Spring 2015

Victoria BC

newcomers new businesses

Fresh star ts

VANCOUVER ISLAND’S IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSH AV E W H AT I T TA K E S!

(just ask Arlene Dickinson—page 4)

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SPECIAL ISSUE

a l a n g u a g e & c u l t u r e m a g a z i n e f o r n e w c o m e r s t o C a n a d a

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Publisher | Functionall Books

Editor | Fiona Bramble

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S E R V I N G T H E S O U T H I S L A N D

We proudly recognize local newcomer businesses who help our community

grow and flourish.

MP+MLAs-HereMag1502.indd 1 2015-02-26 10:21 AM

from the editorWelcome to our special interactive Spring Issue! Our worker bees have built something fun and creative to celebrate Vancouver Island ’s fearless newcomer entrepreneurs. If you are reading this in print or even via Issuu, I encourage you to take our Joomag interactive version for a spin. We ’ve embedded videos and slideshows and hyperlinked almost every thing so that you can click click click your way around the magazine and the world wide web. If it glows, it clicks! You can also subscribe to Here! Magazine and send us a message right from the page!

Entrepreneurs are bold by nature—newcomer entrepreneurs take it to another level! Not only do they face the t ypical challenges of launching a new enterprise, but they also face other daunting barriers such as language and culture dif ferences, lack of access to credit and financing , no established local professional networks, and yes, sometimes, discrimination. As guest contributor, the tenacious Arlene Dickinson reminds us: “Newcomers rise to these and other challenges by tapping into their innate resourcefulness and ingenuit y. Time and time again I ’ve seen entrepreneurs pivot quickly‚ to modify their strategy and actions to account for an unexpected development.”

We are happy to showcase our cit y ’s newest entrepreneurs and their businesses, along with profiles of prominent immigrants who make it their life’s work to help those who have come af ter them. I have been humbled by all of their stories and am honoured to be able to share their voices with you here.

Enjoy and share widely!

Fiona Bramble Editor-in-chief

CONTENTS Volume 2, Issue 2

YouInc guest contributor Arlene Dickinson praises the ingenuity of newcomer entrepreneurs in Canada

Vivian Zheng and Ar thur Tang t ransfer their talents to a new enterprise

Nahid Kholgi and Saeed Homapour build a family business

Lixian Song shoots to the top in real estate and helps connect communit y

10

Susan Johnston f inds a Canadian voice writ ing nor th of the 49th paral le l

heremagazine.ca 3

Gabriel and Marli Lopez step up st yle with the fine leather of Mexico

Jingsong Liu and May Guo breathe new life into a Victoria institution

6

7

14

9

page 4

8

Moussa Magassa and Rosanna Hillebuild a world of inclusion

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I’VE always admired the ingenuity of newcomer entrepreneurs in Canada.

Arriving in Canada to begin a new life can be a simultaneously exciting and scary experience. You don’t know what to expect‚ and you don’t know how things will turn out. You can make all kinds of plans before you immigrate to a new country‚ but often the realities when you get there will differ from your expectations‚ and plans will need to change.

A creative‚ outside-the-box approach will help any newcomer to adapt to change. And dealing promptly and skillfully with any situation will help you to create a positive outcome.

It’s these kinds of abilities that help over 40‚000 newcomer entrepreneurs who start a business in Canada each year to adapt to their new environment. And succeed here.

For example‚ according to the Conference Board of Canada‚ immigrants to Canada win proportionally more prestigious literary and performing arts awards than people born here – immigrants comprise 23 percent of Giller Prize finalists and 29 percent of winners; further‚ 23 percent of Governor General’s Performing Arts Award recipients are immigrants. And here’s another fascinating fact from the Conference Board’s report on

Immigrants as Innovators: at least 35 percent of Canada Research Chairs are foreign-born‚ even though immigrants are just one-fifth of the Canadian population.

The board also found that “a one percentage point increase in the number of immigrants to Canada can increase the value of imports into Canada by 0.21 per cent‚ and raise the value of exports by 0.11 per cent.”

Achieving that kind of success starts with learning about your new environment. When my family came to Canada from South Africa‚ we quickly learned how things worked so we could build the life we wanted.

