Tell Us Your Story. What motivated you to start your business? Why are you passionate about what you do?

I began running in my late 30's and it had a huge positive impact on my life. It gave me purpose within our community by starting a social running club that meets every week and often attracts 30-40 runners of all abilities every week. Most of the individuals who join our club are new to our area or otherwise looking to connect and build new friendships. It's free to join and open to anyone. 100% of the proceeds from the merchandise we sell go to local non-profits and have raised over $17,000 to date. Our running club was essential for many individuals to stay socially connected through covid to maintain good mental health. Participating in running race events provided a sense of comradery. Leveraging our run club and inviting others, we arranged coach buses to other race events so that we could travel together to strengthen relationships, improve participants and increase enjoyment for everyone. In 2021, I was granted the opportunity to be the organizer/race director of a long-standing, well-known trail running race in Cumberland, the Perseverance Trail Run. The race attracts 600+ runners and many children - it is a family event. In my first 2 years of organizing, we raised over $30,000 each year for the Cumberland Community Forest, an organization that purchases private land from forestry companies to preserve its habitat and recreational use. With all of the joy of organizing an event like this, my good friend and I created a new race in 2023 that would be Vancouver Island's 2nd ultra-marathon, the Devil's Ladder Ultra. It was also based on a non-profit format and we had 550+ registrations in our first year, raising over $20,000 for local non-profits: Cumberland Forest, United Riders of Cumberland and Comox Valley Search & Rescue. We sold out in 2024 with 650+ participants, but have not yet tallied the donation efforts. A major piece that I felt was missing in our community was a physical hub for runners to source gear and connect with each other. This is when Foveō Running was conceived. I aspire for the store to be the heartbeat of the running community that unites the events, various run clubs, athletes of all abilities and of course offers excellent gear and advice from knowledgable staff.

Describe and demonstrate, including metrics, your community support. How do you support and uplift your community, and how do they show that support in return? Minimum 25 words, maximum 2500 characters.

Our vision is: "Supporting Every Runner's Journey: A Fun, Inclusive and Welcoming Destination for Passion, Performance, and Community." We feel that everyone is a runner and we do everything to support them regardless of their abilities. At the core of the events we organize, there must always be a significant fundraising component. Perseverance Trail Run is a community-focused trail race that attracts mainly families with a focus on raising funds to purchase private land for protection through the Cumberland Community Forest Society. Over the past 2 years with Foveō Running as the Presenting Sponsor, we have raised over $60,000 for the Cumberland Forest. The race is entering its 22nd year in 2024. We bring together various local sponsors and over 90 volunteers for this event. Foveō Runing is also the Presenting Sponsor of the Devil's Ladder Ultra, another community-focused trail race in the Comox Valley. This race has longer distances to encourage athletes to push their personal abilities. Proceeds benefit local non-profits and we raised over $20,000 in 2023 and expected to exceed that in 2024. 650+ athletes from all over Vancouver Island, Mainland and beyond participated in 2024. This event requires about 100 volunteers. Foveō Running created the Earth Day Trail Run in 2024 to coincide with Earth Day, which takes place in April. A main goal was for this race to be zero-waste, which was achieved and is the only zero-waste footrace known on Vancouver Island. We raised over $2,000 for the Kus-Kus-Sum Project by Project Watershed. The project is to restore the original habitat in the Courtenay Estuary, currently a contaminated mill site. We felt this was a very appropriate cause for an Earth Day event. We created a social running group in 2019 as a fun, social running club with an emphasis on socializing rather than running. There are no fees to join. All proceeds from sales of merchandise benefit local non-profits. We've raised over $17,000 to date. It should be noted that despite the name, Run to Beer Comox Valley, many participants do not consume alcohol. The name was chosen because our groups meet at local craft breweries for our runs. Our active community thrives with approachable and community-focused events such as these.

Why do you deserve to win the Business Impact award?

Foveō Running only opened our doors in May of 2023, however, our principals have been active in our community for 6 years by organizing events and running clubs. We have a proven track record of connecting community partners, volunteers and participants. The storefront we opened was in response to the growing need for a hub: A place where individuals come together, share stories and foster a collective enthusiasm for the sport. Our goal is to inspire a sense of camaraderie that transcends the act of running itself. Our business has a strong e-commerce presence with our curated selection desired by runners across Canada. We have become known for great customer service, fast shipping, and availability of niche products. We recognize the importance of e-commerce and this benefits our local economy by bringing dollars from other parts of Canada. We plan on expanding our events with two more running races in 2025. One will be another trail race of medium distances that bridges the gap between existing trail races, ensuring we have local race opportunities for all abilities. The other will be a short-distance, community-focused run for a local cause, rather than a race. Our vision forward provides a balance of community engagement, healthy work culture and financial sustainability.

Tell Us About Your Culture. How are you creating a sustainable and healthy workplace where everyone feels welcome? Provide examples of leadership you show in interactions with clients, vendors, contractors, staff and others.

We do our best to empower all team members to be leaders. We encourage open discussion, idea-sharing and group problem-solving. We strive to have a workplace that provides a balance of direction and oversight while working independently and in small teams. As part of our onboarding, we review and discuss our company's vision and mission statements to ensure we are aligned from the start. At every staff meeting, we revisit one of our Missions in detail and discuss actionable ideas on how to meet our Missions. Our Vision and Mission Statements are here: https://foveo.run/pages/about-foveo Our Inclusivity and Diversity Mission: "We aspire to create an inclusive space where every runner, regardless of age, background, or ability, feels welcome. Our vision promotes diversity in the products we offer, the events we host, and the stories we share. We celebrate the uniqueness of each individual's running journey." Actions to achieve this: - Carry a selection of sizes that is adequate to outfit all customers (plus sizes, full size curves on footwear) - Ensure that messaging is present with stickers on windows that we are a safe place for the LGTBQ+ community - Support diversity year-round, for example, we carry pride-focused merchandise all year not only in June. Despite being a running-specific retail store, we don't hire based on running or retail experience; most of our employees do not run. We know that technical information about products can learned, so we focus more on personality traits and how candidates will fit within our team. We provide very flexible schedules to our team with competitive wages. We collaborate with local running groups to participate in events such as footwear demos either from our store or out on the trails. We have a program to support run leaders in our community who contribute their time to organize their running groups. The benefits include free merchandise, race entries and in-store discounts. These volunteer leaders are essential to a healthy run community. We work together with local practitioners to ensure the best care is provided to their patients and our customers. We learn about their specific services and approach while they get up to speed on the latest footwear technology, bringing both together to deliver a great experience for the patient/customer.

Why do you think you should win the Premier’s People’s Choice Award?

We are situated in Downtown Courtenay, a small community on Vancouver Island. We love supporting our run community by hosting races and events throughout the Comox Valley. Beyond the walls of our store, we envision contributing positively to the broader community. This includes supporting local non-profits, organizing community events, and using our platform to raise awareness about the transformative power of running.