LIFT Startups

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LIFT Podcast: Rosemarie Barnes talks about Confident Stages – and Rosemarie Barnes

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The cover image on Rosemarie’s Vancouver Island Local Business Directory listing says it all: Speak to engage. Speak to succeed. An international speaker, best-selling author, and “executive presentation trainer,” Rosemarie has a passion for helping people find the voice they need to succeed. And, she’s the guest workshop leader for the Comox Valley Women’s Business Network event on November 15, 2018. Details and tickets here.

We’re excited to have Rosemarie in our LIFT community for several reasons.

  • One, she’s offering a 20% discount on “presentation training” to LIFT members.
  • Two, Rosemarie is an example of Vancouver Island talent serving markets far beyond our local communities. In her case, she’s working with clients across North American and in Europe.

I talked to Rosemarie on October 26, 2018, She told me about her business, why she started it, and her passion for the work she’s doing. We also talked about her biggest challenges in life, her favourite books, and her favourite place to eat cinnamon buns on the Island.

Rosemarie is a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers, the Public Speakers Association, and the National Speakers Association, Rosemarie has presented in theatres, boardrooms, conferences and in the bathroom shower. I hope you enjoy our conversation!

Get LIFTed – get 20% off with Confident Stages

If you’re already a LIFT member and you need help with your presentation skills, contact Rosemarie via the Vancouver Island Local Business Network directory at https://liftstartup.wpengine.com/listing/confident-stages/

If you’re a member and you’re ready to have your business featured in a LIFT Podcast, please see this link for more information: http://bit.ly/FMIaboutLIFTPodcasts

If you’re not a LIFT member and you want the benefits of access to member-to-member discounts (like the one Rosemarie is offering), award-winning (and affordable) social media and PR support, as well as access to signature LIFT events and workshops please apply here: http://applyandgetlifted.ca

Business collaborations

Thanks to conversations initiated by Comox Valley WBN board member (and LIFT member) Dennyse Harris, LIFT is happy to help WBN promote Rosemarie’s workshop in the Comox Valley. If you’re a member of an Island-based business network or organization, we’re keen to connect the dots. Let’s find ways to collaborate and support each other!

Listen to more LIFT Podcasts

You’ll find more LIFT Podcast interviews on our blog here: http://liftpodcast.ca/

You can also subscribe to the LIFT Podcast series on iTunes at http://bit.ly/iTunesLIFTPodcasts

~ hpm
Founder, LIFT
250-792-1408
hpm@liftstartups.ca
We do award-winning local business promotion for less than $1/day on the Island via the Vancouver Island Local Business Network & Directory
Apply today and Get LIFTed! http://applyandgetlifted.ca

 

Old House Law & Notary: A LIFT BizOnDeck Case Study

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Old House Law & Notary is a partnership between Lyle Carlstrom Professional Law Corporation and T. Dale Roberts Notary Corporation. Lawyers and Notaries both practice law (with Notaries restricted to real estate, wills, contracts etc.). Having them work together in the same office creates new efficiencies and legal solutions for clients. Old House Law & Notary one of the first practices in BC providing lawyer and a notary public services.
You can find out more at ohlp.ca

LIFT: What inspired you to start Old House Law & Notary?
Lyle: I wanted to live in the Comox Valley, and from a professional level I wanted to be in business with like-minded individuals and create something new and dynamic. Working with Dale Roberts has led to a multidisciplinary practice that has a lawyer working with – instead of competing with – a notary. Our type of law is non-contentious. We focus on helping people – buying and selling real estate, estate planning. These services are in high demand in the region, and an office that includes both law and notary services, it makes us very competitive.

LIFT: What was your “ask” at your BizOnDeck workshop?
Lyle: We had several asks. We wanted: feedback on what would make us more relevant to the general public, help in branding our business, advice on keeping existing clients loyal to our new brand, suggestions on acquiring new customers who will appreciate the new brand, help on determining the best ways to give back to our clients and community, and direction on spreading the word about the results of the above.

LIFT: What were the three biggest takeaways (and subsequent actions) from your BizOnDeck?
Lyle: We heard that we are generally on the right track with our marketing efforts, but that we need to spend additional time on social media marketing. We also heard that we need to clarify our company vision and mission. As follow up activities we’ve re-engaged our webmaster digital marketer, and we’re planning a management retreat in mid-June

LIFT: Has putting your business “on deck” helped grow your business?
Lyle: The short answer is yes. We found the BizOnDeck process to be very helpful, and vibrant. We got lots of great feedback. We experienced lots of synergies. Since the workshop, we’ve made positive changes to some of what we do, especially with regard to marketing.

