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TRANSCRIPTION WITH SPEAKERS
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[00:00] SPEAKER_00: It's VanCoovers Podcast on the Canada's Podcast Network.
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[01:16] SPEAKER_00: Hello, this is Robert Smigel coming to today with Vancouver Entrepreneur.ca where we talked to the entrepreneurs where making it happen here in British Columbia.
[01:24] SPEAKER_00: Paul Romani is the co-founder and director of a pear tree elementary.
[01:29] SPEAKER_00: A progressive kindergarten to grade seven elementary school in the Kitsalano neighborhood of Vancouver.
[01:35] SPEAKER_00: And the only school to teach children through theme and project based learning rather than through separate school subjects.
[01:43] SPEAKER_00: Originally from the UK, Paul lived in Spain and Germany before moving to Vancouver through pear tree.
[01:49] SPEAKER_00: Paul is equipping Vancouver children with the practical tools and knowledge they need to be happy and successful and ultimately to be their best selves academically, socially, emotionally and physically.
[02:04] SPEAKER_00: He also hopes to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs.
[02:09] SPEAKER_00: Well Paul, welcome to the show. Thanks for taking the time today to be here for all our listeners.
[02:14] SPEAKER_01: Thank you to you, Robert and thanks for the intro.
[02:17] SPEAKER_00: Great. Okay. I want you to tell us a little bit more about yourself. Where you're from and give us the details on your current business.
[02:25] SPEAKER_01: Sure. Yeah. So as you mentioned, I do come from the UK, but I haven't lived there for 17 years now.
[02:31] SPEAKER_01: I spent two years in Spain and two years in Germany before committive Vancouver.
[02:35] SPEAKER_01: I worked in Vancouver for a number of years before actually started my own business, which was pear tree.
[02:40] SPEAKER_01: And that was back in 2011 and that was done as an after school learning center and an enrichment center and that grew.
[02:49] SPEAKER_01: And from the feedback we got from parents, we decided to open up a school, which is no mean feat in the city.
[02:55] SPEAKER_01: And that was a couple of years ago. And we're really proud of the fact that we've brought theme and project based learning to Vancouver.
[03:01] SPEAKER_01: And that we only hire master's qualified teachers, which is unique to the city.
[03:07] SPEAKER_01: And we really think that we do offer dream education for the kids here in terms of.
[03:12] SPEAKER_01: Why I got into entrepreneurship, my background is in ESL as well as IT.
[03:19] SPEAKER_01: And I have a pretty diverse background in management as well. And when I came to Vancouver, I was also working in ESL.
[03:25] SPEAKER_01: But ESL industry here is pretty colossal and is very hierarchical as well.
[03:33] SPEAKER_01: So most of them, the top managers make all the decisions that affect the school.
[03:38] SPEAKER_01: And consequence of that because they don't listen to the teachers is generally poor quality.
[03:43] SPEAKER_01: So I got frustrated with that and unlike my peers, I'm one of those people that thinks about solving problems, rather than just complaining about them.
[03:51] SPEAKER_01: And at the same time, this is going on. I was, there was a big problem in Vancouver with the education of in schools, in public schools.
[04:00] SPEAKER_01: A lot of cutbacks and it was really frustrating for me to see that and to see how kids were affected by that.
[04:07] SPEAKER_01: And I team the same thing in other countries as well. Both me and my girlfriend decided to open up a room business as a result of that.
[04:15] SPEAKER_00: Now, did you need financing to start your company and how are you currently making money in your business now?
[04:20] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so it goes without saying that Vancouver is an extremely expensive city, especially given its size.
[04:27] SPEAKER_01: So yes, we did need funding. We actually saved up $60,000 for our own money, which for us was a lot of money back then and still is actually.
[04:36] SPEAKER_01: But that was nowhere near enough. So we approached the banks who weren't really too forthcoming with us.
[04:42] SPEAKER_01: So they did give us some loans, but they weren't quite enough. We had a government loan as well as a small bank loan.
[04:50] SPEAKER_01: But because of the city hall bureaucracy, it took far longer to open our business and it cost us a huge amount of money.
