLOYEES Total Number of Employees
MEMBER EMPLOYEES Average Member Employees
58 COUNTRIES REPRESENTED Number of Countries Represented
Entrepreneurs' Organization Vancouver 200A - 1228 Hamilton St. Vancouver, BC V6B 6L2
188 CHAPTERS WORLDWIDE Number of EO Chapters
171 MEMBERS
10978 TOTAL EMPLOYEES
1991 CHAPTER FOUNDED
69
AVERAGE # EMPLOYEES
42
AVERAGE MEMBER AGE
13
MEDIAN # EMPLOYEES
$5M MEDIAN SALES
Learn more online! eovancouver@alyarmstrongevents.com www.eonetwork.org
4 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
Record number of Forty under 40 nominations in 2019 | 6–7 Forty under 40 gala | 10–11
2019 WINNERS Adil
Ahamed | 13
Derrick Li | 30
Kyle
Ian
Barker | 14
Sean
Stofer | 45
Byron
MacKinnon | 31
Thom | 46
Paulina
Christina Marcano | 32
Jasmean Toor | 47
Charleton | 16
Brent
Stephen Menon | 33
Ryan Uy | 48
Reshma
Carly
Monahan | 34
von Sturmer | 49
Robert
Rachel Nelson | 35
Walker | 50
Cheryl D’Sa | 19
Nicole
Jeff
Zahra
Esmail | 21
Jordana Pourian | 37
Jonas
Ashley
Jay
Cameron | 15
Chaskar Mehta | 17
Coard | 18
Freeborn | 22
Hanna
Parmar | 36
Rhind | 38
Khaled
Golota | 23
Shariff | 39
Erik
Amanda Shatzko | 40
Hadley | 24
Janie
Ben
Hungerford | 26
Silverman | 41
Brittney Kerr | 27
Sharon Singh | 42
Vera
Kobalia | 28
Ashley Smith | 43
Matthew Lewis | 29
Jonathan Snoek | 44
PLATINUM SPONSOR
SILVER SPONSORS
GOLD SPONSORS
Lisa Erin
Ward | 51
Woost | 52
Alex
Yamini | 53
Leena
Yousefi | 54
PRESIDENT: Alvin Brouwer EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER; VICE-PRESIDENT, GLACIER MEDIA: Kirk LaPointe EDITOR: Mark Falkenberg DESIGN: Petra Kaksonen PRODUCTION: Rob Benac CONTRIBUTORS: Nelson Bennett, Chuck Chiang, Glen Korstrom, Tyler Orton, Brigitte Petersen, Albert Van Santvoort, Hayley Woodin PROOFREADER: Meg Yamamoto DIRECTOR, SALES AND MARKETING : Pia Huynh SALES MANAGER: Laura Torrance ADVERTISING SALES: Betty Jin, Blair Johnston, Corinne Tkachuk, Chris Wilson ADMINISTRATOR: Katherine Butler Forty under 40 is published by BIV Magazines, a division of BIV Media Group, 303 Fifth Avenue West, Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1J6, 604‑688‑2398, fax 604‑688‑1963, biv.com. Copyright 2019 Business in Vancouver Magazines. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or incorporated into any information retrieval system without permission of BIV Magazines. The publishers are not responsible in whole or in part for any errors or omissions in this publication. ISSN 1205-5662 Publications Mail Agreement No.: 40069240. Registration No.: 8876. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Circulation Department: 303 Fifth Avenue West, Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1J6 Email: subscribe@biv.com Photography: Chung Chow and Rob Kruyt
PRODUCED BY
Celebrating Vancouver’s best and brightest. Shaw Business is proud to sponsor Top Forty under 40.
6 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
RECORD NUMBER OF RESPECTED BUSINESS LEADERS AND RISING STARS NOMINATED IN 2019 KUDOS | Judges in Business in Vancouver’s 2019 Forty under 40 sought both business excellence and community involvement in choosing this year’s winners BY BRIGITTE PETERSEN NEWS@BIV.COM
W
ith more than 160 nominations, this year’s Business in Vancouver Forty under 40 awards drew submissions from the highest number of young business leaders
to date. The annual awards recognize B.C.’s most accomplished business leaders under the age of 40 working in private, public and non-profit sectors. Five judges reviewed nominations to select the top 40 representing a variety of industries. Nominees stood out from the crowd with achievements in business, experience, innovation, vision, leadership and community involvement.
All of the judges were new to the process this year, except for Kirk LaPointe, BIV’s editor-in-chief and Glacier Media’s vicepresident of editorial. “We were really impressed again with the calibre of the nominees and the depth of the talent put forward for the award,” said LaPointe. “It was not easy to choose among them.” Picking this year’s winners was tough due to the high number of nominees with different backgrounds and experiences, which sometimes led to “difficult moments and good debates amongst the judges,” according to 2015 award winner Cameron Burke. “I was looking for people who make a difference, without applying rigid criteria that brought my biases into the process,” said Burke, PwC Canada’s managing director for deals and tech. “Whether they were professionals, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, non-profit execs, I was looking for nominees that were committed, had achieved obvious successes and were well-rounded.” Tea Nicola, CEO and co-founder of WealthBar Financial Ser vices Inc., said she enjoyed the judging experience and learning
Meet the faces of CBC Vancouver News
7 days a week C B C VA N CO U V E R C B C VA N CO U V E R C B C N E WS B C CBC.CA/BC
| 7
THE 2019 JUDGING PANEL KIRK LAPOINTE
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER; VICE-PRESIDENT, EDITORIAL, GLACIER MEDIA
CAMERON BURKE
MANAGING DIRECTOR, DEALS AND TECHNOLOGY SECTOR, PWC CANADA
ANDY KOKAJI
DIRECTOR, IMMUNOLOGY, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, STEMCELL TECHNOLOGIES
TEA NICOLA
CEO, CO-FOUNDER, WEALTHBAR FINANCIAL SERVICES INC.
DENISE WILLIAMS
CEO, FIRST NATIONS TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL
about the nominees. “I guess what got to me the most is the high level of integrity in the award, which was really encouraging and motivating,” she said. Nicola, who won a Forty under 40 in 2017, said she was looking for breadth of experience in each nominee. “I would want to see engagement in different things, possibly different industries, varied education, interesting community involvement, striving for and achieving excellence in anything,” she said. Stemcell Technologies’ director of immunology, research and development, Andy Kokaji, also won a Forty under 40 in 2017. While he found the judging experience “challenging” and time-consuming, Kokaji said he was looking for nominees who had ambition and drive to succeed while still supporting their peers and community. “Sometimes we are fortunate to be recognized individually, but behind it all we all need support from others to make an impact,” he said. A recipient of a Forty under 40 last year, Denise Williams said judging this year’s awards was an “honour.” “The experience was fun but also pretty challenging,” said the First Na tions Technology Council CEO. “There were a lot of applications to review and I really wanted to give them all the time and attention they deserved.” Inspired by many of the nominees, Williams found the calibre of this year’s nominees to be “outstanding.” “I was looking for well-rounded success and a sustained commitment to doing good work for people and communities,” she said. “Scoring people was challenging, especially when you want to ask questions or get clarification but can’t.” ç
Celebrating Leadership 2019 BIV Forty Under 40 Awards Fasken recognizes that the rising stars of today are the leaders of tomorrow. We share BIV’s commitment to celebrating the achievements of British Columbia’s young professionals. Honouring the accomplishments of such individuals encourages them to continue thriving in their careers and professional endeavours. The winners of this year’s BIV Forty Under 40 Awards have proven they have what it takes to succeed.These individuals exemplify personal dedication, professional achievement, and commitment to the community. We know their journey does not end here. In fact, their career-long adventure is just beginning. As one of BC’s leading law firms, Fasken can help navigate any obstacles along the way. We recognize that highly motivated professionals who are passionate about their work are essential to the success of any organization.These individuals are going places and we can help them get there. With offices in Vancouver and Surrey, Fasken is in your neighbourhood. The BIV Forty Under 40 award winners are leaders and role models who make outstanding contributions to their workplaces and communities.Their accomplishments raise the bar for others in the formative years of their careers, propelling business growth in BC.
Congratulations to all the nominees and recipients of the 2019 BIV Forty Under 40 Awards. Your hard work, innovation and accomplishments have not gone unnoticed. We look forward to seeing what you achieve next.
William Westeringh, Q.C. Managing Partner, BC Region Fasken
Congratulations, we’ll be in touch.
The Owner’s Circle is inimitable. It offers you and your passion for the sport three things: hospitality, access, and exclusive privilege. You’ll watch every match from the Owner’s Circle lounge with all the amenities. At halftime, mingle with players as they stop by to get your take on the match. Also keep company with owners, VIPs and the rest of your Circle. The Owner’s Circle is an unprecedented experience unlike anything offered in Vancouver.
Your seat at the table.
| 9
2018 FORTY UNDER 40 WINNERS Ali Assadkhan, president, founder, Vitasave.ca Ravi Beech, COO, Valley Acrylic Bath Ltd. Virginia Bird, principal, Pottinger Bird Community Relations Daniel Boffo, principal, Boffo Properties Benjamin Britton, chief strategy officer and vice-president, business development, Ionomr Innovations Inc. Dan Burgar, president, VR/AR Association Vancouver Jasmine Byrne, vice-president, Big Mountain Foods Ltd. Josh Carr-Hilton, CEO, the District Graham Carter, co-founder and principal, Maven Consulting Ltd. Graham Collings, executive vice-president, investments, and partner, ACM Advisors Ltd. Martin DesRosiers, CEO, Nucleus Networks Kylie Dickson, vice-president, business development, Equinox Gold Caitlin Dunne, co-director, partner, physician, Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine (PCRM) Lawrence Eade, CEO, Box Concepts Food Group Bethany Edmunds, associate dean, BCIT Sara Hodson, founder and president, Live Well Exercise Clinic Poonam Jassi, senior director of operations, CBI Health Group Sana Kapadia, chief impact officer, Spring Jenny Konkin, president and co-founder, Whole Way House Society Chantelle Krish, director of communications and advocacy, YWCA Metro Vancouver Sarah Leamon, criminal defence lawyer, entrepreneur and community advocate, Sarah Leamon Law/Leamon Roudette Law Group
Mike Mackay, president, Strand Elizabeth Mah, founder and lawyer, Paperclip Law Corp. Mike Maierle, principal, Etro Construction Ltd. Matias Marquez, founder and CEO, Buyatab Online Inc. Kylie McMullan, principal, Finch Media Austin Nairn, executive director, World Trade Centre Vancouver Chris Nicola, CTO and co-founder, WealthBar Financial Services Inc. Justus Parmar, managing director, Fortuna Investments Corp. Amit Patel, vice-president and general manager, Turner Construction Co. Keith Phillips, owner and president, West Coast Aquatic Safaris Alona Puehse, chief operating officer, Open Door Group Salima Remtulla, vice-president, operations and corporate strategy, Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Michael Riedel, director, quality control, Stemcell Technologies Steve Rio, founder and CEO, Briteweb Kaela Schramm, director of projects and planning, M’akola Development Services Nishant Singh, co-founder and managing director, Alliance Maintenance Ltd. Dianne Sparrow, associate director, treaty, lands and resources department, Musqueam First Nation; principal, Sparrow-Grant Consulting Mark Starkey, CEO, Victory Creative Group Inc. Denise Williams, CEO, First Nations Technology Council
Private Company Services Whether you’re a family business or a start-up entrepreneur, we can help you succeed. Our team of professionals have the industry and technology knowledge to help you think through the implications of digital transformation and unlock potential across your business.
To learn more visit: pwc.com/ca/pcs
© 2019 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a Ontario limited liability partnership. All rights reserved. 648027 1019
10 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
FORTY UNDER 40 GALA
B
usiness in Vancouver celebrates B.C.’s brightest young business leaders at its annual Forty under 40 awards gala. The awards highlight the achievements of the province’s young entrepreneurs, executives and professionals, selecting 40 who have demonstrated excellence in business, judgment, leadership and community contribution. The event celebrating this year’s crop of winners is slated for January 30, 2020, at the Westin Bayshore. Earlier this year, BIV honoured the 2018 Forty under 40 winners at Vancouver Convention Centre. The event was MCed by Dan Burritt and Anita Bathe of CBC Vancouver and featured an array of notable B.C.-based business owners and entrepreneurs. The event began with a cocktail reception followed by dinner and then the night’s award presentations. The evening concluded with after-dinner drinks and celebratory photos of the class of 2018 winners. For more information about the upcoming gala honouring the 2019 winners, go to: biv.com/ forty-under-40.
Kirk LaPointe (right), editor-in-chief of Business in Vancouver and vice-president, editorial, of Glacier Media, congratulates Amit Patel (left), vice-president and general manager of Turner Construction Co., and his family on his Forty under 40 win
The winners of the 2018 Forty under 40 awards
PHOTOGRAPHY: CHUNG CHOW
| 11
Clayton Jones (right), partner at Fasken, presents Jasmine Byrne, vice-president of Big Mountain Foods Ltd., with an award for $5,000 worth of legal advice from Fasken
Cam Good (right), president of EO Vancouver, presents cadet inspector Jasleen Bahia with the Youth Scholarship Award
Forty under 40 gala MCs Anita Bathe and Dan Burritt from CBC Vancouver
Ravi Beech (centre), COO of Valley Acrylic Bath Ltd., with her family accepts a Forty under 40 award from John Pickersgill (right), director of marketing for Telus, at the 2018 Forty under 40 awards gala, held at the Vancouver Convention Centre
Sara Hodson, founder and president of Live Well Exercise Clinic, accepts her Forty under 40 award from Cameron Burke, managing director, technology sector, PwC
Left to right, Kiya Hushyar, Laura Pourdad, Ali Pourdad and Nancy Powroznik
Left to right, Amol Thind, Coast Capital Savings; Lois Nahirney, dnaPower Inc.; Christopher Lythgo, Business Development Bank of Canada; Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin; Gill Nairn; Forty under 40 winner Austin Nairn, World Trade Centre Vancouver; and Tony Nairn
Sana Kapadia (left), chief impact officer at Spring Activator Inc., accepts her Forty under 40 award from Leelah Dawson, dean of the British Columbia Institute of Technology School of Business
CONGRATULATIONS! CBC Vancouver is honoured to return as the exclusive broadcast partner of the BIV Top Forty Under 40 Awards. This year’s winners, represent B.C.’s future and are part of a generation at the forefront of cultivating new ideas that will make an impact in our community. Congratulations once again to this year’s accomplished winners, we look forward to covering your future achievements on CBC Vancouver News on digital, TV and radio.
— CONGRATULATIONS! BCIT Business congratulates alumni Brent Charleton, President and CEO at EnWave Corporation – Marketing Management, Entrepreneurship graduate. Our graduates launch their careers with the advantage that comes from an applied learning model that ensures they are equipped to thrive in a world of innovation. We look forward to congratulating future BCIT graduates as Business in Vancouver’s Forty under 40.
