As far as Dara Parker is concerned, she has her dream job. As the vice-president of grants and community initiatives at the Vancouver Foundation, her mission is to distribute the funding to make communities better. Throughout her career, she has worked with people and found that understanding people is fundamental to growing as a person and her current role.

How do you get First Nations, government, and the energy industry together? That is something that Chris Sankey knows the answer to, because it is what he does. He loves solving problems that nobody else wants to touch and that drives his mission – aiming for a Canada with economic opportunities without racism.

Rudy Bottignol’s career has taken many turns. He started as a self-taught filmmaker and found success, which sparked an interest in doing it for a career. Going to university, he majored in film and entered the then-new field of independent productions by starting his own company – he was one of the rare breed of instant entrepreneurs after university.

Robert Barnard is the co-founder of Youthful Cities, which seeks to make our cities more youthful and dynamic. His path started as a human geography student, which fascinated him. As a self-described “serial entrepreneur,” his studies kept combining with his passion. Every step of the way, people kept asking, “What’s with all these young people?” Seeing a demand for governments and companies to market to young people led him to pivot his focus towards creating communities focused around youth and young adults.

Jess Ketchum sees himself as an advisor to corporations, which sounds easier than it actually is. His top quality is confidentiality – CEOs invest a certain level of trust in him and expect quality feedback in return. His consistent work and quick turnaround have led to word-of-mouth clients through building relationships and trust.

Businesses need information to make informed decisions – and that is what Ken Peacock is here for. In his role at the Business Council of British Columbia, he takes information from the provincial government and connects it with business leaders for feedback and development. He didn’t start out wanting to be an economist – but he had a curiosity to understand how the world worked. At the advice of a professor, he went into economics. This changed his life and career path.

Drew Collier is the CEO of LGM Financial Services, which handles extended warranties for various car brands in Canada. Being based on the west coast, he has an early start each day to accommodate those out east. And his work is never done – evenings are prep work for the next day. His path started in electronics, which fed his interest in knowing how things work. This desire to learn about the inner workings of everything eventually led him into business, where he is today.

David Hutniak leads Landlord BC, which is an industry association that represents owners and managers of rental housing in British Columbia. His organization represents landlords across BC and balances the interests of landlords and tenants.

Rory Mullen, as the head of BioPharma and IDA Ireland, meets a lot of people, to say the least. He started studying in business and working in advertising, but wanted to expand his horizons internationally, outside his native Ireland.

Troy Clifford identifies as a paramedic, but his mission is much more. He is the president of a union for ambulance and paramedics union, which is also the profession’s de-facto organization in British Columbia. His role is to support its workers and be the face of BC’s ambulance service.

Olaf Groth wants to hear what your frontier looks like – and help you achieve it. That is his mission and purpose, as he helps people and organizations shift their strategy and thinking to meet their goals.

A catalyst and connector – that is how Bob Stamnes sees himself in his work. He likes to work with companies that make the world better and connect opportunities with the business and nonprofit worlds. He helps businesses uncover what they want to do and rediscover their brand vision.

There is no “normal” day when you work in government. That is what Brenda Bailey has learned as British Columbia’s Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation. In fact, she sees her job as a real-life crash course on British Columbia.

The aviation industry isn’t for everyone. Danny Sitnam, on the other hand, dove head-first into it with a sense of invigoration and passion. In fact, it energizes him and the thought of being at the front line of the business is what gets him out of bed in the morning.

What’s the easiest way to start your own business? Learn a trade, says Chris Gardner, who is President of the Independent Contractors Association of British Columbia. It was not a straight line to where he is today.

Matt Harper’s job at Invinity Energy Systems is all about balance. As he says, “It is a job that does not let one get bored.”

Amani Saini took the experience of a family member’s adverse drug reaction to launch a nonprofit dedicated to furthering research and awareness of adverse drug reactions.

Before venturing on his own, Sam Cooper started as a print journalist and went into other media such as video and television. Along the way, he found the power of storytelling and “how” a story is told is just as important as what the story is – especially with the rise of social media and online media.

Christine Mallier’s passion for sustainability landed her a dream job, but she didn’t get there immediately. She worked in everything from events, customer service, public relations, and more – and that gave her a chance to know almost every department of her company and how to best work with each of them.

Jock Finlayson is only half-retired, but it doesn’t mean that he has slowed down. Working with multiple think tanks and organizations, he has to deliver accurate economic forecasts to the sectors that keep British Columbia’s economy alive.