[04:58] SPEAKER_01: So then later on down the road, let's do some cash flow problems. So then we needed more loans and even my girlfriend's father lent us some money.
[05:09] SPEAKER_01: But now our business has been around for quite a while now, we're doing very well.
[05:15] SPEAKER_01: Our school brings in a lot of money for us as well as our main business, Patry.
[05:20] SPEAKER_00: So there was a lot of bootstrapping there.
[05:24] SPEAKER_01: A lot of red tape in the city. I mean, it's different depending on what industry you're in, but to education you would imagine.
[05:31] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you would think it would be something that the city would welcome, but there's a lot of red tape to try to do anything involved in education here.
[05:38] SPEAKER_00: Okay, what is the long-term vision and what will your company look like in the future? Do you see the company expanding into other areas and where beyond Vancouver, BC or even Canada?
[05:48] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I would definitely say even though, you know, we've been around for seven years, but we're really just getting started.
[05:54] SPEAKER_01: We plan to open up at least one or two more schools in the city.
[05:58] SPEAKER_01: And for that reason alone, we would be unique in doing that. I mean, the mentality here is to have one colossally massive school.
[06:07] SPEAKER_01: But we believe that if you open up smaller schools across the city that are more accessible to different people, you can maintain the quality of that school because it's smaller and is better managed.
[06:19] SPEAKER_01: So even though we're in Kitsalano at the moment because of where we live, and it's a great place to live, we know that there's a demand for what we do in East Vancouver.
[06:29] SPEAKER_01: There's very little choice of good schools in that area. So we do want to move out that way in terms of our business at some point.
[06:36] SPEAKER_01: As for international, I think we have to be very careful with education and just kind of moving that to another country because education should be representative of local culture.
[06:47] SPEAKER_01: So for us to just copy and paste out on education approach in another country would be very disrespectful and actually very ineffective for the kids there.
[06:57] SPEAKER_01: And you see those global education programs, programs, which I'm not going to name, but you could probably think of some that are from other countries that are here in Vancouver.
[07:06] SPEAKER_01: And I just, for me, that's, I have a big issue with that. I really do think that you need to embrace the local culture rather than just the employees, your values upon them.
[07:16] SPEAKER_00: Right. Okay. Now we've learned a little bit about you and we learned a bit about pear tree. We're going to talk a little bit about doing business in Vancouver.
[07:24] SPEAKER_00: What are the biggest benefits for you and being an entrepreneur here in Vancouver, BC? I want you to give us some of the good points about starting a company here, but I also want you to give us some of the tough things or challenges for our listeners so they can keep an eye out for them.
[07:37] SPEAKER_01: Sure. Yeah. So it goes without saying really that Vancouver is a very beautiful city with the mountains and the ocean. I really love living here and that really motivates me to want to have a business here and to succeed here.
[07:50] SPEAKER_01: Just because I don't want to have to live in a city that I don't enjoy living in just because of a business.
[07:55] SPEAKER_01: I would say that people here have very positive attitudes, especially compared to Europeans who tend to be much more kind of negative or kind of not appreciating other people's success and looking down upon that was here you tend to get praised for your success.
[08:15] SPEAKER_01: I would also say that Vancouver is young and small city still so there's a lot of potential here to bring in ideas that aren't here at the moment that you see in bigger, more cosmopolitan cities like London and New York and Paris.
[08:30] SPEAKER_01: And so for that reason, I think I could think of another 10 business ideas that I do here, but education happens to be the thing I'm always passionate about.
[08:40] SPEAKER_01: In terms of maybe more negative things, I would say that the rent prices here are really prohibitive to new businesses and you see people cutting coloners in terms of how they start their business.
[08:51] SPEAKER_01: And so really I'd like to be for failure, I think, but the rent prices really do limit the businesses that start here.
[09:00] SPEAKER_01: And also that's compounded really by the lack of commercial zoning that you have in the city.
[09:05] SPEAKER_01: So if you take New York, for example, pretty much any street in Manhattan has businesses on it.