 

Last word

Lyle: For a company like ours, the BizOnDeck was a very unique and valuable exercise. Where else would we get this kind of feedback from a room full of entrepreneurs?

 

Contact information

Telephone: 250-871-7737
Website: ohlp.ca
Vancouver Island business directory: old-house-law-and-notary
Alignable: old-house-law-notary-public-t-dale-roberts-notary-public

 

FMI about LIFT & BizOnDeck

LIFT is an award-winning organization* that helps entrepreneurs, small business owners, and non-profits grow on Vancouver Island. We’ve just launched the Vancouver Island business directory to connect and promote entrepreneurs across the Island. To put your business or project “on deck” please fill in the blanks on this form and we’ll start “hustling the help” to grow your business! Or call HPM at 250-792-1408 to get started.

*Awards include:
• Best in BC, Entrepreneur Promotion, Startup Canada Awards, Vancouver May 2018
• Best Social Media Organization, Comox Valley Record Readers’ Choice Awards, 2015 and 2016.

GrowWise Health in the Comox Valley. A LIFT business profile

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The business of medical cannabis is growing – fast – and has many facets. One of these is patient and physician education about the science and the therapeutic benefits of medical cannabis. Toronto-based GrowWise Health provides this service. In 2017 Denise Ropp partnered with GrowWise Health to bring medical cannabis education to the Comox Valley and Vancouver Island.

LIFT: What is the business of GrowWise Health?

Denise: Medical cannabis is a new and exciting area, and there are a lot of unknowns, and lots of new research. Our role is to provide education and support – for both patients seeking help, and physicians who want to learn more.

Your first step, when you visit our centre, is to meet with a physician who actually listens to you about what you are trying to accomplish with regards to your health. GrowWise Nurse Educators then provide education about medicinal cannabis: licensed producers, safety, dosing, strains, compounds – that kind of thing. After that, we’re here to give you ongoing support to reach your own, personalized goals.

LIFT: What makes your business “special” or different from what others are doing with regard to medical cannabis?

Denise: Let me be clear, because there is often confusion around this, we are NOT a medical cannabis dispensary. Our business is supporting patients in their healing journey, without charging extra fees.

GrowWise started about three years ago. The founders recognized that more and more physicians were authorizing medical cannabis, but patients were being left on their own to fulfill their prescription. With an ordinary script, a patient would be able to walk into a pharmacy and ask for help – the pharmacist will tell you what time of day to take your medication, what side effects to be aware, and will fulfill the prescription for you. That doesn’t exist for cannabis patients.

So GrowWise partnered with a half dozen Licensed Producers – companies authorized by Health Canada to legally producer cannabis for medical purposes – to help connect patients with the support they need to be successful with their treatment. GrowWise nurses are embedded in clinics where there are physicians authorizing cannabis – they work in pain clinics, fibromyalgia centres, family practices, and cannabis clinics like White Cedar here in the Comox Valley. The physicians bill MSP like any other clinic, and the education service is provided free-of-charge to patients.

LIFT: Who are the people that will most benefit from what GrowWise Health is offering?

Denise: Most of our patients are in their 50s and 60s. Active adults highly motivated to improve their health. But really, our target market is anyone who seeking an alternative to traditional pharmaceutical solutions. And so we have patients of all ages, from all walks of life.

LIFT: What inspired you to start the Comox Valley office?

Denise: I saw an opportunity to provide access to a natural health solution to the community. There are a lot of people for whom traditional pharmaceuticals have failed. This is a choice in healthcare, an alternative to traditional solutions. I must say, this is not about getting “high.” Most of our patients have not been recreational cannabis users. Many are unfamiliar with any type of cannabis. They’re people looking for a solution to health issues, a solution that’s eluded them in the traditional healthcare system to date.

We have a lot of patients that have been curious about this medication. There are also those who have tried using medicinal cannabis and are not aware of finer details about strains or components, or even how to properly dose themselves. They need proper education and support. I saw this opportunity as a way to support people on their healing journey.

LIFT: What / who have been the biggest factors in the growth/ success of your business?

Denise: Number one is our patients! GrowWise has worked with over 6000 patients across Canada to date. Hearing their success stories is incredibly motivating for us as a company, as well as for the greater community. These patients go on to tell their family and friends about their success, they share their story with their family physician, their colleagues, and so on, and the message spreads from there.