Sincerely,
Johnny Michel
Senior Managing Director CBC English Services British Columbia & Alberta
cbc.ca/bc
CBCVancouver
Congratulations info 2019 BIV Forty 1920 Ad Name: SoB BIV Partnership Media: Business in Vancouver Forty Under 40 Under 40 winners PO#: A20-0089B You’re innovators. Role models. You’re specs from Size: 1/4 pg, magazine ad, request contributing to BC’s success in business Chris Wilson and making a difference in our community. Colour: CMYK You’re the frontrunners of change, creating opportunities and meeting the business Comments: sponsor message demands of tomorrow, today. Artwork Deadline: Nov 04 2019 We’re proud sponsors of Forty Under 40 and honoured that PwC Canada’s own Robert Coard, Partner and BC Region Industries Leader, is part of this year’s distinguished winners. On behalf of everyone at PwC Canada, congratulations!
Jim McGuigan Managing Partner, BC Region PwC Canada © 2019 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, a Ontario limited liability partnership. All rights reserved. 648027 1019
| 13
2019
ADIL AHAMED
Managing director and co-owner, Destination Auto Group
AGE
37
A
s ma nag i ng d i rector a nd coowner of Destination Auto Group, Adil Ahamed has led his family’s automotive business through a major organizational restructuring, increased revenues by 63% and vehicle sales by 42% in 2018, guided the buildout and opening of two new dealerships and hiked staff from 275 to 410. “My greatest career achievement was setting in place a cultural paradigm shift in our organization to attract talent, which led to the professionalization of our management team and a greater focus on innovation and open communication,” said Ahamed. With his National Automobile Deal ers Association general manager and finance training, Ahamed and his team have integrated numerous innovations at the award-winning five-dealership auto group. This includes developing a predictive index tool to identify the right people for the right roles, two proprietary sales foundation training and sales manager training courses, and a key performance indicator-based meeting guide for managers. “Generally, people don’t like going to car dealerships,” he said. “My greatest passion is finding ways to create better value for our guests by redefining the car buying and servicing experience.” Before joining Destination in 2012, Ahamed gained experience working in microfinance for four years with the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance in Switzerland and Tajikistan and managing projects in other countries. He spent two years in the equities operations division at Goldman Sachs in New York. “I believed that a general business perspective would best prepare me to work alongside automotive industry professionals to challenge traditional
Birthplace: Long Beach, California Where you live now: North Vancouver Highest level of education: MBA finance and
real estate, Columbia Business School; BA economics, Cornell University
Currently reading: The Messy Middle:
Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture by Scott Belsky; and Navy SEAL Mental Toughness: A Guide To Developing An Unbeatable Mind by Chris Lambertsen
Currently listening to: Audiobooks: Start
with Why by Simon Sinek; and Trillion Dolla
CHUNG CHOW
thinking, introduce new ideas and drive sustainable change that would best address the fast-changing needs of our clientele,” he said. A fellow of the Aga Khan Foundation Canada’s International Microfinance and Microenterprise program and an executive member of the Young Presidents Organization B.C. chapter, Ahamed also serves on several boards and committees, including as a board member for Lift Philanthropy Partners.
“MY GREATEST PASSION IS FINDING WAYS TO CREATE BETTER VALUE FOR OUR GUESTS BY REDEFINING THE CAR BUYING AND SERVICING EXPERIENCE”
California
Birthplace: Long Beach,
Developing an Unbeatable Mind by Chris Lambertsen
Profession you would most like to try: An architect in New York
Where you live now: North
Currently listening to:
Toughest business or professional decision: Turning
Vancouver
Highest level of education: MBA,
finance and real estate, Columbia Business School; BA, economics, Cornell University
Currently reading: The Messy
Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture by Scott Belsky; and Navy SEAL Mental Toughness: A Guide to
Audiobooks: Start with Why by Simon Sinek; and Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Playbook of Silicon Valley’s Bill Campbell by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg and Alan Eagle. Music: Coldplay and Wu-Tang Clan
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Doctor. My mother, grandmother and at least eight other relatives are doctors
down an offer at Deutsche Bank in New York to work in its real estate banking group and returning to Vancouver to join the family business
Advice you would give the younger you: Acknowledge that
there are only 24 hours in the day, express gratitude to your colleagues more often, respect your family and read more books
What’s left to do: Raise my
two young boys (and third on the way in 2020) with my incredibly talented wife, grow our business and enable the professional growth of my Destination colleagues, disrupt the auto industry and be a better Canadian and global citizen
14 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
KYLE BARKER Co-founder and CEO, Cryptek Labs
AGE
38
C
an artificial intelligence and big data be balanced with consumers’ increasing concerns for privacy and ethical treatment of said data? For Kyle Barker, it’s not only possible – it’s an opportunity. Barker is co-founder and CEO of Cryptek Labs, which specializes in datadriven performance marketing by using technology such as real-time voicesentiment analysis to reach customers for client firms. The technology, which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning, can appear daunting to some people, but Barker said it can open the door to consumers who want to feel empowered about how their data is used. “A lot of people have bad connotations with marketing; and, to be fair, data has been misused or mishandled out there,” Barker said. “So for myself, working with predictive behavioural targeting, I see this opportunity to turn this entire digital marketing ecosystem – currently built on the exploitation of data – on its head.” The key, he said, is the use of technology like voice-sentiment analysis to determine a person’s willingness to share certain data. Along with the use of blockchain to decentralize the data collected and the participation of companies that want to be ethical stewards of information, a new model where consumers choose what data to share – and with whom – can be achieved. “If decentralized through blockchain, this can empower end-users to decide what pieces of information you want to share with what advertisers, which customizes your experience,” Barker said. “But it can also mean that the money that’s used to target you personally can come back to you.… It can be a passive income generator if you decide to share certain things like location metadata for
Birthplace: Vancouver Where you live now: White Rock Highest level of education:
Master’s degree, business. Microsoft certified systems engineer
Currently reading: Scaling Up:
How a Few Companies Make It ... and Why the Rest Don’t by Verne Harnish
Currently listening to: Podcasts.
Always trying to glean wisdom from diverse perspectives, from financial policy and economic
CHUNG CHOW
a fee to specific companies.” The key, Barker noted, is allowing computers to become “emotionally intelligent,” with the ability to read verbal and non-verbal cues. “You can actually process a person’s emotions without the words … the tone, the pitch, the cadence. There are all these methodic systems that reveal the intent and emotions behind the words, so you can encapsulate meaning and therefore [provide] a better customer experience.”
analysis to Tony Robbins to Eckhart Tolle
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Retired. When I was seven, I
“I SEE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO TURN THIS ENTIRE DIGITAL MARKETING ECOSYSTEM – CURRENTLY BUILT ON THE EXPLOITATION OF DATA – ON ITS HEAD”
Cryptek, I’m currently a volunteer firefighter and training to be an emergency medical responder. I’d also like to finish my pilot’s licence
asked what my grandfather did. I was told he was retired, which I assumed was a career. Gardening, baking and beach time. It seemed like the best gig in town (which I still believe)
Toughest business or professional decision: Staying
Profession you would most like to try: Everything. I have
Advice you would give the younger you: It isn’t what you do
an insatiable desire to learn as much as possible. For example, in addition to my work with
true to my vision and values, which included stepping away from a lucrative but incompatible business relationship
that makes you successful. You are intrinsically valuable. Stop trying to please everyone’s
expectations of you. If you view life as working for you and not against you, then everything that happens, good or bad, is preparing you for the places you’re ultimately heading. You’ll look back in amazement at how you couldn’t have planned it better yourself
What’s left to do: Apart
from all the myriad business developments, the focus is on maintaining balance in all areas of my life and spending quality time with my family
| 15
2019
PAULINA CAMERON CEO, Forum for Women Entrepreneurs
AGE
32
T
he idea for a female-focused business network came to Paulina Cameron when she was attending a lot of events as a University of British Columbia student. “All the events that I was attending, there was maybe a token female speaker on a panel –maybe,” said the CEO of the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE). She and some peers got together to envision what a conference with an allfemale lineup of speakers might look like. Three months later, 350 people attended their conference at Hotel Vancouver where all panellists, speakers and mentors were women. From there, Young Women in Business (YWiB) was born. “For a lot of young women, it was the first leadership platform they ever had,” said Cameron, who founded YWiB in 2008. Over seven to eight years, Cameron expanded YWiB from a membership base of 25 to more than 2,200 across Canada when she left in 2015. Around the time she was creating YWiB, Cameron was also completing her fast-tracked chartered accountant designation while working for KPMG full time. She spent about five yea rs w ith KPMG’s Vancouver office and was recognized with KPMG Canada’s national leadership award in 2010. “I quit KPMG cold turkey,” said Cameron, who received the Greater Vancou ver Board of Trade’s inaugural Wendy McDonald Award in 2015. “I kind of had my eyes set on something a little more diverse and a bit broader in the business community.” After freelancing for several months, Cameron joined Futurpreneur Canada. In three years as regional director for Western Canada, she oversaw the lending of about $8.8 million annually to new
Birthplace: Poland Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education: CPA,
CA designation
Currently reading: Braiding
Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer and Winners Take All:
CHUNG CHOW
small-business entrepreneurs in B.C., Alberta and Yukon, and helped raise the number of entrepreneurs supported through the organization’s financing and mentorship program by 110% annually over three years. She was also the youngest member of Futurpreneur’s national leadership team. At the start of 2019, Cameron joined FWE as its CEO. She’s looking forward to expanding the organization. “We’re really keenly focused on reaching women all across Canada.”
The Elite Charade of Changing the World by Anand Giridharadas
Currently listening to: Anything by Lizzo and Billie Eilish
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
An airline attendant
Profession you would most like to try: Running a retreat centre
with food sourced from the land
“FOR A LOT OF YOUNG WOMEN, IT WAS THE FIRST LEADERSHIP PLATFORM THEY EVER HAD”
Toughest business or professional decision: Returning
to work four months after having a baby while my husband stayed home with our two children
Advice you would give the younger you: Carving out your
own path and figuring out your own life and work flow will feel incredibly challenging and deeply rewarding. It will be worth it,
so surround yourself with the people that will be there through it with you
What’s left to do: So much, and
there is so much at stake right now. It feels like there has never been a more important time to work on issues that matter most
16 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
BRENT CHARLETON CEO, EnWave Corp.
AGE
37
B
rent Charleton heads a company valued at more than $200 million – the microwave-drying technology venture EnWave Corp. – and thanks to substantial revenue growth, he expects that initiatives he has put in place will bring it to profitability in its 2020 fiscal year. It is a starkly different career from the first one he embarked on. After growing up in North Vancouver and getting a criminology degree from Simon Fraser University, where he was captain of the university’s basketball team, Charleton was able to rely on his athletic prowess for his living. His father’s New Zealand heritage enabled him to qualify as a domestic player in the National Basketball League based in Australia and New Zealand. While he dreamed of playing for a National Basketball Association team, he told Business in Vancouver that he was realistic and about his limitations. After three and a half enjoyable years playing basketball Down Under, he reached a turning point. “I made the intelligent decision to come back and do some more schooling in business,” he said. His diploma in marketing management, with a focus on entrepreneurship, helped him get his foot in the door as a marketing co-ordinator at EnWave when it was getting off the ground. He attributes his many promotions to being able to find ways to create value for executive management and to go above and beyond to try to push the business forward. “Being a small organization, it is less difficult than a large organization to leverage up,” he said. At one point he was headhunted away
Where you live now: Port Moody, B.C.
Highest level of education:
CFA charter holder (chartered financial analyst)
Currently reading: Memos
from the Chairman by Alan C. Greenberg
Currently listening to: “Player’s Ball” by Outkast
CHUNG CHOW
by a health-care venture but, a week later, EnWave’s CEO coaxed him back with the offer of a significant promotion that would entail handling investor relations and helping raise capital. One move he made as CEO may have stemmed from his success on a basketball team: he started to reward teams of workers with bonuses for successes instead of awarding individuals. “That makes it less competitive, and we work together more synergistically,” he explained.
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Professional basketball player
Profession you would most like to try: Prime minister (half joking)
Toughest business or professional decision: My
toughest business decision was to temporarily leave EnWave Corp. to pursue a more stable position at an emerging health-
“BEING A SMALL ORGANIZATION, IT IS LESS DIFFICULT THAN A LARGE ORGANIZATION TO LEVERAGE UP”
care company. Shortly after I left, the CEO of EnWave called me and offered me the opportunity to create value in whatever role I saw fit
Advice you would give the younger you: Leaders grow
people by first growing themselves. Understand your own needs and wants, strengths and weaknesses
What’s left to do: Many things.
I’m hyper-focused on helping grow EnWave into an extremely profitable business entity and eventually attract an acquirer. I’m motivated to help my colleagues advance their careers and create lasting value. Lastly, my primary motivation is to help raise a loving and successful family with my wife
| 17
2019
RESHMA CHASKAR MEHTA
Program director, partnerships and business development, consumer health, Telus Health
AGE
38
M
ost professionals try not to take the job home with them. But for Reshma Chaskar Meh ta’s line of work, it’s actually a healthy instinct. As program director, partnerships and business development, at Telus Health, the 38-year-old says her dayto-day duties can’t help but influence her personal life. “It has built a much greater awareness of prioritizing my own health and well-being. If you can’t be healthy and present with the people around you, you can’t do much either in the workplace or the family,” said Chaskar Meh ta, the mother of two young children. “For me it’s just every day finding those opportunities so we can marry the human side of health care with the great advances in technology and really bring solutions that are going to make a difference for Canadians.” Outside of Telus she’s been pursuing health initiatives in her own time and has served on the regional advisory board of Starlight Children’s Founda tion, an organization dedicated to bettering the lives of seriously ill children. Before she joined Telus, she kicked off her career working for business services firm Accenture PLC as an analyst in the mid-2000s. She worked her way up to a manager role and in the ensuing decade helped build a business and IT strategy for a Canadian utility with more than $6 billion in annual revenue. At Accenture Chaskar Mehta was recognized in the top 5% of analysts and consultants, receiving the distinction of being one of 10 management consultants selected in North America for Accenture’s master of business administration scholarship. While she had the chance to travel and work in Canada, the U.S. and
Birthplace: Pune, India Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education:
Master of business administration (with distinction)
Currently reading: Being Mortal:
Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande
ROB KRUYT
South A merica, the pu rsu it of a n MBA also brought her to graduate business school INSEAD in France and Singapore. Born in Africa, Chaskar Mehta said her lifetime of travel has given her a global outlook. After moving to Telus she helped launch the telecom giant’s Babylon by Telus Health service – a mobile app offering everything from artificial- intelligence-powered symptom checking to one-on-one virtual consultations.
Currently listening to: “Beautiful People” by Ed Sheeran, featuring Khalid When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
A lawyer
Profession you would most like to try: An international diplomat Toughest business or professional decision: Leaving
a role managing a large team in
“IF YOU CAN’T BE HEALTHY AND PRESENT WITH THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU, YOU CAN’T DO MUCH EITHER IN THE WORKPLACE OR THE FAMILY”
an established business unit to take on a single contributor role in a brand new unit. I knew it would be the better path longer term, and it also taught me the important skill of leading not by formal authority but through trust and relationships
Advice you would give the younger you: Prioritize your own health and well-being – whether you’ve just landed your first job
or you’re running a corporation, wellness has got to be a priority in the workplace
What’s left to do: Raise my two children to achieve their full potential, travel the world, build a lasting legacy
18 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
ROBERT COARD Partner, PwC
AGE
39
W
hen PwC offered Robert Coard a career-advancing opportunity in London, England, he initially didn’t want to go, but gave in to the idea. Two and a half years later, when he was offered a job that would bring him back to B.C., he didn’t want to leave. “I really didn’t want to go overseas but I was really encouraged to do it,” he said of the offer to take the London job. “I had some really strong encouragement from one of my mentors at the firm.” After high school, Coard worked full time during the day, selling cars with Carter Auto Group, while going to school at night to earn a bachelor of administration degree from Simon Fraser University. After graduating in 2004, he went to work for PwC, where he earned his chartered accountant designation. In 2010, he took the London job. The first six months overseas were rough, he said. “I was a kid from North Burnaby. I go over to London, I’m working with guys, and they’re all from Oxford and Cambridge – British blueblood. It was the first time I felt like a fish out of water. “I got to work with some really worldclass people and clients. I never expected that I would have been sitting in London next to a member of the Rothschild family working on financial things with them,” he said. His clients in London included the Economist magazine and Wimbledon Championships organization. When he was asked by the firm to return to Canada, he was reluctant to leave. But, again, based on advice from mentors, he returned to Canada, where he now has a wife and two young children, and one more on the way.
