You Can Do That Here

Community. Whether it’s the five, ten or ten million people that live physically near you or the several hundred or thousands of online friends we connect with digitally, community ultimately comes down to one simple thing: The gathering of people together in a common space.

For much if not all of human kind it has been the gathering of people in a common space that has pushed and pulled our civilization forward. To that end, the ability and place to gather is indeed critical to the lifeblood of our communities and our culture.

One troubling trend, perhaps best epitomized most recently as the onset of VR has been the encroachment of technology on our time and ability to gather, and thus posing a threat to our community as a whole.

Sure VR, just as radio, television, cable, the internet, Netflix and all manner of instant access content has posed a threat to the gathering of people in the past could be a threat, or it could be the next cool thing in the world of theater and cinema.

Eleanor Stacey literally and figuratively grew up in Nelson’s theatre scene. She took that inspiration and launched a globe trotting career in film and the arts before settling back in her hometown to take on The Civic’s Theatre’s relaunch.

No longer seen, at least in the more progressive eyes of folks like her, as a threat, the ties and bonds between technology, screen and cinema are rapidly forming as the next era of community culture in the Kootenays thrives in places like The Civic.

Grow up in a theater family, travel to the Caribbean, New York, Germany and beyond working in the industry all before returning home to take the helm of the community cinema, partnering with local tech and filmmakers and blurring the line between tech and theater? You can do that here!

Stacked Films is the story of a couple of Kootenay Kids who grew up loving action adventure sports films. One (Steve Hall) left town to get into filmmaking. The other (Tyler Hadikan) got into the action as a semi-pro snowmobiler and ended up spending more time behind the lense than the handlebars. Fast forward a few years and they came back together in The Castlegar area, combined forces and launched Stacked Films.

Their acceleration since from single hand held camera to 10’s of thousands of dollars in gear, rapidly growing big time clients, stature and experiences can only be described as a dream come true in just year one.

Connect with an old friend, combine forces, launch a new film company and in less than a year have a long list of clients, shooting the very action sports films you loved as a kid, be in high demand for commercials and events and have your sights set on cashing a $10 million dollar cheque in four more years? You Can Do That Here!

Why? Why do you do the things you do? What drives your business, career and entrepreneurial choices? How do you decide to take this job or that, start this business or that, chase one idea or another?

The concept of a career has changed, morphed and shifted over the years, but for the most part it’s been all about a progression of jobs in a similar field, linking together common skills and growing them over time, and moving up the hierarchy of your industry.

An idea we’ve been floating on the You Can Do That Here podcast a number of times is a different way of looking at what a career truly is. Perhaps more so rather than a progression of jobs, a career is instead the motivation or the reason why we choose to do what we do.

Perhaps we choose jobs for security, perhaps we choose it to solve particularly problems, or achieve certain goals. Almost every entrepreneur will tell you they are in it to make the world a better place. What we loved about Andrea Bell of Trend Prive Magazine in Nelson BC’s story was her driving motivation of why she does what she does.

It all starts from a place of truly understanding who she is and being confident in her own skin and not afraid to be her true self.

On top of that, It’s having the courage to do what you love and make decisions and chase goals based on what is the most fun, exciting and closest to your true passions.

It’s a story of serendipitous opportunity, and letting fun, creativity and extravagance guide your career, however you choose to define it.

Create your path by following what looks the most fun, putting yourself out there and actively meeting people and making relationships, meet an eccentric, worldly philanthropist, and take the reigns of her new magazine concept, coordinating a global team of talent whom you’ve never met in person all from your home office in The Kootenays? You can do that here!

The Exit. So much of our attention, time and learning, especially in the podcast world is dedicated to start-ups, big ideas, new concepts, product launches and growth. Those are the sexiest times in a businesses life and of course if you don’t have a great launch, everything else is really pointless.

But let’s think about the other end of the spectrum, that day, if/when it comes that you decide to sell your business and move on. Interestingly enough much of the excitement around the launch of a company, if not overly clear, is built on the potential for what it could be sold for some day. Yes, much of the money to be made from your venture comes in the sale of the company or your stake in it.

While there is a vast resource of knowledge and information on how to successfully start, there is much less out here on how to exit.

Seeing a gap in the market, and having experienced successes and failures in selling his own businesses in the past, Scott Duke of Revelstoke set out to fill that information gap, and become a source of information and of course services to help folks transition out of their businesses successfully.

The quick lesson? It’s a lot of hard work, takes time and in the end banks you a whole pile more money at the end of the day.

Scott is currently in the middle of an intense mission to up his game, but more importantly to up your game and help you sell you business for a bunch more.  Hear what he’s up to and get some valuable tips along the way.

See a clear gap in the market, undergo an intense education and put your past experience, skills and new knowledge to work in an effort to help 100,000 businesses with your services? You Can Do That Here!

What are those beliefs and values that you hold dear in your life? Those things that draw a line in the sand on and say “Nope I’m not going there because I believe this and that.” 

Perhaps you’re an environmentalist or simply hold nature near and dear to your heart. Maybe it’s religion, family, sports, activities or anything really.  Now look at your work, be that your job, your business or volunteer efforts. Does your work line up with those values? Is your business helping drive yourself and the world closer to those? If not… why not?

One of the best ways to increase our own personal happiness, relative wealth, performance and overall satisfaction, is matching up the long hour and hard work we put into our businesses with the beliefs and values we hold dear.