Another key piece that has been incredibly helpful is the expansion in research. It feels like every day there is a new study released about how cannabis might help – about how it is displacing opioid prescriptions, or how it is improving quality of life for our veterans. We have so much anecdotal evidence that points to cannabis be a valuable treatment options, but in order for healthcare practitioners to fully embrace cannabis, rigorous, academic research is needed.

Finally, the federal government’s decision to legalize cannabis for adult-use this summer has really helped to break down the stigma around cannabis for medical patients. All of a sudden, cannabis is everywhere. It’s on every newspaper cover, on the radio, in magazines – it has become far less taboo, and that has encouraged patients to take the first step and talk to their doctor about it.

LIFT: If you had one piece of advice for someone starting a business on Vancouver Island / in the Comox Valley today, what would it be?

Denise: Get out and network!

CONTACT
For more information about GrowWise Health in the Comox Valley:

Telephone: 250-941-4999
Facebook Messenger: https://www.facebook.com/Comox.3322
GrowWise Health in the Comox Valley is a LIFT member business (aka LIFT VIP). If you are a LIFT member ask Denise and the team at GrowWise Health about the 10% discount on hemp-based products like Bully Bites (doggie snacks), Canna-9, lip balm, body cream, and facial serum.

For more information about LIFT and how we help grow Vancouver Island businesses, please see https://liftstartup.wpengine.com or call Founder & CEO Hans Peter Meyer (HPM) at 250-792-1408.

Patricia Huntsman talks about the Island’s “creative economy”

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LIFT Startups is inviting entrepreneurs and creatives from across the Island to join us in the Comox Valley for our third WinterpreneurFest event on February 1. Tickets are available online. This year our event is sponsored by The Creator Space and we’re drawing attention to the “cultural entrepreneurs” who are making economic shift happen on the Island. To help us understand the importance of this sector, we’ve invited Patricia Huntsman to be our keynote on February 1. Also on the agenda are presentations from cultural entrepreneurs in music (Avigdor Schulman), painting (Esther Sample), dance (Gwen Spinks), theatre (Kymme Patrick), film (Daniel Kooman), and publishing (Ian Adams). We’ll wrap things up with one of our signature We’ll wrap things up with one of our signature #WeAreYQQ entrepreneur after parties thanks to #WeAreYQQPartyCrew Boss Leanne Zdebiak-Eni and our amazing volunteers. Below is my interview with Patricia (PH) about her work and the “cultural economy” on the Island.


Buy Your Tickets Now

HPM: Who is Patricia Huntsman, and why should we be interested in what you have to say about our Island “cultural economy?”

PH: I’m a cultural policy and planning consultant. I’m based in BC and I’ve been running my consultancy since 2009. Before that, I worked nationally and internationally in senior roles in the creative industry.

The topic of cultural entrepreneurship and economy is timely. It has been said that “Where oil was the primary fuel to the 20th-century economy, creativity is the fuel to the 21st century.”  I think this quote resonates with what we’re seeing on the Island.

In Canada, there’s a 53.4 billion dollar direct impact of cultural goods and services on our economy. This is surpassing agriculture, forestry, and fishing combined. People on the Island – anywhere, really – should be interested in learning more about the economic value of culture, and why we should support and invest in it. Perhaps more importantly, we should know how to leverage it to achieve both community and economic development aims.

HPM: I’ve used the term “cultural economy” to describe this, but I think you use another term. Can you explain?

PH: When people talk about the “cultural economy,” they are often referring to what is globally understood as the “creative economy,” which is a concept that describes creativity as it applies to an entire economy.

Part of what I do is to help people understand the language of (and know the difference between) culture, cultural industries, creative ecosystems, and the creative economy. A creative economy is one driven by ideas, innovation, knowledge, diversity, collaboration, and creativity. It encompasses the creative industries in which ideas and intellectual property produce value and generate wealth. It is the combined complex collection of industrial, creative, and cultural service sectors.

HPM: What can we be doing to support growth in the “creative economy” in our Island communities?

PH: We’re lucky. Vancouver Island is already seeing emerging creative clusters and hubs. These provide wonderful opportunities for the incubation of ideas, networking, and cultural production.

By cultural clusters and hubs I mean the geographic area where there are concentrations of cultural activities, bringing people together. These can be arts and cultural venues, cultural businesses, or creative industries. Cultural clusters and hubs can regenerate neighbourhoods and attract new residents and services. A great example is the Fernwood neighbourhood in Victoria, or Tin Town in Courtenay. You can see the impact in what’s emerging in Cumberland.

