Q&A with Carling Dick, Forty Under 40 Winner 2020; Principal, Earnscliffe Strategy Group, Age 37
Who is responsible for your work ethic?
My parents.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Chicken strips dipped in honey mustard sauce.
What is the best book you would recommend?
Currently, for fiction – Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts and for non-fiction – Shoe Dog by Phil Knight.
Now that you’re entering your 40s, what goals have you set for yourself?
Having worked at the Beijing, Vancouver and London Olympics, the Olympic motto “faster, higher, stronger” is the motto for my life and work choices.
Choose one of these five childhood career dreams: Rock star, star athlete, prime minister, astronaut, detective.
Prime minister.
Name your happiest place.
Anywhere there is sun.
What was your toughest business or professional decision?
I turned down a permanent job at UBS in London, England to move back to Vancouver.
Advice you would give your 20-year-old self?
Patience – work hard, be thoughtful about your efforts. Success will come.
What is your best habit?
I am very organized.
Tell us one improbable fact about yourself.
I am named after a small town in Ontario.
Best piece of advice ever received?
Recognize an opportunity when it presents itself and seize it.
What career highlight are you most proud of?
While I was working in the premier’s office, planning the one-year anniversary celebration of the Vancouver Olympics.