For example‚ a creative approach for a newcomer arriving without business connections in Canada is to tap into the local community of expatriates in their town or city – people from the same country they are from. Most cities in Canada have healthy immigrant communities. Expatriates will help someone new to Canada to establish relationships helpful to growing a business‚ and can make valuable recommendations regarding places to live‚ schools to attend‚ and where to access supportive programs offered by governments and settlement agencies.

Resourcefulness comes into play when a newcomer entrepreneur is thrown a curve ball and finds themself up against unforeseen challenges and

obstacles. There are events no business plan can help you to anticipate – like being unable to secure business financing due to a lack of credit history in this country‚ or finding out a new business partner wasn’t accurate about the number of solid commercial relationships he claimed to possess.

Newcomers rise to these and other challenges by tapping into their innate resourcefulness and ingenuity. Time and time again I’ve seen entrepreneurs pivot quickly‚ to modify their strategy and actions to account for an unexpected development. For example‚ a qualified entrepreneur who wants to establish a credit history in Canada can turn to Scotiabank’s StartRight Program for assistance. Or the entrepreneur disappointed about his partners’ connections can move quickly to find a better qualified alliance.

The ability of new Canadian entrepreneurs to summon up that “can-do” attitude never ceases to inspire me. They leverage their talent and experience to produce amazing solutions to unexpected business challenges.

You always find a way because you know that being an entrepreneur is all about perseverance. It’s that never-say-die attitude mixed with your creativity and resourcefulness that will definitely take you to whatever success you imagine.

reprinted from YouInc.com with permission

Arlene Dickinson is one of Canada’s most renowned independent marketing communications entrepreneurs. As CEO of Venture Communications‚ her creative and strategic approach has turned the company into a powerhouse with a blue chip client list. She is also the CEO of YouInc.com‚ a company she founded in 212 that is dedicated to serving and investing in entrepreneurs and the entrepreneurial lifestyle.

Dickinson is best known to Canadians as one of the venture capitalists on the award-winning CBC series Dragons’ Den‚ The Big Decision and marketing expert on Recipe to Riches. She is the author of two books: the number one bestselling book‚ Persuasion, and her most recent best-selling release‚ All In.

From Arlene: Business Success Comes From Creativity and Resourcefulness

4 heremagazine.ca

heremagazine.ca 5

The ability of new Canadian entrepreneurs to summon up that “can-do” attitude never ceases to

inspire me. They leverage their talent and experience to produce amazing solutions to unexpected

business challenges.

6 heremagazine.ca newcomer new business

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O U R I N V E S T M E N T I N M I L L O S ‚ O U R S T A F F

A N D C U S T O M E R S I S A C O M M I T M E N T T O O U R

N E W L I V E S I N C A N A D A A N D O U R F U T U R E A S

C A N A D I A N S .

Jingsong Liu & May Guo

OWNERS @ MILLOS GREEK RESTAURANT & LOUNGE “

716 Burdett Ave. Victoria B.C.250.382.4422millosrestaurant.com

What W H E R E

MEET J INGSONG & MAY ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Last March‚ when Jingsong and May took over the Victoria institut ion that is Millos ‚ long- t ime customers weren ’ t shy about asking what a Chinese family knew about Greek food. They needn ’ t have worried. Not only does Jingsong praise the freshness and healthiness of Greek food in general‚ but f resh seafood in par ticular reminds him of home‚ having come from the seaside cit y of Qingdao‚ China (also the site of the brewery which produces the world-

famous Tsingtao beer!). Maintaining the authentic Greek menu and atmosphere was fur ther assured by the ongoing mentorship of Millos’ previous owner‚ John Biros ‚ the continued dedication of the original wait and kitchen staf f‚ and‚ of course‚ the fabulous belly dancers that per form ever y Saturday night.

J ingsong hopes to improve upon Millos’ past successes with the new Lounge and more European-inf luenced dishes. For Jingsong ‚ the family investment in Millos is more than a path to immigration; he hopes he and his family wil l become par t of the fabric of the communit y. Jingsong and May now live in Fernwood with their daughter‚ who is in her first year at the Universit y of Victoria. A hear t y Victoria welcome to the Liu -Guo family!

