This week’s podcast was a trip down memory lane, back to the early days of my career at NBTel, with guests Dave Grebenc and Roxanne Fairweather, friends and colleagues for over 25 years.
The powerhouse duo are the co-CEOS (more on that below!) of Innovatia. It was a pleasure to have them on Episode 19 of the show to talk about leadership and driving growth, diversity and values, and the intricacies of a successful business partnership.
Roxanne and Dave are at the top of their careers and the pinnacle of Atlantic Canada’s tech sector today, but it wasn’t always this way. Both had scrappy beginnings and worked damn hard over many years to get where they are today.
When she was starting out, Roxanne was a single mom who went to university to get a good job to support her three kids. When she joined NBTel, the company saw her potential, nurturing it through its management trainee program. She also had the benefit of many mentors over the years.
“I will be forever grateful for those wonderful folks that took me under their wings and coached me along in my career,” she says, including Gerry Pond, the godfather of our region’s tech scene.
For Dave, when he came out of university, his big dream was to travel Europe, but he didn’t have the money. Instead, he went to Newfoundland for a quick vacation, and then landed a job as a janitor at NBTel in Saint John, eventually working his way up to management roles in the company.
“I ended up staying there for 20 years, and it was probably the best MBA I could ever get,” Dave says. “They just let us do things that you couldn't imagine. They carved up little pieces of the business and told you to run it.”
Prime Leadership Training Ground
Roxanne and Dave’s inauspicious starts with NBTel would prove the source of many lessons on building and leading a winning company, lessons they still bring to their roles today.
“They saw the possibilities,” Roxanne says of the leaders at their early employer, and not just from a technology perspective. NBTel was ahead of the curve when it came to people, too, and its culture of support and respect.
“For Dave and I, one of the things that glues us together is our absolute commitment to diversity and respect for people,” Roxanne says. “It's all about growing the person, growing their skills, growing their potential, and enabling that to grow the potential of the company.”
Come, Lead With Me
When the chance to buy Innovatia arose, Roxanne knew she was interested, and that she didn’t want to do it alone. But she wasn’t looking for just anyone as a partner: she wanted Dave. She kept asking him, and eventually, her tenacity paid off. They bought the company together and from its earliest days, it was a 50-50 arrangement.
“Our partnership works,” Roxanne says. It’s based on shared values and mutual trust, but also differences. They don’t always see eye-to-eye, but they’re always able to arrive at a shared vision, a joint decision. “And that comes from listening and having respect.”
When they hit an impasse, they rely on their CFO to act as a referee and moderator. And they always put the business first.
“A partner is easy when things are going well,” Dave says. “But at the same time, when things aren't going well, a partner is a great thing to have because you can talk about things that otherwise would just kill you inside.”
There have been ups and downs in the business, of course, including running out of money a couple of times, but personal challenges, as well: loss of loved ones and, in Dave’s case, a Parkinson’s diagnosis. Whatever life and business throw at them, they face head-on.
“We answer the call in life and in work with very much the same approach,” Dave says. “And it is an overriding approach of optimism.”
Growing Together
When Roxanne and Dave bought Innovatia from Aliant 12 years ago, 95% of the revenue came from Nortel, which was going through bankruptcy. They needed to figure out how to keep as much of the business as possible, while also diversifying within and beyond the tech sector. They explored a lot of options.
“We always had a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, and sometimes we extended it beyond that,” Dave says. Eventually, they found a niche in the energy sector. They have built from there, growing from one service and just over 200 people to more than a half-dozen software solutions and nearly 700 staff. Today, along with their Saint John headquarters, they have an office in Bangalore, India, and employees worldwide.
And since those early days, Innovatia has spun off four companies focused on knowledge management.
“It's all about capturing and creating information that might have otherwise been stagnant and not accessible and turning that into a strategic weapon for our clients so that they can achieve their business goals,” Dave says. “That's what we do.”
Extracurricular Activities
A key value Dave and Roxanne share is a sense of responsibility to give back.
While Dave is busy working to advance the tech sector, he’s also involved with the community at large as a board member with Family Plus, an organization that works in mental wellness and youth advocacy. He sees many opportunities for social incubation to advance causes and change how we deliver programs.
Roxanne's faith and spirituality are at the heart of her community work, from advocating for literacy and putting an end to child poverty to co-founding Women for 50%, which promotes gender parity in politics.
“The energy comes from the love,” she says of her seemingly boundless stores of it. “I just believe that if your spirit is open, you will absolutely attract from the universe what you believe is good.”
So inspiring! Check out our entire conversation by clicking here to listen.
And here are some of the highlights from this episode:
>>[05:37]: Dave and Roxanne on how NBTel helped shape them as business partners and leaders.
>>[10:28]: Cathy and her guests reminisce on how NBTel let them learn and grow by trying things and making mistakes.
>>[20:27]: Roxanne on the early days of owning Innovatia.
>>[32:07]: Dave talks about how Innovatia helps clients harness their data.
>>[44:08]: Roxanne on the culture of care at their company.
>>[45:52]: Dave on the importance of diversity and the need for immigration.
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