[09:10] SPEAKER_01: Whereas in Vancouver, you've got a very limited number of streets where businesses are allowed to operate.
[09:16] SPEAKER_01: And so that then increases the rent prices even more because there's a very low supply of the kind of facilities that accompany like us needs.
[09:25] SPEAKER_01: And of course, the new buildings that are being constructed have retail on the bottom and nothing but residential above and all those second floor office spaces that you used to see a dwindle in a way.
[09:36] SPEAKER_01: And so there's really a big question mark of where does a business like ours or anyone else go other than high rise office blocks.
[09:43] SPEAKER_01: We don't necessarily build everyone and then the retail retail spaces are only really affordable for those kind of chain stores and franchises.
[09:52] SPEAKER_01: And you just end up the same old same old everywhere. So there needs to be a little bit of a change in zoning, I think, in this city in order to generate more entrepreneurs.
[10:03] SPEAKER_01: And the final thing I'd say is city hall.
[10:07] SPEAKER_01: They have to be, they have to be the worst of all, they're just so inefficient and ineffective and they put up so much red tape.
[10:14] SPEAKER_01: They do not care about your business or how much it costs you because of how long things take.
[10:19] SPEAKER_01: It's just appalling. It doesn't matter how you experience you are.
[10:24] SPEAKER_01: You just go in there and every person you talk to has a completely different answer.
[10:28] SPEAKER_01: And maybe this is a negative thing to be positive attitudes here, but no one seems to complain about it.
[10:33] SPEAKER_01: But everyone's very aware of the fact that city hall does a kind of lousy job really when it comes to businesses trying to get things done, which makes so much sense to you.
[10:43] SPEAKER_01: And because it's your money, you work very, very efficiently, but they don't.
[10:48] SPEAKER_01: And it's just so frustrating, especially entrepreneurs to see people like that because that's the complete anti-feasal of what you are.
[10:56] SPEAKER_00: Great. Okay. Now you live in Kitsalano and working in Kitsalano, which is a beautiful one of my most favorite places in the city.
[11:03] SPEAKER_00: So this next question speaks to that.
[11:05] SPEAKER_00: We do some of our best work outside the office. Is there a place in the lower mainland close to where you live or work, where you like to go recharge or get inspired or just think about your business?
[11:14] SPEAKER_00: And does it change with the season considering all the rain we get here?
[11:18] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love going to Pacific Spirit Park, which is very easy for me to get to from Kits.
[11:26] SPEAKER_01: I don't know why, but whenever I'm there, my mind is very clear.
[11:31] SPEAKER_01: All the things that I want to do seem very kind of easy to achieve.
[11:35] SPEAKER_01: It's when you get out of the forest that suddenly things become more problematic, but I also love to get the van Ducen as well.
[11:42] SPEAKER_01: And I've got a membership there and it's just such an easy place to kind of find a quiet spot, despite how popular it is.
[11:50] SPEAKER_01: It's so big that there's always a quiet area just to relax.
[11:53] SPEAKER_01: In terms of the rain, I come from the UK, so the rain here is even though it's all year round pretty much, it's still nothing compared to the UK in terms of how miserable it can make you feel.
[12:04] SPEAKER_01: Because the rain in England is heightened by the wind that we have there, which is gale force.
[12:11] SPEAKER_01: It's also colder there as well than it is here.
[12:14] SPEAKER_01: It's pretty mild here, even in the winters.
[12:16] SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, I don't particularly like the rain.
[12:19] SPEAKER_01: I prefer the summer. The summer's here, it's spectacular, just because it's pretty much rain free for two months straight.
[12:25] SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I'm not really that bothered by the rain here, compared to the UK.
[12:28] SPEAKER_00: Okay, now we have a lot of international listeners, so this next question I want you to speak to them.
[12:35] SPEAKER_00: If you were going to start all over again and you just moved here to Vancouver, BC, but this time you don't know anyone knowing what you know now, what would you do and how do you go about starting all over again as an entrepreneur?
