Young People in Business: The next generation of Tri-City entrepreneurs
The Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce recently launched its first young professionals program designed to help people under 35 learn and build their businesses.
Gary MckennaMar 16, 2018 2:01 PM
Left to right: Scott Salling, Port Coquitlam Personal Trainer and the owner of F.I.T. Academy, Paige Petriw, the owner of Spotlight Events and Georgiy Sekretaryuk, the owner of Cering Technology.
The Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce recently launched its first young professionals program designed to help people under 35 learn and build their businesses. By attending monthly events, participants can socialize and network while sharing their experiences and stories with one another. Members are also encouraged to give back to their community by giving to local non-profits and to grow their skillsets through educational seminars.To highlight the launch of the Tri-Cities Young Professionals program, The Tri-City News is profiling the entrepreneurial work of several members — Georgiy Sekretaryuk, Paige Petriw and Scott Salling — who are under 35.
SCOTT SALLING
• Owner of F.I.T. Academy
As a former high school and university football player, Scott Salling has had his share of injuries.
It is that experience that the 33-year-old said helps him work with clients who are rehabbing from surgeries or ailments that have taken them out of their sport.
“You go through some injuries, you know what to expect about the recovery process,” Salling said during a break at Impulse Fitness in Port Coquitlam, where he works with many of his clients. “It is not only physical but psychological… You have to really be empathetic in that regard.”
The joy he said he gets out of helping people recover or meet a fitness goal is what led him to launching FIT Academy, his personal training company, in 2016. While he has been a personal trainer for close to a decade, he said he felt compelled to start his own business and return to PoCo, the place where he grew up and played football with the Terry Fox Ravens.
“It was just an easy fit,” he said of his decision to launch the company in his hometown.
Salling said he has learned a lot of lessons in his first year in business, particularly about managing his time and stress levels. He added that as a personal trainer being tired on the job is not an option and he has had to be conscious of not taking on too much.
“I definitely have realized where my limit is,” he said. “I am mindful of my energy level… If I am not healthy, than how can I help someone else be healthy?”
While he has reached some important milestones with his business over the last year, Salling said the highlights have been seeing clients achieve their goals.
There was a man who he rehabbed after surgery after a bad motorcycle accident and a woman who had been inactive for most of her life who he helped lose 80 lb.
“It is great to see people get their confidence back,” he said.
PAIGE PETRIW
• Owner of Spotlight Events
Throughout her time in school, Paige Petriw had always been interested in event planning. But it wasn’t until putting together her own wedding a few years ago that she decided she wanted to make co-ordinating celebrations and ceremonies her full-time career.
Six-years later and the 28-year-old is the proud owner of Spotlight Events — and said she has never been busier.
“Everything kind of fell into place,” she said. “I liked the idea of building something for myself.”
In the well-photographed social media age, no detail can be overlooked, she said.
Her clients are always looking for unique experiences, including one couple that wanted their wedding furnished with vintage couches and benches at the top of the Sea to Sky Gondola.
GEORGIY SEKRETARYUK
• Owner of Cering Technology
Wearable technology is no longer just for Hollywood characters like James Bond.
Georgiy Sekretaryuk’s Cering Technology is launching a line of jewelry that doubles as a silent alarm the wearer can push whenever he feels in danger and wants to discreetly notify the police. The white “smart gem” can be set in a variety of different styles, from a ring to a bracelet or neck chain, and contains a Bluetooth chip and GPS to alert officials to a person’s location.
“You just tap the jewelry three times,” said the 19-year-old Coquitlam resident. “Through an app on your phone, we will send your GPS location and emergency call for help to local authorities.”
The idea is the brainchild of Victoria Teo, who was part of Sekretaryuk’s team during a Young Entrepreneur Leadership Launchpad contest at their high school. Teo has since left the company but Sekretaryuk said he continues to advance the work and refine the prototype and hopes to make Cering his full-time job one day.
“That’s the goal,” he said.
Today, Cering is made up of two principal owners and two advisors. They found a factory in China capable of producing the products and have worked closely with a jeweller who has helped come up with the settings.
“The design is absolutely gorgeous,” Sekretaryuk said, noting the product has to be fashionable while meeting certain design requirements. “The feedback has been very positive.”
So far, getting the prototype built has cost between $5,000 and $10,000, and all of the money has been self-funded. But that could soon change as the company plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign in the spring, where it intends to sell the products for between $100 and $149 U.S.
Sekretaryuk said he has had a lot of fun developing the business and is excited about taking his jewelry to market.
“I have always been interested in business,” he said. “I have always wanted to do something in the tech field and this was a great opportunity for me.”
gmckenna@tricitynews.com
@gmckennaTC