How the Messy Road to Entrepreneurship is Often Paved with a Portfolio Career

Steve with the Duck Foot Part Inc. at trade shows.

The road to entrepreneurship is often not a clear and linear ascent to success. Instead, it’s often paved with a messy income streaming, portfolio career. This was the case for Steve and Chrisa Kastning, the owners of Duck Foot Parts Inc., a startup company that was launched in 2017. In just 5 years, their company has expanded sales into Australia and the United States. However, prior to working full-time in their business, they had a portfolio career that included income streaming from part-time work, a seasonal job and a contract job in order to bridge the gap between quitting farming and launching their business.

Steve has always had an entrepreneurial, income streaming mindset.  From 2005-2016, he had numerous forms of employment including owning a grain elevator that cleaned and shipped organic grain, he managed a farm, rented and farmed his own land, custom farmed for a land investment company, plus worked with his dad in his dad’s plumbing business in the winter. “It’s just what I did,” he said. “When you’re a farmer you learn how to juggle and make money from diversifying your income. That’s just how we think.”

In 2014, Steve had two entrepreneurial ideas on the go. He and his friend, Kirby, had everything pulled together to start a semi-truck wash business outside of Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Steve says, “I had the idea with Kirby to start a semi-truck wash. He and I travelled to the US to look at a state-of-the-art wash system.  Chrisa and I traveled to Norway and Sweden to meet with the company that builds the system to work on the building plans. We had a piece of land outside of Regina and we had investors lined up that were going to invest.”

He also had another idea brewing in the background that he shared with his wife, Chrisa. “We were fortunate to be in the farming business, so the idea happened organically,” Chrisa says. “I remember riding in the combine with Steve and he started to talk about how he had the vision to create a product that would feed crops better. He then started to play with the idea to get it to work better. At the time, we were both working full-time for the farm.”  

During this time, Steve and Chrisa had the mold made for the Duck Foot and started to work on patents. In 2016, they started selling to local farmers and continued with testing, but they were having problems with the product falling off. They stopped production and went to work on making the necessary changes to improve their product before taking it back to market.   

“I’ve thought about creating this product for years as I was working in the farming industry,” Steve adds. “There were products out there that I had used as a farmer, but they weren’t designed in an efficient way. I was growing lentils, which is a short crop and hard to clear the cutter bar, creating losses. I’ve always been someone who adapted, changed things and tried to make processes more efficient. I really felt I could improve on what was in the market.”

In the meantime, the semi-truck wash came to a sudden stop. Steve adds, “The GTH couldn’t get our land prepped so we decided to put it on the shelf until the land development was ready.” At this point, they realized they had to pivot. They were waiting for the truck wash, they had a product they were launching and they had another idea brewing.

They decided to quit farming. They were renting 90% of the land they farmed and buying the family farm wasn’t an option, so they transitioned away from farming, and decided to franchise Kirby’s ‘Suds Car Wash’ and open a Saskatoon, Saskatchewan location. Time ticked away and securing investors for the franchise was a lengthy process. Like most entrepreneurs who are waiting for investors or are launching a product line, Steve and Chrisa needed to make some money. They decided to tap into previous skills and experience to look for work.

Prior to meeting Steve, “Startup Entrepreneur” was not a job title on Chrisa’s resume. She began her career as a Family Worker at Onion Lake Family Services and, before marrying Steve, for 12 years she was an Adoption and Permanency Planning Worker for Alberta Children’s Services. However, following their engagement, she worked towards her resignation and moved, joining Steve to work on the farm. Wanting to keep her foot in the door of her 1st career, Chrisa took on a contract role as a SAFE Home Study Supervisor.  “I provide consultation and to the SAFE Home Study Writer through each step of the process including reviewing the final report”, she says.  Chrisa began her first portfolio career streaming income from working various jobs on the farm including driving a grain cart and reviewing home studies, a job she could do remotely. “After we quit farming, I kept that contract and then after we sold our house and moved to Saskatoon, I also got a job at the Saskatoon Public Library.”

