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

My cofounders and I started FSQ (Forget Status Quo) because we had lived through and learned through the same mistakes we saw other entrepreneurs and leaders making every day. Getting too busy 'in the business' to ever be 'on the business'. Doing what everyone else does and wondering why they're not differentiated. Trying to lead others before trying to lead themselves. Trying to do it all themselves and experiencing burnout. Through owning a collective 41 businesses, we have failed in business and we've learned. We have founded, closed, bought, sold, and merged companies. We know that more than 95% of all businesses in Canada and the United States are small businesses. That's who we know, that's who we are, and that's who we want to help. Furthermore, we believe that the passion, resilience, and resourcefulness of entrepreneurs and small businesses are how we are going to solve our most pressing societal problems. The better our businesses do, the better our communities do, especially when we can empower more values-based leaders at the helm of successful companies - those who see more than one bottom line.

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.

Every year on Earth Day (even before we started FSQ) we organize community clean-ups in our neighborhoods. Started in Calgary and now happening in Calgary, Vancouver and Winnipeg, we have collected more than 300 pounds of litter. We have also donated (or organized donations) of over $50,000 since we began operations in 2020 for causes like cancer research, domestic violence prevention, ending childhood trafficking, children's sport charities, and more. We also volunteer in our communities, from speaking at high schools and universities, to serving on various boards, and coaching youth sports.

Why do you deserve to win the Business Impact award?

We are in it for the right reasons and we are in it for the long game. Our goal is to lift more than one million leaders to their potential. This is why we coach, facilitate workshops and team meetings, write books, speak at conferences or even give TEDx talks. Leadership is not knowing it all and looking down at those who don't. To us, leadership means rolling up our sleeves whether we get paid or not, and we don't stop until the job is done. The job will truly never be done, so our approach is to mentor others along the way who will one day carry the torch long after we are gone. We are here to make our communities better, one leader and one business at a time.

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.

One of our most important core values is Teamwork, which we define as We is greater than me. Every quarter, our founding partners hold themselves and each other accountable with a partner review session. In this session we give each other candid feedback on whether or not we are living our company ethos, and what we want to see more or less of from one another. We host a town hall every quarter wherein we discuss our financials and strategy, but also celebrating team wins and our social impact. Our team can ask us any question and we will answer it, no filters. Because so much of our work comes down to leadership, we uphold the standards of the ICF/ EMCC when it comes to the coaching code, client confidentiality, and maintaining a psychologically safe and respectful workforce. Creating a team with diversity of thought is very important to us at FSQ, which has led us to assemble a team from at least six countries, representing many different cultures, points of view, languages and opinions. Our team is encouraged to be themselves - everyone else is taken!