[12:48] SPEAKER_01: Well, I mentioned before that, now I can see a lot of potential in this city for a wide variety of different business ideas.
[12:56] SPEAKER_01: But the reality is that I came across those ideas, one through my global traveling, but also having lived in Vancouver for a while.
[13:04] SPEAKER_01: So, I think it's very tough to just turn up into a city and say, I'm going to open up such and such business.
[13:09] SPEAKER_01: You really do need to take the time to actually live here for a while to understand the market you're going into.
[13:15] SPEAKER_01: I think it would be pretty arrogant and reckless as well, just going to a city blindly and start a business without doing your research first to see if there's even a demand for what you want to do.
[13:26] SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, if it was to start over again, still spend my time here, living here for a while, getting to know the local culture and the people and people's attitudes and thinking, where is there a niche for me in this city?
[13:40] SPEAKER_00: Finding your specialty and then kind of going in with that and then trying to network in those arenas.
[13:48] SPEAKER_01: Exactly, yeah, I mean, I mean, that speaks to the idea of collaboration here.
[13:53] SPEAKER_01: I think that me coming from the UK, you need to know people here.
[13:59] SPEAKER_01: You need to work with the local people. You can't just isolate yourself from other people here.
[14:03] SPEAKER_01: And I surround myself by successful people and I feel like that's more the recipe for success than anything.
[14:11] SPEAKER_00: Okay, what does the first hour look like for you when you get up in the morning? Do you have a specific routine or a ritual that helps you get motivated to start your day?
[14:19] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't fit that conventional model of the entrepreneur that wakes up at 5.30 in the morning and runs a marathon.
[14:26] SPEAKER_01: I'm just not a morning person whatsoever.
[14:29] SPEAKER_00: Or a meditator for an hour, anything like that?
[14:32] SPEAKER_01: No, no, I'm terrible in the mornings. I'm quite grumpy if I don't have time to relax and to wake up.
[14:38] SPEAKER_01: I definitely need a coffee and I need time to kind of catch up on what's going on in the world.
[14:44] SPEAKER_01: I love looking at the news and checking some emails to see where the day is going to be taking me.
[14:50] SPEAKER_01: I like to have a little bit of inspiration for the day, like a focal point.
[14:54] SPEAKER_01: If there's nothing on my calendar that's planned, then I like to have something on my mind that I'm planning to do because I'm one of those people that hates mundane routines.
[15:04] SPEAKER_01: I get bored very, very easily, so I need something to be passionate about when I'm going to go into the office.
[15:10] SPEAKER_00: Do you think entrepreneurs have to be weird or unique in a positive way or wired differently?
[15:17] SPEAKER_01: I think all entrepreneurs are different. I know there's a sort of character traits out there.
[15:23] SPEAKER_01: I fit a lot of those, you know, being passionate and taking risks and being creative and good problems over that kind of thing.
[15:31] SPEAKER_01: I consider myself to be a bit of a polymath, which in general in society has looked down upon that you're a jack of all trades.
[15:38] SPEAKER_01: That's how I've survived is by being good at so many different things.
[15:42] SPEAKER_01: However, you can find lots of people and lots of industries that fit all of those traits.
[15:47] SPEAKER_01: So what is it that makes an entrepreneur different?
[15:50] SPEAKER_01: There's only two things I can really think of. One is control.
[15:55] SPEAKER_01: You can be in a position in a business, a corporation where you have a certain amount of control.
[16:00] SPEAKER_01: But unless it's your business, you never really have that final say.
[16:04] SPEAKER_01: That's always been a kind of issue with me. There's always been someone above me who I've considered to be less talented than I am.
[16:12] SPEAKER_01: Who's made decisions that I thought were wrong. And at the end of the day, it's their business.
[16:17] SPEAKER_01: They can, it's their money and their risk. And I'm not in a position to criticize that too much.
[16:23] SPEAKER_01: So you need to have your own business in order to have that final say and take the risks that they're taking.
[16:28] SPEAKER_01: So that control and that need for that final decision if you ever want to, I think is imperative for entrepreneurs.