The move to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to franchise the car wash meant Chrisa was living in Saskatoon while Steve spent weekdays in Regina working at Sud’s Car Wash, learning the ropes of running a cash wash business while they waited for the car wash franchise investors. “We were car washing and duck footing. It was a crazy time for us,” they add.

Chrisa and the Duck Foot Part Inc. at trade shows

“We were streaming income from all over the place,” Steve continues. “I took a contract in the oil field for a few months just to get some money in the bank, then I saw a job posting for a full-time Farm Supervisor for Winny Farms, I applied and got the job.”

Shortly after, in 2017, they had their big break on Twitter with their Duck Foot product.

“We didn’t have any social media platforms for Duck Foot yet and no twitter account,” Steve says. “But, my buddy, Jeromy Smith, from Nokomis, Saskatchewan had a Twitter account. He works for a farmer and they grow lentils. He tweeted about using our new and improved product. A farmer from Australia tweeted Jeromy and asked where he could get them. Peter from Australia then contacted us and we made our first sale internationally. It all grew from that point on.”

They worked on their sales funnels after that and started a Facebook account. They officially launched Duck Foot Parts Inc. as part of the Innovation Showcase at Canada’s Farm Progress Show in June 2018.  “We won a Sterling Innovation Award,” Chrisa adds, “and after that the product started to take off in Canada and internationally.”

Many portfolio careerists who are highly entrepreneurial and are using a portfolio career to leverage their expenses while building their business will tell you that there comes a time when you may have to pull the plug on some of your income streams to dedicate your time and energy into nurturing or scaling your business.

Chrisa was the first to shift to working full-time for Duck Foot Parts Inc. She quit her library job, but continued with her contract role reviewing home studies.  Steve continued to work for Winny Farms.  But, by the winter of 2019/20, Steve realized he had to take time away from his farm job to focus on the business.  That winter they exhibited at 7 trade shows, 6 in the USA and 1 in Canada.  Steve completed seeding for Winny Farms in 2020. He then also shifted to working full-time for Duck Foot Parts Inc.  It became evident he needed to be in the field doing demos, getting videos and testimonials in order to build the businesses growth capacity. 

While the Duck Foot Parts Inc. took off, Steve and Chrisa let go of the truck wash and car wash franchise focusing 100% on growing their business. In the beginning phase of launching a business, entrepreneurs work tirelessly. Steve says, “You have to have the work ethic. I’ve always wanted to work for myself and be in charge of my schedule. But, it’s hard work.”

Chrisa adds, “If you want to be an entrepreneur you think about it all day. I had a full-time job, and I had a pension and I certainly valued that, but I love the flexibility of this business. It drives us. You have to be prepared for that. You have to be ready to work 12-14 hours daily. You also talk about it all the time. Vacations aren’t going to happen. You are giving up a lot of your personal life for your business to start it up. You don’t have evenings and weekends like you do with a 9-5 job. If we are talking to Australia, it has to be in the evening.  Planning in the evenings, you’re doing the work during the day. You have to love it. You have to be passionate and love it. If you don’t, it won’t work.”

Steve adds, “The other thing is you have to realize is that you are financially tied to it. You have to be financially invested or you won’t do the work. All investors say you have to have skin in the game, and that’s why we worked a portfolio career. We had income streams so we could keep going.”

Duck Foot Parts Inc. now sells all over North America, Australia and is expanding into Germany with plans to reach other countries. They are continuing the learning curve, recently completing courses to help them create a strategic export plan. They also recently hired a consultant from an ag advisory company to take their sales to the next level getting into dealerships rather than doing direct sales. When asked what advice they would give during the growth spurts of a new business, Chrisa suggests, ““If we were to give people advice on growth, know your strengths.”

Steve continues, “I have knowledge of the product. I know farming, how the industry works and I know the product because I’ve been the consumer. Now I’m the innovator and I know the problem it solves and the benefits it offers, so we believe in the value it has for farmers. I can also talk farmer language.” He laughs.

