You Can Do That Here

This week we catch up with Rich Thompson, currently of Nelson, BC.

Motivated to beat his sister's academic record, and to live an entrepreneurial life, travelling the world in the progress, Rich helped start a tutoring company. 6 months in he took over the company and began the effort to move it to an online delivery so he could continue his travels.

Grow up in an academic family, compete with your sister for grades and in the process figure out a better, more efficient way to learn, take over a classic tutoring business and move it online, while travelling the world living your dream lifestyle? You Can Do That Here!

We caught up with Christian Rawles in his home in Uphill Nelson, BC to hear his fascinating story.

After following his passion into the outdoor industry, he ultimately found himself in a position to buy the company he worked for. Taking an ultra LEAN approach he's utilized technology and outsourcing to build a beautiful company he can run from anywhere while living the lifestyle he's always dreamed of.

Follow your hearts true passion, build strong relationships to forward your career, and ultimately put people ahead of profits while growing an outdoor apparel company from your home office? You Can do that here.

Have you ever had an idea that you just couldn’t shake? An idea that when it formed in your brain, it simultaneously formed in your heart and soul? An idea that you know you can run with, make money, have fun and make a whole bunch of people happy in the process?

Brent Malysh of Nelson, BC lived the classic entrepreneurial stereotype. It all started over a beer, a chat with friends, and the famous backside of a cocktail napkin.

 The better part of a decade later, this former ski school manager is just about to realise his dream.

Early in 2017, the latest new piece of awesome will arrive in Nelson, BC. All things continuing to go well, Backroads Brewing, the first brewery lounge in town, will open in the heart of Baker Street

From idea to business plan, Brent and his partners are in the middle of making that idea a reality. This story, is one about having big ideas, taking the time to plan them out and then having the courage to just going for it.

Adam O. Thomas has made a career out of letting his creative juices flow, collaborating with others, and creating unique, engaging content. Whether creating experimental comedy or educational media Adam brings a punk rock, do it yourself attitude to everything he does, infusing his own life experiences along the way. He's had success recently with his new web series Parked, commercial work, and a wide variety of creative film making projects in his career. Along the way he's learned there are 4 things it takes to succeed in both film, and entrepreneurship in general.

1) Be yourself 2) Find or build a community 3) Be prolific 4) Hustle.

Having grown bored and isolated in the fast growing, expensive metropolis of Vancouver Adam has relocated to Nelson and found a new creative community to launch his next batch of Kootenay creativity.

Following the tragic news of her husband's skiing accident which rendered him a quaraplegic, Invermere BC's own Cassy Campbell did what any mom would do. She decided to take her newly purchased hobby business to the next level, all while becoming her family's primary  breadwinner, her husband's care-giver, continuing to be the mom of two active kids and working to give back to her community and mom's everywhere. No big deal right?

The story of Stripes Gear is a story about the unstoppable spirit of the entrepreneur, the unbreakable bond that is family and overcoming any challenges.

There is a growing trend amongst the younger generations that defies the past norms. Today's digital natives that barely if at all knew the world without it's wide web, are giving up the digital dream. They are longing for and seeking out real and genuine experiences.

Luke Lewis of North Woven Brooms and Jennifer Cross of Jennifer Chocolates are the perfect examples. Luke was in Environmental science in Toronto, and Jennifer was also a Torontonian from the tech world. Through their own unique circumstances they ended up living the small town lifestyle, working with their hands as successful artisan entrepreneurs that understand the true value of a life well lived.

From an early age Anthony Sanna, by necessity became a translator and storyteller with a knack for getting the gist and passing it on. As he grew older, he realized he had valuable skills he could turn into a business. We hear Anthony's story of how he became a marketing smarty pants from his own perspective and three key role players in his career's development.

We last talked to brad back in episode 64 which you can find at www.kast.com/youcandothathere. In that episode we chatted about his love story with tech and the remarkable movement he built with the Nelson Tech Club.

He launched that club and grew it into the biggest per capita club in the country at over 400 members. He has inspired a generation of youth and the young at heart with science, technology and just plain cool machines. He is now on to phase two with Midas Labs. At the Nelson tech club he was the spark that launched a grassroots movement.

He's now got a half million dollars of the latest technology, a permanent home and an operational budget to take MIDAS, his next movement to a whole new level.

Change. It has a way of separating those that are good at doing, and those that are good at doing as well as learning, growing and adapting. The person who is open to learning, adapting and evolving will find change to simply be the canvass for their creations. Yes standing still is death in a world where change and motion are continuous. Winston Churchill once said that “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.”

There are few worlds that have been changing as often, completely and fast as the digital world of the web. One of the biggest changes over the past five to ten years has been a continuing shift in web design to in many ways becoming a self-serve industry. With the likes of WordPress and Squarespace, building a decent looking website has never been easier.

With a near infinite number of pages on the web, the need to fill them with quality content has grown in step. Indeed content is king, and the content creator is highly sought after.

Adrian Wagner of Nelson, BC has been a great example of adapting to change. Building on a base of passion for all things artistic and creative, he has put two decades into the web design game so far, dabbled in the commercial music industry, and is adding content production as a photographer to his repertoire. I sat down with Adrian to hear his story and find out what drives him in his pursuit of perfection in a world of change.

Shift careers, in a rapidly changing business climate, while maintaining and growing your artistic passion? You can do that here!

 Two heads are better than one. For that matter, three, four, five or more heads are better still. We’ve all heard that before. Yes it’s common wisdom that the more minds you set to a common problem, the quality of the solution goes up exponentially.  It’s been true, since the inception of life itself. From the first time two single celled organisms merged in that magical pool of bubbling ooze, the power of connection began.

So should you go with your gut? Or should you seek out expert advice and add more heads to your problem? For Julia Gillmor of Nelson, BC it started with a natural talent in connecting people, and then a strong gut feeling to go out on her own, trust her gut and get back to what she loves most.

With a strong head for business and a track record of entrepreneurial success, Julia Gillmor communications was launched. She now uses the power of connection to launch her clients to greater heights, as well as continue to launch her own game. It all starts with one innovative thing she does before starting any marketing or communication campaign. I sat down with Julia to hear her intriguing story, and learn what that one key thing is.

Discover what you truly love, and put your natural talents to us in your own business? Help other connect with the right strategy and the right customer with unique and innovative tricks and tools? You can do that here