I’ve been able to work with several Island communities and organisations that want to benefit from the creative economy. My approach is to help communities grow their cultural ecosystem using a place-based approach: understanding and valuing “Who You Are” and “How You Live” as a community. This gets away from the “hype” that sometimes surrounds the  enthusiasm about the “creative economy.” It grounds it, makes it more authentic and meaningful to the larger community.

HPM: Any last words?

PH: Yes. Culture and creativity are vital to building strong, sustainable, and vibrant communities. We’re seeing this around the world. Culture and creativity are significant drivers and enablers of our local economies and our communities.

I’m delighted to be part of the third LIFT WintrepreneurFest. These kinds of events are important opportunities for Island creatives and entrepreneurs to connect, to learn, and to grow. Cultivating this mix of culture, technology and entrepreneurship in communities is where I flourish. Thank you for inviting me to be your keynote!

by Hans Peter Meyer,
founder of LIFT Startups
@hanspetermeyer on Twitter

FMI about Patricia Huntsman please see:

WinterpreneurFest3 Special Event Sponsor
Thanks to WinterpreneurFest3 Special Event Sponsor The Creator Space at thecreatorspace.com in the Comox Valley.

LIFT Solution Sponsors and Community Partners
LIFT Startups provides collaborative business and marketing services and experiences on Vancouver Island and beyond.

LIFT is generously supported by the following

Solution Sponsors:

Sure Copy Courtenay,  Mastermynde Strategy, 50th Parallel PR, Finneron Hyundai, Jabin Postal Films, Presley & Partners, 98.9 The GOAT, and

Community Partners:

Atlas Cafe, Island Word, My Tech Guys, McKinnon Photography, Gladstone Brewing, Island Soul Films, Investors’ Group, The Creator Space, and Douglas Magazine


Buy Your Tickets Now

International students: part of our emerging talent economy

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Some of us on Vancouver Island think that we’re going to need a lot of talent to really grow our regional economy. Ironically, lacking economic opportunities, our home-grown talent (our kids, for example) often leave to find jobs and to create businesses elsewhere. While it’s important for our home-grown talent to explore other experiences, communities, and opportunities, we do need to attract and retain talent to fuel our businesses at home.

Importing talent, helping grow business

Enter international students. Vancouver Island colleges and universities are attracting lots of international students. At the 2015 Vancouver Island Economic Summit, economist Susan Mobray cited the “knowledge industry” as one of our growth areas – fuelled in large part by our attractiveness to students from abroad. The challenge, says Anita Budisa-Bonneau of North Island College, is retaining these students after they graduate.

That’s why Anita and colleagues, as well as a number of international students who’ve stayed on the Island, have put together a session at this year’s Vancouver Island Economic Summit. The purpose, as Anita explains, is to present businesses and prospective employers with the wealth of talent and energy that international students are bringing to our region – and then to ask these businesses what they need to grow. It’s the beginning of a bit of matchmaking that Anita hopes will help grow the Island’s economy. FMI about the session and the conference see the #VISummit site.

Enter Akhilaa Susheela. Akhilaa is one of those students who’s come from a large city and found our much smaller communities, not to mention our natural environment, “just right” for the future she envisions. She’s hoping her story will help inspire prospective employers to look to international students as a resource in their plans for growth.

Talent and the future of our economy

The LIFT Comox Valley initiative started with the premise that the talent we’ve grown, the talent we’ve attracted, and the talent we continue to attract is the future of the Comox Valley’s economy. We launched the #WeAreYQQ brand and tag as a tool for Comox Valley entrepreneurs and creatives to help bring attention, via social media tools, to our corner of the world.

But we’re more than the Comox Valley, and I’m very happy to see that the Vancouver Island Summit organizers are taking about talent at this year’s VISummit. Our communities are small. Our local markets are small. Our local talent pools, even one as developed as the Comox Valley, is relatively small compared to larger centres. It’s therefore very important for us to connect with other communities, other entrepreneurs, other creatives – to connect with the regional talent pool. Boris Mann, one of the mentors to LIFT put it well when he presented in 2015: working together, we can “punch above our weight.” Working together , we can make big shifts happen in our regional economy as well as our local economy.

Growing talent from the grassroots

The work we do with LIFT Comox Valley is a grassroots effort. We’re a business, working with individuals and their businesses, to pursue a mission of a healthier, more sustainable economy in our region.

Agencies are an important part of the “entrepreneurial eco-system.” They have expertise and resources far beyond what we can deliver, and we make referrals whenever we can. We’re working on a map of this eco-system and hope to launch it in early 2017. Because a map of resources to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses should make things easier for all of us.

