Before the Business

Recorded April 2022

Kory Zelickson is an entrepreneur and innovator who has launched a number of successful e-commerce and technology companies.

He and his family choose to eat a plant-based diet. Although gaining in popularity, plant-based products are not as readily available through traditional grocery and retail chains. Not only do plant-based products fight for shelf space within their category, they also must compete with other products. As a result, it can be hard for customers to find all of their desired plant-based products — fish, chicken and beef to milk and egg alternatives—in one place. It can also be difficult for new start-up businesses to reach consumers, especially since many food products need to be shipped frozen to remain fresh.

To solve the problem, he created Vejii (www.shopvejii.com), an online digital marketplace that meets the needs of consumers and plant-based companies. Through an online portal, customers have access to their favourite plant-based products and are exposed to new products from emerging providers. Vejii controls a number of cold-storage distribution facilities across North America, ensuring that online orders are shipped directly to the customer exactly as the manufacturer intended.

Recorded May 2022

After years working in the British Columbia restaurant industry, Bamba Vodka Founder, Brandon McKeachie decided to carve out his own place in the world of spirits with the goal of crafting an outstanding vodka that showcases the "spirit of BC."

As a product, Bamba was crafted to shift outdated perceptions that the best vodka was colourless, odourless, and flavourless. Instead, vodka can be delicious and complex. Bamba is a vodka that challenges the notion that vodka is a spirit that you add to other juices or sugary sodas. It is something that can be enjoyed on its own.

Bamba is crafted with 100% locally-grown organic corn from the Okanagan Valley. Add a bit of yeast, a bit of magic, and some amazing British Columbia water and the distillation process results in a complex flavour profile—vanilla and sweet corn, a fuller body, and a long smooth finish without the “eyes closed, head shaking” ethanol burn.

The name Bamba is an enigma. We wanted to pick a name that people could create their own meaning and associations around. If you really go looking for a meaning, Bamba can reflect advice, mastery and maybe even the need to get a little rambunctious. But it’s what it means to you that matters.

Recorded March 2022

I first met Belinda Aramide at a professional business networking event in 2018. At that time, she was a successful Sales Account Executive. But being a cog in a corporate machine was weighing on her. She might have been happy, but she wasn’t fulfilled. She hinted to me that she was working on something, and a short while later she launched Claim Your Space.

Claim Your Space provides business coaching and consulting for entrepreneurs and executives. Because the solutions are based on personal values instead of simply business goals, clients come away with a deeper understanding of how they can succeed in business by aligning and communicating their values to their clients. You might even consider Belinda the first client of Claim Your Space! She shares some of her wisdom on the “Claim Your Space” podcast, and is an active public speaker.

At the core, she helps executives and entrepreneurs confidently “take up space” in their industry, ensuring that their unique expertise is presented to the clients they deserve.

Recorded May 2022

Like many things of beauty “It’s Souper” began as a dream and a way to find a place in a diverse community for Nigerian born, Lola Adeyemi. Today it’s more than a dream—it’s a business that brings the flavours of Africa to food lovers.

After pursuing a Bachelors Degree at the University of Winnipeg, Lola relocated to Toronto. But even in a bigger city she noticed a gap in the food market. While working as an IT Specialist, she would shop the specialty stores for ingredients to create unique Nigerian dishes to every potluck or team building event. The empty containers and rave reviews from her coworkers confirmed that the gap she had identified was real. But her co-workers didn’t have experience with the ingredients, let alone know where to find them.

In Nigeria, soup is enjoyed year-round. In Canada, she found that some of the “ready to eat” options weren’t flavourful enough, weren’t hearty enough, and we’re interesting enough to make soup an everyday meal. She always had to tweak the soups by adding more flavour and spice to them when she got home. For her, soup should be vibrant, exciting, and colourful! “Soup is an aromatic twist of flavours and textures exploding in your mouth, soup isn’t only for when its cold and dull outside, soup is for every day, soup should be food for your soul. SOUP is LIFE!!”.

With that kind of passion, it’s like she was destined to create and found It’s Souper, an Afro-fusion gourmet brand that creates soups and sauces to elevate your cooking game. #Soupislove

Recorded October 2022

After owning his landscape construction business for over 10 years, GoMaterials’ CEO and co-founder Marc Elliott had experienced first-hand the headaches related to poor quality materials, last minute order changes, product availability shortages, and late deliveries. He shared his experience with long-time friends, who jointly realised that if Marc had experienced those challenges, other landscape designers would as well.

They had identified a gap in the landscape construction business. GoMaterials was born out of the need to resolve these challenges for the landscaping industry.

Today, GoMaterials represents a modern way for landscape construction businesses to source wholesale plant materials for the their projects. Their unique platform and service takes on all aspects of plant procurement, from material estimation to logistics management. With GoMaterials, landscape professionals can finally experience hassle-free sourcing and plant wholesalers can sell more efficiently.

GoMaterials is at the forefront of an evolving and changing industry. Their clients are the businesses that build the green spaces that we love to enjoy — from parks and public spaces to corporate or residential sites. Behind the scenes, GoMaterials is at the forefront of making it happen.