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
Let's start at the beginning. What did you want to be when you were growing up? While I initially had hopes of becoming a professional hockey player, clearly my skill did not match my aspirations. Who had the biggest influence on young Darren Entwistle? I always admired my father, not only for his sound paternal advice, but also for his wis- dom in managing everyday challenges and embracing our responsibility to make the world a better place. When I was younger and beginning my career in telecommunica- tions, my father shared an important lesson about how to create the circumstances to contribute to our society. He said, "Embrace technology as a way to enhance our quality of life, but do not forget that it is not, and it never will be, a substitute for authentic human compassion." You lost both parents to cancer at a relatively young age. How have you dealt with and tried to overcome that? You learn to process and encapsulate the loss, but you never get over it. I would trade everything, in a heartbeat, to have my par- ents and sister back. Cancer is a vile disease "When I was younger and beginning my career in telecommunications, my father shared an important lesson about how to create the circumstances to contribute to our society. 68 BCBUSINESS.CA JULY/AUGUST 2023 and I look forward to human ingenuity and technology advancements, including AI for Good, defeating this illness. How did your university years shape you? I completed my undergrad in economics at Concordia, after which I obtained an MBA in finance from McGill and a diploma in network engineering from the University of Toronto. All of my alma maters are near and dear to my heart, as they gave me the tools to succeed and bolstered my career ambitions. The experiences one enjoys throughout an academic journey become foundational to the concept of continuous learning, prepar- ing you with the insight, acumen and curios- ity to pursue your career, and, importantly, to make meaningful contributions at a local, national and global scale. And what about having kids. How has that changed you? Or has it? Like most parents, I think that having kids makes you think more about future genera- tions. By way of example, the importance of protecting, nurturing and restoring the planet our children will inherit, and making safer, stronger, more giving communities for the benefit of our next generation of leaders. What's your biggest pet peeve? Working slowly is a particular aggravation of mine. As I move closer to retirement, I feel a greater sense of urgency to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves and tend to become more impatient in respect to getting things done in a timely fashion. Speaking of which, Telus certainly hasn't worked slowly since you joined in 2000. What have been some of your biggest successes there? What are you most proud of? It has been a remarkable journey over the past 23 years, as Telus has evolved from a regional telephone company serving West- ern Canada into a global communications and information technology leader. What I am most proud of, however, is the amazing Telus team that brings our achievements to fruition. Our team is the most engaged on the planet, and it is thanks to their pas- sion and expertise that we are able to put our customers and communities first while delivering world-leading operational, cus- tomer service and financial results for the benefit of the many stakeholders we serve. Indeed, as a result of our team's efforts, we are the leading social capitalism com- pany in the world, transforming health care;