Yes, having that strong moral compass provides the why behind the who, what, when and where that we spend our time on, and can be a major accelerator towards the goals we strive to achieve.

Steven Cretney of The Forest Communication and Design has let his own moral compass guide much of his career. From an insight while travelling after high school, to turning down lucrative jobs from customers that don’t match his values, and pursuing jobs he loves in which he can make a real difference, and strive towards that elusive over used term of “Making the world a better place.”

Turn down jobs from big customers, pursue your passion working for companies that match your values, go out on your own and move to the small town you’ve always dreamed of, all while launching your own venture and going out on your own in an effort to improve the world? You can do that here!

Adventure. Webster’s defines it as a verb meaning “To engage in hazardous and exciting activity, especially the exploration of unknown territory.”

By that definition the world of entrepreneurship is nothing more than one big adventure. We start with an idea and a plan and then leap into often unknown waters, attempt to navigate around the obstacles, rocks and rapids in our path. Often we spill but we get back up and continue onward, and If we manage to make most of the decisions right along the way we’re rewarded with an awesome time and a lucrative exit out of the river of business

The more you think of it, the very nature of tackling a white-water river trip is very much the same as running growing and selling a business.

Chris and Andrea Ryman, met through their mutual love of the water and adventures in paddling that led tem to the Kootenays.

11 years later they’ve bought, grown and sold a business, and have been instrumental in growing the paddling community along the way as they look forward to the next story in their endless adventure.

Rik Logtenberg, along with his co-founders launched a game-changing start-up in the events space just over half a decade ago. As the CEO of Time.ly he oversaw a large, rapidly growing team and was in the position of having to constantly make decisions, many of which directly affected the success or failure of his company.

Having been a technical guy from the start as a software developer, he had been longing to get back into the coding and development seat and at least temporarily out of the CEO chair. Combining that desire, with his technical expertise and a co-worker who had a similar idea, they teamed up to create the product they wished they had had while with Time.ly. 

The end result? A soon to be released full version of a better, cheaper, simpler decision making support software he hopes will change the world for the better. 

Launch and run one of the top three event listing/ calendar apps in the world, recognize your passion and step out of the CEO chair, and back into a developers chair, build a better decision making software system and make the world a better place, all while moving back home and being the best dad you can be? You Can Do That Here!

What is it you truly love? What are you currently doing as your main hobby? It’s been said over and over that the best way to succeed in business is by doing something you love, by getting deeply into your passion and turning that into your business.

Let’s face it, entrepreneurship is far more than a full time job. There’s the classic joke about giving up the 9 to 5 40-hour work week so you can chase your dream and put in 100 hours a week. It sounds silly, why would anyone take that deal? Well it all comes down to the simple principle that if you’re loving what you do, then you never truly work a day in your life. And just like that your 100-hour work week just vanished into spending lots of time on the thing you love.

For Josh Secord and his partners at Torchlight brewing, there was a lightbulb moment of sorts while enjoying a fresh growler of craft beer at a North End Halifax nano-brewery. Chatting with the owners over a little lubrication, the thought to take their new found love of craft beer back home to Nelson, BC with them, and to launch their own craft brewery.

Running out of beer 3 days in was a good sign. Now coming on three years later they are about to embark on their next great adventure with a massive expansion into a brand spanking new brewery.

Have your friend travel across the country by motorbike to visit you on the East Coast, make daily dashes for growler refills at the local craft brewery, get inspired by the beer and business potential, move back home with a new inspiration and business partner and launch a brand new craft brewery, only to undergo a major expansion three years in? You Can Do That Here!

Bad news… We’ve all been there before when something out of our control happens that dramatically changes the courses of our moment, day, year or lives. It can often be devastating, and have a lasting impact on our lives. As we’ve all heard from many people in many ways, in life it’s not about what happens to us, but rather how we react to it. Entrepreneurship at it’s very core is often born by or fuelled by bad news.

It could be the bad news that the product or service you wanted or needed wasn’t available, and so you created it yourself. It could be the likely many bad news, mistakes and failures along the way that drive you to improvement and success. In the end, as in life, so too is entrepreneurship all about not what happens to you but how you react to it.

In that sense, as in many others, David Agnew of Crawford Bay BC is very much an entrepreneur at it’s core. For most of his life he enjoyed a busy and successful business career in the oil and gas industry. In a matter of three days that all changed as he lost his eyesight. That’s when his business mind fired back up and he went through a typical lean start-up approach to getting back into the game. The end result is a creative and unique business, motivated by his bad news.

His unique story is one any person who has ever received bad news or faced adversity should hear.

Lose your sight and your former career due to an unforeseen medical condition? turn your life around? find a productive path forward, launch a new business and inspire others with your story? You Can Do That Here!

Rob van der Laan grew up in The Netherlands, and in addition to wanting to be a rock star as a kid, he had a love of nature. In the largely wilderness free lands of Nether, that connection to nature grew into a love and practice of a new trade.

Plying his wares as a horticulturist around The Hague was good, but he dreamed of bigger, more rugged wilderness, which ultimately brought him to Nelson, BC and helped launch his business Kootenay Precision Earthworks.

Grow up with a love of nature, pursue that while travelling and working abroad before discovering a gem of a community in a beautiful environment deep in the West Kootenays, emigrate to a new country, learn the rules of the road, find a unique niche where you can pursue your passion for the land and horticulture, purchase a unique piece of equipment and successfully launch a new business? You Can Do That Here!