Chrisa adds, “Know when to hire people to help you scale in the area of sales and business. Direct to farmer, we could manage, but scaling to the next level and shifting from B2C to B2B we needed support.  We have figured out how to do the farm shows and Steve is figuring out how to manufacture new versions of the Duck Foot.”

 When asked how she made the incredible leap from her full-time stable job, to a portfolio career, to full-time entrepreneurship Chrisa says, “I have no background in business or sales. I was a social worker, but I accessed free webinars all the time, and read to try to train myself and advance my knowledge and skill sets. We’ve met a lot of business owners through the farm trade shows and talking with one another and supporting each other has been really valuable. We text and call each other with questions. We are active in each other’s social media.”

“It has cost us a lot of unnecessary money because of what we didn’t know. Get mentors, connect to people in the industry who are slightly ahead of you as a business owner so you can connect to advice and also connect to entrepreneurial groups. Also, remember,” Steve adds, “It’s not going to happen over night. You’re going to have to work hard. It’s an absolute grind, so make sure you’re going to love it.”

Website:  www.duckfootparts.ca  

Facebook & Instagram: @duckfootpartsinc 

Twitter:  @duckfootparts

 Remember: Our first big sale came from social media!

How to Love Your Job and Keep Your Dreams Alive

Redouane’s love for his work permeates the small Moroccan restaurant in Byward Market in Ottawa’s city center. I stumbled across Casablanca by accident as I was on my way to a breakfast diner. I veered off course to shop for sourvenirs and was further led astray by the promising smells of something delicious. I’m glad I followed my nose.

I’ve never experienced Moroccan cuisine so as I read the menu with uncertainty, Redouane asked me if I needed help. I was relieved to leave it up to an expert. He chose lamb, root vegetables and coucous. It was significantly off the mark of the intended omelette I had originally set out to find, but I sat down in the cozy eatery with a plate of comfort food and took my first bite.

Do you know that moment when your taste buds collectively agree that you’ve discovered something amazing? The food was impeccable and although I’m not a foodie, I don’t watch the Food Channel, and I don’t know many famous chefs, I know good food when I taste it. I come from the farm in Canada where vegetables are freshly picked from backyard gardens and the meat on our plate is homegrown or freshly caught. I’ve also had the opportunity to live in Japan where great food is plentiful and presentation is exquisite so I knew this was exceptional food made with care and attention to detail both in presentation and flavour.

Coincidentally, I was in Ottawa for Cannexus, a three day international conference for Career Professionals so I had the topic of careers on my mind and, as I ate in silent joy, the career coach in me had a pile of questions. Was Redouane the owner of the restaurant? How did he learn how to cook like this? Does he love his job? Because it sure tasted like he did.

All of my question sparked the beginning of an inspiring career story starting in a home in Marrekesh, Morocco.

“I discovered my vocation for cooking at the heart of my small family who had a great mastery of typical Moroccan dishes,” Redouane kindly shared with me. “Then, in 2001, when I was 21, I joined the professional world of gastronomy as a kitchen clerk.” It was there that Redouane’s career would grow and lead him to the opening of the first Japanese restaurant called Kiotori in Fes in 2007. This is where our worlds slightly collide as we discuss the magical cuisine of a country that is very committed to exceptional food. As we compare our love of Japanese food, Redouane brings out his phone and begins to show me photos from his social media accounts of beautifully presented Japanese dishes. He then shows me a video of him on a radio show and then another video of him on The Master Chef Morocco. “You were on The Master Chef?” I blurt. Even I know that show. “Seriously?” He grins, nods and points to himself in the video walking onto the set of the show to teach a culinary class. I say to him, “What are you doing in Canada?” He laughs and jokingly says, “I don’t know.”

Teaching a class on the Master Chef Morocco

Redouane with the contestants on the Master Chef Morocco

Redouane is modest about his accomplishments but passionate about his work. I’m intrigued by how someone with his credentials isn’t working in one of the top restaurants in Ottawa and I want to know more. After I convince him that I like to write career stories of people who love what they do, he agrees to an interview and his career story further unfolds.

