Okanagan coLab
#201, 1405 St. Paul Street V1Y 2E4 Kelowna, BC, Canada

Meet Sean Shepherd - Entrepreneur, Design Thinker, Creative. #memberfeature Q: What is the book (or books) you’ve given most as a gift, and why? Or what are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?... A: For anyone who is interested in what I do as a career, young designers, etc., I always give them "The Design of Everyday Things" by Don Norman. You'll never look at a door handle the same way! Personally, I am a voracious reader and find it impossible to choose the books that have influenced my life the most, but the books/authors I read (at least in part) every year are: Naked Lunch, Catch-22, Kurt Vonnegut (anything), and Thomas Pynchon (anything). Q: What purchase of $100 or less has most positively impacted your life in the last six months (or in recent memory)? A: I go for a long bike ride weekly with my father - it's free. Q: What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments you’ve ever made? (Could be an investment of money, time, energy, etc.) A: Without a doubt, investing in getting trained in Service Design 6 years ago was an incredible investment. It really allowed me to understand how value needs to be delivered to users/customers/employees and has changed how I look at life in general. It changed the direction of my career and drives me to learn every single day. - Questions from the book Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferris Photograph by Daniel Jones #headhearthustle #okcolab

It is important to be aware of how we talk to ourselves! Especially during the difficult times in our life. #headhearthustle #okcolab

Discovery Foundation’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Program. As an Agent of the Discovery Foundation Technology Education Program, Women’s Enterprise Centre has designed this cohort-style mentoring program to help women entrepreneurs access a peer network of like-minded women, gain insights from an experienced woman entrepreneur and develop their leadership, negotiation and communication skills. What’s included in this program... Women entrepreneurs will virtually unite with a group of like-minded women for seven sessions of support and learning! - 5 sessions of the Taking the Stage Mentoring Program - Bonus session: Negotiate Naturally - 2 webinars to develop leadership abilities - Inclusive Leadership: Overcoming Unconscious Bias - Overcoming Imposter Syndrome Workshop This program is open to: Women-identified business owners who own technology or tech-enabled businesses in BC and that have been operating for 1-5 years and are ready for growth and expansion. Program value: This program is valued at $250, but thanks to funding from the Discovery Foundation we are able to offer full bursaries so the cost is $0! Schedule: 7-session program, 4 groups to choose from, various dates starting May 25th. Link: https://www.womensenterprise.ca//discovery-foundations-en/

Are you looking for the perfect setup to start pursuing your creative passion? Whether you’re looking for recording audio only or video podcasting, we’ve got the proper equipment you need to get you started as quickly as possible! Our new AV Studio Creator membership helps you get your ideas out into the world within hours of joining our creative community. ... Learn more: https://okcolab.com/memberships/av-studio/ #okcolab #headhearthustle

Shane Austin invites us to read Elizabeth Gilbert's book Big Magic, to uncover the "strange jewels" hidden within each of us. Let us know if you've read this book and what you think!

Here’s a productivity hack we can all get behind. More sleep! ...trust us, it’s science! Check it out ... https://zapier.com/blog/sleep-and-productivity/

A Letter to Santa

Improve the quality of your pitch to lands meetings with potential clients and investors on November 10th at Startup Founder Hot Seat Pitch Workshop https://mailchi.mp//startup-hot-seat-meet-your-feature-pre

#WEcreateBC We provide an innovative environment where women entrepreneurs are supported and celebrated. We’re a proud Community Partner of #WEcreateBC, an initiative of @wecbc and @fwecanada which celebrates women entrepreneurs and their support community! Learn more at wecreatebc.ca

Thank you to our friends at Kelowna's Gospel Mission for everything you do for the community!

Look what we got in coLab this week! A beautiful and bright beacon. What is a beacon? We signed up for the project, "When it is Necessary to Stand Still." This project has been developing by our lovely member Melany Nugent-Noble. Melany developed beacons that change colour and intensity based on the other beacons. When the beacons are all within 8 km of each other, the lights will become brighter and will change colour as they move closer and further apart. ... Her passion for this project is fascinating and inspired many of our members and the community. Are you ready to have a beacon with you for a few days? Sign up for the next available spots on her page. https://melanynugent-noble.com/ #melanynugent-noble #okcolab #cityofkelowna #beacon #kelowna #rotarycentreofarts

Trep Café connects you with a powerful group of mentors and motivators you can trust - people who have been where you are and who will have your back. Every Tuesday at 8 am we get together online to share knowledge and discuss exciting new ventures. The way we do it is by sharing with the group one of the 4Gs: Give, Get, Goal, or Gratitude. Join us to share one of the Gs YOU are working on!