Birthplace: Vancouver Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education:
Bachelor of business administration, Simon Fraser University
Currently reading: Talking to
Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell
Currently listening to:
“Nevermind” by Dennis Lloyd
CHUNG CHOW
When PwC was looking to expand its satellite office in Surrey he was put in charge, and over the next three years he doubled the office’s head count and revenues. He was also responsible for introducing a new hiring model. He worked with universities, industry organizations and other firms to change the recruitment model. The result is that it is now easier to recruit good prospects. In 2015, Coard was made a partner.
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: I grew up watching detective
shows, so I always wanted to be a police officer
Profession you would most like to try: Commercial pilot Toughest business or professional decision: The
decision to move back to Canada after working in the U.K. for a few years
“I NEVER EXPECTED THAT I WOULD HAVE BEEN SITTING IN LONDON NEXT TO A MEMBER OF THE ROTHSCHILD FAMILY WORKING ON FINANCIAL THINGS WITH THEM”
Advice you would give the younger you: I had a mentor who
encouraged me to do things earlier and sooner than I would otherwise have thought – taking the leap on things before you might be ready, getting out of the comfort zone before it’s too late. I sometimes wish I had known that earlier in my career and I may have tried new things sooner
What’s left to do: At some
point, live and work abroad again, spend more time in the community giving back to those causes that need support the most, and mentor more young professionals as they start their careers
| 19
2019
CHERYL D’SA
Managing partner, Narwal Litigation LLP
AGE
39
T
o all women on professional career paths – such as the legal field – with heavy workloads and long hours, Cheryl D’Sa has a simple advice: “Allow yourself to change your mind.” D’Sa, managing partner at Narwal Litigation LLP and president of the Vancouver Bar Association, is very active as a mentor to law students and female attorneys who are constantly facing questions of balancing life and work – particularly in cases where starting a family becomes part of the consideration. D’Sa, who often speaks to female professionals about her experiences as a working mom in the high-pressure setting of civil litigation, said the key is for women to not put too much pressure on themselves to conform to norms and expectations – particularly their own expectations. “Sometimes, I find a lot of the stress can be just that your previous goals and current goals are different,” D’Sa said. “So allow yourself to change as you experience new things.” In many ways, D’Sa’s dedication to mentoring other women in the professional field comes from her own experiences. She recalled her love of children initially driving her desire to become a pediatrician, but then falling in love with law and pursuing the path to her current success. But her decision to follow law didn’t mean she forgot about her desire to have a family – even before she got married in 2012. “For me, in terms of trying to do things with women coming into law was that, it was more when I started to think about, ‘Well, down the road, I think I want to have kids. But I really like law. How is that going to work?’ I myself was facing those questions … and I didn’t know where I
Birthplace: Vancouver Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education: UBC Law LLB/JD, 2007
Currently reading: PAW Patrol! It’s every PAW Patrol book; I’m reading with my son
CHUNG CHOW
would go with these questions.” D’Sa added she has been lucky to have many supportive people in her life, including her husband and the entire team at Narwal, as well as opposing attorneys, judges and court officials. That support has spurred her to take active roles with groups such as the Trial Lawyers Association of BC, Canadian Bar Association BC and the Business of Law Committee, at the same time balancing the care for a young son.
Currently listening to: I love everything from the ’90s. I’m a massive Backstreet Boys fan When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Pediatrician, but I didn’t like Chemistry 11
Profession you would most like to try: Nothing really. I’m
probably pretty lucky that way
“SOMETIMES, I FIND A LOT OF THE STRESS CAN BE JUST THAT YOUR PREVIOUS GOALS AND CURRENT GOALS ARE DIFFERENT. SO ALLOW YOURSELF TO CHANGE AS YOU EXPERIENCE NEW THINGS”
Toughest business or professional decision: Trying to
juggle family and work. Every day, there are elements of challenges – but there are also huge elements of reward. So it’s also the best thing
Advice you would give the younger you: Just keep going
What’s left to do: A lot of people
ask me that, but I’m not entirely sure. And the reason is my son is now transitioning into fulltime school, and I want to be available for that. Once he’s fully transitioned into school, then I feel like I can think about further goals
20 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
2017 FORTY UNDER 40 WINNERS Arif Abdulla Luke Aulin Pepe Barajas Alexa Blain Natalie Boll Dave Brett John Bromley Devon Brooks Sarah Bundy Chastity Davis Marko Dekovic Christopher Derickson Susan Dolinski Daryl Ee Brian French Carter Gilchrist Suzanne Gildert William Granleese Genesa Greening Matthew Gruben
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usiness in Vancouver produces many events each year that recognize the achievements of top talent in our business community, discuss topics and issues relevant to you and provide opportunities to network and cultivate new business relationships. Some of our annual events include: • Forty under 40 Awards • Influential Women in Business Awards • BC Export Awards • BC CEO Awards • BC CFO Awards • Business Excellence Series
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events
| 21
2019
ZAHRA ESMAIL
Executive director, South Vancouver Neighbourhood House and Marpole Neighbourhood House
AGE
37
I
n this hectic, fast-changing world, many of us tend to lose our broad perspective, focusing narrowly on the bottom line. That’s not the case for Zahra Esmail, who has staked her career on creating an impact that goes beyond the income statement to having a positive influence on her community and the people in it. Esmail left her first job as an administrative assistant to study international development at the University of Ottawa because she felt she wasn’t contributing anything valuable at her office job. Usually when people assess value in the context of their career, they’re referring to shareholder value or their personal level of compensation, but that is not the value that she is necessarily trying to achieve. For Esmail, money has never been the biggest motivator. The value she is looking to create can’t necessarily be quantified in dollars and cents. To her, helping a community thrive is in a way much more tangible than money. “All the money in the bank wouldn’t be enough for me to feel like I was spending my time in the way that I want to,” Esmail said. Currently, Esmail serves as executive director of South Vancouver Neighbour hood House and Marpole Neighbour hood House, where she has revamped the formula for what neighbourhoodhouse charities can accomplish. Esmail has a long history of helping others, and the vision she has for Vancouver has evolved from her work around the world including in Haiti, Ethiopia and the Philippines. Her experiences made her realize the importance of contributing to her community – and also of ensuring that the people in that community have a say in the work being done. “When I was overseas, I was very
Birthplace: Calgary Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education:
Master’s in globalization and international development
ROB KRUYT
uncomfortable with the power I held because I could see that me having that power was disempowering people in the community,” she said. “If change is going to be sustainable, there has to be buy-in, engagement and leadership from local communities, and that’s what led me to the neighbourhood-house movement.” The neighbourhood-house association aims to gain input from the local community on how best to build healthy and engaged neighbourhoods.
“ALL THE MONEY IN THE BANK WOULDN’T BE ENOUGH FOR ME TO FEEL LIKE I WAS SPENDING MY TIME IN THE WAY THAT I WANT TO”
Currently reading: The Sudden
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Currently listening to: “Mere
Profession you would most like to try: Pilot
Disappearance of Seetha by Andrea Gunraj
Rashke Qamar” by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
Dancer
Toughest business or professional decision: Dealing with decreases in funding
Advice you would give the younger you: Try everything once What’s left to do: Stabilize
Marpole Neighbourhood House and make it shine
22 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
ASHLEY FREEBORN Co-owner, Smash + Tess
AGE
37
A
shley Freeborn had long dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur but it was not until the summer of 2014 when she became determined to make that dream a reality. She had enrolled in the Condé Nast College of Fashion & Design in London for a three-month course that summer and was inspired to return to Vancouver and put together the business plan for what would become Smash + Tess. She is the Smash in that name, while her mother, co-founder Teresa Freeborn, is the Tess. The duo put plans in place and designed and produced their company’s line of rompers – comfortable one-piece fashions for women. “I was very out of my comfort zone,” she told Business in Vancouver. “If you’d asked me 10 years ago, I would have never thought I would have been an entrepreneur.” Her father, she said, had drilled into her the importance of going to university and getting a secure job, and she took that advice to heart. She completed bachelor of arts, bachelor of education and master of education degrees at Simon Fraser University. That led to more than a decade of teaching in School District No. 43 in Coquitlam. Indeed, she continued teaching when she co-founded Smash + Tess. She left that job to work from Vancouver for California-based Xceed Financial Credit Union, overseeing the credit union’s loan portfolio and then teaching staff. “It wasn’t that Smash + Tess was a hobby,” she said. “I probably could have quit the corporate world a long time before I did, but I’m extremely conservative, and I needed to make sure that my cash flow would be good. I didn’t want to take the risk because being an entrepreneur was not something that
Birthplace: Richmond, B.C. Where you live now: Vancouver and Los Angeles
Highest level of education:
Master’s in education from Simon Fraser University
Currently reading: What
Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love by Carole Radziwill
CHUNG CHOW
was ingrained in me.” Annual revenue now exceeds $10 million, and she is aiming to increase that to the $15 million range next year thanks in part to a partnership with Corus Entertainment to make rompers that incorporate images of Sesame Street characters. She has been recognized as a finalist at the 2017 Mompreneur Awards, in the Startup category. She was also a finalist at the 2019 YWCA Women of Distinction Awards.
Currently listening to: Khalid or Van Morrison. Depends on my mood When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
A singer or a fashion designer. One of those things I am; the other I am as well – but maybe just alone in my car
“I WAS VERY OUT OF MY COMFORT ZONE. IF YOU’D ASKED ME 10 YEARS AGO, I WOULD HAVE NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD HAVE BEEN AN ENTREPRENEUR”
Profession you would most like to try: Author. I wrote a children’s
Advice you would give the younger you: To never be afraid
Toughest business or professional decision: To leave
What’s left to do: World
book last year. I have several book ideas. If only I could clone myself
my safe, corporate career a year and a half ago and put everything into Smash + Tess. Turns out it was the right decision
to take the leap; all of the best learning happens when we are thrown off balance
domination – one romper at a time
| 23
2019
HANNA GOLOTA Chief operating officer, Globalme
AGE
38
S
tarting a technology company is no easy feat for most young entrepreneurs. But Hanna Golota’s launch of her tech startup, Globalme, was even tougher than most, entailing as it did setting up shop in a new country, whose official language was not her first. B efore i m m ig rat i ng to Ca n ad a, Golota had left her native Poland for an opportunity to go to school in the U.S. She remained in the U.S. for four years while she completed her master’s degree. During that time she got the idea for Globalme. With help from her husband, Golota began developing her business in the United States. But they ran into a roadblock because their immigration status prevented them from being self-employed in the U.S. Once again Golota had to set out to a new land in search of opportunity, and she and her husband decided to look north of the 49th parallel. While Canada would provide the chance for Golota to continue with her business goals, she was faced with another constraint – money. She figured she had six months to get Globalme off the ground or she’d have to search for other work in Canada. As it turned out, she never had to resort to Plan B. Globalme, which pioneered software to help businesses expand globally through data collection, localization and testing, became a success. The company allows clients to tailor their products and online presence to the unique linguistic, technical and cultural needs of different markets across the globe. “W hen the tra nslation i ndustr y was transforming from paper into digital, there was a lack of resources
Birthplace: Warsaw, Poland Where you live now: Downtown Vancouver
Highest level of education: MBA Currently reading: The Coaching Habit: Say Less, Ask More & Change the Way You Lead
CHUNG CHOW
in North America that could do that localization QA [quality assurance] testing,” said Golota. “And that’s how we started.” While it was important for Golota to make her business idea a success, her overarching dream was to work at a place that made her excited to get out of bed in the morning. She decided to create it herself in Globalme, a space where she is surrounded by people who inspire each other to be their best, she said.
“WHEN THE TRANSLATION INDUSTRY WAS TRANSFORMING FROM PAPER INTO DIGITAL, THERE WAS A LACK OF RESOURCES IN NORTH AMERICA THAT COULD DO THAT ... [QUALITY ASSURANCE] TESTING. AND THAT’S HOW WE STARTED”
Forever by Michael Bungay Stanier
Profession you would most like to try: Human resources
Currently listening to: Health
Toughest business or professional decision: Deciding
podcasts
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Singer
what the next step for Globalme is
Advice you would give the younger you: Treat your life
like a project. Plan it and set milestones. Learn new skills every year. In 10 years, you will have 10 new skills
What’s left to do: Create an
organization that helps people get an education in North America
24 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
ERIK HADLEY
Senior director, process development, Stemcell Technologies
AGE
39
F
ew things can spur success quite like a love for learning. That is particularly true for Stemcell Technologies’ senior director of process development, Erik Hadley. Ever since he was a kid, Hadley has been driven by a natural curiosity and an eagerness to learn new things. While school science projects might tend to send many children into a state of existential dread, Hadley relished the opportunity to go to the library, pick out a book on a new topic, learn a new area of study and showcase that knowledge by completing a project on his newfound insight. Hadley remembers a childhood phase when he became fascinated by optical illusions and how the eyes and brain can lose communication with each other. That childhood interest foreshadowed his future in science. “Getting into science was just a natural curiosity for me. It was never something I thought of turning into a career,” said Hadley. “I remember asking a science teacher what he thought I would be good at; he suggested I go into science. That was the spark that led me into it, and then I just followed my curiosity from there.” Hadley, a trained chemist, did not shy away from a career in biology or fear becoming overwhelmed by the work needed to learn a new field of study and its associated terminology. Rather, he saw it as an opportunity to learn and continue his education. In fact, that’s part of what attracted Hadley to Stemcell Technologies in the first place. For Hadley, simply punching in every day to perfect his expertise was not an option. The opportunity to be a chemist in a biologist’s world would provide the excitement and opportunity for growth that he sought.
Birthplace: North Vancouver Where you live now: Kitsilano Currently reading: Educated by
Tara Westover
CHUNG CHOW
That love of learning and the collaborative scientific environment are what make Hadley such a good fit at Stemcell Technologies, which describes itself as “scientists helping scientists.” In his current role, Hadley works with other scientists to help them scale the products they develop so that they can reach a greater audience. As a former research and development scientist, Hadley approaches his role as senior director of process development through that lens.