B Y O F F E R I N G B E A U T I F U L M E X I C A N - M A D E S H O E S ‚

B O O T S ‚ A N D B A G S ‚ W E A R E P R O U D L Y S H A R I N G A P I E C E O F O U R C U L T U R E W I T H O U R

N E W C O M M U N I T Y .

“

Marli & Gabriel Lopez

OWNERS @ HIMULCO

SHOES

+ W h a t W H E R E571 Cadboro Bay Rd. Victoria B.C.

778.265.6699

himulco.ca

heremagazine.ca 7 newcomer new business newcomer new business

MEET GABRIEL ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

For Marli Lopez ‚ arriving in Canada in 2011 from Torreon‚ Mexico was a long-awaited return to the country she fell in love with as an international student at the Universit y of Victoria in 1987. This time‚ Marli had her husband Gabriel and her two children with her‚ and the plan was to make Victoria their new home.

The family ’s new adventure was not without challenges though. Although fluent in English and highly -educated‚ both Gabriel and Marli found it dif ficult to have their credentials recognized and to find meaningful employment that matched their qualifications and experience. Gabriel says that “ in order to fulfill [their] dream of becoming Canadians and set t ling down in beautiful Victoria‚ [they] decided to open Himulco Shoes”.

Luckily‚ Gabriel‚ who admits to having a strong entreprenurial streak since he was a young man in information technologies in Mexico‚ had the connections with well -known Mexican shoe makers and the abilit y to work directly with the factories in order to bring the fine leather Mexican-made shoes to Canada. Marli travels back to Mexico regularly on

buying trips to ensure Himulco is well -stocked with the newest and most popular st yles.

Gabriel and Marli say that they “are grateful to all [their] customers” for the wonderful word-of-mouth support they have received and that they have plans to expand their business and open a second store. Congratulations to the Lopez family!

8 heremagazine.ca

W E F E L L I N L O V E

W I T H V I C T O R I A O N O U R F I R S T V I S I T A N D A R E E X C I T E D A B O U T G R O W I N G O U R N E W

B U S I N E S S I N T H I S B E A U T I F U L C I T Y .

What W H E R E+ 738 Caledonia Ave. Victoria B.C.250.383.8515pacblinds.ca

“

Arthur Tang & Vivian Zheng

OWNERS @ PACIFIC BLINDS AND DRAPES

newcomer new business

MEET VIVIAN & ARTHUR ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Having just arrived in Victoria this past November from Shanghai, China, the Tang-Zheng family quickly realized they would have to immerse themselves in Canadian culture in order to successfully run their new business and to connect with their new neighbours.

Even with her extensive experience in interior design, Vivian discovered that cultural preferences for even a basic element of design such as colour vary drastically; while some of their Chinese-Canadian customers lean to bold colours such as red and gold,

Canadians from other backgrounds tend to prefer more muted earth tones in their fabric choices. To understand their customers bet ter, Arthur and Vivian created Chinese-inspired bookmarks with dif ferent colour schemes and designs for their customers. The bookmarks are a thought ful gif t, but also a way to gauge customer preferences.

Their Chinese background and language skills make their business a popular choice for the local Chinese community , but Vivian and Arthur, who chose their “English” names in their universit y English classes in China years ago, are always looking at ways to bridge cultural gaps in their new community. They look forward to welcoming Victorians to their store in the coming months. Congratulations to the Tang-Zhengs on their new enterprise!

MEET NAHID & SAEED ON OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL

B R I N G I N G V I TA L S E R V I C E S T O O U R N E W C O M M U N I T Y H E L P S U S C O N N E C T W I T H O U R

N E I G H B O U R S A N D C R E AT E S A P L A C E F O R U S

A N D O U R F A M I L Y H E R E I N V I C T O R I A .

“

Nahid Kholghi & Saeed Homapour

OWNERS @ THE UPS STORE

OAK BAY

+ W h a t W H E R E

1834C Oak Bay Ave. Victoria B.C.778.265.8222theupsstore.ca/482

heremagazine.ca 9 newcomer new business newcomer new business

Having lef t Iran in 2004, Nahid and Saeed came to Canada by way of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and arrived in Victoria with their two sons in the summer of 2012. Nahid remembers how cold she felt that first summer in Victoria, and although she is still not used to the cooler temperatures here, the family has warmed up to the welcoming community of Victoria.

