BCBusiness

June 2020 – Thirty Under 30 | Invest in BC Special Report

With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.

Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1254353

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 84 of 103

SYDNEY KOBY: ADAM BLASBERG; FRANKIE CENA: ERICH SAIDE JUNE 2020 BCBUSINESS 21 by science and evidence, how much carbon reductions are happening in the province," Mottaghi explains. BOTTOM LINE : Lambda's three- person team is piloting StepWin at 15 single-family homes in New Westmin- ster and negotiating demonstration projects in Port Moody, Kamloops and Kelowna. –D.H. M A R I S S A G R O O T E S AGE: 29 Founder + CEO, Stil Classics LIFE STORY: Starting a business wasn't on Marissa Grootes' busy agenda in 2013, when she made a notebook-style planner to manage her schedule. The Zurich-born SFU communications grad was working full-time in design and marketing while selling jewelry on the side and attending graphic design classes at Langara College. The other organizers she had tried were ugly and hard to use, Grootes says, so she used her design skills to create her own. She handcrafted a few more as Christmas gifts for friends and family. When those became a hit, she made another 30 to sell on Etsy. Realizing she was having fun, she made her next step a leap of faith. Grootes quit her job in 2014, using all of her savings to make a production run of planners for the upcoming new year. "It was the scariest thing ever," she recalls. BOTTOM LINE : Grootes fought through a multiple sclerosis diagnosis to consistently grow Stil Classics' revenue by 150 percent each month and build a community with more than 26,000 Instagram followers. Stil sells its products on its website, mostly in the U.S. and Canada. Grootes, who has one full-time and two part-time employees, briefly opened a store- front in Vancouver's Gastown before closing it due to the coronavirus pandemic. –D.H. S Y D N E Y K O B Y AGE: 29 Founder + CEO, Bite Snacks Nutrition LIFE STORY: By the time Sydney Koby graduated in 2013 with an engineering degree from Queen's University in Ontario, a semester in Singapore had introduced her to scuba diving, travel and other ideas. "I didn't want to be an engineer, with all of the other options in the world," the North Vancouver–raised CEO of Bite Snacks Nutrition realized. Koby spent a few years working different jobs and travelling before deciding to start her company in 2018, making protein bars and powders from crickets. Having seen people on other continents eating insects as a sustainable alternative to meat, she wanted to help spread the idea's appeal in North America. BOTTOM LINE : Koby, who started Vancouver-based Bite Snacks with money saved from her job as a baker, hired her first two employees this year. The company's revenue is on track for 500-percent growth in its second fiscal year, as sales have expanded from its website, Amazon .ca and small natural food stores to retail outlets like HomeSense and Winners. Although COVID-19 stalled the launch of a new product line, e-commerce has increased. –D.H. F R A N K I E C E N A AGE: 28 Founding director, Fostering Debate Talent LIFE STORY: "My mom always says that instead of grabbing a hockey stick, I grabbed a microphone," jokes Frankie Cena, who grew up in Burnaby. In Grade 7, Cena entered a mandatory public speaking competi- tion and wound up snagging second place in the city. From there, he joined his high school's debate team; when not working on his own skills, he volunteered as a coach. Cena remembers being shocked the first time a parent offered payment. "In the moment, I thought, How much do I charge? I was doing it for free, and for fun." For Cena, who lived in co-op hous- ing with his mother and sister, hiring a coach for an extracurricular activity wasn't an option. Even post-second- ary education seemed out of reach until he earned a full-ride scholarship to UBC Sauder School of Business, graduating with a BComm in 2013. Cena began coaching for local schools and tutoring private clients while he completed his degree. He launched Fostering Debate Talent ( FDT), the first public speaking and debate school of its kind in the country, in Burnaby in 2017. BOTTOM LINE : FDT, which opened a second location in West Vancouver, now has five permanent employees (including his mom and sister), 10 to 20 contracted instruc- tors and some 300 students. The company hit $1 million in revenue last year. Most important to Cena, FDT offers full scholarships and works with families to ensure that its program is accessible: "We currently have a policy where we don't turn anyone away." In the wake of COVID-19, FDT has converted to an online academy, retaining 95 percent of its previous students and enrolling 20 more. Cena has also launched a free nationwide public speaking contest that awards $10,000 in cash scholarships and donates $5 to Food Banks Canada for every entry. –A.H. Frankie Cena Marissa Grootes Sydney Koby continued from page 20 of BCBusiness

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of BCBusiness - June 2020 – Thirty Under 30 | Invest in BC Special Report