“GETTING INTO SCIENCE WAS JUST A NATURAL CURIOSITY FOR ME. IT WAS NEVER SOMETHING I THOUGHT OF TURNING INTO A CAREER”
Currently listening to: Beastie Boys, Intergalactic
Profession you would most like try: ER doctor
Advice you would give the younger you: Keep pursuing what
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Toughest business or professional decision: Switching
What’s left to do: Keep learning
Hockey player
from R&D to operations
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26 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
JANIE HUNGERFORD Principal, Hungerford Salter Interior Design
AGE
38
I
t’s hard to determine what aspect of Janie Hungerford’s life stands out more: her successful career as a leading interior designer or her extensive philanthropy work in Metro Vancouver. For Hungerford – who lives with dyslexia, a learning disorder that makes it difficult to relate speech sounds to the written word – the idea of giving back to the community in areas of need is especially meaningful because she herself has gone through challenges presented to her because of her condition. “I am a dyslexic, and my daughter is as well,” Hungerford said. “Having gone through a challenging childhood and coming out of it a better person – more empathic and more determined – and then seeing my daughter go through that struggle, I really felt compelled to give back and help less fortunate children that don’t have the financial capacity to have specific tutoring that helps with people with dyslexia.” A mong Hu ngerford’s volu nteering portfolio are contributions to groups like the BC Learning Centres for Children with Dyslexia and Kids Help Phone’s Homes for the Holidays program. But also on the list is Hungerford’s role as a committee member for the BC Cancer Foundation Inspiration Gala. “I think you need to lead by example and pay it forward,” Hungerford said. “I have a busy life; I have four kids. But you have to make time. Because if you don’t make time, you are not really contributing to your community in a way that makes it better for the next generation. I want my kids to see what I’m doing, and I want them to do it too when they are older, or even now.” Hungerford’s passion for art and design took her to New York’s prestig ious Parsons School of Design, Birthplace: Vancouver Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education: AAS
in interior design at Parsons School of Design (interior design degree), BA (with honours) in film studies at Queen’s University
Currently reading: As someone
who lives with dyslexia, I am so lucky to live in the age of audiobooks. Next on my list is No Hard Feelings: The Secret Power
ROB KRUYT
where she absorbed influences that would later inform her work as principal with Hungerford Salter Interior Design. Hungerford’s projects in the luxury commercial and residential fields have won her multiple Georgie awards since 2010. And while Hungerford credits her success partly to her ability to clearly visualize designs customized to individual spaces, the most important part, she says, is listening carefully to the needs of each customer.
of Embracing Emotions at Work by Liz Fosslien and Mollie West Duffy
Currently listening to: Whatever my kids have on. We like to sing along with lyrics on YouTube. Lady Gaga and Adele are up there on the list!
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
An artist
“I THINK YOU NEED TO LEAD BY EXAMPLE AND PAY IT FORWARD.... YOU HAVE TO MAKE TIME. BECAUSE IF YOU DON’T MAKE TIME, YOU ARE NOT REALLY CONTRIBUTING TO YOUR COMMUNITY IN A WAY THAT MAKES IT BETTER FOR THE NEXT GENERATION”
Profession you would most like to try: Fashion design Toughest business or professional decision:
Restructuring to include a partner in my practice and, in order to ensure this was financially feasible, moving from my home office to a rental office space. The increased overhead was scary but so beneficial (and perhaps crucial) to my business and its growth
Advice you would give the younger you: Surround yourself
with great people with the right attitude and values. Then pay them well. Build your team not with the goal of filling positions, but rather creating positions for people who are the right fit when you discover them
What’s left to do: Continue
growing as a business, a person and an employer
| 27
2019
BRITTNEY KERR Principal, Earnscliffe Strategy Group
AGE
33
B
rittney Kerr remembers being in a library in Grade 5, when she showed her mother a book about Canada’s prime ministers and told her that she wanted to check out the book. “My mum was really surprised and she didn’t recognize her daughter,” Kerr said. “Politics did not run in my family.” Kerr said that even when she was young she identified as a “progressive centrist.” As one of the Liberal Party of Canada’s five co-chairs in the recent election campaign, Kerr has since reached some of the highest heights in behind-thescenes politics. She told Business in Vancouver that she does not intend to run for office, as it is the back rooms where she thrives. Born in Vancouver and raised in Port Coquitlam, Kerr went to the University of British Columbia directly after high school, and she completed a bachelor of arts degree in psychology. She did not join the Liberal party until she was close to completing her degree, in 2009, when she got active in the party’s women’s commission. A couple of years later she started graduate studies at Simon Fraser Uni versity in the School of Public Policy. Her focus was on how to develop, analyze and implement public policy. It was training that would become useful in 2015, when Prime Minister Justin Tru deau – she had been volunteering for him since 2012, before he launched his bid to lead the party – asked her to work in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) as his top adviser from B.C. In that role, she advised Trudeau, his ministers and senior government leaders on policy. She left the job in 2017 to give birth to son Everett Kerr-Smith and spend more time with husband Michael Smith. Birthplace: Vancouver Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education:
Bachelor of arts, psychology
Currently reading: Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
ROB KRUYT
Kerr founded Kerr Advisory – a strategic communications and public policy company that she later sold to Earns cliffe Strategy Group, a company that she had been working at as an account director before she joined the PMO. Now the youngest shareholder at Earnscliffe, Kerr manages employees and contributes to marketing and internal communications as well as corporate governance. She and Smith are expecting their second child.
Currently listening to: The song “Baby Shark” is on repeat at our house When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
A White Spot waitress
“START BY SHOWING UP. IT’S THAT EASY. AND THEN WORK REALLY, REALLY, REALLY HARD”
Profession you would most like to try: Tuscan cycling tour guide Toughest business or professional decision: Uprooting my family to Ottawa to serve in the Prime Minister’s Office
Advice you would give the younger you: Start by showing
up. It’s that easy. And then work really, really, really hard
What’s left to do: I’m just getting started
28 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
VERA KOBALIA
Board director, Sandstorm Gold Royalties; member, Global Future Council on Development Finance, World Economic Forum
AGE
38
W
anting to help rebuild her home country pulled Vera Kobalia back to Georgia nearly a decade ago. “I always had attachment to my home country,” said Kobalia, who came to Vancouver as a teenager after the collapse of the Soviet Union. After the Russo-Georgian War in 2008, Kobalia said, many in the Georgian diaspora returned to the former Soviet republic to contribute to its redevelopment. “That’s how the idea to start a nonprofit organization in Georgia came about,” said Kobalia, whose non-profit helped refugees and internally displaced people assert their legal rights. Her work garnered the attention of Georgia’s then ruling party, which offered her a n appoi nted cabi net position. “T he realization came that if the economy’s growing and people are doing better today, then they can start thinking about other things like human rights,” said Kobalia, who served the country as minister of economy and sustainable development from 2010 to 2012. During her tenure, Kobalia helped negotiate open-skies and free-trade agreements with the European Union. She also oversaw major infrastructure projects, including the construction of the country’s second-largest airport. “For the first two years, no one would believe me that this project would be profitable or this project would even work at all. But now it’s the most visited airport in Georgia,” Kobalia said. “I guess the lesson there is just to be persistent if you believe in something.” Kobalia later spent a year as an economic and foreign policy adviser to Georgia’s president.
Birthplace: Sokhumi, Georgia Where you live now: New Westminster
Highest level of education:
Information technology management, British Columbia Institute of Technology
Currently reading: Writing a
travel guide on Georgia, so reading a lot of related materials. Also reading: The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark and America and Americans
ROB KRUYT
Her experiences in economic development have led to consultancy opportunities with governments and organizations such as the World Bank. She is a young global leader with the World Economic Forum and is a member of its Global Future Council on Development Finance. She also serves as a board director of Sandstorm Gold Royalties and is an economic development advisory committee member for the City of New Westminster.
collection of stories by John Steinbeck
Currently listening to: Hive Mind
by the Internet. Hollywood Africans by Jon Batiste
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: An author (of fiction) or a detective
Profession you would most like to try: A few years ago I realized
that in today’s decentralized world you can wear more than one hat successfully. So I am
“THE LESSON THERE IS JUST TO BE PERSISTENT IF YOU BELIEVE IN SOMETHING”
working on a few unrelated ventures. One of them – a book publisher. Publishing a nonfiction book on Georgia. A first in a series of travel guides on post-Soviet countries
Toughest business or professional decision: Making
the leap to self-employment and running my own business. There is a lot of comfort in a monthly paycheque at a secure job/profession. You lose it when going into self-employment/ startup. But what you gain,
ownership over your time and opportunity to turn your dreams into reality, is worth it
Advice you would give the younger you: Surround yourself with smart people. Don’t be afraid to hire people that are smarter than you. Luckily I realized that early on
What’s left to do: It’s a never-
ending list. Just wish there was more time to do it all
| 29
2019
MATTHEW LEWIS President, Braidy Corp.
AGE
39
M
atthew Lewis bought his first company in 2012 at the age of 32. He still owns it, along with three other companies, including one in the U.K. Unlike other equity investment firms, Lewis’ company, Braidy Corp., doesn’t believe in the “buy, squeeze and flip” model. “Buy, hold and grow” is his motto – one that appears to be paying dividends. “We started with revenues of several million dollars and it is now grown approximately five and a half times that,” Lewis said. Born in Alberta and raised in the L ower Ma i n la nd, L ew is ea rned a bachelor of commerce degree from the University of Victoria and then went to work for Roynat Capital, a small merchant bank subsidiary of Scotiabank, starting as an intern and working his way up to associate director. It was his job to find companies that needed financing. In 2012, he decided to strike off on his own and bought his first business – TrendTex Fabrics in Port Coquitlam. “I mortgaged my house to buy my first company,” said Lewis, who is married with three young children. In 2016, he bought Richmond-based Custom Paper, followed by Menzies Metal Products in Surrey. This year, he acquired a company in the U.K. that is in the same business as TrendTex Fabrics, and has integrated the two companies to realize $1 million in increased profits from economies of scale and operational efficiencies. Typically, in a succession, a founder can sell his business to a competitor or a private equity firm. In either case, the business may get cut up or changed in ways that can negatively affect employees, customers and the founder’s
Birthplace: Edmonton Where you live now: South Surrey
Highest level of education:
Bachelor of commerce degree, University of Victoria
Currently reading: Principles by Ray Dalio and The Berenstain Bears
ROB KRUYT
legacy. Lewis may make some minor changes to the business to improve profitability, but for the most part he tries not to overfix something that isn’t broken. “It doesn’t align with me to just buy, squeeze and flip,” he said. “You’re not actually creating any value. You’re just being transactional – cutting up pieces and profiting for a short-term gain. That doesn’t feel like long-term value creation. That doesn’t really jibe with who I am.”
“IT DOESN’T ALIGN WITH ME TO JUST BUY, SQUEEZE AND FLIP”
Currently listening to: Dallas Smith and Dean Brody
career for the uncertainty of business ownership
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Advice you would give the younger you: Purposefully listen
Professional skier
Profession you would most like to try: F1 team owner Toughest business or professional decision: Leaving the certainty of a corporate
to the founders and managers of each business you acquire. You will gain a deeper understanding of their legacy, the business they have built and the future opportunities
What’s left to do: In the
immediate future, it’s five days on the warship HMCS Calgary for the Canadian Leaders at Sea program. More generally, it’s continuing to acquire great companies and managing them for long-term growth
30 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
DERRICK LI
Executive director, corporate services, Coast Mountain Bus Co.
AGE
37
A
mong Derrick Li’s accomplishments is work completed after TransLink’s then interim CEO, Doug Allen, in 2014 appointed the then 32-year-old Li to be on a five-member core-service review panel that helped steer the transportation authority’s strategic direction. “During that time, we almost felt that we didn’t want to say that we worked at TransLink, as morale was down,” he said. “That’s probably the most instrumental thing in my career as it helped shape the current TransLink, which is now seen in a positive light.” After graduating from Terry Fox Secondary School, Li attended Simon Fraser University, where he completed a bachelor of business administration, with a specialty in accounting. After four co-op terms at BDO Canada, the accounting firm gave him a job as an auditor. He soon realized that his love was enterprise risk management, so he moved to the TransLink subsidiary Coast Mountain Bus Co. as enterprise risk and capital manager in 2008, reporting directly to the CFO and the company’s board of directors. Promotions followed. Last year Li became an active member of TransLink’s investment-plan steering committee, which would help win the Mayors’ Coun cil on Regional Transportation’s approval of the second phase of TransLink’s $7.3 billion 10-year transportation plan. Outside work, Li is involved with Vancouver’s Lean Sensei International – an organization that teaches principles based on manufacturing methods pioneered decades ago by Toyota Motor Corp. In 2016, Li was awarded a gold medal for top performance by Lean Sensei International. He was also recognized in
Birthplace: Pictou, Nova Scotia
ROB KRUYT
2014 as one of the global Institute of In ternal Auditors’ top 20 emerging leaders, based on professionalism, leadership, certifications, advocacy, community service and innovation. Li, who has a child with autism spectrum disorder, has volunteered for autism advocacy groups to help make it easier for those with special needs to find employment. He and his wife, Joyce, spend as much time as they can with their three children and their puppy, Momo.
“THAT’S PROBABLY THE MOST INSTRUMENTAL THING IN MY CAREER AS IT HELPED SHAPE THE CURRENT TRANSLINK, WHICH IS NOW SEEN IN A POSITIVE LIGHT”
Leadership Fable by Patrick M. Lencioni
Canucks, or work in Canucks hockey analytics
Highest level of education: BBA
Currently listening to: Anything on Spotify in between “Baby Shark”
Toughest business or professional decision: Going all
Currently reading: An Early Start
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Where you live now: Fraser Heights in Surrey
from SFU, CPA and CA
for Your Child with Autism: Using Everyday Activities to Help Kids Connect, Communicate, and Learn by Sally J. Rogers; The Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A
NHL hockey player
Profession you would most like to try: Assistant GM of the
in and championing TransLink’s Lean Academy, which involved a lot of long hours and hard work but significant payback
Advice you would give the younger you: Spend time in
internal audit, where you will
be exposed to all parts of the business while interacting with all levels of management, C-suite and boards
What’s left to do: Work to
develop recruitment and retention strategies aimed at helping persons with autism meet their career goals
| 31
2019
IAN MACKINNON
Chief technology officer, co-founder, Later Media Inc.
AGE
37
I
an MacKinnon doesn’t think of himself as a startup founder first. “In my core I see myself as a software developer who started a compa ny,” sa id t he ch ief tech nolog y officer and co-founder of Later Media Inc. MacKinnon’s fascination with ones and zeros goes back to his high school days in the mid-1990s – a period in which the internet was just emerging and software “wasn’t the cool thing that it is now,” he recalls. His tech-driven career path eventually landed him an internship at Google LLC. But the idea of settling in Toronto after graduating from the University of Waterloo with a master’s degree in computer science seemed “anticlimactic” to MacKinnon. Instead, he moved to Vancouver on a whim and got involved in the startup scene, working as a developer and eventually a co-founder at a number of companies. By the time he helped launch Later – a marketing management platform for Instagram – in 2014, one startup he co-founded had already fallen by the wayside. But there were some signs that Later. com was catching on. “It was actually something small, really – it was when we had 100 daily active users,” MacKinnon said, adding that number showed there were enough people returning every day because they fou nd the platform genuinely valuable. The exact value was later put to the test when the company determined it was time to start making some money. “When we turned on paid plans, that was the ultimate decision of whether
Birthplace: Oshawa, Ontario Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education:
Master of math, computer science
Currently reading: Cribsheet: A Data-Driven Guide to Better, More Relaxed Parenting, from Birth to Preschool by Emily Oster
ROB KRUYT
we were providing value to people,” the 37-year-old said. “A lot of people who were used to getting something for free didn’t like that we started charging. But a lot of people started paying, and that’s when we really knew that we were providing something of value.” Today, Later has tapped more than two million brands and agencies as clients, including YouTube, NBC News and Rolling Stone.
