BC Business
CEO
AGE: 28
COMPANY: Sunny D Entertainment Ltd.
The story: Growing up a Lenarduzzi in North Vancouver, thinking big came easy. “My dad chased his dreams from Grade 10 onwards,” Sunny Lenarduzzi says of her famous father, Bob, a high school dropout who moved from Vancouver to England to pursue a career in soccer. “I remember seeing him every day dedicated to what he did, taking huge risks.” Lenarduzzi ditched a promising career in broadcasting at Rogers and struck out on her own as a social media consultant at age 21–back when Facebook was still limited to elite college kids and Twitter was in its infancy. In many ways she remains a traditional broadcaster, making narrated videos for clients on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. In the early days of social media, business was slow–but recently Lenarduzzi signed a deal with Hootsuite to create a YouTube series in which she promotes the company’s products. She has also done videos for restaurant chain Applebee’s, spoken at NATO (where she gave insights on the use of video on social media) and consulted for private clients looking to boost their social media presence.
Markers of success: In addition to her corporate work, Lenarduzzi has worked with the likes of Jay Baer, a New York Times bestselling author, and Vancouver interior designer Karla Dreyer. Between online courses, speaking engagements and consulting, Lenarduzzi estimates revenues in the six figures and says she hopes to break the $1-million mark in 2017.
Photo: Karolina Turek Photography