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Archive for the ‘Vancouver Observer: Success: Why and How’ Category

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How Cross Border Communications’ Elena Verlee Blogged and Tweeted to Success

Tuesday, December 20th, 2011

by Sandy Huang – originally published in the Vancouver Observer on December 16, 2011

Elena Verlee didn’t intend to become a serial entrepreneur when she started her public relations (PR) consulting practice after moving to Vancouver in 1997. Beginning with this “temporary” project, Verlee has since become a self-described “accidental entrepreneur” who has built a seven-figure business and sold two companies for six figures each. Currently, Verlee is the founder and managing partner of two very successful PR ventures: Cross Border Communications and PR in Your Pajamas. Read more…

Publicist Elena Verlee. Courtesy of Diane Read Photography

 

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Trail Appliances’ Second-generation Owner Mike Broderick on Growing a Family Business

Thursday, December 1st, 2011

by Sandy Huang, originally published in the Vancouver Observer on November 21, 2011

In 1980, armed with an education degree and some retail and customer-service experience, Mike Broderick moved to B.C. and opened the first B.C. Trail Appliances store along with his brother, Peter. The pair did everything from sales and moving appliances to delivery and cleaning the appliances.

Years later, in 2011, Trail Appliances employs 800 people, with Broderick overseeing eight B.C. locations and 250 employees. The company has experienced double-digit growth in the past several years. In May 2011, Broderick opened Trail Appliances’ ambitious 26,000-square-foot flagship store in Vancouver. Read more…

Photo of Mike Broderick courtesy of Trail Appliances.

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Macdonald Realty CEO Lynn Hsu: From humble beginnings to extraordinary success

Friday, October 21st, 2011

by Sandy Huang, originally published in the Vancouver Observer on October 20, 2011

In 1985, while raising a young family, Lynn Hsu began her real estate career despite being a new immigrant with limited English and no social network.

From 1987 through 1989, Hsu was the number one salesperson for Western Canada at a large, national real estate firm. In 1990, Hsu bought Macdonald Realty; at the time a single office in Vancouver’s Westside. Fast forward 25 years and Hsu is heading Western Canada’s largest real estate brokerage firm, with over 1,000 realtors working in 20 offices across British Columbia and Alberta. Macdonald Realty’s reported figure for gross sales in 2010 was $4.7 billion. Read more…

Ms. Lynn Hsu (second from right), winner of the title Person of the Year in Chinese Business. Photo courtesy of Chinese Business Chamber of Canada

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