You know those people whose names keep coming up in your life? You know, those people who you just keep meeting, and your paths keep crossing, randomly, and perhaps seemingly unconnected?
Well, today’s guest is one of those people for me. I first met Yuri back in 2007, when I was a University student studying Accounting and Finance. I had the pleasure of representing my University in a business simulation competition at Capilano University, and myself, along with 3 other classmates, competed against other Universities across the province.
For the weekend, I was the CEO, and we had a business to grow and run. The experience was exciting, expansive, scary - and way outside of my comfort zone. It was also an incredible learning opportunity.
While my team did not win, I came away with a lot of lessons for life, business and leadership. See, my role had been the CEO within our team, and we were all given mentors for the weekend. The CEO mentor I got? An award-winning, big city entrepreneur named… you guessed it… Yuri Fulmer.
The advice Yuri gave me that weekend stuck with me and I’ve never forgotten. He inspired me and taught me a lot.
And then, I went back to my small town, and back to busy life as usual, ready to integrate the lessons at work and home.
A few years later, in Fort McMurray at a town council meeting our paths crossed again. I was supporting the Fort McMurray downtown vision for the community and Yuri was representing one of his businesses. We briefly reconnected, albeit we were on what you may call “opposing sides” of this argument and proposed plan.
Fast forward to today, where I have the pleasure and opportunity to interview - and most of all, share - Yuri’s wisdom, humility and graciousness with YOU on Goalden Girls Podcast.
Let me tell you a little about Yuri: he has been building businesses since his early twenties, starting with the purchase of a local A&W franchise. Since then, Yuri has grown that single A&W franchise into dozens, building a $60-million business portfolio by the time he was 30.
Over the years, he’s been actively involved in local non-profit, educational, and arts organizations, and serves as an accredited Director on a number of corporate and civic boards. He’s also been recognized as Canada’s Top Forty Under 40 (2008), and was awarded The Order of British Columbia (2010) and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012).
This episode is part one of two, where we focus on Yuri’s vast entrepreneurial journey, from his initial goal of having a corporate career, to owning his first franchise, to creating a business that generates over $60-million in revenue annually.
We also talk about the moment that made him slow his growth, how he invests through private equity and venture capitalism, and the one simple exercise he did to figure out what he should be doing with his life, work, and business.
This episode is ALL about success - success in business, life, and beyond. Even if you’re not an entrepreneur, you’ll find this episode incredibly inspiring. If you’re anything like me, after listening you’ll be excited to continue to be the best, and to do good in the community around you too.
Friend, enjoy this episode of Goalden Girls Podcast, with Yuri Fulmer.
Here are the juicy bits you can look forward to:
Yuri’s incredible entrepreneurial journey. (9:20)
Being willing to take risks as an entrepreneur. (20:50)
The biggest lessons Yuri learned in business. (25:00)
How Yuri does business now having faced the challenges he faced. (30:45)
The risks of saying no. (37:50)
Why it’s important for Yuri to do good with his business. (40:00)
The changes Yuri wants to see to make the world a better place for entrepreneurs. (44:45)
How Yuri got to where he is today in private equity. (51:00)
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Quotes to Share:
Download and share the quotes you loved on your social and inspire those around you:
“We set people up in life with this limited number of things you can be and we forget to tell them about all of the things that even exist today, let alone the things that don't exist today. So we do a really poor job of setting people up. And I think I was the casualty of that.” - Yuri Fulmer
“The moment of entrepreneurship is ‘this could be bigger than just me.’” - Yuri Fulmer
“I think you have to have a willingness to take risks that others aren’t prepared to take.” - Yuri Fulmer
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Thank you so much for listening.
xo,
Lisa
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