With the help of the B.C. Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), Nahid and Saeed were able to acquire an owner-operated franchise of The UPS Store and ina short time have not only become a neighbourhood fixture but, in true entrepreneurial fashion, have also quickly established themselves as niche service providers; Saeed regularly goes above and beyond when creating customized packaging for large or unusual packages such as oversized televisions, china, or valuable paintings—one even rumoured to be a gif t for Prince Andrew! Their store is now also one of two in Victoria to transport “biological substances”, a designation Nahid pursued in response to customer needs.

Nahid and Saeed continue to adapt to their new country as they overcome language and cultural challenges. Having done so once already af ter leaving Iran for a very dif ferent life in the UAE, they are confident they will adjust to Canadian life quickly. Thanks to their perseverance, they have established a strong family business (their sons help out when not in class at Camosun College). Victoria welcomes the Kholghi-Homapour family!

What brought you and your family to Canada? An adventurous spirit! In 2005‚ I lef t China for Kenya to help launch the Confucius Institute at the Universit y of Nairobi‚ a partner institution of my universit y‚ Tianjin Normal Universit y. I helped create an exchange and scholarship program that saw some of my students travel to China to earn degrees and return to Kenya to work and teach. My daughter at tended an international school while we were there. The whole wonderful experience opened our minds up to possibilities. It changed my life. We visited Canada af ter Kenya. I already had a Permanent Resident card but couldn’ t decide whether to stay in China or move to Canada. My daughter encouraged me and was the one to say‚ “Mom‚ we can make a new star t here too.” I said‚ “Why not? It ’s a beautiful country!” We moved here in 2008.

What were your first months in Victoria like? Language and culture barriers were a big challenge but many people helped me—local people‚ new immigrants‚ everybody! I felt so welcome.

Has your family also embraced this fresh start in Canada? Actually‚ it was very dif ficult to convince my husband‚ Zhong Cai‚ to come here—he is a well - respected chemical engineer in Tianjin and had twenty people working under him when we lef t. We studied English together at Camosun College for the first two years and it was sometimes frustrating for him. He went back to China for a shor t while and has rejoined us since. My daughter‚ Linna Cai‚ is in her first year in the School of Business at UVic and is really enjoying herself. We have a new family business in the works—it ’s a bit of a secret for now! I hope it gives both my daughter and husband an engaging new opportunit y.

10 heremagazine.ca

the communicatorAcademic‚ professor‚ mother‚ wife‚ entrepreneur‚ and award-winning real estate agent‚ Lixian Song does not let the grass grow under her feet, but she always makes time to smell the roses (and the tulips!). Editor-in-chief Fiona Bramble connected with Lixian over tea on a sunny afternoon at Nar Café & Bistro.

How has teaching Mandarin helped you connect with the wider Victoria community? I teach Mandarin as a second language‚ privately and at the Universit y of Victoria. From the beginning‚ my students became my friends and then their parents became my friends and the circle continued to widen. I like to communicate with people and meet all kinds of dif ferent people. I have been blessed with many opportunities and have met so many wonderful people. I believe you must always keep learning and keep your hear t and mind open in order to build relationships in the communit y.

What drew you to add “real estate agent” to your many achievements? I t wasn’ t even my idea! My student and friend‚ Tim‚ a long-time Victoria resident and developer‚ felt strongly that I had something special that would help me be successful in real estate. He insisted I give it a tr y. Neither of us could have guessed what a great star t I would have! My fluency in Mandarin also helps me communicate with Chinese newcomers‚ who can sometimes be overwhelmed when they first arrive.

What is your favourite real estate story? I recently sold a house to a couple who loved both the home and the extensive gardens on their newly purchased proper ty. But they had no gardening experience at all and were worried

they would not be able to maintain the gardens well. The sellers‚ Mike and Anne‚ generously of fered to show the new owners how to use the tools and how to maintain the dif ferent plants in the garden. Last Saturday‚ we all came together and Mike and Anne taught us every thing the new owners would need to know about the gardens! The

experience really touched me and reminded me

how kind people are here.

How do you stay connected to Chinese culture in Canada? I have a

passion for Chinese ar t‚

specifically dance‚

calligraphy‚ and painting. I volunteer

my time per forming Chinese folk dance and introducing Chinese culture and ar ts to dif ferent communities.