Currently listening to: Darknet
Diaries podcast, Jack Rhysider
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Astronaut or lawyer
Profession you would most like to try: Comic Toughest business or professional decision: When my
first startup failed I had to decide
“A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO WERE USED TO GETTING SOMETHING FOR FREE DIDN’T LIKE THAT WE STARTED CHARGING. BUT A LOT OF PEOPLE STARTED PAYING, AND THAT’S WHEN WE REALLY KNEW THAT WE WERE PROVIDING SOMETHING OF VALUE”
whether to get a “real” job or not. A lot of my friends were starting to buy houses and start families so it was a hard decision to stay with startups and not go to work at some big safe company with RRSP matching
Advice you would give the younger you: It’s always better to focus on something a small number of people care deeply
about rather than something a lot of people only care marginally about
What’s left to do: Keep
growing Later.com into the world’s premier social media management platform while looking for ways to incorporate new machine learning technologies into it. I’m also going to be a dad in the new year
32 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
CHRISTINA MARCANO Founder and CEO, Silver Icing Inc.
AGE
39
E
ntrepreneurship is a path often filled with pitfalls. Christina Mar cano knows this all too well – and at times more personally than almost anyone could imagine. The founder and CEO of Silver Icing Inc., a company that has become one of the most successful social-selling clothing platforms in B.C. by focusing on empowering women, said there were times she and her family were living from paycheque to paycheque as Marcano scrambled to sort out challenges with almost all facets of the fashion business from retail and wholesale to inventory and manufacturing. The situation was especially dire around 2013 – two years after Marcano folded her first brand, Skylar Clothing, to launch Silver Icing as a new clothing line – when her manufacturing partner abruptly delayed, then cancelled, the delivery just one month ahead of the clothes’ scheduled arrival at wholesalers’ doors. But out of that experience came inspiration. Marcano had some clothing left in stock but no stores or wholesalers to sell them. She recalled there were always individual women who contacted her, wanting to sell clothing at home parties using direct sales to friends and family. Thus, Marcano put a kit together to facilitate those sales. Home sales soon prompted those individual sellers – “stylists,” as Silver Icing calls them – to ask for more, and newer, items. Marcano borrowed from her experience in the video game industry to launch pre-sales of clothing items, asking for orders from each stylist before submitting a batch order to the supplier. Eventually, these pre-sales became so popular that Silver Icing was doing one every week and moving the entire process to an online e-commerce platform.
Birthplace: Kitchener, Ontario Where you live now: South Surrey
Highest level of education:
Bachelor of arts in anthropology, University of Victoria
Currently reading: The Moment
of Lift by Melinda Gates
Currently listening to: Podcasts. And there’s one I’m listening to
ROB KRUYT
That was when the game changed. Today, Silver Icing has a large number of online stylists who sell to their individual customers. What has inspired Marcano the most is that many of these women found their entrepreneurial callings by connecting with Silver Icing, empowering them to operate a small business of their own while backed by Silver Icing’s fashion line. “Although we have a product that we sell, we are using technology to change the lives of women across Canada.”
right now called How I Built This with Guy Raz
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: I wanted to do so many
different things. There was never just one thing. I was really into photography, but I wanted to be like my dad. So I wanted to be an entrepreneur
“ALTHOUGH WE HAVE A PRODUCT THAT WE SELL, WE ARE USING TECHNOLOGY TO CHANGE THE LIVES OF WOMEN ACROSS CANADA”
Profession you would most like to try: Something that includes
photography; I think I would love being a baking blogger
Toughest business or professional decision: Making
the decision to continue when nobody else believed that we could
Advice you would give the younger you: Trust your gut and do something different
What’s left to do: Once we
feel confident that we are in a place where we can scale at a reasonable rate, then we’ll be expanding into other markets outside of Canada
| 33
2019
STEPHEN MENON Vice-president, product, Finn AI
AGE
38
S
tephen Menon’s path to becoming vice-president of product at Finn AI can’t be characterized as linear. The 38-year-old Halifax native got his start in institutional banking at MBNA America’s headquarters in Delaware as the first Canadian to take part in the organization’s management development program. The bank had designs on expanding its presence in Canada and called on Menon to help lead the initiative back in his home country. “I was not expecting that, I will be honest – I was thinking I was going to be living in Philadelphia or New York and then all of a sudden a month later I was living in Ottawa,” he said with a chuckle, adding he was grateful for having the opportunity to immerse himself in American work culture when he was in his 20s. His career at MBNA Canada allowed him to work and travel in India and the Philippines, and Menon found himself running all the bank’s call centres in Canada at one point. As history unfolded, Menon found himself working at a U.S.-owned bank undergoing drastic cost reductions in the midst of the Great Recession. The Canadian business was profitable but that didn’t stop the parent company from slashing, he recalled. By 2011 he had been recruited by TD Bank Financial Group, where he began serving as an executive right before his 30th birthday. Among the highlights during the ensuing five years on Bay Street was working as one of the strategy leads for TD’s Aeroplan launch. “One of [the largest], if not the largest, consumer product launches in the history of Canada – it was a huge deal,” Menon said. “There aren’t too many products that a million people use every
Birthplace: Halifax, Nova Scotia Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education:
Bachelor of commerce (honours)
Currently reading: The
Testaments by Margaret Atwood
ROB KRUYT
day.” While he had thought for years that corporate banking was his dream, his time on Bay Street helped him realize that may not be true. He departed TD, took time off to travel the world and decided to shift into tech. “I settled in Vancouver because it’s a people place, I missed the ocean and I knew it would force me to really focus on getting a tech job, versus in Toronto I would most likely [have] defaulted and be working at another big bank.”
Currently listening to: The
Politician soundtrack (various artists)
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Intelligence agent
“IT WAS A HUGE DEAL. THERE AREN’T TOO MANY PRODUCTS THAT A MILLION PEOPLE USE EVERY DAY”
Profession you would most like to try: Intelligence agent
Advice you would give the younger you: Make the jump
Toughest business or professional decision: Switch
What’s left to do: Help scale up/
from big finance to tech startup
sooner
grow startups, starting with the one I am at, Finn AI
34 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
CARLY MONAHAN Investment adviser, Odlum Brown Ltd.
AGE
38
I
f you are good with money and have kids involved in sports, it’s pretty much guaranteed you are going to get “volunteered” to manage your kid’s Little League team. That partly explains why Carly Mo nahan, a personal wealth adviser at Odlum Brown Ltd., and the mother of an eight-year-old son and five-yearold daughter, has logged some 1,100 hours of volunteer time over the past eight years. She sits on the board of directors for Fa m ily Ser v ices of the Nor th Shore, provides volunteer financial services for the Nature Trust of BC, has co-chaired fundraising events for the Canadian Cancer Society and has coached or managed a number of women’s and girls’ soccer and hockey teams, as well as her own son’s Little League team. She has helped raise more than $15 million for various non-profits. “I have a lot of great connections and contacts and leadership ability to lead teams, and why not lead teams to raise significant amounts of money for good causes?” Monahan said. She also started a popular networking event for professional women called the Power Hour. “I’m really passionate about working and helping to build women up, and women in business,” she said. Monahan earned a bachelor of commerce degree from McGill University and certificates in Canadian and U.S. securities law. While at McGill, she played soccer for the university’s women’s soccer team. After graduating, she went to work as an investment banker for Desjar dins Securities, and at the age of 23 she was recruited by RBC Capital Markets. She then joined Macquarie Capital Birthplace: North Vancouver Where you live now: North Vancouver
Highest level of education:
Bachelor of commerce, major in finance, McGill University
CHUNG CHOW
Markets, where she managed a new sales and trading desk in Vancouver. In the span of seven years, she established a West Coast franchise for Macquarie that advised clients with assets of $1 trillion. She and her team were credited for business growth of 1,000%. In 2016, she joined Odlum, where she now works with high-networth individuals as an investment adviser. Monahan recently completed her second triathlon.
“I’M REALLY PASSIONATE ABOUT WORKING AND HELPING TO BUILD WOMEN UP, AND WOMEN IN BUSINESS”
Currently reading: Becoming by
Profession you would most like to try: Surgeon
Advice you would give the younger you: Never doubt your
Currently listening to: Anything
Toughest business or professional decision: When to
What’s left to do: I’m just getting
Michelle Obama
by Maggie Rogers
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
A CEO
have kids, but it was also the best decision I ever made
gut instincts, and be curious
started
| 35
2019
RACHEL NELSON President, Exan
AGE
37
F
or a “people person” like Rachel Nelson, her role as the head of one of North America’s most dominant players in the dental data management software sector has brought some tough challenges. Nelson, who has been at her post as the president of Coquitlam-based Exan, a Henry Schein company, since last December, has been overseeing a significant restructuring that has involved saying goodbye to several longtime employees – decisions that Nelson deemed the hardest part of her job. “I heard someone say once: ‘If culture doesn’t exclude anyone, that’s not real culture,’” Nelson said. “And I really struggled with that, because I want to include everyone – that’s the culture of inclusion. But I had to accept that, at times, if people don’t buy into the vision that people matter, that customers matter – if people don’t get that, this probably isn’t going to be the right place.” Nelson said part of the difficulty is that Exan’s restructuring isn’t financially motivated. The company, which makes data management software specifically geared for use by dental schools, holds more than 90% of that market in North America. But Nelson said a culture change was crucial, because the one that was in place was too committed to older technology and was risk averse, especially to ideas such as cloud technology. T he result is a now-streamlined team that’s united in its focus on m e e t i n g p e o p l e ’s n e e d s a n d i n it s a d ap t a bi l it y to new te c h nology – something Nelson is proud of: “Watching the company afterwards, I don’t know if there are many companies that have been around for 30 years
Birthplace: Surrey Where you live now: Fort Langley Highest level of education: Bachelor of commerce
Currently reading: The Moment
of Lift by Melinda Gates
ROB KRUYT
that, at this moment, every single person here would be someone I pick for my team.… And I’m honoured to be part of it.” Nelson, who once thought that her passion for serving the greater good would lead her to a non-profit organization, is now channelling that passion into health-care technology, looking to implement cloud computing into Exan products, expand globally and branch into dental assistant and hygienist programs.
Currently listening to: Radical
Candor podcast with Kim Scott
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Lawyer
Profession you would most like to try: Public policy
“I HAD TO ACCEPT THAT, AT TIMES, IF PEOPLE DON’T BUY INTO THE VISION THAT PEOPLE MATTER, THAT CUSTOMERS MATTER – IF PEOPLE DON’T GET THAT, THIS PROBABLY ISN’T GOING TO BE THE RIGHT PLACE”
Toughest business or professional decision: Deciding when a good person is a bad fit for your business
Advice you would give the younger you: It’s not personal. Focus on results
What’s left to do: Hard work
36 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
NICOLE PARMAR
Founder and managing partner, JNJ Business Strategies Inc.
AGE
36
A
n expert in growth marketing and automation, Nicole Parmar successfully founded three companies in recent years and has begun working on a fourth venture. Her first company, Vancouver-based JNJ Business Strategies Inc., where she is managing partner, is a growth marketing consulting business using data, analytics, attribution modelling and testing to grow small businesses. Parmar’s second company, Digital Mar keting for Real Estate, offers an online e-commerce digital marketing course covering subjects from social media to blockchain and cryptocurrencies for the real estate sector. “I would have to say my greatest passion is the data,” said Parmar. “A company’s growth and longevity are reliant on using data to drive marketing and sales decisions. Once you can fully understand the puzzle of the user journey, it’s a powerful tool.” Her third venture is a children’s book series, The Adventures of Jai Jai Binks. She has six English-language books and one French book in production, and 44 books waiting for illustration. Holding a number of certifications with Bing, Facebook, Google, HubSpot and Venture Deals, Parmar has recently been lead growth mentor for HyperGrowth and HyperGrowth Life at the BC Tech Association, where companies recognize her for her knowledge, support and mentorship. She helped bring Vancouver-based ticketing and event registration platform Picatic to market while heavily focusing on growth and marketing, supporting Eventbrite’s 2018 acquisition of that company. She has helped countless tech startups accelerate growth and has taught courses at BC Tech and BrainStation. Parmar has volunteered with the
Birthplace: Saskatoon Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education:
Master’s degree, measurement and evaluation, University of Saskatchewan
Currently reading: Start with
Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek and Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell
ROB KRUYT
Vancouver Society of Children’s Cen tres, and the BC Women’s Health Foun dation’s Glow Gala, where a record $2.4 million was raised for women-centred care in 2018. She was co-chair of Toast to the Coast, raising a record $165,000 for the Vancouver Aquarium’s conservation, research and education programs. She is a Forum for Women Entrepreneurs mentor and co-secretary of Henry Hudson Elementary School’s parent advisory council.
Currently listening to: Podcasts: A16Z, Vancouver Real Estate, Earning Curve. And when I am with our six-year-old son, Kiss and Mötley Crüe are his jams, so those are on repeat When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
A ballerina and a lab technician
Profession you would most like to try: Industrial and
organizational psychology
Toughest business or professional decision: I’ve had a
few. The two most notable: I feel
“A COMPANY’S GROWTH AND LONGEVITY ARE RELIANT ON USING DATA TO DRIVE MARKETING AND SALES DECISIONS. ONCE YOU CAN FULLY UNDERSTAND THE PUZZLE OF THE USER JOURNEY, IT’S A POWERFUL TOOL”
that my toughest decision was the same as most entrepreneurs: I was afraid to leave my stable paycheque, benefits and retirement plan to pursue my dreams when I left my teaching career. Teaching deaf and hardof-hearing children for seven and a half years was amazing and I loved the kids, but leaving the profession turned out to be the best decision I ever made. The second-toughest decision I made was not completing a PhD. This decision is one I still think about
frequently. I may go back and complete it one day
Advice you would give the younger you: Set up a system
and process for everything. Be incredibly regimented in the execution of your goals. Say no to anything that does not lead you to an end goal
What’s left to do: Obtain a
private pilot’s licence. Sell our children’s book series, The Adventures of Jai Jai Binks, to Netflix, Hulu or Disney. Live and work in Paris
| 37
2019
JORDANA POURIAN
Senior vice-president of operations and chief of staff to the CEO, Aritzia
AGE
36
J
ordana Pourian is senior vicepresident of operations at Aritzia Inc. – a global fashion retailer that has a market capitalization in excess of $2 billion. Aritzia recruited Pourian in 2007, when she was a project manager at Deloitte involved with information technology (IT) projects. Work at Deloitte, combined with fashion experience gained from working at Club Monaco during university, made her a good fit for IT project management at Aritzia. Pourian was one of the project managers involved in the 2012 launch of e-commerce at Aritzia, once strictly a bricks-and-mortar retailer, and she afterward became senior director for e-commerce at the company. More recent roles include senior director of operations and vice-president of organizational development. When she returned to work in October after her second maternity leave, she became chief of staff to CEO Brian Hill in addition to her operational role – a job that provides her with a deep breadth of knowledge across Aritzia’s business, from retail to digital sales to product development, marketing, human resources and other departments. “I work with some of the smartest people in the industry,” she told Business in Vancouver. “We challenge each other to continuously improve. The team is what makes it happen.” Originally from England, she moved to B.C. with family when she was seven years old. She completed a bachelor of commerce degree with honours at Carleton University and specialized in management information systems. She received a scholarship during her time at Carleton and was president
Birthplace: Derbyshire, England Where you live now: North Vancouver, B.C.
