As former President of Shell Canada, Susannah Pierce worked to make sure all of Shell’s Canadian business initiatives could actually get into the country – and it was more than just the gas stations that people saw. Her goal was to make sure all the Canadian businesses associated with Shell were set up for success, as well as make sure other stakeholders such as indigenous groups were clear on what the company is, and how their goals can align for mutual benefit.

Do you have an idea or product and need to gauge what people think? Colin Whelan can tell you. As vice-president of Innovative Research, he leads a team that helps companies gather the consumer opinions and information needed to make their plans successful. His job has morphed through the years, as information gathering has changed from door-to-door to phone to online methods. This is a constant challenge, but a vital part of knowing if your idea will hit or sink.

Todd Yuen is the president of Beedie Industrial and responsible for property management and construction across Canada. As a self-admitted “micro-manager,” he has learned to trust people around him to move the business forward, while he goes out to external stakeholders and makes connections. And this is especially important, as an operation which tends to make things happen quickly.

“HR has a place in every department of every organization” because there are people in them, according to Kevin Howlett. As a human resources professional, managing people’s roles at work is the core of what he does, on top of having difficult conversations, reintegrating them into the workforce, and more. Before retiring from Air Canada, he had to oversee over 40,000 employees around the world – he had to learn to be efficient to survive in this nonstop 24/7 job.

Thomas Codrington represents the United Kingdom in British Columbia – and that is no small job. He helps create economic growth between the province and the UK, trying to make business easier for both sides. And this is just the start, as he also connects with universities and the provincial government, while running the mission in Vancouver.

Being engulfed in inspiration is how Alex Cordero works, as an author. It sounds easy, right? But this journey can take years for Alex to write a book – writers’ block is not a matter of if, but when. However, such a challenge is nothing new to him, as someone who once had aspirations of being a billionaire and golf professional. Realizing how difficult it would be to achieve those goals, he learned to use the lessons of having patience and pivoting his goals to make them more achievable.

As the co-founder and CEO of Tru Earth, Brad Liski has to make sure the entire operation runs smoothly. This can mean putting together a leadership team that knows how to run everything even better than he can – and putting trust in them. This is a far cry from where finance and stockbroking, which was his original field of interest. Oddly enough, Brad thinks it was him being a bad employee and wanting to set his own destiny which drew him to become an entrepreneur, leading him to co-found Tru Earth, which makes eco-friendly laundry products.

Nicolas Baudouin’s job takes a ton of energy but he loves it. As a diplomat and consul general of France in Vancouver. In addition to running the consulate, he helps to form business and cultural relations between Canada and France, whether it be working at trade events, attending film festivals featuring French films, or any other tasks that strengthen the ties between France and Canada, especially in Western Canada and Vancouver. This was seemingly a calling, growing up in a part of France that had classmates from different parts of the world, with stories that resonated with Nicolas for life.

Kim Haakstad’s job takes her all over the place. As CEO of the BC Council of Forest Industries, she represents the interests of British Columbia’s forestry product providers. Every day is different, especially with the timing of issues like US tariffs – all her life, people have depended on her to solve hard problems, which made her ideal for the role.

Society wants monopolies for certain things – mostly our utilities, such as power, natural gas, and so on. Mark Jaccard’s job is to lead a team that keeps those monopolies in check, as the CEO of the British Columbia Utilities Commission. In addition, he is a professor at Simon Fraser University in the environmental field. It’s a busy life but it was a long time coming, as someone who wanted to work in the economics part in the energy industry.

Vancouver Community College is the oldest of its kind in British Columbia – this fact is not lost on Ajay Patel, who appreciates his role as its president every day. While a lot of his work is managing the institution’s operations, it is the idea of influencing the future generations of students that excites him.

Is your money coming from legitimate sources? This is what Kevin deBruyckere’s job is at the British Columbia Lottery Corporation. He works with law enforcement to monitor and detect fraudulent activities or potential money laundering. It is not a solitary role – he also has to provide the training to front-line casino staff to recognize potential money laundering and report it. Working in law enforcement was in his blood, having a father who worked in policing; however, this was not a career he had anticipated at first, having a background in business. Coincidentally, this was something the RCMP needed, which launched his career. 

What kinds of legal issues does your business face? For Radha Curpen, a partner at McMillan LLP, this is what she tries to figure out for businesses all over North America. Her career in law was different from most, as it was in the French language in Manitoba and New Brunswick. Along the way, mentors helped her and gave her opportunities through cases that are in both English and French, which paved the way to practice law in more places and fields.

How do you build affordable housing? This is Muktar Latif’s job, as CEO of the Pomegranate Housing Consultancy. He supports governments and other entities in figuring out ways to address housing solutions – it is a job he loves, to the point where it doesn’t feel like work. This is a far cry from his background in chemistry but due to science not paying well in the 1980s, he switched careers to real estate, revealing the path to his future career.

How do you build a business online? As the founder of Refoundry and Forge and Smith, Shawn Johnston’s job is to help you find out. Whether it is building an online store or simply building your web presence, he helps others simply do great work. Running this small business comes with risks and terrifying moments, but is something Shawn has grown over the years – gradually and steadily, until it turned into his full-time role.

“If you’re going to give yourself any job title in the world, you might as well make it a fun one.” That is why Ali Binazir turned his mental health therapy career into becoming a happiness engineer. This is an area that has fascinated him, living in affluent areas that are seemingly filled with miserable people. His research dives into how that happened and whether there is a physical or psychological reason for this. Despite having a small team, much of his work is done solo – and that is one of the biggest challenges to his success that he had to overcome.

How do you combine technology with business? This is an angle that Don Stickney wanted to explore with Playbook, his consultancy that advises on how to use technology as leverage for business. To him, his clients don’t simply want advice on how to succeed, but rather advice on how to be a thought leader. This is far cry from his beginnings as a hot tub salesperson but his ability to talk to others and fix their problems made him realize that he was in for a communications- and relations-related career.

Did you know there is a World Happiness Report? That is what John Helliwell devotes his professional life to, creating metrics and analyses to measure happiness around the world in order to influence decisions that promote personal wellbeing – a far cry from where he thought he would end up.

For Chyanne Trenholm, meeting people from all over the world is an everyday occurrence at Homalco Wildlife & Cultural Tours. Fittingly, her love for tourism started with the outdoors. Combined with her educational background in physical education, it has well-positioned her to connect visitors with nature and introduce them to Canada’s indigenous culture in a way that never would have been possible in their home countries or cities.

Problem solving – that is how lawyer Bruce McIvor describes his job. To him, that is why people come to lawyers. It is about identifying the problem, the solution, and barriers to the solution. “It’s often not about the law,” he claims. “It’s about relationships” and how legal issues tend to come up when a relationship has failed in some way. That is also something he teaches his students at the University of British Columbia, helping shape the next generation of lawyers.