Catherine Vu

Transcript

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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: It's Edmonton's Podcast on the Canada's Podcast Network.
[00:10] Speaker UNKNOWN: Music
[00:15] SPEAKER_01: Hello, this is Mario Toneguzi coming to you today with Edmonton's Podcast, a member of Canada's Podcast Network
[00:22] SPEAKER_01: where we talk to the entrepreneurs for making it happen in Edmonton, Alberta.
[00:27] SPEAKER_01: So you can listen, discover and engage.
[00:31] SPEAKER_01: Today's guest is Catherine Vu, Chief Uptime Officer of Proactive IT Management.
[00:39] SPEAKER_01: Thanks for joining us today, Catherine.
[00:41] SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me. It's my pleasure to be here.
[00:44] SPEAKER_01: Tell me just a little bit first about Proactive IT, what it is and what it does.
[00:49] SPEAKER_00: So Proactive IT Management, we are an IT services company that provide exceptional customer care through on-demand support.
[01:01] SPEAKER_00: So we help small to medium-sized business from one to a 100 user of computers, how to use their technology so that it's a tool to grow their business and be productive.
[01:15] SPEAKER_00: And we literally earned our clients trust one hour at a time.
[01:21] SPEAKER_00: There's no contract if you don't want to, so it just call us when you need us and we're there when you call.
[01:30] SPEAKER_01: Tell me just how did you get involved with this and why?
[01:34] SPEAKER_00: Purely by accident, I graduated from University of Alberta in 1994, major in accounting, but I was not very good at accounting.
[01:44] SPEAKER_00: So I got interviewed with the big two that came in, but I didn't get a job offer from them.
[01:51] SPEAKER_00: So 94 was not a good year to be a graduate, because there was not very many jobs.
[01:56] SPEAKER_00: So I finally end up doing marketing for an IT company owned by an accounting firm.
[02:03] SPEAKER_00: And that's how I kind of got an IT, so it's doing marketing.
[02:07] SPEAKER_00: And I was in the office and watched all these consultants sitting there and I'm thinking there must be a better way.
[02:13] SPEAKER_00: And so I was there doing that for about three years and then they hire a senior sales person to join our company and T kind of talk me into starting a company.
[02:26] SPEAKER_00: So in 1997, we started out with proactive computer solution and $1,000 on credit card and he taught me how to cope call and that's how proactive computer started.
[02:39] SPEAKER_00: And then in 2003, we went out separate ways and I created proactive IT management and just start really getting involved in the community and stuff like that.
[02:51] SPEAKER_01: What's the benefits of doing business in Edmonton?
[02:55] SPEAKER_00: Well, I love Edmonton. I've been an Ementonians since 1981 when I came to Canada and you could call me an accidental entrepreneur, but since I've been doing this since 97 I can't imagine doing anything else.
[03:13] SPEAKER_00: But what I love about Edmonton is how even though we're a city of a million, it's like a small town where you'll welcome everybody's approachable and we all help each other and it's very close knit group, but not clicky so that you can be part of anything you want to be and however you want to be committed to the business community.
[03:38] SPEAKER_00: It gives back to you just as much.
[03:42] SPEAKER_01: What are the challenges of doing business in Edmonton?
[03:46] SPEAKER_00: For me, I don't see many challenges. I guess you could say that we're in the shadows.
[03:53] SPEAKER_00: If you're not in an oil and gas business, you're kind of in the shadow of it, but that really haven't affected my company at all.
[04:00] SPEAKER_00: I kind of do my own thing and there's a lot of opportunity. There's a lot of phenomenal businesses here that are kind of quiet and humble and we just kind of get it done.
[04:12] SPEAKER_00: We just work hard and we just do it. So I don't see it as a challenge. You can see it as a challenge, but I just think that there's just as many opportunities here as any other places.
[04:24] SPEAKER_01: What are you most excited about your company these days?
[04:28] SPEAKER_00: So after all these years of being an entrepreneur, I'm finally starting to kind of dump all my stuff because everything's in my head and I run my company by gut a lot, but it's just kind of taking all my knowledge and experience and kind of documented it.
[04:45] SPEAKER_00: So there's a little playbook that we have and we have processes and system and stuff. So it's very grown up business, I guess, because I really haven't run my company that way.
[04:56] SPEAKER_00: And so I'm excited that there are systems and processes that we can duplicate and replicate and grow so that we can expand.
[05:06] SPEAKER_01: What is your vision for the company in the future?
[05:11] SPEAKER_00: To continue to be a resource, a trusted resource for business to use technology. I mean, there's so much innovation right now, but there's always going to be a need for computing power.
[05:24] SPEAKER_00: So there's always going to be a need for us. People like my team to kind of help explain and make technology easier for people to adopt and use and make their lives easier.
