As an entrepreneur and business leader, I am a firm believer in the power of a team. Over the course of my career, whether I was working for someone else or growing my own company, I have seen again and again that the best results come from teams that are built on a foundation of deep trust—and that trusted relationships are best fostered by leaders who are genuinely vulnerable and open. I began my career in automotive sales in Greater Los Angeles, rising rapidly to General Manager of a dealership, and moved from there to increasingly senior roles at Empire Cat in Arizona, selling, servicing, and renting large equipment for power generation, construction, and more. As my career progressed—to Director of Business Development and Corporate Services with NPL Construction, and eventually to President and CEO of Canadian Utility Construction, back home in British Columbia—I always carried the lessons from those earlier experiences: that the best results come from collaboration, from inspiration, and from the personal connections you make with your team and your customers.In 2011, having grown Canadian Utility Construction by 6x and the Empire Cat rental business by 25x, I decided to invest in my own business and pursue a similarly aggressive growth trajectory once again, this time as an entrepreneur. I acquired Smith Cameron Group with an equity partner, and, through organic growth as well as multiple strategic acquisitions, grew it fivefold over ten years. By 2021, Smith Cameron was an established leader in the distribution of pump and blower products in Canada with expertise in fluid sealing, chemical feed, pump parts manufacturing and flow monitoring. The company provides complete life-cycle support for process equipment and value-added solutions to solve tough process challenges, leveraging a large portfolio of leading OEM equipment brands, technical services, packaged systems integration capabilities and manufacturing facilities.I sold SCG in July 2021, and was deeply honoured to be named Dealmaker of the Year by the Association for Corporate Growth, British Columbia I currently sit on the board of the Cedars at Cobble Hill addiction treatment centre. I am also an active member of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), having served on the BC chapter executive board for several years, and am now a member of the new YPO Gold Trans-Canada chapter. I have also volunteered with and supported the Sun Peaks Alpine Racers, Sun Peaks Recreational Trails Association and Sun Peaks Educational Society for many years.