LIFT: Leading, Inspiring, and Fuelling the Talent Economy on Vancouver Island
Here’s how LIFT is different from some other business networks you may be familiar with:
- LIFT is Inclusive: if you’re a community-minded, entrepreneurial, and/or innovative/unique business on the Island, you’re a good fit for LIFT.
- LIFT is Innovative: LIFT offers much more than networking alone, with resources and events that help you build your business skills and challenge yourself.
Meet Liz Wootton
Hey, I’m Liz. My mission is to make the world a better place for people in business; not by changing the world, but by guiding and supporting change for those people.
Through my coaching work (in my other business, Human Nature Development) I’ve been living that mission since 2013, and when the opportunity was presented to me to take on the LIFT Business Network towards the end of 2021, I knew this was a way I could further that mission in a different way.
Taking on what used to be an in-person events based organization while the Covid pandemic was raging (and in-person events were out of the question) may have seemed like a wild decision. But I had been on board as a LIFT member for several years, and I could envision an opportunity to build something a little different: to take strands of the previous version of LIFT and weave them into something fresh, that plays to my particular strengths and passions as a coach and seasoned business owner.
I’ve built more than one business from the ground up. I understand the immense drive to create, to innovate, and to be free and independent. I know first-hand how amazing and exciting and satisfying, and how frustrating and terrifying and isolating it can be to run a business (some days, all of those things at the same time!) The life of an entrepreneur is hardly ever dull. But it’s hardly ever easy, either. There is tremendous value in surrounding yourself with people who get it – people who inspire you, support you, and lift you up.
For me, LIFT is an opportunity for members not only to do networking and getting the word out about their business, but also to build community and foster meaningful human connection between businesses on Vancouver Island. And, through sharing of knowledge we also get to make LIFT a source of empowerment for entrepreneurs.
My vision for LIFT is to create a space where Vancouver Island businesses can share, learn, educate, be social, build themselves and each other up.
Our businesses do better when we do better. And we do better when we exist in community.
Take part in discussion, come along to a Power Hour, take part in a BizDev Challenge. Be curious and experiment!
Yours in community,
Liz Wootton
The History
Here’s a short video clip we put together when we launched as LIFT Comox Valley in 2016. The focus on having fun while building an entrepreneur community still applies every bit as much as it ever did!