[16:36] SPEAKER_01: And also there's an ego aspect as well is that I'm one of those people that have done great things for other people, but never really had the recognition.
[16:45] SPEAKER_01: You know, the Texteed jobs, for example, he took all the praise for Apple success.
[16:51] SPEAKER_01: But of course, there were people behind the scenes that really made his vision become true.
[16:56] SPEAKER_01: And I guess Johnny Ives got some recognition, but the vast majority of people in Apple never got that recognition.
[17:02] SPEAKER_01: And I feel like I was one of those people. So being an entrepreneur means that you really do get that recognition that you feel like you deserve because you're there in the limelight and you can take credit for your own actions.
[17:16] SPEAKER_00: What books you're reading now and why are even audiobooks and can you recommend any books for listeners who are also aspiring entrepreneurs?
[17:24] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, this is a really great question. I love the fact you're bringing up the topic of reading.
[17:28] SPEAKER_01: I think that self-help books, you see them in the bookstores, they're everywhere in the bookstores.
[17:35] SPEAKER_01: And I think there's a good reason for that. I feel like they're really, really important in terms of the knowledge that they contain.
[17:41] SPEAKER_01: And I've always wondered why the knowledge that I've got from self-help books is not taught within schools.
[17:48] SPEAKER_01: So I spent a lot of time studying books profusely and making notes about a huge variety of different topics like persuasion and self-marketing presentations and writing resumes and just a whole heap of different things that I was trying to figure out were kind of obstacles for why I wasn't reaching the success that I wanted to reach.
[18:13] SPEAKER_01: And these books gave me a lot of those answers and one thing in particular stood out to me is that you need to be a very likable person.
[18:21] SPEAKER_01: And it doesn't matter how smart you are, if people don't like you, they will put up roadblocks to stop you.
[18:27] SPEAKER_01: And so I noticed that people around me who were less talented were getting those opportunities. And it's really just because they were nicer people than I was.
[18:35] SPEAKER_01: So I learnt some really big life lessons from just reading self-help books. I mean, yeah, I couldn't name some books, but really you need to choose books.
[18:43] SPEAKER_01: I think that specific to things that you lack rather than books that I've specifically read.
[18:49] SPEAKER_01: So, but I do, you know, within our school, we actually teach these things now because kids do need to know it.
[18:55] SPEAKER_01: Otherwise, if you teach them that it's all about getting good grades, you're setting them up for failure because in the real world, it's not what you know, but it's what you can do and who you know.
[19:05] SPEAKER_00: Any online or offline tools that you use on a daily basis?
[19:10] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm really passionate about productivity tools, specifically by Google.
[19:15] SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, I mean, people criticize Google for things like privacy, but they give these tools away for free and you can't expect something for nothing in this world.
[19:26] SPEAKER_01: I just realised so much on like Gmail and Google Calendar and anything from Google is just amazing in my opinion.
[19:33] SPEAKER_00: Okay, now you're from the UK. So, imagine when you came here, you realised that this is a very outdoors lifestyle.
[19:39] SPEAKER_00: See, there's lots to do here. We've got the mountains, the ocean, rivers, lakes, you name it. It's here.
[19:44] SPEAKER_00: How do you balance work and how you relax and even think about work? And what are your favourite activities to do here?
[19:49] SPEAKER_00: B.C. Do you ski? Do you bike, kayak, golf, hike, or simply go for a drive?
[19:54] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you're absolutely right. This is an amazing city found on how to live.
[19:58] SPEAKER_01: Unfortunately for me, when I first started my business here, I really had no time to enjoy any of that.
[20:05] SPEAKER_01: There was no such thing as balance. I always just about working 16 hour days, seven days a week for years on end, trying to make this business work.
[20:14] SPEAKER_01: I don't think that the parents that come to our school or our business, or even our own employees, have any idea of the sacrifices that we made to get our business going.
[20:25] SPEAKER_01: Even put in our family unhauled in order to put other families first before we ever were in family.
[20:32] SPEAKER_01: Now things are different, of course, and we have more balance in our lives.
