BCBUSINESS.CA APRIL 2017 BCBUSINESS 35
L I F E S T O RY: When Matt Leslie graduated
from the University of Northern B.C. in 2011
with a B.Comm. in finance and marketing, he
planned to become a financial adviser. So when
his friend and fellow
UNBC grad Kevin Pederson
suggested starting a mobile canning service
for craft breweries, he brushed the idea aside.
"Being from Prince George, I assumed that craft
beer was Cariboo," he says. That summer, Leslie
moved to Victoria; when his landlord hired him
to run a new air filter business, he realized that
"I did not want to be a suit for the rest of my
life." Plus, the thriving craft brewing scene in
Victoria and Vancouver convinced him to try
mobile canning. In 2014, Leslie and Pederson
launched West Coast Canning, the first such
company in Canada, which allows brewers to in-
vest in more tanks rather than in-house canning.
THE BOTTOM LINE: Last year the Vancouver
company acquired Toronto-based Sessions
Craft Canning, expanding service from B.C. and
Alberta to Ontario and Quebec. After growing
from four to 10 full-time staff in 2016, West
Coast Canning is on pace to increase revenue
175 per cent by year's end. —F.S.
L I F E S T O RY: Raised in rural northern
California, Vanessa Chase Lockshin looked to
her dad, an entrepreneur who had worked in
Silicon Valley, as a role model. Chase Lockshin
moved to Vancouver in 2006 to study English lit-
erature at
UBC; after graduation her first job was
raising money from alumni. She then worked as
a development officer at the Union Gospel
Mission before launching the Storytelling Non-
Profit in 2013. As a consultant to not-for-profits,
Chase Lockshin offers services from online
training to workshops that help clients raise
more funds by crafting compelling stories. "I like
the idea of being able to empower people to
learn skills that they need to do the work them-
selves," says the Canadian permanent resident,
noting that the U.S. alone is home to some
1.5 million non-profits. "There's a huge opportu-
nity to continue to offer innovative training."
T H E B O T T O M L I N E : Chase Lockshin has
helped about 30 non-profits raise a total of more
than $10 million and trained some 9,000 profes-
sionals. This year revenue will rise 50 per cent,
from just under six figures, she projects. —N.R.
VA N E S S A C H A S E
L O C K S H I N
President
THE STORYTELLING NON-PROFIT
A G E : 2 8
M AT T H E W L E S L I E
Co-founder and CEO
WEST COAST CANNING
A G E : 2 8
