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/1388249
FROM LEFT: ANNA BEAUDRY; WHENTHEYFINDUS.COM JULY/AUGUST 2021 BCBUSINESS 59 but I do think that women have a huge advantage in this kind of business."–N.R. R I L E Y H O W L E T T AGE: 29 Owner Trestle Investments (Lonsdale Leather + Precision Patterns) LIFE STORY: Riley Howlett is something of a globetrotter. After high school, when he started sewing and making his own skateboarding shoes, the White Rock native earned a footwear design certificate in Italy. Howlett then did two years of fashion design in San Diego before dropping out to work as a shoe designer for John Fluevog–a job that included six months at his boss's factory in Peru. Returning home in 2015, he noticed that Phillip Flintoff, longtime owner of Lonsdale Leather, planned to close his Vancouver store. Howlett, who often shopped there, took a loan from his mother and father and bought the business, which supplied leather to industries ranging from footwear to film and TV. "I saw the need for it in Vancouver and Canada, and even North America, as well as the poten- tial to take what [Flintoff] had done and really build and grow on that." Howlett moved Lonsdale Leather to a new Mount Pleasant location and expanded its offerings to include products such as tools, hardware and sewing machines. Besides bringing in premium goods that weren't available locally, he worked with top European suppliers to create a house line of dyes and other leather supplies that now sells worldwide. Howlett turned the store into a space for the city's diverse maker community, too, hosting workshops and concerts. With two partners, he also bought Precision Patterns, a Richmond manufacturing outfit on the verge of shuttering as well, last year. BOTTOM LINE : Precision Patterns, which typically has 13 to 19 staff, does pattern making, custom clothing manufacturing and other work for Canadian and U.S. clients. "That business is absolutely booming now," says Howlett, who champions local manufacturing for its high quality, quick turnaround and lower carbon footprint. Lonsdale Leather's online sales have outstripped those for its physi- cal store, which employs five people. But Howlett has no plans to close up shop. "As long as it's not losing money, I'm going to leave it there and allow it to keep a spot for the com- munity." –N.R. L A U R E N M I N O G U E AGE: 29 Vice-president Connor, Clark & Lunn Private Capital LIFE STORY: "My journey wasn't determined," Lauren Minogue says of her rise to VP with one of Vancouver's biggest money managers. Raised in Edmonton, Minogue did a BComm at UVic's Peter B. Gustavson School of Business. She then returned home to work for her parents, both of whom are business owners, before moving to Vancouver. There, Minogue started out in business development with a tech company. But numbers have always been her strength, so she joined Fidelity Investments in 2016, becoming an inside wholesaler while earning the rigorous Chartered Finan- cial Analyst ( CFA) designation. Disheartened by the conflicts of interest she saw at many invest- ment firms, Minogue decided to move to Connor, Clark & Lunn Private Capital in 2018 after meet- ing managing director Catherine Dorazio. "They've never hired someone my age," she says of the wealth management division of $90-billion Connor Clark & Lunn Financial Group, where she works with high-net-worth clients in their 50s through 70s. Although Minogue thinks she's lost out on potential cli- ents because of her age, she's found that most wealthy families respond well when she offers to help advise their children. "They're looking to create this generational strategy," she says. "My approach has been, What are the kids doing?" BOTTOM LINE : Year-over- year since 2016, Minogue has seen top-quartile growth for the business she manages. Besides increasing her assets under management at CC&L, she aims to make equity partner in 2022. Minogue, who sits on the boards of Social Venture Partners Foundation Vancouver and the Learn- ing Disabilities Society of Greater Vancouver, also wants to get involved in an investment committee doing innovative work in impact investing. Women in the male-dominated wealth advisory industry take a different approach that serves them well, she argues. "We collaborate. We support each other. We share best practices," Minogue says of working with two female col- leagues. "I'm biased, obviously, 3 0 U N D E R T H I R T Y Lauren Minogue Riley Howlett