The university I went to—Simon Fraser, near Vancouver—used to run a renowned  performing arts organization, Woodward’s, housed underneath a giant revolving ‘W’. While studying business there, I knew student jobs paid well and looked great on a resume, so I jumped at an opening to work there.

From my first day, it was clear they needed a digital ticketing system. I saw an opportunity to apply my education and offer to develop a project plan to secure funding for the transition. Eventually, I took over front-of-house operations, working with ticket staff, clients, and security. It remains one of my most favorite jobs I’ve ever worked—teaching me how businesses can create connections and build communities.

After graduating, I took a government job and saw firsthand how businesses struggled to hire talent, even after spending an arm and a leg on recruiters. I knew the process could be streamlined, so after pooling $3,000 of my own money, some friends and I launched TalentMarketplace: a company which offered employers access to a pre-vetted pool of job applicants, complete with resumes and references. The company thrived, but in 2021, I closed on a sizable funding deal with investors and handed day-to-day leadership to a new management team.

I was extraordinarily proud of what I had built at TalentMarketplace, but around the same time, I had also founded Fort Saint McMurphy, a Burning Man-style camp at Shambhala Music Festival. Every year our group, a bunch of us—electricians, carpenters, artists, and more—came together to build a luxe, fun site with DJs, a ball pit, and even a massage chair. Initially, I just wanted a better place to camp, but it grew into a real community. Comparing this to my role as a tech CEO, I realized what I truly loved: building spaces where people can connect. 

I took a leap. My partner and I bought a century-old East Vancouver home and converted it into a fourplex, renting out two units and turning the third into an AirBnB. It was my hospitality “test run”—the food truck to my Michelin-star restaurant, as my partner put it. Today, it’s one of Vancouver’s top-rated AirBnBs.

While I was getting the AirBnB up and running, an old friend, John DeC. Evans, one of the key players in the development of British Columbia’s popular Whistler ski community, reached out. He was spearheading a new project in Mexico. I was honoured that he wanted to work with me, and spent two years by his side learning everything I possibly could from him. After two years, I began my own journey, and started searching for properties that I could turn into a resort of my own. 

I decided it would be more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly to take over and reimagine an existing property, like I had done with the historic house in Vancouver. I looked all over—some spots in Mexico, a few in Calgary, all over B.C., and ultimately landed on BC’s Sunshine Coast. I’d been visiting the area for years with my partner and knew it was a relatively unknown gem with everything a good getaway needs – water, mountains, remote but not too remote. When The Stonewater came up for sale, I knew it was perfect: two hours from Vancouver, set on 2.5 scenic acres, and just in need of a little sprucing up. 

BC’s interior is a tourist hotspot, but with climate change and forest fires, that hot climate that everyone enjoys is now regularly smoked out during peak season. Being based on the Sunshine Coast though, a lot of those climate issues don’t exist being that it’s a coastal rainforest. Last year, tourism in the region was worth about $200 million annually, following several straight years of high growth—a trend I expected to continue. I pictured millennials like myself gravitating to the Coast for its cost-efficiency, spectacular nature, and proximity to Vancouver. 

After a painstaking amount of research, I brought in my friend Bhav, a fellow Fort collaborator, and his family as investors. In January 2024, me, Bhav, and our respective partners —many of them Fort McMurphy collaborators—all moved into The Stonewater to renovate and relaunch it.

Our experiences running Fort proved to be good preparation for The Stonewater. Managing a rag-tag team and navigating the unique social dynamics of a tight-knit community was something we’d all experienced and worked on before. It was just at a greater scale. 

The results have been beyond anything I could have dreamed. Last November, we had multiple no vacancies—a rare achievement in the winter months where many businesses simply close for the season. This February, we managed an eightfold increase in revenue over the previous year. And during our first summer, which was already peak season, we doubled The Stonewater’s income. 

Currently, my goal is to expand our market to include younger travellers that haven’t historically vacationed here. We’ve given all the rooms a complete overhaul, added “glamping,” trailers and A-frames, and installed a circuit spa. So far we’ve been collaborating with influencers, and hosting artist residencies in the off-season that allow creatives to stay here for free while making art for the property. Earlier this year, muralists from Maed Studios stayed for three weeks and painted the most amazing murals on our trailers. 

Related: How Getting Laid Off Pushed Me to Open a Mountain Resort

Running The Stonewater has been the most satisfying experience I have had in my career since I ran the front-of-house operations at SFU Woodward’s. In many ways, it’s kind of the same job: bringing a team together to create a welcoming environment where people can kick back, relax and connect. I’m already planning on growing the business, by expanding into accommodation-adjacent businesses in the region, and seeking out other older motels with similar upside. I can’t wait for what’s in store next. 

—As told to Avery Mullen