What makes a Forty under 40 award winner? Do you have to know at the age of nine that you want to be a lawyer, as Stacey Handley did? Do you need to start your own company by the age of 14 like Milun Tesovic? Do you have to build a $2 million company from a meagre start of $20 and a U-Haul like Marcel Newell?
The road to success is rarely direct, but there is advice to be gained and opinions to listen to when it comes to success in business. And whether it’s serving with former prime minister Jean Chrétien, appearing on the Oprah Winfrey Show or starting a cartoon production company, success takes many forms.
In our issue this year, we have played with the words that people have used in defining their success, and patterns can be seen to emerge. Words like perseverance, opportunity, creativity and integrity make their way into more than one graphic; but so do community, family and philanthropy. In fact, for most of the people in these pages, their toughest business decision was not deciding what company to buy or when to sell; it was laying off staff or missing a family event because they had to work.
Their lives may be fast-paced, full of strategizing and negotiations, but they take the time to prioritize their goals and take action in line with their values. If there’s anything our jumbles of words tell us in these pages, it’s that a balanced life is the most successful of all.
— Baila Lazarus, news features editor, Business in Vancouver
