Business: Customer experience, feedback and contactless communications as a SaaS offering.
Born: Winnipeg
Biggest business achievement: Founded Benbria (and more recently founding investor of Brokrete Inc. and Hyperion Global Energy). Personally won several Fortune 1000 customers and partnerships at Benbria.
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Biggest obstacle overcome: Managing the team, investors and customers through a pivot from Benbria’s original emergency notification product lines to the current customer experience SaaS offering.
Biggest influences: Terry Matthews, founding investor at Benbria and longstanding board chair. Infectious and enduring energy, grand vision, tireless persistence, loyalty and keen business sense.
Biggest lesson learned during COVID-19: Be amongst your buyer’s top-three must-have priorities, or find a new buyer. Shutdowns in travel and hospitality decimated budgets and forced reconciliation, including churn of an eight-year key account for Benbria after a zero-based “rethink” of their business plan post-pandemic.
Charitable involvement: Queensway Carleton Hospital Foundation
First job: Instructor at a seasonal sailing club.
