Becoming An Entrepreneur


My career as an entrepreneur started when I signed up as a College Pro Painting franchisee during my first summer while at Simon Fraser University (at the age of 18). It was the hardest things I’ve ever done up to that point in my life. I employed 8 painters that were all older than me, managed multiple sites, and made a lot of mistakes! It was my wake up call to business (and life), and I survived it! The next year I started Knights Painting and painted houses for 4 more summers while at SFU earning my Bachelor of Business Administration. After my 2nd summer of painting, I saved up enough money to put a deposit down on my first condo (at the age of 19). During my 5th summer, I put a deposit down on my second condo. While most students leave school with debt, I was fortunate to graduate with two condos. I credit running a painting business as the most valuable experience I’ve ever had, and was fortunate to invest the money in real estate, which gave me a financial head start in life. More importantly, my experience in painting taught me discipline, hard work, getting out of my comfort zone, and resilience through the many many failures in experienced along the way. This defines entrepreneurship.

I started my career as a Realtor in the spring of 2008, a few months before the big market crash. It was a wild time to start a new career, but I took advantage of the down market, found deals for buyers, and the next year (2009) I sold 52 properties and was ranked in the top 10% of Realtors in the Greater Vancouver. A few years later in 2011, I achieved Presidents Club status, ranking me in the top 1% of Realtors, and have been in this club ever since. It took me a few years to see the value in creating systems and finding great people, and if I could go back, I would have done it much earlier. In 2014, I lured Denny Dumas into the real estate business (he may have ended up there anyway, but I like to take the credit), and a few years later we co-founded the Garbutt+Dumas Real Estate Team. The market heated up, our business blew up, and by 2017 (the peak of the craziness) we did 163 sales totalling $120 Million, a new record! Denny and I are still partners today, and we have a great team that we're both very proud of.

Outside of selling real estate, I have had a lot of experience owning it as well. I have personally owned multiple condos, houses and even land. I have been a landlord since I was 21. I have good experiences and bad ones. I have had tenants not pay their rent, I have had squatters, I have moved people out of a home at my own cost (I rented, loaded and even drove the truck!), I have had grow-ops, I have had tenants strip everything of value out of a home including the wiring (invested in some US real estate, major failure!), and the list goes on. Fortunately, I have had more successes than failures, and more great tenants than bad ones. I have also built homes, renovated homes, made money, and lost money. I hope to share these experiences with you so you can learn from my mistakes.

Outside Of Real Estate


I co-founded Steel & Oak Brewing Company with my business partner Jorden Foss in 2013. The company, the brand and the people bring me so much pride beyond what I ever imagined. We have an outstanding reputation in BC craft beer, and our community, New Westminster, has supported us with pride since day one. We risked it all with no experience in the business, and we have been fortunate to grow year after year since opening day. Thank you for the support New West! Herald Street Brew Works in Victoria is our next brewery venture, along with our partners Mike and Lee from the Drake. I’m very fortunate to be surrounded by great people, doing things I never expected to be doing.

As for family life, I’m a father of 3 boys, husband to my incredible wife Diana, and soul mate to two dogs (Heelers), Reese & Rye. We live in 'Queens Park' New Westminster, in a house we fully renovated in 2018. It was originally built in 1945, and it's perfect for us. I’m a high energy guy that seeks adventure and prefers the outdoors. I love kiteboarding, hiking, trail running, snowboarding, snowshoeing, backpacking, camping... the list goes on. I try to get out for an adventure every week, and I train hard for one big challenge every year. It started with my first marathon in Lisbon in 2016. In 2018, I ran the West Coast Trail (80KM) in 15 hours with a 100m swim across Gordon River to finish it off, solo. In 2019, I ran 118km trail race in the Azores, Portugal in 21 hours 27 minutes, which is hands down, the hardest thing I’ve ever done… so far. I intend to fail my way to new levels of success, and enjoy the journey. I love to challenge myself, get out of my comfort zone, meet new people, experience new things, live a healthy lifestyle and spend time with the ones I love most.

One last thing... I couldn't have done this alone. My wife Diana has been by my secret weapon, a CPA by profession and the rock of our family. She has been incredibly supportive during this entire journey, keeps the finances in check, and gives me the freedom to be me. We make a great team! Also, I am very lucky to have my mom and dad. Without them picking me up at 2am after a shift at the driving range or in the dish pit, without my mom lending me her van for my first summer of painting, and without them agreeing to co-sign the mortgage on my first condo, I might be living a much different life today. Thank you.