Highest level of education:
Undergraduate, commerce, concentration in information systems with honours (Carleton University)
Currently reading: Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss
CHUNG CHOW
of the Sprott Information Systems Students’ Association. She and her husband, Michael, have two daughters: Grace and Gabrielle. Outside work, she is on the board of directors of the Vancouver-based charity One Girl Can Society. “A big focus for me, and one of the things that I have really focused on in my operations work, is the development of young women and bringing them up into being successful career women,” she said.
Currently listening to: Father of the Bride by Vampire Weekend
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Prime minister
Profession you would most like to try: M in the James Bond movies
Toughest business or professional decision: Making
“I WORK WITH SOME OF THE SMARTEST PEOPLE IN THE INDUSTRY. WE CHALLENGE EACH OTHER TO CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE. THE TEAM IS WHAT MAKES IT HAPPEN”
the choice to take uninterrupted time for two maternity leaves and again deciding to come back to work after maternity leave. Either way it’s hard
Advice you would give the younger you: To be ambitious,
you need to build resilience; to build resilience, you need to practice self-care
What’s left to do: Through all
avenues possible, accelerate the development of young women. We need more women in leadership positions, especially in politics: locally, nationally and globally
38 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
JAY RHIND Partner, Rhino Ventures
AGE
32
W
hile he was still pursuing his MBA at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Jay Rhind and some fellow graduate students started a company and pitched it to two of the founders of Recon Instru ments, who had sold the company to Intel Corp. for $175 million and were now angel investors. They told him in no uncertain terms they hated his startup idea, but asked him to join them in their new venture capital business, Rhino Ventures, which provides seed capital to startups in Western Canada. Within a couple of years, R hind worked his way up from his associate role to become a partner and saw at least one successful exit of a startup Rhino had backed, all while teaching at UBC’s Sauder School of Business as an adjunct professor. “I joined as an associate and we did 10 deals inside of two and a half years,” Rhind said. In addition to teaching at Sauder School of Business, Rhind is an associate of the Creative Destruction Lab, providing mentoring and investing to earlystage “frontier” technology businesses. Born in Toronto, Rhind earned a bachelor of science degree from Queen’s Uni versity, then later moved to B.C. for graduate school. In between degrees, however, he spent a year in Australia teaching scuba diving, then came back to Canada and worked at a clean-technology startup. He then did a stint with a small investment bank before deciding to come to B.C. He was still at UBC when he was recruited by Dan Eisenhardt and Fraser Hall, who were starting a new venture capital firm, following their successful exit from Recon Instruments.
Birthplace: Toronto Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education: MBA, UBC
Currently reading: Vanishing
Fish: Shifting Baselines and the Future of Global Fisheries by Daniel Pauly
ROB KRUYT
Rhino Ventures raised $15 million for its first fund in 2015 and another $35 million last year. Rhino Ventures’ operating principle is to provide support to the startups it funds without micromanaging them. “We operate with a service-oriented mentality,” Rhind said. “Every investment we make, we try to help our companies as much as possible but not be a burden to them, and not be the overbearing sources of capital that it can be in the venture ecosystem.”
Currently listening to: “Right Above It” by Lil Wayne When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Professional angler and marine biologist
Profession you would most like to try: Behavioural economist
“EVERY INVESTMENT WE MAKE, WE TRY TO HELP OUR COMPANIES AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE BUT NOT BE A BURDEN TO THEM, AND NOT BE THE OVERBEARING SOURCES OF CAPITAL THAT IT CAN BE IN THE VENTURE ECOSYSTEM”
Toughest business or professional decision: Not
investing in many companies that have turned out to be winners. Eating humble pie comes with the turf
Advice you would give the younger you: Enjoy the ride
What’s left to do: Avoid
conformity, change the guard of B.C. business, scale Rhino Ventures, support and challenge our founders to realize their full potential, improve the quality and quantity of entrepreneurs coming from post-secondary institutions
| 39
2019
KHALED SHARIFF In-house counsel, Squamish Nation
AGE
37
I
t’s easy for many young professionals to get stuck in a routine. Getting lost in a large corporate environment toiling as a lawyer or an accountant can sometimes lead to lack of fulfilment. However, early in his career Khaled Shariff knew that he didn’t want to simply be a cog in the corporate machine. Shariff had the opportunity to meet Gibby Jacob, chief of the Squamish Nation, who shared his vision for where he wanted his community to go – a vision that resonated with Shariff. “What [Jacob] used to tell me early on in my career is ‘In order to achieve generational impact you need to have generational thinking,’” said Shariff. “I think that concept of looking at things beyond yourself and your horizon is profoundly valuable to advancing any conversation that revolves around growth and development.” This perspective not only has helped Shariff prepare for his future but has also helped him to appreciate and reflect on his past and his family heritage. Shariff’s parents moved to Vancouver from Tanzania and Uganda, leaving behind everything they had, with the goal of creating a better life for their children. Before he was even born, Shariff, said, his parents had adopted the kind of farseeing sensibility, focused on the long term, that would later form the foundation of his work as in-house counsel for the Squamish Nation. This concern with long-term consequences and the well-being of future generations doesn’t begin and end with Shariff’s job. He has taken and applied this lesson to all aspects of his life by engaging in community work, including a
Birthplace: New Westminster Where you live know: Vancouver Highest level of education: JD
and MBA
Currently reading: The Monk Who
Sold His Ferrari: A Spiritual Fable about Fulfilling Your Dreams and
CHUNG CHOW
stint with the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation and involvement with the Ismaili Council for British Columbia. The philosophy of community and collaborative government has surfaced again in Shariff’s most recent challenge as legal counsel at Metro Vancouver. Shariff is excited to have the chance to make a difference in the city and collaboratively strengthen his local community.
“I THINK THAT CONCEPT OF LOOKING AT THINGS BEYOND YOURSELF AND YOUR HORIZON IS PROFOUNDLY VALUABLE TO ADVANCING ANY CONVERSATION THAT REVOLVES AROUND GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT”
Reaching Your Destiny by Robin Sharma
Profession you would most like to try: College professor
afraid of change and put up your hand when opportunity arises
Currently listening to: “Omertà”
Toughest business or professional decision: Returning
What’s left to do: Continuing to
and “Money in the Grave” by Drake
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Astronaut
to the practice of law after running a mid-sized business
Toughest business or professional decision: Don’t be
contribute on this path of impact from the lenses of collaborative government on the regional district level
40 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
AMANDA SHATZKO President, AS Consulting and Art
AGE
33
A
thletes and artists are often thought to live in deeply dissimilar worlds. But, as Amanda Shatzko’s life and career demonstrate, it is possible to bridge those two worlds. Until two years ago, Shatzko was a professional athlete and a nationallevel-ranked gymnast representing Canada on the world stage. During that time, she founded and ran her own art consultancy firm where she worked with non-profits, businesses and governments on cross-cultural art collaborations. For Shatzko, president of AS Con sulting and Art, art and sports aren’t separate but rather two aspects of her life that she has weaved into a unique outlook. Both realms represent opportunities for people to grow and learn more about themselves, and Shatzko believes that both can help bring people together and create a collaborative space fuelled by cross-cultural connections. Whether it’s Shatzko’s athletic ability or her artistic flair, she maintains that they are both simply learned skills that anyone can practise and develop. Shatzko added that it’s important that people take the time to improve their creative and collaborative abilities so that society as a whole can adapt quickly to changing times. “It’s not just important that we have artists in the world to create beautiful things that stimulate conversation, but at the same time people need to realize that if we need to innovate for the future there’s certain skills and characteristics that we all need to learn.” That is what Shatzko hopes to achieve not only as a consultant but through her community leadership roles, including director and vice-chairwoman of the board for the Regional District of North Birthplace: Vernon, B.C. Where you live now: Vancouver and Vernon
Highest level of education: Master of arts
Currently reading: How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci: Seven
ROB KRUYT
Okanagan. There are also lessons that artists and athletes can learn from each other, something Shatzko helps to facilitate. Through her work, Shatzko hopes to make the art community a more collaborative, less siloed place. But more importantly, she wants to encourage people to think creatively, starting with artistic endeavours and then taking that creative thinking out into the world, whether it be in their careers, personal lives or community.
“IT’S NOT JUST IMPORTANT THAT WE HAVE ARTISTS IN THE WORLD TO CREATE BEAUTIFUL THINGS THAT STIMULATE CONVERSATION.... IF WE NEED TO INNOVATE FOR THE FUTURE THERE’S CERTAIN SKILLS AND CHARACTERISTICS THAT WE ALL NEED TO LEARN”
Steps to Genius Every Day by Michael Gelb
Profession you would most like to try: Senator
Advice you would give the younger you: Not to believe in
Currently listening to: Chill
Toughest business or professional decision: Convincing
What’s left to do: Create bigger
lounge radio
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Olympian
people that you can be successful in the arts
limiting beliefs
collaborative projects
| 41
2019
BEN SILVERMAN
Managing director, co-founder, Integral Artists Inc.
AGE
39
B
en Silverman started out wanting to be a screenwriter for the film and TV business. And though he has written, co-written and co-produced a number of films, his biggest accomplishments have been behind the scenes as a businessman and founder of several companies. “I love business,” he said. “I was born to be an entrepreneur.” At the age of 18, he invested all his earnings from a part-time job into Apple and Amazon stock, and when he cashed out four years later, it helped bankroll one of his companies. His latest venture, now six years old, is Integral Artists Inc., a talent agency that has counted among its clients two Canada’s Walk of Fame stars – the late Alan Thicke and Canadian writer-director Evan Goldberg (Superbad, Knocked Up, Pineapple Express). “We have grown to be the largest film and TV talent agency in Vancouver, by head count,” Silverman said. Actor-director Patrick J. Adams credits Silverman for helping to solve a legal logjam that had threatened to kill a TV series that he had developed. Silverman’s own film credits include being an associate producer of the Canadian hockey comedy Goon. He is also the president of Various Things Enter tainment, an entertainment investment company. Born in Vancouver, Silverman grew up in Richmond and earned a fine arts degree in creative writing and film studies from the University of British Columbia. Not long after graduating, he created his first business, Astone Fitness, which manufactured and marketed fitness equipment, while also producing films and interning at a talent agency. He turned down a $500,000 offer from Dragons’ Den in 2012 and sold Astone
Birthplace: Vancouver/Richmond Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education: BFA,
creative writing, from UBC
Currently reading: The Ride of a
Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger
ROB KRUYT
Fitness a year later. By then, he had learned the ropes of the talent agency industry, and by 2012 he had already started his own. With a team of 13 employees, Integral represents actors, directors, writers, cinematographers and production professionals and has recently expanded, opening offices in Calgary and Toronto. Silverman is married with two young children, is a longtime LGBTQ and animal rights advocate, and volunteers his time and talent to the Bayit Synagogue.
“I LOVE BUSINESS. I WAS BORN TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR”
Currently listening to: The
Toughest business or professional decision: Buying out
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Advice you would give the younger you: Trust your instincts
podcast How I Built This on NPR with Guy Raz
An NFL safety or a screenwriter
Profession you would most like to try: A fireman
my former business partner
What’s left to do: There is too
much left to do to sum up in one sentence, but I can say what
might be next is to open an L.A. office for Integral Artists
42 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
SHARON SINGH Associate, Bennett Jones LLP
AGE
37
S
haron Singh is sought after for her advice on regulatory matters, governance, environmental law and Indigenous relations in a variety of sectors. Since joining Bennett Jones’ Vancouver office in 2015, Singh has used her network to help build business at the law firm’s newest Canadian location. Before Bennett Jones, Singh worked for Rio Tinto in Canada and Australia, holding senior positions across many fields. She cites her transition to private practice after Rio Tinto as her greatest career achievement to date, as her corporate and regulatory experience brought a fresh perspective to her law practice. “I remember sitting in my office chair overlooking the rail tracks, with Mount Baker in the background, thinking, ‘I feel comfortable,’ which for me is not a good thing,” she said. “Given my passion for law and policy, I knew it was time to re-establish myself as a lawyer.” A member of the Canadian Bar Asso ciation, Singh has led negotiations with 11 Indigenous nations for a uranium mining project and created a coalition of companies to help remove restrictions on foreign ownership through the Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union. She’s worked with a First Nation to facilitate land transfer enabling its ownership and participation in economic development opportunities including the liquefied natural gas sector. She’s advised the Capital Regional District (CRD) Wastewater Treatment Plant Board, helped the CRD secure government funding and approvals and represented clients in Canadian Environmental Assessment Act review processes. Called to the bar in four Canadian
Birthplace: Chandigarh, India Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education:
Master of law, Monash University
Currently reading: The Very
Cranky Bear by Nick Bland (to my daughter).… Currently on hold is Lincoln by Gore Vidal
Currently listening to:
“Sinnerman” by Nina Simone
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
ROB KRUYT
jurisdictions and Australia, Singh is recognized in The Legal 500 Canada as a leader in Indigenous law, and was ranked as an Associate to Watch in Indigenous law in Canada by Chambers and Partners. Winner of the Vancouver Board of Trade’s Wendy McDonald Award in 2016, Singh is a founding member and vice-chair, policy, of the Business Council of British Columbia’s (BCBC) Next Leaders’ Council and is a member of several BCBC committees.
A surgeon – but then I dissected a cow’s heart in Biology 11, and with that my burgeoning career – or a diplomat (but my French is terrible)
Profession you would most like to try: Policy adviser to
the prime minister/cabinet or a psychoanalyst (there is a causation relationship there)
Toughest business or professional decision: Not
necessarily tough, but certainly a motivator to prove myself,
“GIVEN MY PASSION FOR LAW AND POLICY, I KNEW IT WAS TIME TO RE-ESTABLISH MYSELF AS A LAWYER”
was moving back to Canada and having to build up my network and reputation both internally within my company and externally. Then again when I decided to shift my focus from business to law when I moved from Rio Tinto to Bennett Jones. I remember every single lawyer I spoke to before I made the decision, except one, thinking I was making a mistake, because I had the “sweet spot”
Advice you would give the younger you: Volunteer more,
and your parents are most likely always going to be right
What’s left to do: The list is
lengthy, and includes spending more time with family, giving back to and making a difference in my community, further advancing my professional knowledge
| 43
2019
ASHLEY SMITH
President, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver
AGE
34
A
s president and board chair of the Real Estate Board of Greater Van couver (REBGV), Ashley Smith is the face of Metro Vancouver’s housing market. Passionate about leadership and governance, Smith represents more than 14,000 area realtors and serves as the organization’s media spokeswoman. She is the youngest president in its 100-year history, and one of just a few women to have taken on the role. Smith gained experience at Royal Le Page, where, along with her team, she made her way to the top 1% in Canada. An Oakwyn Realty agent and a realtor since 2008, she has been heavily involved in the strategic direction of the local real estate profession since she became an REBGV board director in 2012. Smith works to ensure the profession adapts to evolving consumer needs as private technology companies enter the space and new regulatory demands challenge traditional practices. “What gets me going in a nerdy way is looking towards the future and seeking ways to elevate professionalism … and help navigate an industry in a progressively changing environment,” Smith said. Owner and co-founder of Vancouver Avenue Real Estate Collective, Smith is an authority on money laundering, advocating against provincial property speculation taxes, federal mortgage regulations such as the B-20 stress test, housing affordability, market conditions and realtor safety. During her tenure at REBGV, Smith has helped the organization achieve significant governance restructuring, including having a smaller, more efficient board, adding three professional corporate directors, refocusing
Birthplace: Vancouver Where you live now: Steveston
ROB KRUYT
director education and exploring mergers and amalgamations with neighbouring organizations to streamline costs and improve services. Elected director of REBGV’s westside division in 2011, she represented more than 4,500 members and co-ordinated education, networking events, relations with the City of Vancouver and fundraising for shelter-related charities. In 2013, she sat on the government relations committee, lobbying MLAs on various issues.
