BCBUSINESS.CA APRIL 2017 BCBUSINESS 33
L I F E S T O RY: A self-described theatre kid,
Brittany Whitmore set her sights on acting while
growing up in Campbell River. Scouted by a
modelling agent at 17, she moved to Vancouver
to model full-time and enrolled in a musical
theatre program. The lifestyle was glamorous
—trips to Europe, gigs for Dolce & Gabbana,
Guess and Holt Renfrew—but unsustainable,
she says. So Whitmore enrolled in Langara
College, where she earned a bachelor of busi-
ness administration. Job hunting as graduation
approached, she met Aman Mann and Eugene
Dong, founders of e-commerce startup Procurify.
Whitmore took over in 2013 as director of com-
munications, overseeing marketing as the com-
pany grew from a handful of employees to 40.
After three years she left to focus on her own
communications firm, Exvera. In 2015, Whitmore
founded TEDxGastownWomen, an annual event
that aims to empower women and girls.
T H E B O T T O M L I N E : Exvera has attracted
clients such as tech conference operator
SheTalks Technology and Vancouver-based
Kater, a chauffeur-on-demand service. Last
October's TEDxGastownWomen drew some
350 participants. —J.P.
L I F E S T O RY: Mark Rodgman started his
business career from his high-school locker in
Maple Ridge, selling pop, chips and chocolate
he and a friend bought in bulk from Costco.
Rodgman, who has a bachelor of business
administration from the University of Arkansas,
went on to work in sales and marketing for com-
panies like Vancouver-headquartered customer
engagement specialist Mobify. But he kept his
entrepreneurial engine running by founding
product-discovery platform Dooers.net in 2014.
His latest enterprise, TalentPartners.js,
recruits skilled software engineers and execu-
tives for high-growth technology firms. Launch-
ing Vancouver-based TalentPartners.js in late
2015 with Ian Douglas circles back to
Rodgman's locker-shop roots: the company
follows an established business model and fills
a clear market demand. "We just found areas in
the market that people were ignoring," he says.
T H E B O T T O M L I N E : In its first year,
TalentPartners.js landed more than 10 high-
profile clients, among them Cisco Systems Inc.,
plus startups funded by leading venture capital
players such as Andreessen Horowitz. The firm
earned just over $300,000 in profit. —D.H.
M A R K R O D G M A N
Co-founder and managing director
TALENTPARTNERS JS INC.
A G E : 2 9
B R I T TA N Y W H I T M O R E
Founder, EXVERA COMMUNICATIONS
Founder and executive director, TEDxGASTOWNWOMEN
A G E : 2 9
