When you think of a business mentor, what springs to mind?
For many people, it’s a senior professional in an established firm who shares wisdom and experience with a promising young talent to help them start down the road to success.
But Calgary entrepreneur Pamela Grof isn’t the type to wait a few more decades before she gives something back. The 31-year-old Web whiz and head of her own successful company counts five mentors under her wing — and was introduced to hundreds more Tuesday at Explore IT 2000, a conference which helps Grade 9 girls learn about career opportunities in science and technology.
“I believe it’s important for people like myself in the industry to promote to young women what they can achieve in these industries,” says Grof, president of InterVisual Inc., a fast-growing e-business applications company which counts Nortel, Xerox, Bell and PanCanadian among its clients.
“I feel there’s still a bit of a gap between the perception of what women can do in science and technology versus what they are really capable of doing.”
Grof didn’t have any role models when she was growing up in Regina — other than mom and dad, who were both small-business entrepreneurs — but that didn’t stop her from starting her first cleaning business at the age of 12, moving into jewelry design and manufacturing in her teens, and opening an art gallery and factory outlet store by her early 20s.
“To be honest, I was a shopaholic,” she laughs. “I wanted more money for clothes, and to go skiing in Alberta. I had big dreams.”
Today, she and partner Jonathan Campbell, who is technical director of the company, have built InterVisual Inc. into a world presence with offices in New York, London, Toronto and her home base of Calgary. This spring, she’ll move her 50-plus employees into the renovated Academy Building at 19th Avenue and 4th Street S.W.
All this from a whirlwind of a woman. This week, she’s heading for Toronto for a couple of days, pausing for three days in New York, and then springboarding on to London. Also, she’s looking forward to expanding InterVisual into the lucrative Pacific Rim market — Grof has set her sights on raising a minimum of $20 million in early 2002 to help her solidly brand InterVisual as an international player.
“I’m an entrepreneur at heart,” Grof admits. “Technology has generally been a male-dominated industry, but things are changing rapidly, which is exciting for women. I saw a market opportunity, so I got into technology simply for the business opportunity . . . and it was sexy and exciting.”
She credits her early work experience and her love of sports — swimming and water polo in particular — for helping prepare her for the stresses of the business world.
“It’s substantial, what I learned from sport. I think sport is a great training ground to have the personal skills to be able to run a business,” says Grof. Being able to handle competition is important, she adds, “but in the end, what makes some people stronger entrepreneurs than others is their ability to persevere.”
“I’m very strong at staying focused. But the real challenge is finding a personal balance. I’ve surrounded myself by some really great support people. They help keep me sane, keep me going.”
She also credits her own mentor, businessman Walter Chan, for helping guide her down the right paths. “He’s a mentor because he’s been very successful in business, and I appreciate his business ethics and enjoy his philosophy.”
The Explore IT girls who heard Grof’s message this week can take heart that Calgary will remain the home town for this busy mentor and her company. “Calgary will always house our talent,” she says.
“This will be the place where we’ll keep all of our smart people. Calgary is a great city to live, people are happy here and smart. We can have a healthy culture here. So this is where our production environment will grow.”
