small business week Off the beaten path
“My timing was exquisite. It was 1997, the end of a downturn. You really would have had to have been not paying attention to fail,” Potvin says.
downtown.” Her west end clients followed her there and, as news spread of this new girl with the mad skills who liked to laugh, it didn’t take long before she outgrew that, too. Kaliel knew what kind of spa she’d always wanted to visit. So she decided to build it. “I found space in a beautiful old building on Jasper, kitty corner to the Hotel MacDonald,” she says. “When they handed me the keys, it was just an empty shell.” With a flair for design and a very clear vision, Kaliel marshalled forces from an extensive pool of talented friends and family and went to work. “I wanted elegent, yet fun and urban,” she says. Even though she was moving from 500 square feet to nearly 4,000, she didn’t want a big spa feel. “Big spas can be great, but they can come across as impersonal. I wanted Studio J to be a fun place to be. I don’t have a lot of water sounds and birds chirping. It’s a whole different vibe.” Her loyal fans seem to love it. So do some new ones. “The hotels send us a lot of very special clients. I think they know they’ll be taken care of.” The list includes actors, CFL and NHL players and lots of touring musicians. “Neil Diamond was in for a manicure and pedicure the other day,” she says. “His wife had trouble getting him to leave. He was laughing and joking with my other clients. That’s what I like to see.” Has taking the road less traveled been worth it? “Some mornings it would be nice to just get a paycheck,” she admits. “But I wouldn’t change a thing. I love what I’ve created. I love that I work where people are happy to see me, to see each other. Studio J makes people happy. We bring confidence to people and that gives me confidence. Helping people all these years is what keeps me going.” Rod Potvin, owner of Milton West Construction Ltd., is the epitemy of “can do” spirit. You could say his journey was initially right on the beaten path, working as project manager for Alberta Infrastructure. But after 28 years, it was time for a change. He started his own company, doing exactly the same kinds of things he’d been doing for nearly three decades. Only now different people were paying him. “My timing was exquisite. It was 1997, the end of a downturn. You
Rod Potvin, owner of Milton West Construction Ltd.
“They were very generous,” she
says. “My first clients were friends and family, but the house was getting a little too busy. Pretty soon I had to open my own little shop downtown.”
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October 2012 | Business In Edmonton Magazine | www.businessinedmonton.com
Jillian Kaliel, owner of Studio J Urban Spa
really would have had to have been not paying attention to fail,” he says, displaying a matter-of-fact attitude that’s become a kind of signature. Potvin believes that when it comes to running a small business, time management is key, which means building a team you can trust and letting them take charge. That’s why he doesn’t believe in using labourers. “I only hire apprentices. Most companies discourage that, but think about it – labourers come and go. Demographics change. Pretty soon you’ve got a labourer as a carpenter and he doesn’t know what he’s doing. The next guy you hire could be a lunatic. He starts a fire and you’ve got $12 million in damage. You’ve got to know and trust your crews.” There’s another benefit to having self-sufficient crews, Potvin says. “I’m a fantastic guy to work for, but not always to work with. I’m a perfectionist. Perfection is great, but sometimes production is important.” Potvin believes in quality service as opposed to quantity. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, his crews work constantly, building and renovating commercial and residential spaces at an astounding rate. Potvin has the final word on taking the road less traveled. “There’s nothing I don’t like about it. There are a lot of challenges, but that’s the same whether you work for someone else or for yourself,” he says. “If you work for someone, they do the time for your crimes, so to speak. But if it’s your company, the buck stops with you. You’re the captain of your own ship. You might hit the rocks, but you chart your own course. Anyone that gets up in the morning and strives to do better should consider having their own business. It’s just friggin’ fun.” BIE