Currently listening to: “Old Man” by Neil Young
Highest level of education:
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Currently reading: 21 Lessons for
Profession you would most like to try: Leadership role in
Associate of arts degree, Douglas College
the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari
Rock star
effecting change with regional urban design and transit planning
“WHAT GETS ME GOING IN A NERDY WAY IS LOOKING TOWARDS THE FUTURE AND SEEKING WAYS TO ELEVATE PROFESSIONALISM ... AND HELP NAVIGATE AN INDUSTRY IN A PROGRESSIVELY CHANGING ENVIRONMENT”
Toughest business or professional decision: Disrupting status quo leadership practice and stepping on a few toes along the way. Admittedly, it put me ahead, but the decision was based on principle and an urgency to lead in a new direction
Advice you would give the younger you: Seek mentorship early on. Get out of the weeds
What’s left to do: Advocacy: for
housing, innovative urban design, kids and the environment
44 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
JONATHAN SNOEK
Managing partner, Cascadia Strategy Consulting Partners Ltd.
AGE
39
A
s a youth, Jonathan Snoek wasn’t sure exactly what the future held for him. But once he caught the business bug, it was as if he had been born to be a management consultant. Snoek was raised in the small town of Deep River, Ontario, close to the Quebec border. His mom worked as a social worker and his dad was an engineer. Many of the people he knew while growing up were inspired by the skyscrapers of downtown Vancouver or the hustle and bustle of Toronto’s Bay Street to seek out careers in the corner offices of multinational businesses. But for Snoek, while living in his hometown of 4,000 people, many of whom worked for the local nuclear research facility, a career in business was not yet an obvious choice. It wasn’t until he attended Wilfrid Laurier University that he would find his passion. “In high school I wasn’t that motivated and I wasn’t that great of a student,” Snoek said. “And everything changed when I got to business school. I was just so interested in how companies work and how they could work better.” With a career objective firmly implanted in his mind, Snoek began working towards it. He took a consulting job at a firm that was later acquired by KPMG. He soon became a senior manager in the Vancouver management consulting division. Eventually he began to think that owning and operating his own small firm, rather than working for a Big Four accounting firm, would be more fulfilling. He would be able to evaluate his success according to how well his clients were served and how happy they were. Snoek and his firm, Cascadia Strat egy Consulting Partners Ltd., have a Birthplace: Deep River, Ontario Where you live now: Kitsilano Highest level of education:
Honours bachelor of business administration
CHUNG CHOW
unique way of approaching and consulting clients. Cascadia’s clients aren’t viewed simply as cheques waiting to be cashed, he said. The firm considers each client as an individual and is geared to help each one make a bigger impact – a characteristic that shows his mother’s influence, he said. At the same time, Snoek believes the best way to help clients meet their goals is to approach the objective with deep analytical rigour, something he learned from his father.
“EVERYTHING CHANGED WHEN I GOT TO BUSINESS SCHOOL. I WAS JUST SO INTERESTED IN HOW COMPANIES WORK AND HOW THEY COULD WORK BETTER”
Currently Reading: The Trusted Advisor by David Maister, Charles H. Green and Robert M. Galford
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Toughest business or professional decision: Breaking
Currently listening to: Country
Profession you would most like to try: Skyscraper window
Advice you would give the younger you: Be patient and read
music
Gym teacher
washer
out on my own
more
What’s left to do: Grow
| 45
2019
SEAN STOFER
Owner, Westpeak Developments; founder of various companies
AGE
39
S
ean Stofer’s diverse experience in engineering, architecture and business quickly moved him up the ranks in the residential construction industry and led to him founding several companies in complementary industries. After eight years in structural engineering and commercial real estate development, Stofer started Westpeak Developments in 2010. He focused on custom luxury single-family residential construction and helped take the company to the top of the market. Stofer has designed most of the homes Westpeak has built, and he was awarded a Georgie Award for one of his first design-builds. Stofer also launched several developments and solar energy projects, and has acted as a business and financial adviser to multiple companies. “I have always enjoyed refining business plans and writing incredibly elaborate operation and financial models, so when the right opportunities present themselves, I jump in head first,” he said. In 2018, Stofer co-founded Arctic Pharm Cannabis, where he is COO and a director. He also serves as COO of NuYen, a tech company focused on the development of data-centre facilities powered by renewable energy. Stofer also has a few side projects including a renewable energy company, and he has a goal of making green energy more accessible and profitable. “I’m also proud to have a near-netzero home with a large solar array, and I believe in leading by example,” said the father of two. Stofer said building a development and construction company from the ground up, gaining an invaluable skill set along the way and founding several new companies are the career
Birthplace: Port Alberni
ROB KRUYT
achievements he’s proudest of so far. “What I love about my diverse career is the pure creation element,” he explained. “In development and construction, you have the physical architecture, whereas in startups you have a blank canvas on the mental, cultural and financial elements of the business as well.” Stofer previously worked for Shape Properties Corp., Klohn Crippen Berger Ltd. and Bogdonov Pao Associates Ltd., and ran his own consulting business.
Currently listening to: Milky
Where you live now: North
Chance to French Montana (I’m all over the place)
Highest level of education:
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Vancouver
Bachelor of applied science in civil engineering, University of British Columbia
Currently reading: The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
A pro athlete or an engineer. At least one came true
Profession you would most like to try: Stuntman. Never a dull moment
“I HAVE ALWAYS ENJOYED REFINING BUSINESS PLANS AND WRITING INCREDIBLY ELABORATE OPERATION AND FINANCIAL MODELS, SO WHEN THE RIGHT OPPORTUNITIES PRESENT THEMSELVES, I JUMP IN HEAD FIRST”
Toughest business or professional decision: Leaving a salary to found a new company
Advice you would give the younger you: Pull off the blinders and enjoy the day-to-day more often. Extreme focus can be a mixed blessing and it’s all for nothing if you can’t find the right balance
What’s left to do: Take the
startups to the top, refine the businesses, create strong culture and lead with purpose. Spend time with the people I love and raise two kids to have strong morals and values
46 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
BYRON THOM
Principal, Framework Venture Partners
AGE
37
B
efore Byron Thom’s career took him to law, entrepreneurship or venture capital, it started in engineering. “Get into the hardest thing you could possibly get into and you can always back off,” said the principal of Frame work Venture Partners, recalling advice he was given years ago. He liked calculus, had an affinity for science and loved technology. “Everything I’ve done in my career has always surrounded technology. That’s kind of the string that connects all of the different facets of my life,” he said. Even as a lawyer – a role he pursued after working as an engineer – Thom primarily practised intellectual property law. His clients ranged from startups to some of the biggest names in technology. He worked with BlackBerry and Apple and helped satellite manufacturers with patents for technology destined for space. “It was really interesting from that early stage to understand how valuable what I was doing – and how valuable the IP process – was to industry,” Thom said. He had always wanted to start a company, and “a little bit of serendipity and a little bit of network” helped Thom co-found Optigo Networks Inc., which offers Internet-of-things technology for buildings. When co-founder Pook-Ping Yao secured a grant to help start the business, Thom quit his job in Toronto and moved back to Vancouver. “I was 30 at the time and thought, ‘If I’m going to do it, now’s the time.’ So I made the leap.” Thom said “a little bit of luck, a little bit of timing” led to his work with the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), where he was responsible for the
Birthplace: Burnaby Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education:
Bachelor of laws with a concentration in law and technology
Currently reading: I am currently
rereading Robot Law, a brilliant collection of essays exploring the difficulty in applying current legal and policy frameworks to
ROB KRUYT
BDC IT Venture Fund’s western Canadian deal flow and portfolio management until he joined Framework, which is backed by BDC and other partners. Now, Thom is focused on finding and supporting Canadian companies. It’s an open question whether he will leap back into entrepreneurship himself. “I’m always trying to understand the ‘why.’ Why do things work? What is the opportunity? How do things grow? For the right opportunity, I would never close the door.”
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Advice you would give the younger you: Travel more – as
Profession you would most like to try: Astronaut (if they could fix
What’s left to do: Find and
advances in robotics and artificial intelligence. The book was edited by Ian Kerr, one of my mentors, who recently passed away after a long bout with cancer
Astronaut
Currently listening to:
my eyesight)
Embarrassingly cheesy music from the ’90s or classical (Beethoven, Bach, Rachmaninoff)
“EVERYTHING I’VE DONE IN MY CAREER HAS ALWAYS SURROUNDED TECHNOLOGY. THAT’S KIND OF THE STRING THAT CONNECTS ALL OF THE DIFFERENT FACETS OF MY LIFE”
Toughest business or professional decision: Taking the path less travelled: engineering > law, law > entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship > VC
much as you possibly can afford and then find a way to do more
support world-class companies with entrepreneurs looking to disrupt incumbent industries and/or change the world
| 47
2019
JASMEAN TOOR Vice-president of real estate finance, Edgar
AGE
39
E
dgar’s vice-president of real estate finance, Jasmean Toor, was critical in the Vancouver-based company’s award-winning Mount Pleasant rental project: The Duke. Toor was involved in the site from its 2012 acquisition to its 2018 completion, helping lead it through the rezoning and development process. Selected as one of Real Estate Professional Magazine’s 100 Elite Women in Real Estate in 2016, Toor has 15 years of industry experience, with expertise in many areas of real estate development, including project financing, feasibility analysis, acquisitions, dispositions and development management. “I love working on something that I can see and touch, where I can directly impact its progress, being involved in many facets from the beginning stages when it is just some dirt on the ground through to a project’s completion,” Toor said. “Building high-quality homes for the communities we serve is extremely fulfilling.” After gaining experience as a real estate analyst and mortgage underwriter, she joined Edgar Development, now rebranded simply as Edgar, as its manager of operations in 2011, and led the company’s operations through its startup phase. She analyzed all potential acquisitions to determine purchase prices and conducted due diligence and market research. She also sourced, facilitated and closed project financing including land loans, construction loans and term debt. Known for her ambition and confidence, and extensively involved in the community and real estate industry, Toor has held many board and volunteer positions. She has been a
Birthplace: Abbotsford Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education:
Bachelor of administrative and commercial studies, specialization in finance and accounting, Western University
ROB KRUYT
key part of CREW Vancouver since 2013 and became the local chapter’s president in 2017. Toor is on the City of Vancouver’s Board of Variance and was a board member for the Vancouver Canucks Alumni Association’s 50th Season Lunch. To those pursuing a commercial real estate career Toor recommends that they surround themselves with encouraging mentors and role models. “They will be imperative when things get tough, and they will,” she said.
Currently reading: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Currently listening to: “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” by Whitney Houston
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Singer
“I LOVE WORKING ON SOMETHING THAT I CAN SEE AND TOUCH, WHERE I CAN DIRECTLY IMPACT ITS PROGRESS, BEING INVOLVED IN MANY FACETS FROM THE BEGINNING STAGES ... THROUGH TO A PROJECT’S COMPLETION”
Profession you would most like to try: Broadcast journalism,
Advice you would give the younger you: Get faster at
Toughest business or professional decision: Sticking to
What’s left to do: Start a non-
writer/author or talk show host
my guns on an HR decision even though I knew others disagreed with me and would not like it
making decisions, because there will be many to make profit organization
48 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
RYAN UY
Director of finance and administration, DP World (Canada) Inc.
AGE
39
A
s cargo ports on Canada’s West Coast gain prominence, Ryan Uy is on the front lines and overseeing the industry as it alters the country’s economic landscape. Uy, a Vancouver native, is now the director of finance and administration for DP World (Canada) Inc., which counts Vancouver’s Centerm and Prince Rupert among its flagship containerport facilities. In the last four years, DP World’s Canadian market share grew to 50% from 14%, a trend that is set to continue with the purchase this May of Fraser Surrey Docks. The chartered accountant is aware how these developments play an increasing role in shaping Canada and North America’s economy as trade with Asia intensifies. “We have a tremendous responsibility to be the facilitator of trade,” Uy said. “This responsibility is not taken lightly. The decisions we make are not just for the people in Vancouver or British Columbia, but it is for all of Canada and the United States, as well. “Over two-thirds of all cargo coming into Canada is coming from the Eastto-West trade,” he added. “We are at the forefront of that; our two flagship container terminals are both in Canada and both located on the West Coast.… Vancouver [Centerm] and Prince Rupert are slightly different, but they’re both servicing important needs of the country.” Uy himself is humbled by the company’s success. He described his professional career as “restarting” after he and his family returned to Vancouver after a four-year stint in Singapore. “That was probably one of the toughest professional decisions I’ve had to make,” Uy said. “You’ve established your network of professional contacts, and now
Birthplace: Vancouver Where you live now: Richmond Highest level of education:
Bachelor of commerce – double major in finance and accounting and chartered accountant designation
CHUNG CHOW
you have to come back and restart your career. But what you bring with you is a wealth of knowledge and experiences. So although you are restarting, the experience sets you up quite well.” Since he landed his role with DP World by the experience he gained abroad, Uy said his advice to the next generation of Vancouver young professionals is simple: Go abroad. “Don’t be afraid to leave Vancouver, even if Vancouver is your final destination,” he said.
Currently reading: Being a Dad Who Leads by John MacArthur Currently listening to: “My Worth Is Not in What I Own” by Keith and Kristyn Getty (featuring Fernando Ortega)
“DON’T BE AFRAID TO LEAVE VANCOUVER, EVEN IF VANCOUVER IS YOUR FINAL DESTINATION”
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Professional athlete
Profession you would most like to try: Surgeon Toughest business or professional decision: To leave
Singapore and restart my career in Vancouver nine years ago
Advice you would give the younger you: Exercise regularly, eat more vegetables and go to bed earlier
What’s left to do: Wait and see, I’ve only just begun
| 49
2019
LISA VON STURMER CEO, Growing City
AGE
37
I
n 2013, three years after she started an office organics waste collection business, Growing City, with a $15,000 loan from the Canadian Youth Busi ness Foundation, Lisa von Sturmer went on Dragons’ Den and blew the Dragons away. Her business did $100,000 in sales in 2010, she told the Dragons, and doubled that in 2011. She asked for $100,000 for 25% of her business, and started a bidding war. Ultimately, she went with Jim Treliv ing’s offer, which included a provision that he assume franchising responsibilities. That deal fell through, as Dragons’ Den deals often do, and von Sturmer also dropped the franchising idea. “We actually became so busy after the episode aired that we grew organically,” she said. A landfill ban on organic waste in Metro Vancouver in 2015 proved von Sturmer’s business idea to be prescient. Von Sturmer had no business background. She had worked in television as an editor and compositor. But she decided to start her own business after reading The 4-Hour Workweek by Tim Ferriss. “I knew it had to be a recurring revenue model because that was the one thing I had really taken away from Tim’s book,” she said. She had always been bothered by how much organic waste her own workplace at Goldtooth Studios generated, so she decided to start a pickup service. The studio became one of her first customers. Starting with one old righthand-drive Japanese truck, she went around picking up organic waste from offices and took it to a composting facility.