What ’s next? I plan to continue my roles as a daughter‚ wife‚ and mother while serving the communit y in which I live.

Lixian Song has a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry‚ a Masters Degree in Linguistics‚ and a Ph.D-in-progress. Lixian has fourteen years experience teaching Chinese as a second language at Cambridge University (U.K.)‚ University of Nairobi (Kenya)‚ Tianjin Normal University (China)‚ University of Victoria (Canada)‚ and Camosun College (Canada).

Lixian is the Chinese liaison on the Economic Development Committee of the City of Langford‚ helping bridge international investment‚ business and culture between China and Canada.

Lixian Song is a real estate agent at Pemberton Holmes and started as the top new REALTOR® in Victoria B.C. in 2014. In her second year‚ Lixian won the Gold MLS® Award.

.

Success will never be a big step in the future— success is a small step taken just

now.

f

avou

rit

e quotat ion

heremagazine.ca 11

12 heremagazine.ca

the bridgebuilders

What are your cultural backgrounds?Moussa: I was born in Senegal and came to Canada via South Africa in 2001.

Rosanna: I migrated as a child with my family from Denmark to Canada.

How long have you two known each other and how did you meet? Moussa: We’ve known each other almost as long as I’ve been in Canada. I met Rosanna through a mutual friend.

Why did you start Hille-Magassa & Associates? At one stage in our own integration‚ we realized that there was a need‚ a gap; many organizations—government and not-for-profit—experience a lot of stress in understanding and working ef fectively with diversit y‚ communicating inter- and cross-culturally‚ and managing safely intercultural conflicts and diverse workplaces. That was an opportunit y for us‚ since our exper tise lies in this very area. As friends‚ we also wanted to work together and felt that having a mixed-race team strengthened our ‘product ’.

What kinds of organizations do you work with? We bring our experience and exper tise to not-for-profit and for-profit organizations that are ready for change. Some groups and corporations are looking for the silver bullet to fix what is broken or help them fulfill a legal imperative to improve diversit y. Sometimes the motivations are super ficial‚ which doesn’ t make us feel very good. If an organization is truly willing to have the status quo challenged‚ we give them the tools to empower their teams and strengthen their organization overall by creating inclusive‚ welcoming‚ and sustainable workplaces.

Tell us about the work you do. We do so many things—training‚

With backgrounds in conflict resolution‚ human rights education‚ international communication‚ non-profit management‚ adult education‚ and community development‚ Moussa Magassa and Rosanna Hille do the heavy lifting at Hille-Magassa & Associates. Sitting down with Moussa in the buzzing Student Union Building at UVic‚ Editor-in-chief Fiona Bramble gets to the heart of Moussa and Rosanna’s vital community work and learns how the African idea of Ubuntu informs their everyday.

workshops‚ curriculum development‚ group facilitation‚ and consulting. We create new courses for both classroom and online delivery‚ and web-based learning materials; we facilitate public forums‚ conduct program evaluations‚ produce repor ts and recommendations‚ and provide overseas pre-departure training.

Do newcomers themselves struggle with the cultural concept of diversity? Yes! Many newcomers come from homogenous societies. They can be overwhelmed by Canada’s so-called mosaic of dif ferent cultures. There are also newcomers who come from countries in conflict and arrive in this country of relative peace. These communities struggle with peace-building among themselves in their new home.

How have you overcome the social and economic challenges that many newcomers face? One of the ways we managed to overcome these challenges was to first acknowledge them and see them as temporal and contextual. We understood right at the outset that these challenges are not about us personally. We began the process by get ting out‚ networking with

others‚ learning about Canada and Canadians‚ while at the same time sharing about ourselves and our backgrounds. We allowed ourselves to be surprised‚ to cry sometimes‚ and to laugh most times about our shor tcomings and funny lit t le ’ integration mistakes’.

You describe your work and life philosophy as one that adheres to the African idea of “Ubuntu”. What is “Ubuntu”? Ubuntu is the idea that people are people because of other people. We believe in the crucial importance of relationships‚ of human interactions‚ and particularly of the reality that not only are our human issues interconnected‚ but that our lives can’t evolve without each other.

hille-magassa.com

photo credit: Ivan Kohar Parra, 2013

heremagazine.ca 13

We allowed ourselves to be

sur pr ised, to cr y somet imes, and

to laugh most t imes about our

shor tcomings and f unny little

‘ integ rat ion mistakes’.

