09
David Mothus | 2014 TOP 40 It’s not surprising that, since scoring a spot in our 2014 Top 40 magazine, David Mothus was selected by Sun Life Financial, out of more than 4000 employees, as their National Volunteer of the Year (2014). Mothus’s volunteer work as co-founder and administrator of the popular Facebook page ‘Hell Yeah Prince George’ as well as his ‘Spread the Sunshine’ campaign is generating huge impact in his community. He also served on the SPCA Provincial Board for 2014-2015 and joined the Friends of Children as a Director this fall. David has been busy building a partnership with Matthew Dawes, another Sun Life advisor, to incorporate under Mothus
Dawes Insurance & Investments Solutions. The partnership has grown so much that they recently hired a full time assistant and brought a third advisor on to help manage the workload. Mothus Dawes was named Business of the Year for Sun Life’s Northern BC division in 2014. Mothus has his own take on marketing his business with what he describes as the “Philosophy of Philanthropic Advertising”. He has adhered to this philosophy by combining his desire to help his community with his drive to achieve business success. David explains his motivation in life by stating, “When I die, I want to have changed a significant portion
of the world around me. I don’t have kids so I’m not doing it for family. There are so many hard things in life that you start to feel sad. I can’t ignore the bad things so I have to actively do good to change it.” When asked about his future in business, Mothus predicts that in 5 years the original deejay and event-host company that he started in the 1990s, the Entertainment Group, will have folded and Mothus Dawes will own a building in Prince George with up to 20 employees. Nothing else has stopped Mothus from achieving what he sets his sights on so we look forward to big business growth from Mothus Dawes in the future!
Liam Iliffe | 2013 TOP 40 Shortly after the 2013 edition of Top 40 was published, the self-identified “Serial Entrepreneur” was approached by Adrian Edwards, a former employee from the Prince George Citizen, about becoming a partner in an online digital sales business. Iliffe jumped at the opportunity and Ie. Group of Companies was formed, now with 4 full time people and up to 11 staff during busy periods. This growing group of companies focuses on B2B technology based solutions in E-Commerce, Internet Security, and Marketing Targeting. Iliffe’s business has grown so quickly that their 10 year growth plan occurred in just 18 months! Exciting as
growth may be, Iliffe describes the challenges in locating a technology based company in Prince George with limited access to skilled programmers and IT specialists. This necessitated a move out of Prince George to Victoria which wasn’t an obvious location choice but it worked well with Iliffe’s life partner who works for the Provincial Government . Deciding to terminate his joint ownership of The Wildlife outdoor gear store in downtown Prince George was difficult for Iliffe. The thriving 4th Avenue business shut its doors by the end of summer in 2014. Iliffe misses the business community of Prince George which he found particularly open to young
entrepreneurs and students. He notes, “New experiences are thrown at you even as you are just learning the ropes and moving up the corporate ladder. The Prince George business community has a huge capacity for support and forgiveness. Professionally, what you can achieve in 5 years in Prince George would take 15 years anywhere else.” Because Iliffe’s newest venture already owns a good share of the Canadian market, his attention is turning to cross border business development. In the future, he hopes to gain new clients in the US and Europe. He also hasn’t given up the idea of starting another business or two.
Aiden Kelly | 2013 TOP 40 Life has taken some big turns since Aidan Kelly appeared on our 2013 Top 40 list. At the time, Aidan was CEO of Tourism Prince George and exciting things were happening: visitor numbers were growing, online destination marketing engagement was high, and the 2015 Canada Winter Games were just around the corner. It was tough to leave his position as CEO, feeling as though some things on Kelly’s list were incomplete; but, Kelly’s life partner (now fiancé) had completed her studies in the Northern Medical Program at UNBC and her residency was taking her to Kamloops. After 12 years in Prince George, Kelly decided to move with her and
take on a big position at Sun Peaks Resort as their Director of Marketing, Sales and Events. Moving from non-profit management to the private sector was a big change for Kelly. At first, he was nervous joining a small executive management team of 5 people who were ultimately responsible for managing the resort. Kelly reminisces, “I thought to myself, ‘Do these guys know who they are getting?’ The majority of management at Sun Peaks have been there more than 20 years. I was the young buck coming in, but it’s been a good balance: I bring new fresh ideas to an already successful management team.” And the perks aren’t bad either. With a full
12 month cycle of activities such as concerts, events, mountain biking, and winter sports, Kelly is never short of extracurricular activities. While he hasn’t had much time to dedicate to his snow board or skis while diving into his new job, taking clients and business partners out on the slopes is part of his job description. Although Aidan’s focus has been settling into his role at Sun Peaks Resort, he keeps active in the community as Vice Chair of Tourism Sun Peaks as well as maintaining his connections to UNBC Athletics, acting as a mentor to the UNBC team players.
PRINCE GEORGE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE | 2016/2017
UNDER 40