Are you new to Kelowna and want to plug into a community of changemakers? Are you in between careers and want to connect with a variety of different startup companies and social change organizations all at once? This opportunity is for you! Do you need a space to build your next project and want to contribute to the community while you do it? This program is designed with you in mind.

TOMORROW! Startup Founder Hot Seat - Pitch Night! Join us via Zoom at 5:30 PM PDT! Join us to hear Startup Founders Pitch their business idea to a group of experts!... (Don’t worry, this is not the Dragon’s Den you won’t be asked to make a formal pitch, and we promise to keep Kevin O’Leary far, far away from all of you.) Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startup-founder-hot-seat-pitch

If you have a pitch you'd like to practice in front of an audience, and want to get in depth feedback from a panel of experts, sign up for a spot at Hot Seat. Want to be a part of the online audience? We'd love to have you attend and tickets are available for September 24th!

Hey! Are you interested in Entrepreneurship? 1 Do you have an entrepreneurial passion and want to know what to expect on your journey? 2 Do you want to connect with incredible people from around the world who are going through their entrepreneur's journey?... 3 Or... you simply want to learn more about entrepreneurship through successful entrepreneurs. Then... this online event is for you! Join Hustle Outlet Tomorrow from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM PDT to hear about how Austin Walper built PLAYR.gg from the ground up. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-entrepreneurs-journey-virtu

Building a business can be overwhelming but yet There's a group of people that wouldn’t change it for anything... At this event Austin Walper will share his Entrepreneur's Journey and the emotional roller coaster of starting a company from the ground up.... "3 years ago I took the biggest risk of my life and started my own technology company. Thanks to the support of the Kelowna tech community, we've built a globally recognized brand in the gaming industry with top clients around the world. This has been the craziest rollercoaster ride of my life and I'll be forever grateful for the experience and lessons learned." - Austin Walper Tickets Now Available! https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-entrepreneurs-journey-virtu

TONIGHT! at 5:30 PM PDT! Join us for for a panel discussion on Alternative Avenues for Raising Money. Event Panelists!... Bhavik Chauhan - Vice President Business Development Jenna Stasuk - Programs Manager at Accelerate Okanagan Grant Lawrence - President Valhalla Angels Kelowna David Spicer - Partner at BDO Canada LLP Brendan McCaskell - Entrepreneur & Game Designer at OOMM Games Alex Pavlovic - Inventor, Engineer, & Entrepreneur Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startup-founder-hot-seat-alter

Final Panelist Announcement! Meet Alex! Alex Pavlovic is currently working on Thrinacia Inc. (SaaS CrowdFunding/Fundraising Infrastructure) and DevRadius... Inc. (Custom Dev/Hosting Company). His personal interests include archery, parkour/freerunning and martial arts among other things in life. Join us on Thursday, August 27th for a panel discussion on Alternative Avenues for Raising Money. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startup-founder-hot-seat-alter

Panelist Announcement! Meet Brendan! Brendan McCaskell is a life-long entrepreneur. From starting a vending machine business at ten years-old to running successful Kickstarters, Brendan aims to bring creativity to whatever project he is working on. Currently, Brendan is working as a game designer at OOMM Games where he has an opportunity to work with a passionate group of creatives."... Join us this Thursday, August 27th for a panel discussion on Alternative Avenues for Raising Money. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startup-founder-hot-seat-alter

Panelist Announcement! Meet Jenna! Jenna Stasuk is Accelerate Okanagan's Programs Manager Jenna encourages and accelerates the growth of tech companies in the Okanagan by leading AO'S programs and engaging with current, past, and potential program participants.... Join us this Thursday, August 27th for a panel discussion on Alternative Avenues for Raising Money. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startup-founder-hot-seat-alter

Panelist Announcement! Meet Grant! Grant Lawrence is an active Angel investor and Founder of Valhalla Private Capital. He is the President of Valhalla Angels Kelowna and Co-President of Valhalla Angels Vancouver Grant contributes to building the tech community. ... Grant has over 22+ successful years in the software industry both in startups and established companies. Join us on August 27th for a panel discussion on Alternative Avenues for Raising Money. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startup-founder-hot-seat-alter

Panelist Announcement! Meet David! David Spicer is the practice leader for Government Incentives in BC at BDO Canada LLP. ... He has assisted a wide variety of companies with the Scientific Research & Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax incentive program administered by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and other incentives since 1996. Join us on August 27th for a panel discussion on Alternative Avenues for Raising Money. Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/startup-founder-hot-seat-alter