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/1501233
42 BCBUSINESS.CA JULY/AUGUST 2023 TOP: LONGHOUSE MEDIA 3 3 UNDER K E E N A N B E A V I S AGE: 28 Founder, Longhouse Media LIFE STORY: At the age of four, Keenan Beavis was already stepping into entrepreneurship, albeit in an unusual way. He went door-to-door selling bugs: caterpil- lars, ladybugs, mosquitos, you name it. "People bought them, but I'm not sure how many customers my dad paid off," laughs Beavis. By age 12, he had created the 27th most viewed YouTube channel in Canada, and in high school he built a successful T-shirt company. He went on to study finance and economics at the University of the Fraser Valley and was part of the Ch'nook Indigenous Business Education Scholars Program at UBC. During this time, he launched Longhouse Media—a marketing agency that mainly focused on video production—first as a side hustle in 2018, and soon as a full-time gig following graduation. Specializing in elevating businesses from $500,000 to $5 million in revenue using digital marketing strategies, Longhouse Media works across multiple sectors, including municipalities, Indigenous organizations, publicly traded compa- nies and educational institutions. When the pandemic caused the video production side of the business to plummet from 40 percent of its rev- enue to 5 percent, Beavis and his team pivoted and began offering a wider range of digital marketing services, such as search engine optimization, digital advertising, web design and branding. Between 2020 and 2022, Longhouse Media grew by 380 percent, becoming a seven-figure company. Named after the traditional gathering place in Indigenous culture, Long- house Media is a place where people come together to work toward common goals, says Beavis. He is part of Métis Nation British Columbia and, locally, the Waceya Métis Society in Langley. "The symbol of the longhouse is in line with what we do," says Beavis. "We work toward a com- mon goal with our partners, helping their visions become a reality." BOTTOM LINE : The company has served over 300 clients over the past four years and has garnered 115 five-star Google reviews. It also offers a program called the Longhouse Media Aboriginal Youth Mentorship Award, which includes a $1,000 scholarship, entrepreneurship training and a workshop on web design, digital advertising and graphic design. In total, the company has 10 team members, ranging from special- ists to client support staff. –R.W. L A U R E N G I L L E S P I E AGE: 29 Founder, House Concepts and House iD LIFE STORY: Lauren Gillespie has been preparing most of her life to run a fitness company. Since about the age of six, she's been doing track and field, swimming and playing soccer and tennis. "We grew up with my dad training us in my basement, making us do hurdles," says Gillespie about her father, Ian, a well-known Vancouver real estate titan. "Family vacations were bootcamp." It would be easy to label Gillespie a "nepo baby," as the kids say, but it's a title that she doesn't think makes much sense. "For me and my siblings, it was never really an option not to work hard," she says. "Starting in elementary school, I had 5 a.m. swim practice. I never once thought, Oh, you don't have to work. My first job was in a hotel in Grade 9 washing dishes, and I worked as a barista in coffee shops. I never thought of [her dad's wealth] as a way out. It's the opposite, it makes me want to work harder." After a degree in art history from McGill, Gillespie worked at an agency in London doing strategy for different brands like Nike and British Airways. Then it was back to Vancouver, where she started going to the many different spin classes and gyms on offer in the city. "I had five differ- ent memberships, it was expensive and time consuming and I decided I wanted to open my own thing," says Gillespie. "Living overseas, there's so much more to offer in terms of that fitness experience. So, I decided to open my own and have everything under one roof." Thus, House Concepts found a home in Vancouver House, a building developed by her father's company, Westbank. The studio combines most modern forms of exercise you can name: pilates, yoga, dumbbell classes, spin and boxing. The company has also branched into a clothing line (House iD) and a smoothie bar (House Kitchen). "A lot of our trainers live in the building and it becomes this sort of joke because they live there, eat House food and wear House clothes," Gillespie says. BOTTOM LINE : Through the three different pieces of the business, Gillespie oversees some 55 employees and is planning on opening two House Concepts locations in Toronto (including one this fall) and one in Seattle. –N.C.