Paul Healey, Radiant Communications

Paul Healey, Radiant Communications Corp | BCBusiness

The new CEO of Radiant Communications Corp., Paul Healey, talks to BCBusiness about growth opportunities and his secret talent.

Paul Healey, who has held executive positions with telecommunications giants Bell Canada and Rogers Communications, recently stepped into the role of CEO with Vancouver-based electronic communications company Radiant Communications Corp. According to Healey, the reason for the career shift can be summed up in two words: growth potential. And for the man who took Western Canada’s arm of Bell Mobility from a startup to a multi-million-dollar corporation in five short years, spotting potential is something of a gift.

Why did you decide to make the move to Radiant Communications?
I was looking for a company that really had an opportunity to have a significant impact in the marketplace with their product and also one where I could play a key role. Based on my background in telecom and my experience in building accelerated growth in other companies, I really thought it was a great opportunity to take a high-potential B.C. company to the next level of performance.

Before joining Radiant you were with Rogers Communications and Bell Canada. Were you looking to move away from the mobile communications sector?
No. I’m very much a growth-leader, very interested in having an opportunity to be involved in a business that has substantial potential for growth. When I built the Bell Canada business it was exciting because it was literally a startup with money. We built a wireless network and built our revenue from zero to $1 billion. I certainly find this business that Radiant does to be very exciting because we’re on the leading edge – offering cloud services to our customers. It’s a great place to be, given that technology plays such an important part in business competitiveness.

Where do you see Radiant moving in the next five years?
Radiant really is a leader in managed networks and cloud hosting. I think technology is playing such an important role today, probably more competitively important than at any other time in the past. Sometimes people think the cloud is for the future, but I think the important thing is that it’s here today. More and more companies are getting more comfortable using IT providers to outsource or to help them run their businesses in a more innovative, cost-effective or creative manner so that they have greater flexibility.

Radiant has been around for over 15 years and saw the dot-com bubble burst in 2000. What do you think helped Radiant survive those turbulent times?
I think Radiant has been really successful delivering the technology of the time that they were in, and delivering a strong customer experience. I think the real key thing for Radiant is making sure that we stay connected with our customers and understand how their business needs may have changed.

Borders are becoming less defined and companies are becoming increasingly multinational. How would you say that globalization is affecting the telecommunications sector?
It’s bringing it closer and closer together and allowing standards to essentially become stronger and stronger. The more that companies interact worldwide, the more that things become ubiquitous and the more standardized they become, the more effective everything becomes.

How do you think your position at Radiant factors into your career trajectory?
Radiant is a perfect fit for me at this point in my career. It allows me to be involved in a leading-edge industry, a B.C.-based company with great growth potential and it’s an opportunity to work with some of Canada’s best-known brands. I look forward to investing many years towards realizing success at Radiant.

You’ve spent the last few years working on the West Coast. Are you a Vancouver native?
No, I’ve been out here for about 13 years. I’m originally from Ontario, but like probably 75 per cent of the population out here I fell in love with Western Canada and it’s now my home.

What about B.C. have you fallen in love with?
There’s too much to like. I love the fact that I can golf lots of times during the year. I love the fact that I can get up to Whistler: I always feel that’s like heaven. My wife and I are Harley riders – when we got to a certain age we decided to get a couple of Harleys. Having the opportunity to ride out here longer during the year than you would have back east is great. There’s just so much beauty in Vancouver.

What originally brought you out west?
I originally came with one of the larger wireless companies, Rogers Communications, to be the COO for their Western Canada region. Then, when I was out here, I was asked to start Bell Canada in Western Canada. Back then, in 2001, Bell Canada was not very well known in Western Canada. There was only 12 staff, believe it or not. We built it up to 2,500 people in five years.

What are your predictions for where the telecommunications industry is moving?
I think more and more people are seeing the value in current technology and future technology every day. More Canadian and worldwide companies are moving to the cloud. People think the cloud is for the future, but the cloud is really about simple, flexible, cost-efficient ways to improve your business in a very innovative way. So I predict more and more companies seeing the greater value of partnering with companies like Radiant, or other IT providers, to be able to offer a competitive edge. It’s not just a local economy that we’re working in anymore; it’s a worldwide economy and you need to make sure that you don’t get left behind and that you stay current.