iLLustratiOn: carsOn tinG OctOber 2014 BCBusiness 73
i knew my business
was a success when…
sACHA MCLeAn: i watched
(for the fi rst time) our heli-
copter crews changing parts
on an energized high-voltage
power transmission line—it
was a well-choreographed
virtual "ballet" of experience
and confi dence. it made me
proud.
i get my best ideas
when…
JAsOn MCLeAn: i'm far
away from the offi ce in a tent
or a boat. Preferably around
dogs. My dogs like to fi sh.
People tell me
the phrase i most
overuse is…
LisOGAR-COCCHiA:
"absolutely!"
The most underrated
trait of an
entrepreneur is…
HAAs: stamina. it's a mara-
thon and not a sprint!
if i weren't doing this
i'd be…
JAsOn MCLeAn: consigliere
to a non-mafi a family
business empire. defi nitely
non-mafi a.
The person i learned
the most from was…
HAAs: subconsciously, my
parents, through leading by
example.
f i n a l i s t
Thomas Haas
Owner, Thomas Haas Chocolates
and Patisserie
T
homas Haas, 46, is sweet on the
unexpected. Ranked among the top
pastry chefs in New York? Move to
Vancouver and launch a chocolat-
erie from the basement. Lose two major
wholesale clients? Open a 4,000-square-foot
retail kitchen in a quiet North Vancouver
neighbourhood on his own dime—and then
do it again in Kitsilano during the 2008-09
recession. The risks have paid off for Haas,
whose two locations produce 20,000 high-
end chocolates each week, plus pastries and
other confections—and who plans to open a
third test kitchen next year. "I follow my gut
100 per cent," he says. "People can tell me a
million projections. But if it feels good, I have
never failed." —M.E.
President; CEO, Crew Management Ltd.
I
n 1985, Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia, 50, and
her husband, Sergio Cocchia, 53, envi-
sioned a fi ve-star "staycation" destination
at a time when the luxury spa concept was
still undefi ned—but Wendy's father, who had
just handed over management of the Century
Plaza Hotel to the young couple, didn't
think the new concept would succeed. "He
negotiated a really diffi cult lease for me," says
Wendy. "It was the best training I could have
got as an entrepreneur." Today, Crew Man-
agement claims 10 locations of the celebrity-
favoured Absolute Spa, plus three in-house
spa product lines and a distribution arm that
supplies eight other lines to 2,000 retailers
worldwide. A $1.3-million renovation of the
hotel and restaurant will be fi nished by 2015;
next up is a plan to franchise Absolute Spa in
the U.S. —M.E.
f i n a l i s t s
Sergio Cocchia +
Wendy Lisogar-Cocchia
6
QUES T IONS
E n t e r t a i n m e n t / H o s p i t a l i t y