[05:38] SPEAKER_01: What has been the greatest challenge you've faced in your business to date?
[05:43] SPEAKER_00: For me, I guess it's when my when I separated with my business partner, we didn't have a unanimous shareholder agreement. So that was a lot of headaches and a lot of costs with lawyer, legal fees and stuff like that.
[05:59] SPEAKER_00: So it kind of made me shy to have a partner, but I overcame it and came out a lot stronger. So, you know, what doesn't kill you? Make you stronger?
[06:10] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's true.
[06:13] SPEAKER_01: What's over your lifetime as an entrepreneur? What has been the sort of the best piece of advice you've ever received about being an entrepreneur?
[06:22] SPEAKER_00: You know, in my early days, because I own an IT company, but I was computer alert when I started. So that was always a big kind of mental block for me that I felt like because I didn't know IT that I couldn't really be really good at IT.
[06:39] SPEAKER_00: So I have this complex inferiority complex when I compare myself with my male peers and I remember talking to a woman.
[06:50] SPEAKER_00: I can't even remember her name, but I have lots of conversation with people and she says to me, you know, you are a successful business and you need to stop comparing yourself and continue doing you.
[07:03] SPEAKER_00: And that was very valuable advice because if you compare, you're always going to take the joy out of what you currently have. And from then on, I really took that advice to heart and just do do me.
[07:16] SPEAKER_00: Like I just do what makes sense for me, what feels good in my gut and make sure that we offer the best service to our clients and put myself in my client shoes.
[07:28] SPEAKER_00: They don't understand IT either.
[07:29] SPEAKER_01: So as an entrepreneur, you know, it is can't and can be quite stressful for any entrepreneur.
[07:38] SPEAKER_01: What kind of things do you do to kind of disconnect from work places you go or things you do that kind of just to recharge?
[07:46] SPEAKER_00: Well, I take regular vacations. I go on a lot of short and long vacations and I love being fit and working out and going into our ribba balli.
[07:59] SPEAKER_00: I love running in the morning by myself and just being out in nature. It really calms my mind and to just focus on the beauty that's around me and just really it really relaxes me.
[08:13] SPEAKER_00: And actually I get just as much disconnect or recharge from being around happy people and having fun.
[08:22] SPEAKER_00: So there's many things that I do that recharge and disconnect and all of it just kind of give me energy to just continue doing and give them back and be part of the community and building eminent.
[08:36] SPEAKER_01: If you weren't doing what you're doing now, any thoughts of what kind of a career or profession you'd be doing.
[08:44] SPEAKER_00: I think I would still be in a business of some source since I think that's the best thing that fits best for me.
[08:52] SPEAKER_00: It would be nice to be a travel, to lead travel tours and our ex and then just expose people to different culture and do different activities to get them out of their comfort zone.
[09:02] SPEAKER_00: Because I'm a by nature, I'm very security conscious and I like to do comfortable. I like to do the same thing over and that's not very good as a business person.
[09:14] SPEAKER_00: So I constantly have to push my my boundary and my comfort zone.
[09:17] SPEAKER_00: So I think that it would be really cool and neat to have a business that help people do that and have fun doing it.
[09:25] SPEAKER_00: Why you explore different places around the world.
[09:28] SPEAKER_01: Everybody at this day and age seems to have a quote unquote bucket list of something they'd have to do in their lifetime.
[09:37] SPEAKER_01: Do you have something there that's on top of your list?
[09:40] SPEAKER_00: I everyday for me, there's stuff that I do that is a bucket list item.
[09:46] SPEAKER_00: For me, I think it's just traveling to more places and cycle and height and just explore.
[09:55] SPEAKER_00: So one of I think the Maldives or is on my bucket list turkey, you know, for me, it's a lot of travel because I find that when I travel, I get to experience stuff that I normally wouldn't in Edmonton.
[10:12] SPEAKER_00: But yeah, every day is a bucket list like I got two weeks ago, I did a race car driving and I really don't like speed that much, but I did it.
[10:22] SPEAKER_01: Why did you do it?
[10:23] SPEAKER_00: Because my friend my girlfriends were doing it and they're like, Catherine, but you like to try a new thing and I'm like, oh, yeah, I guess that's that's your right.
[10:31] SPEAKER_00: So I did it and I was not driving very fast, but I got to experience what it's like to be a race car driver for, you know, 10 laps.
[10:42] SPEAKER_01: What do you, what book are you currently reading, by the way?
[10:45] SPEAKER_00: I'm reading right now during to eat with Brunei Brown and Rachel Hollis girl wash your face.
[10:53] SPEAKER_00: Those are two books that I have reading, but I do more podcasts than I do reading.
[10:58] SPEAKER_00: Mm hmm.