[20:37] SPEAKER_01: So I love doing things like sea kayaking. I love the ocean in general.
[20:41] SPEAKER_01: I also go to places like Galeano instead of a cabin there. I love the nature here. It's fantastic.
[20:47] SPEAKER_01: In some ways, it does remind me a little bit of the UK in some respects, but we just don't have the mountains there.
[20:53] SPEAKER_01: But yeah, it's such a beautiful place to just travel in forests and go to places like Man in Park and then sort of things.
[21:01] SPEAKER_00: If you weren't doing what you do now, what would you like to do for a profession?
[21:06] SPEAKER_01: I would be a chef. It only came to me later in my life, but I realized now that I would probably make a good chef.
[21:15] SPEAKER_01: Mostly because a lot of the attributes of being an entrepreneur are very similar to those of being a chef.
[21:21] SPEAKER_01: I feel like they walk a fine line between being an employee and their own boss.
[21:27] SPEAKER_01: If they don't get the recognition, they want from their manager, they open their own restaurant, but they are people who innovate,
[21:35] SPEAKER_01: who strive to be the best, their hardworking, their creative. Yeah, so I would probably be a chef.
[21:41] SPEAKER_00: What kind of a job would you not like to do? Couldn't do it.
[21:46] SPEAKER_01: Anything at City Hall. Any kind of civil servant, I'm just one of those people that are kind of promoting the red tape and making other people's lives miserable.
[21:58] SPEAKER_01: I just couldn't do that. I want to be someone that helps people not hinders them. Yes, anything at City Hall.
[22:06] SPEAKER_00: In business, what is your favorite word, quote, or sentence that you like to use?
[22:12] SPEAKER_00: Innovation. What's your least favorite word or sentence you do not like to hear?
[22:17] SPEAKER_01: Franchise. I hate that word. It makes my skin crawl. The idea of a franchise for me is that's non-entrepreneurship.
[22:25] SPEAKER_01: It reminds me of those little fish that cling to sharks and whales and feed off of their success.
[22:33] SPEAKER_01: That's not entrepreneurship. If you start a business, do your own thing. Be original.
[22:41] SPEAKER_01: Don't rely on someone else's brand name that they earned and call that your line.
[22:46] SPEAKER_01: I'm all about entrepreneurship. Franchise with me.
[22:49] SPEAKER_00: If you had to pick one or two words to describe yourself, what would it be and why?
[22:54] SPEAKER_01: Passionate, but in a good and round way. Innovative.
[23:00] SPEAKER_00: What keeps you up at night if anything?
[23:04] SPEAKER_01: Money. I sleep pretty well now, but everything's left home at 18. Money has always been something that's preoccupied my mind.
[23:16] SPEAKER_00: I want you to give us the top three things on your inspired lifeless. This could be a bucket list of any sort.
[23:21] SPEAKER_00: Whether you want to travel, TEDx, Talks, rate books, philanthropy, anything like that?
[23:26] SPEAKER_01: Firstly, I'd love to have a daughter. I don't have a family yet. I'm not getting any younger.
[23:32] SPEAKER_01: I'd love to have a daughter. I want to revolutionise education in Vancouver and elsewhere if I can.
[23:40] SPEAKER_01: I'd love to have a yacht and get a sailing licence. I love sea kayaking, but I've always wanted my own boat and to go sailing.
[23:49] SPEAKER_01: That's something that's definitely very achievable in this city.
[23:54] SPEAKER_00: Do you have any advice that you may have received that you can pass on to entrepreneurs throughout BC?
[24:02] SPEAKER_01: I've had mentors in my life, and I've taken their advice for the pinch of salt sometimes.
[24:07] SPEAKER_01: I would say the best advice I had is from the South Hope books I've read.
[24:11] SPEAKER_01: I'm really knowing that people are more important than knowledge.
[24:15] SPEAKER_01: You can be the smartest person in the world, but if you don't know anyone, you're not going to achieve anything because it's people that make opportunities happen.