Birthplace: Vancouver Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education:
Bachelor’s degree, film and media, Emily Carr
Currently reading: Eleven Rings: The Soul of Success by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty
CHUNG CHOW
Initially, she worked a second job – working at a nightclub – while she expanded the business. Today, Growing City has a fleet of seven trucks and revenue exceeding $1 million annually. Her accomplishments as a young female entrepreneur have landed her a number of speaking engagements, including a TED Talk event and a keynote address at Harvard University’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Day.
Currently listening to: Al Green Essentials playlist
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
A director
Profession you would most like to try: A cartoon voice actor Toughest business or professional decision: Leaving my
“DON’T HOLD ON TO MISTAKES. LEARN FROM THEM, NEVER REPEAT THEM, FORGIVE YOURSELF FOR MAKING THEM AND MOVE FORWARD UNFETTERED”
career as a senior editor in film and television to start a compost collection service 10 years ago, when organics recycling and composting were relatively unknown for most urbanites
Advice you would give the younger you: Don’t hold on to mistakes. Learn from them, never repeat them, forgive
yourself for making them and move forward unfettered
What’s left to do: We have three divisions expanding in 2020 and we have some transportation companies lined up to beta-test the driver performance-bonus system we built
50 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
ERIN WALKER
Director of strategy and program management office, Telus Smart Security and Automation
AGE
39
E
rin Walker’s pitch to human resources at Telus Corp. took about three sentences before she got the nod of approval for a leave of absence. She had fallen in love with Nicaragua during her travels and was determined to find a way to imbue some entrepreneurial skills into one of the world’s poorest countries. “They were just such a happy culture and community, and I really wanted to tap into that to see how I could learn from it and also see how I could support the local community,” said Walker, director of strategy and the program management office at the relatively new Telus Smart Security and Automation division. I n 2013 that endeavou r beca me PurpleD irt, a social enterprise that grants Nicaraguan artisans the ability to distribute their wares in North America. Walker worked with a group of female artisans to teach them business skills as they made jewelry from raw material sourced from Nicaragua and recycled material from Canada. The arrangement allowed the artisans to own 25% of the company, while at the same time 10% of the proceeds from the jewelry they made were donated back to the community. “Part of why I’m drawn to Telus is because it has such a huge philanthropic undertow,” said Walker, who added that the company extended her leave of absence from seven to 14 months as she oversaw PurpleDirt. Back home, Walker was most recently charged with helping to launch Telus’ Smart Security and Automation division through the 2018 acquisition of assets from security company AlarmForce. “It was an opportunity to actually have an entrepreneurial-type experience in a large corporate organization,” she said.
Birthplace: Toronto
ROB KRUYT
The task saw her co-ordinating with 400 colleagues to help integrate 39,000 AlarmForce subscribers as well as that company’s employees under the Telus umbrella. Since then, she’s helped raise the number of Telus security customers to 100,000. And growth in the division is set to explode after Telus announced in October 2019 it’s paying about $700 million to acquire ADT Security Services Canada Inc.
“THEY WERE JUST SUCH A HAPPY CULTURE AND COMMUNITY, AND I REALLY WANTED TO TAP INTO THAT TO SEE HOW I COULD LEARN FROM IT”
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Orthodontist or fashion designer
individual, the team and the broader organization – both professionally and personally
Highest level of education:
Profession you would most like to try: Something in fashion, or
Advice you would give the younger you: Trust your instincts.
Currently reading: Nine Perfect
Toughest business or professional decision: I
Where you live now: North Vancouver
Bachelor of finance and computer science
Strangers by Liane Moriarty
Currently listening to: “Summer
Days” by Martin Garrix (I am in denial that summer is over). I also enjoy listening to Ed Sheeran and Ellie Goulding
health and fitness
find people decisions to be the toughest, especially reorganizations where team members who have added value to the organization in the past may no longer be the best fit for the future direction. These decisions have a significant impact on the
I think it is important to surround yourself with intelligent people with diverse opinions and listen to their counsel, but in the end, you ultimately need to live with the decisions you make. If something doesn’t feel right, take the time to ask additional questions, re-evaluate or sleep on it (which I find helps the most). I underestimated my gut instinct when I was younger
What’s left to do: Hopefully
I am just getting started and there is still a lot left to do. My short term goals are: (1) get my newborn to sleep through the night, (2) continue to grow Telus Smart Security and Automation and continue our expansion into Smart Neighbourhood and Smart City, and (3) Identify the next challenge, which hopefully blends together entrepreneurial spirit and social purpose
| 51
2019
JEFF WARD
Founder and CEO, Animikii Indigenous Technology
AGE
39
J
eff Ward spent his youth wanting to be a doctor. “Somebody made the mistake of paying me to make a website for them,” said Ward, who is a self-taught software developer and web designer. “Got bit by that entrepreneurial bug.” The founder and CEO of Animikii In digenous Technology started tinkering with HTML and exploring the World Wide Web out of curiosity – a hobby that turned into freelance and consulting work when he was in high school. His first project was a website for Sen. Thelma Chalifoux, Canada’s first female Métis senator and a family connection. His largest project involved creating interactive educational activities for K-12 students. Before founding Animikii in 2003, Ward’s work took him to Silicon Valley when he was in his late teens and early 20s. “It was a very capitalistic, materialistic environment for, essentially, a teenager to be down there,” he said. “I think I was probably way overpaid for that point of time in my career. It was just a very crazy time to be living down there.” Ward worked for a number of Valley startups before returning to Canada after the dot-com bust. “I wanted to use my skill set to support the community that raised me,” said Ward, who is Ojibwa and Métis and originally from Manitoba. “I wanted to use technology to create equitable outcomes for Indigenous people.” Social impact is a core tenet of his business. Based in Victoria, Animikii was the first Indigenous business in Canada and the second in North America to become a certified B Corporation. It partners with organizations including
Birthplace: Treaty 1 Territory (Selkirk, Manitoba) Where you live now: Lekwungen
Territory (Victoria)
Highest level of education: High
school
Currently reading: Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance by Edgar Villanueva
CHUNG CHOW
the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation. One project – online cultural safety training for B.C. health professionals through the Provincial Health Services Authority – has since trained more than 100,000 professionals across Canada. Animikii recently raised $1 million in financing from Raven Indigenous Capital Partners and the Business De velopment Bank of Canada, which will help the company grow to 20 employees by the end of 2020.
Currently listening to: “We Are
One” by Mag 7, a collective led by Taboo (Black Eyed Peas) of seven Indigenous artists from different tribes, who came together to show the richness, diversity and beauty of Indigenous Peoples
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Doctor
“I WANTED TO USE MY SKILL SET TO SUPPORT THE COMMUNITY THAT RAISED ME. I WANTED TO USE TECHNOLOGY TO CREATE EQUITABLE OUTCOMES FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE”
Profession you would most like to try: Music producer
uncomfortable. Take those risks. Life is short
Toughest business or professional decision: Making the
What’s left to do: Put Indigenous
decision to make our first hires and scale up
Advice you would give the younger you: There will never
be a perfect time to: start that business, build that product, make those hires. Growth is
tech on the map in the international tech industry and prove that Indigenous tech can lead to economic prosperity for Indigenous Peoples and our communities
52 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
JONAS WOOST
Director of business development, Pacific Content
AGE
37
J
onas Woost may be one of the few professionals to strike that healthy work-life balance so often venerated on the West Coast. “Two of my favourite things are working and not working,” said the director of business development at Pacific Content, a podcast agency recently acquired by Rogers Media Inc. A late convert to the outdoor lifestyle synonymous with Vancouver, the German native devotes his spare time to his wife and young children when not golfing, running or hiking. While on the clock, he’s spent a career toggling back and forth between the music industry and film and TV sector, most recently serving as executive producer of original content and Storyhive for Telus Corp. “That part was really fun because I was able to learn new things while sort of using the muscles that I’ve built over the last 20 years [in the music industry],” Woost said. “The ecosystem that’s behind music, that’s behind film and television, that’s behind books, that’s behind lots of other things – they’re really, really similar. They have, of course, their nuances but I hoped I was really able to take the learnings that I had from the music industry … and apply those to film and television as well.” Woost, who describes himself as someone in the business of enabling stor y tel l i ng, bega n h is ca reer i n Germany. There, he worked as a web developer for PIAS Recordings, Europe’s largest independent record label, before moving to the U.K. in 2001 to work for other music companies in different capacities. He eventually landed at social music network Last.fm Ltd., where he served as head of music until 2009.
Birthplace: Hamburg, Germany Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education: Abitur
(German high school diploma)
Currently reading: Talking to
Strangers: What We Should Know
ROB KRUYT
After that, Woost took a job at CBC Music in Vancouver and worked his way up to managing editor. The shift to visual storytelling at Telus in 2015 allowed him to work on documentaries such as Secret Alberta: The Former Life of Amber Valley and Who Let the Dogs Out. “When I see those individuals impacted by the work that we do, when I see their stories that come out of that, that is the part where I get really, really excited.”
“WHEN I SEE THOSE INDIVIDUALS IMPACTED BY THE WORK THAT WE DO, WHEN I SEE THEIR STORIES THAT COME OUT OF THAT, THAT IS THE PART WHERE I GET REALLY, REALLY EXCITED”
about the People We Don’t Know by Malcolm Gladwell
Profession you would most like to try: Behavioural scientist
Currently listening to: Years to
Toughest business or professional decision: Moving
Burn by Calexico and Iron & Wine
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Chef (didn’t work out)
to Vancouver and starting over again
Advice you would give the younger you: Don’t be scared –
just try it (I’m still telling myself that)
What’s left to do: Too much
| 53
2019
ALEX YAMINI
President and CEO, Sarmaya Capital Corp.
AGE
39
A
lex Yamini has built a reputation for himself as a creative social entrepreneur, and the president and CEO of Sarmaya Capital Corp. is attracting the attention of socially responsible investors. Yamini co-founded Sarmaya in 2018 on an investment strategy of “community betterment.” The Vancouverbased investment fund focuses on multi-family residential assets in the U.S. by providing additional amenities, structures or services for people living in Sarmaya’s buildings, based on the notion of “doing well while doing good.” “The aim is to better the lives of the communities in which we invest while simultaneously differentiating Sarmaya investments within the marketplace and increasing overall returns for investors,” he said. Yamini, responsible for all aspects of Sarmaya’s operation, growth, strategic acquisitions and fundraising, sa id he bel ieves sa fer a nd better- managed communities improve both lives and returns in the long run. “This is a unique business where you can directly change people’s daily lives and make money in the process,” he said. Yamini, who got his start working as an assistant in a law firm, has 15 years of experience in financial operations, managing investment portfolios, new client procurement, public-private partnerships and capital markets. He was one of the youngest top investment advisers at Berkshire Securities Inc. in Montreal. He later co-founded Vancouver-based engineering consulting firm Tala Enterprises, where he was director of finance. With Sarmaya Capital, he drew on his wealth of experience to focus
Birthplace: Tehran, Iran Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education:
Bachelor of arts, economics and political science, McGill University
CHUNG CHOW
on disrupting the investment funds landscape and the meaning of impact investing. In less than two years, Sarmaya completed its first acquisition of a 164-unit multi-family asset in Atlanta, Georgia, projected to give returns of more than 90% in the first six years for investors and change the lives of 400 people through its community betterment plan. Sarmaya also acquired a successful multi-family residential purchaser and property management company in Georgia.
“THIS IS A UNIQUE BUSINESS WHERE YOU CAN DIRECTLY CHANGE PEOPLE’S DAILY LIVES AND MAKE MONEY IN THE PROCESS”
Currently reading: Profiles in
Profession you would most like to try: Teaching
Advice you would give the younger you: Don’t be scared
Currently listening to: Prince
Toughest business or professional decision: Knowing
What’s left to do: Everything. It
Courage by John F. Kennedy
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Lawyer/general
when to stop and reposition
has just started
54 | FORTY UNDER 40 2019 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
2019
LEENA YOUSEFI Lawyer and CEO, YLaw Group
AGE
37
A
desire to prove she was capable drove Leena Yousefi into law. “I was kicked out of university and I just wanted to show everybody that I wasn’t who they thought I was,” explained the CEO of YLaw Group. Born in Iran, Yousefi was a child of the Persian Gulf War. It was a childhood characterized by bombs exploding in her neighbourhood, violence and trauma. When she immigrated to Canada at 13, the transition wasn’t without challenges. “ T h a t w a s a l s o v e r y d i f f i c u lt ,” Yousefi explained. “I had lost my home and my friends, and I was in a completely different culture.” The transition took a toll. In her second year at the University of Vic toria (UVic), she suffered from depression and experienced a complete loss of identity. Her academic performance nosedived. Her family thought she was a lost cause. She was kicked out of school. “One morning I woke up and I basically said, ‘I can take this pain and turn it into something really good, or I can let it turn me into something really bad,’” she said. That morning, she said, she packed her bags and returned to UVic. She graduated with distinction and a degree in social justice. Four years later, she attained her law degree. Before founding her firm, Yousefi spent several years earning a practical education in the way firms worked – or didn’t work. “I broke out because, quite frankly, I couldn’t wait to break out. It was this golden opportunity.” Yousefi founded YLaw in 2013 on a fou ndation of modern busi ness
Birthplace: Tehran, Iran Where you live now: Vancouver Highest level of education: Juris
doctor
Currently reading: The Baby Book by William Sears
CHUNG CHOW
practices and a give-before-take ethos to client relations. YLaw has grown more than 500% over the past five years and plans to open a third office in 2020. Yousefi has also been named one of the top 25 most influential lawyers in Canada and B.C.’s top family lawyer for 2018. “I get insane gratification from doing this job,” she said. “I can make things worse or I can make things better, and my goal is always to make things better.”
“I GET INSANE GRATIFICATION FROM DOING THIS JOB. I CAN MAKE THINGS WORSE OR I CAN MAKE THINGS BETTER, AND MY GOAL IS ALWAYS TO MAKE THINGS BETTER”
Currently listening to: “Boogie Street” by Leonard Cohen
Profession you would most like to try: Marketing professional
Advice you would give the younger you: Be kinder to
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up:
Toughest business or professional decision: Who to
What’s left to do: So much.
Astronaut
hire or fire
yourself
Suffice to say, the sky is my limit
Business in Vancouver continues to highlight the achievements of BC’s young entrepreneurs, executives and professionals by finding 40 outstanding professionals worthy of the Forty under 40 distinction. Winners are under 40 and have demonstrated excellence in business, judgment, leadership and community contribution. We invite you to join us for an evening of celebration as we honour these individuals at the 2018 Forty under 40 Awards gala dinner.
JOIN US TO CELEBRATE! January 30, 2020 The Westin Bayshore | 6:15pm–9:00pm Platinum Sponsor:
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Leading by example Congratulations to the 2019 BIV Forty under 40 finalists A growing business in a competitive industry can’t just offer new ideas. It must deliver on them. We offer a variety of proven legal solutions – not just when you need them, but before you need them. We’re with you every step of the way.
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