Moussa Magassa is a Human Rights Educator at the University of Victoria and an instructor in various UVic programs‚ including the MA in Dispute Resolution and the Diploma in Intercultural Education and Training. Moussa also teaches at Royal Roads University in the MA in Global Leadership program and at the University of British Columbia Centre for Intercultural Communication. Moussa’s MA thesis was titled: Sworn Enemies Get Together for a Kiss and a Coffee in Multicultural Vancouver: How refugee diaspora make peace among themselves in host countries.

Rosanna Hille has specialized in non-profit management‚ adult education‚ and community development for over twenty-five years‚ supporting non-profit organizations to improve their societies and managing an international network of non-profits from twenty eight countries.

GlobalVillageStore

527 Pandora(Market Square)

250-380-1530Mon-Sat: 10-5Sun: Noon-4

Beautiful fair tradegifts at fair prices

A friendly place toshop, and to volunteer

Check us out!

Susan Johnston

WRITER @ SUSAN JOHNSTON

newcomer new business14 heremagazine.ca

W R I T I N G F O R C A N A D I A N C L I E N T S A N D I N T E R V I E W I N G

C A N A D I A N S O U R C E S H A S G I V E N M E T H E C H A N C E T O L E A R N M O R E A B O U T T H E

N U A N C E S O F L I F E I N C A N A D A .

“

What W H E R E+

susan-johnston.com

susan@susan-johnston.com

When Susan’s husband, Steve, was

transferred to Deloit te ’s Victoria of fice last winter,

they sold or donated almost every thing from their Boston,

Massachuset ts home, bringing only what would fit in several suitcases and the trunk of the car (which they shipped to Seat tle and “don’ t recommend doing”) and flew across the continental United States to a new beginning on Vancouver Island.

For tunately , Susan, who lef t her job in 2008 to focus on freelance writing full - time, has a “portable” career

to bring with her to her new home. She writes freelance ar ticles for magazines and websites, mainly covering personal finance, and business and lifest yle topics. Her work also includes copywriting for non-profit organizations and small businesses.

Even though Americans and Canadians share many cultural similarities, Susan was somewhat surprised by Victorians’ own unique culture and observes that “Victoria is a tight-knit communit y , so there ’s a huge emphasis on reputation and who you know”. Susan admits that as a newcomer and not having made many connections yet, “building trust with prospective clients can be challenging”. Susan overcomes these challenges by inviting editors and fellow writers to meet over cof fee and chat, and goes to networking events to meet new people.

Susan is always looking for inspiring or interesting stories to cover in ar ticles and is also currently brainstorming ideas for a book proposal! Susan is working with a local designer to redesign her website, where you can find links to her ar ticles, as well as purchase a copy of her e -book, The Urban Muse Guide to Online Writing Markets. A warm Victoria welcome to Susan and her husband!

Full disclosure: We at Here! Magazine are also lucky enough to have Susan contribute an ar ticle for our upcoming Summer Issue—watch for it this June!

What W H E R E

THE AGA KHAN FOUNDATION CANADA & THE WORLD PARTNERSHIP WALKAn initiative of Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC), 100% of the funds raised by the World Partnership Walk support meaningful projects identified and implemented by local communities – projects that revitalize a rural economy, ensure clean water and sanitation, strengthen community-based organizations and educate new generations of girls and women.

For more than 30 years, AKFC has worked with Canada and Canadians to sustainably improve the quality of life of poor, marginalized communities in Asia and Africa.

Established in 1980, AKFC is a registered Canadian charity and an agency of the worldwide Aga Khan Development Network, a group of development agencies with individual mandates that address social, economic and cultural dimensions of development. Active in 30 countries, these agencies share a mission to improve living conditions and opportunities for the poor, without regard to their faith, origin or gender.

VICTORIASUNDAY, MAY 31, 2015UNIVERSITY OF VICTORIAAT PETCH FOUNTAIN IN FRONT OF THE MCPHERSON LIBRARY

Walk

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