[24:26] SPEAKER_01: They open doors for you, they find jobs for you, they create opportunities even if they don't even have a job for you.
[24:32] SPEAKER_01: I know people that have created jobs for me, even though they didn't have a position, they just wanted to hire me.
[24:38] SPEAKER_01: I think people are really, really important. That also extends to collaboration.
[24:44] SPEAKER_01: Don't try to start a business alone. Of course you can, but you're just setting yourself for much harder work.
[24:50] SPEAKER_01: It's much easier to work with other people who have different skills that you don't have.
[24:57] SPEAKER_01: Everyone's bringing different skills to the table, but also sharing that burden that is not just you that everyone takes on that responsibility for making the business successful.
[25:07] SPEAKER_01: The last point I would say is money. Whatever figure you have in your head for what you think is going to cost to start the business, triple that figure.
[25:15] SPEAKER_01: That's what it will cost after the city hall, have their way. That's definitely money.
[25:22] SPEAKER_00: As you know entrepreneurs are very, very busy people. Like you said earlier, you're working 16 hour days, seven days a week.
[25:28] SPEAKER_00: It goes on and on and you're always connected. Whether it's be staff or customers you name it, you're always on the go.
[25:36] SPEAKER_00: We're going to take you away from all that. You ready to have some fun?
[25:39] SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah, so let's go for it.
[25:41] SPEAKER_00: There's a small tropical island just off of Fiji that only has one phone booth there and there is no internet. This place does exist.
[25:48] SPEAKER_00: We're going to drop you off there. You won't have a computer or smartphone or tablet. You can use the phone booth located there any time to call the boat will come pick you up.
[25:56] SPEAKER_00: How long would you last before you made that call? And what would you do while you were there?
[26:01] SPEAKER_01: Well, I've always wanted to go to Fiji. I'll always say that. But in terms of being alone and isolated, I would say that apart from catching up on reading, which I haven't had a chance to do for years because I just haven't had the time to finish a book.
[26:13] SPEAKER_01: I would probably last no longer than two days there. There's a phone booth there.
[26:19] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I would phone the boat within two days and just want to get back to to petri because I've spent my time on my own doing that kind of introspection and self improvement and really reflecting upon myself and how I can make myself a better person.
[26:36] SPEAKER_01: I've been there and done that. I really have a point in my life now and I just want to get things done. And yeah, apart from a holiday, which I always appreciate, I don't feel the need to be on a desert island or anything like that.
[26:50] SPEAKER_00: Okay. Okay. Oh, we're going to wrap things up. How can our listeners get whole of you? Is there anything you'd like to add before you leave us today?
[26:57] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I would say that if you're an entrepreneur of the family, you really should check out petri elementary because as an entrepreneur myself, I know that traditional education really doesn't reflect the needs and the skills of an entrepreneur.
[27:12] SPEAKER_01: We teach those kind of soft skills that are missing from schools. We teach things that collaboration through project based learning.
[27:19] SPEAKER_01: You really are learning how to apply education to real life. So that does empower kids and that's something that's unique to us. And so I think that any entrepreneur with a family with a level we have to offer.
[27:30] SPEAKER_01: If you're looking for me, you just simply need to Google petri Vancouver and you will find me very, very easily. I also have a YouTube channel for education, which is fairly popular by education standards.
[27:42] SPEAKER_01: So you can check me out there as well.
[27:44] SPEAKER_00: Great. Well, thank you for coming on the show. I've learned a lot about you and I'm sure listeners have as well.
[27:48] SPEAKER_00: Thank you to you, Robert. Great. We'll see you next time. Cheers.
[27:52] SPEAKER_00: Hey there. Thanks for taking the time to listen to the Vancouver Entrepreneur.ca podcast. We hope you enjoyed the show today.
[27:59] SPEAKER_00: Make sure you sign up for our newsletters and write a review for us on iTunes and then connect with us on Twitter at Vansity Podcast and like us on Facebook.
[28:07] SPEAKER_00: And you'll get all the latest news including the BC Weekly Business Support where you can find out more about what's going on with fabulous public cars. See you next time.
