After graduating with a Business Degree from UBC-O in Kelowna in 2005, I set out to take over the family business, set up the white picket fence and live in the Shuswap forever and ever…

 

This plan didn’t go as I intended. Running the family business (which I now realized was a self-employed business) was very different from what I had envisioned, and not what I actually wanted. This new challenge threw me for a loop and I began to search for a new career path.  

 

Then suddenly an opportunity presented itself and my outlook changed.  A career that presented new and exciting challenges and boasted a promise of adventure. It would open up the opportunity for world travel and for making connections with people from all over the world.

 

So with that, in 2008, I headed back to Kelowna to pursue my training as a Professional SCUBA Diving Instructor!  What a major pivot this was! By February of 2009, I landed a Dive Master position at Blackbeard’s Cruises based out of Nassau, New Providence, Bahamas!  It was a dream come true!  

 

This position was all the things that I loved in a career choice.  Since it was a live-aboard dive tour company I got on with, the position required management of clients with the utmost care. Number one- being their safety while scuba diving. Liability paperwork is a vital skill that I learned, making sure that all protocols and company policies were adhered to. 

 

Similar opportunities lead me to work in the Grand Cayman Islands, Bali, and finally Australia on the Great Barrier Reef, the mecca of world class tropical scuba diving.  Although it seemed I was living the dream, long term it was not a sustainable choice.  A living wage was all that was offered and the option to settle down to build a retirement plan with a family was not in the cards. I was beginning to miss Canada, so back I went in the winter of 2011.  

 

At that time, the Oil Patch here in Alberta was running high and I was able to find a position as a Roughneck on a Coring Drilling Rig up in Wood Buffalo, Alberta. Coring rigs have a very fast turnover in terms of well site rigging in and out. Many of the well sites were rigged in and out within only a few days, which required a very efficient system all while maintaining production and most importantly, safety.  

 

After two years of working in the oil industry, I got back into marketing by learning and creating a small website marketing business. With mild success, I gained huge knowledge and experience on how to build websites that are not only technically impressive in look and feel, but most importantly, are indexed strongly on Google searches. This is where I learned the bulk of my lead generation skills with SEO (Search Engine Optimization). It allowed me to get ahead on offering services that the local market had not adapted to quite yet. This provided me a huge advantage on the trending mass exodus of traditional marketing mediums.  

Then a major opportunity arose for me, which at first was more humbling than exciting.  

 

Circumstance then led me to the opportunity to start a Janitorial Service company with the name Red Deer Cleaning Service Ltd and the domain name reeddercleaning was available.  

 

These two factors became an absolutely powerful marketing mix that propelled my business from a founded solo owner/operator company that now has a workforce of over 70 employees and counting.

 

When I was able to scale up the cleaning business, it allowed me the option to pursue other ventures, the first on the list was Real Estate. 

 

Thank you for learning a bit more about me.  Everyone has a story and I hope to hear about yours soon!