[10:58] SPEAKER_00: So constantly on the go and sitting down and sitting still is is a challenge.
[11:05] SPEAKER_01: Outside of Edmonton, is there any particular place in the world that that you consider your favorite?
[11:12] SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, I've been lucky to travel many places, but my go to is the mountains like we are four hours away from magnificent mountains and nature and lakes.
[11:28] SPEAKER_00: And I think that it's kind of under appreciated and taken for granted because we're so close to it.
[11:33] SPEAKER_00: But when I go there, I always meet people from different country like last time we were from Ireland and Japan and stuff like that.
[11:41] SPEAKER_00: And I take every opportunity to go to mountain. I mean, I don't ski, but I do love to hike and just walk the mountain and just being in that environment.
[11:51] SPEAKER_00: So I guess that would be my favorite place, but I love it now.
[11:57] SPEAKER_00: We just got back in March from a cycling tour there and I haven't been back since 2008 and it was just an unbelievable experience.
[12:06] SPEAKER_00: The people were so humble and friendly and yeah, it was just amazing.
[12:11] SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
[12:12] SPEAKER_01: You know, we're kind of creatures of habit as human beings. I'm just wondering if you have a daily routine that you follow like every single day.
[12:23] SPEAKER_00: So I used to be a night owl, but the last couple years I've turned into a morning person and I love watching the sunrise and do my reflection and gratitude.
[12:38] SPEAKER_00: And then I do a workout and then I listen to some podcasts and it just kind of putter from anywhere from 5 30 to 8 o'clock.
[12:48] SPEAKER_00: I just putter and just kind of just be grateful for the day and just, you know, the opportunity to get up and do it all over again.
[12:56] SPEAKER_00: So that's my been my routine on you. I must say I really love it because the weather is really beautiful in the morning.
[13:03] SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think understour and really bad in the afternoon, but the morning is always really beautiful.
[13:09] SPEAKER_00: So I really love just getting my workout in and then I don't have to worry about it.
[13:14] SPEAKER_00: And I create a lot of energy for the day.
[13:17] SPEAKER_01: I'm going to ask you a kind of a different question here. Now you mentioned the mountains and what you like, but picture this instead that we're going to drop you off at a small, beautiful tropical island in the middle of the ocean.
[13:31] SPEAKER_01: The island is only going to have one phone booth and there's going to be no technology there whatsoever, no internet.
[13:38] SPEAKER_01: We could drop you off. We're going to give you a chance to spend time there, but at any time you can make a phone call and we'll come pick you up.
[13:48] SPEAKER_01: So a couple of things. How long do you think it would take you before you make that phone call? And what do you think you do while you were there?
[13:55] SPEAKER_00: No, you know, do I get to bring a camera? Is that technology or sure that's technology yet.
[14:04] SPEAKER_00: Because I love taking pictures.
[14:07] SPEAKER_00: So I guess if you asked me this a few years ago, I would say I probably last a day because I'm not very good of just being by myself doing nothing.
[14:21] SPEAKER_00: Like I feel like I need to do something, but I've really grown to enjoy spending time with myself only and not just other people because I do love to be around other people.
[14:34] SPEAKER_00: And so I think I could probably last a week and just explore the island hiking and seeing being in nature and an island. I saw there's no huge bugs. I don't really like bugs very much.
[14:48] SPEAKER_00: There's no bugs and there's some good accommodation because I don't know if I like roughing it that much, but I can handle it and probably probably could last a week now and really enjoy that time of solitude and being in nature, which feeds my soul.
[15:06] SPEAKER_00: So I'm pretty sure I could handle it now.
[15:08] SPEAKER_01: Okay, then. Is there anything you'd like to add, Catherine, before you leave us today?
[15:14] SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you for this opportunity to talk with you.
[15:18] SPEAKER_00: I would add that if you want to be to run a business in Edmonton, I would say just go for it. Do something, start.
[15:27] SPEAKER_00: There's no such thing as a perfect plan. So just start and you never know where you get, but the main thing that I think that has really helped me grow my business and and be successful is is the network of people that I surround myself with and Edmonton is phenomenal for that.
[15:49] SPEAKER_00: So if they want to start building a network and just get to know people, then they really would enjoy the city a lot more and they would be able to grow their business a lot faster and better.
[16:01] SPEAKER_01: Okay, thanks Catherine for being our guest on Edmonton's podcast today.
[16:05] SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much. You're welcome.
[16:08] SPEAKER_01: Thanks for taking the time today to listen to Edmonton's podcast on Canada's podcast network.
[16:15] SPEAKER_01: We hope you enjoyed the show today. Make sure you sign up for our newsletters and write a review for us on iTunes and then connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, at Canada's podcast.
[16:29] SPEAKER_01: You can also check out what other entrepreneurs are doing across the country. See you next time.