But our real focus is on individuals because the passion for growing businesses and jobs is at the grassroots. Whether your business is in traditional sectors like fisheries (like Akhilaa) or forestry, whether you’re in the post-secondary  aspect of our emerging knowledge industry (like Anita) or involved in game development or VR, whether you’re creating new manufacturing opportunities or doing value-added with our local food resource it’s your talent and your passion that’s making shift happen.

We want to help individual entrepreneurs and creatives – individual talents – to grow business, grow jobs, to think BIGger! Check out what we’re up to via our events page. Apply the brand of Comox Valley talent to your goods and services – and especially to your social media posts. It’s a search term. It belongs to you as much as it belongs to anyone from the Comox Valley – including LIFT Comox Valley. Take a look at Instagram, for example, to see how people are applying it to help bring greater visibility to their creative and entrepreneurial efforts.

For our part, when you use the #WeAreYQQ tag it makes it super easy for us to help amplify your message. If your social media posts are promoting good things and good people in this region, we’ll do our best to amplify! Using the tag is an easy way to “punch above your weight.”

hpm
for LIFT Comox Valley
@LIFT_WeAreYQQ on Twitter

LIFT: Leading, Inspiring, and Fuelling Talent in business, the arts, and more – in the Comox Valley!

Innovators: Sonya Marie Jenssen and the Comox Valley Water System Calendar Project

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It’s October. It’s raining, it’s pouring. The weather, it’s boring.

But for Sonya Jenssen of Waterwoman Consulting, when it’s raining in the Comox Valley she’s excited. All that rain, it’s helping us meet our water security needs.

Sonya’s an international water expert. Like many other talented people who’ve chosen to call this place home, she came for quality of community and quality of life, not because of a job. Our emerging water security issues, however, are inspiring the entrepreneur in Sonya.

The pain point: water you can’t drink

Entrepreneurs see pain points as opportunities to apply creative thinking. Water quality issues in the Comox Valley are a big pain point, not just an inconvenience.

“This is an important issue for our community,” she says. Our biggest source of clean, fresh water is Comox Lake. All of that water is monitored and licensed by the Ministry of Environment. We can’t just drain the lake to quench our domestic thirst, because most of the water flowing out of the lake is required to keep rivers and streams functioning as fish habitat. Of the remaining of water flowing down the Puntledge River for domestic uses, fire fighting, washing of cars, sprinkling of lawns, garden irrigation all vie with our needs for potable water.

When a boil water advisory comes into effect, it’s more than a nuisance. Tourism and lifestyle are a significant part of our local economy. A boil water advisory puts additional strain on a food and entertainment sector already working with thin margins.

So it’s a case of “water water everywhere,” but less and less to drink. And while it’s good that October rains are recharging our lakes and streams, water security is “more complicated than most people understand.”

The Comox Valley Water System Calendar

Sonya’s expertise is in public education. Her work has taken her around the world – the Middle East, Norway, and beyond – but her heart is in the Comox Valley. She knows that when people don’t understand an issue as complex as water security, and especially when we seem to be inundated with water water everywhere, we’re less likely to be part of the solution.This fall she’s chosen our community to be the pilot in an innovation in water security education.

Working with with local street photographer Craig Carson, Sonya is producing a calendar combining technical information with a street photographer’s view of the Comox Lake water system. “We need to bring a creative lens to these issues,” she says. She’ll also be working with LIFT Comox Valley (recent winner, Best Social Media Organization in the Comox Valley) to roll out a companion education stream via social media.

The Comox Valley benefits from the project, not only because she’s using us as a pilot, but because Sonya also believes that packaging public education in an “street art” calendar is a tool other communities will benefit from. That’ll bring more attention to the Comox Valley as a home of innovators and entrepreneurs.

Invitation to feature your business as part of the solution

Our community faces some big decisions as we deal with our water security issues. Sonya believes public education, like the calendar project, will help us as move towards a more “water secure” future. She’s financing her project with pre-sales via an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign that will launch later this fall.

Sonya is also inviting other businesses to be part of the solution to our water security issues, by having their businesses prominently featured as “sponsor of the month.” Sure Copy Courtenay, the Comox Valley Record, 2nd Page Books, and LIFT Comox Valley are already on board.

To put your business on board for a water secure future in the Comox Valley, contact Sonya directly at sonya.jenssen@gmail.com / waterwoman.ca.

hpm
for LIFT Comox Valley
@hanspetermeyer on Twitter

 

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