About
History
Growing up in Coquitlam, British Columbia, I became accustomed to living alongside wildlife. From an early age, I developed a simple belief: we are the outsiders in their environment. It is our responsibility to adapt to them, not the other way around.
Shortly after graduating, my partner and I moved to our first home in New Westminster. The Royal City will always hold a special place in my heart, but as we began to outgrow our 700-square-foot apartment, we faced a harsh reality. Like many middle-class families, we had been priced out of the community we loved. Rising housing costs, taxes, and the overall cost of living forced us to make a difficult decision.
We drew a one-hour circle around our workplaces and decided: either remain where we were with no room to grow, or start over somewhere new.
Bowen Island only needed one visit.
Standing on the beach at Clipper Place, we looked at each other and said, "Damn... I guess we live here now."
Within a week, we had bought the house we still proudly call home today. A few years later, we were married in our backyard. Before we knew it, we had lived on Bowen longer than anywhere else in our lives.
This is more than our home. It's part of who we are.
My business
I grew up immersed in my family's forklift sales, service, and repair business. After working for several large dealerships, I returned to where my professional journey began and reopened my father's company, starting again from the ground up in 2010.
Since then, I've built VCF into one of the largest independent forklift service companies in British Columbia. We achieved that by embracing technology where it adds value, while never losing sight of the people behind the work. Technology should support great service, not replace it.
In 2019, VCF became the first company in our industry to offer employees five days' pay for four days' work. Putting skilled labour first has always been important to me. I also capped my own salary at the same level as our technicians because I believe leadership should understand the financial realities of the people it asks to build a business.
If there are two things my business experience has taught me, it's to separate ideas from people and to accept rejection. Ideas should stand on their own merits, not be propped up by the people who created them. Rejection is something every business owner learns to accept, learn from, and move beyond.
Want to join me?
Do you want to support a candidate who believes ideas should be judged on their merits, regardless of where they come from?
A candidate who believes top-down governance often produces poor outcomes because it overlooks the people closest to the problem?
A candidate who thinks in systems, considering not only today's decisions but the consequences they create tomorrow?
Or perhaps someone who takes a practical, evidence-based approach to issues like wildlife management, housing, and infrastructure?
If that sounds like the kind of representation you're looking for, I'd love to hear from you. Reach out and find out how you can get involved.