industries

From paperboy to CEO, 8 B.C. business stars share their first jobs

By Alix Drabek /

 

Warren Erhart

President and CEO, White Spot Ltd.
First job: “I was a paper boy delivering the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper.”
Age: 13
Wha



 

Mandy Farmer

President and CEO, Accent Inns & Hotel Zed
First job: “I worked as a chambermaid wearing a silly frilly bonnet, apron and completely impractical floor length black skirt at t



 

Frank Giustra

President and CEO, Fiore Financial Corporation
First job: “My first real job was working at a grocery store packing groceries and stocking shelves in Aldergrove, B.C.&rdquo



 

Seán Heather

Owner, Heather Hospitality Group
First job: “Washing dishes in London, near Harrods in Knightsbridge. Grandparents were living there and I was sent for a summer visit that t



 

Peter Higgins

President, Purdys
First job: “Newspaper delivery boy in Tsawwassen for the Vancouver Sun.”
Age: 11
What I learned:



 

Carol Jesson

President, Black Bond Books
First job: “Working in my mother’s first Black Bond Books
in Brandon, Manitoba.”
Age: 14
What I learned



 

Debra Lykkemark

President and CEO, Culinary Capers Catering & Special Events
First job: “I was a bus girl in Calgary at Dunaway’s Double D Steak and Pancake House.”
A



 

Brian Scudamore

CEO, 1-800-Got-Junk?
First job: “My first job was my own entrepreneurial venture at Shawnigan Lake Boys School. I struck a deal with the local store to buy candy, which I


Business education started early for local leaders like Warren Erhart and Frank Giustra

While this group of B.C. business leaders may seem a varied lot, if you look a little closer they share a common trait—they all started early.

From Seán Heather’s unexpected entrée into the restaurant business at the tender age of 13, to Brian Scudamore’s short-lived but profitable first venture at age 14, B.C.’s future corporate heavyweights discovered their talent for business while still in their teens. The jobs themselves weren’t unusual—paperboy, grocery stocker and busser among others—but the understanding gained, that hard work results in monetary rewards and a measure of freedom, was acquired at an early age.

And as clichéd as that may sound, take a look at their current positions and it’s obvious that the lessons learned still resonate.