My passion for small business started when I was 7 years old.  That is when my Mother (Tina) made the decision to leave her factory-line job and operate her own flower shop in London, Ontario.   A few things about Tina:

• recently having moved to Canada, English was a new language to her;
• her education was to level of grade 4 in her homeland;
• she had never in her life put together a flower arrangement;
• Tina possessed absolutely no retail or business experience.

But for what she lacked in training and experience, she made up for in smarts, determination and a vision.  Tina wanted a better life for her and her family, and she wanted to be involved in her community.  She overcame these and other challenges, achieved her goals and went on to run her business successfully for 25 years.  I built a lifetime of respect for my Mother on her journey and learned that if you want something in life, you have to set your goals and be relentless pursuing them.  During that journey I also met one of the most influential people in my life, her business accountant – Paul.   Paul was one of the pillars my Mother came to rely upon and trust, ensuring not only that the business affairs were in order, but also offering valuable advice and showing empathy and understanding.  Paul was the inspiration that led me to want to become an accountant and work with small businesses.  My Mother was the inspiration behind building my own path and the symbol that hard work and determination can make your goals become reality.

I also ventured in entrepreneurship at a young age.  When I was 16, I started my own distribution business that helped put me through university and granted me my first experiences in the ups and downs of being your own boss.  I went on to run this business for 7 years, then sold it to pursue my CPA designation.  To me this is still one of my favourite jobs of my career – I had full control over how I provided customer satisfaction, I was motivated by always going above and beyond and at the end of the day I only had myself to blame if my goals were not achieved.  I thrived in the environment entrepreneurship created.

Also at a young age it was instilled in me that community involvement was important – not only for social development but most importantly to give back.  Before I graduated high school I received a 10 years of volunteer service award.  Over the years I have partnered with several fantastic causes, either by volunteering time, organizing events or raising funds.  I once ran in the New York City Marathon and raised $15,000 for the MS Society to get there.  Sure – the race was a great experience and a physical accomplishment, but the connections I made along the way are engrained and the feeling of a bigger purpose from those experiences were just capped by the 42.2kms.  Today I am a volunteer Board and Committee Member for a prominent local charity and participate on fundraising committees of two other essential causes and lead a volunteer running group.  I have met so many fantastic people along my journey and I look forward to meeting many more.