His culinary experiences are impressive. In 2008, a new opportunity would begin for him in the city of Casablanca at the Spasso restaurant. “I had the opportunity to touch on the management side of the restaurant business in addition to the kitchen. This is how the cooking profession instilled in me a managerial spirit. I was curious and passionate so I took up the challenge to manage the restaurant. It was during the festive summer season on a private beach in the North of Morocco with days of serving up to 1000 seats.” He did this work for four consecutive seasons. As I try to work out in my mind serving 1000 seats a day, he continues with his story.

In 2016, Redouane received yet another amazing opportunity. “I was chosen to take part in catering for COP22 which served about 15 thousand dishes a day.” COP22, a Sustainable Innovation Forum, held in Marrakech, was a global conference dedicated to climate action where countries converge to learn more about innovation, sustainable development and the green economy. In terms of catering to such a large, prestigious event, Redouane says, “I worked with the Rahal Group which is a large catering company in Africa. I have fond memories of this journey.”

As he shows me more pictures from his phone and social media accounts of his expansive and impressive career in Morocco, he tells me that he is new to Canada, having arrived in Ottawa in 2017 with the intention of working internationally. Redouane gives me the impression that his work goes beyond being a job. It’s like he was born to do what he is doing and the contagious passion that he has for his work transcends the trials of starting over in a new country.

COP22 in Marrakech, Morocco with Chef Rachid Maftouh

Just prior to coming to Canada, he had the opportunity in 2016 and 2017, to work on the Master Chef show with Chef Rachid Maftouh who he worked with at COP22. This is where collaboration and building relationships continued to bring him new opportunity. From his photos, I can also see that he brought to the show his former skill and knowledge from Kiotori in Fes as he teaches the contestants how to prepare Japanese cuisine.

Over the last two years, Redouane has learned that moving to a new country often means starting from the ground up. I empathize with this part of his story, having grown my career from scratch in Japan many years ago, I can relate to both the excitement of living in a new country and the challenge of starting over. He manages this transition by going back to Morocco to visit his family and friends. At the heart of his culture is the importance of staying well connected to family. Plus, his friends are always very happy to see him and learn about his Canadian adventures.

As we delve further into his plans for his future, Redouane tells me he is committed to building a career in Canada, but he has learned that there are required steps to get moving towards his goals. He consistently reminds himself there is a process. “I know I have to start step by step here. At this time, I’m waiting for my permanent residency card,” he tells me. In the meantime, he works hard in his friend’s restaurant, and also enjoys his life in Ottawa. He golfs, rides a Harley Davidson, and takes time to experience the city’s cuisine. “This is a beautiful city,” he says as he shares with me his hopes and dreams for his future. “And, I have to be patient to build my career here.”

As he shows me the picture of his Harley Davidson in Canada and the picture of him riding a camel in Morocco, I’m left with the juxtaposition of these two images. He gives the impression that he can effortlessly cross cultures. I realize that not only does he have a passion and love for what he does, he possesses that unique recipe of personality and soft skills necessary to succeed in a new culture: two cups of strong cultural adaptation skills, a cup of fearless but tactful communication skills, one spirit of adventure, and a heaping scoop of tenacity and determination. It’s a recipe for success in whatever he chooses to do.

It’s not a Harley Davidson but…it’s still pretty cool!

How to Create a Portfolio Career You Love

Maureen McCann has a pragmatic and fearless approach to her unique career. Currently living in Victoria, BC, Canada, she has a career consulting boutique business called Promotion Career Solutions, owns and operates a vacation rental property with her husband and is a landlord for a property she owns in Ottawa. Her wise management of money, and her understanding of real estate has helped Maureen design a work life that she enjoys.  “Learn what works for you and play to your strengths,” she says as we converse over the phone about her portfolio career.

In her 20’s, Maureen started to read financial books about money management and property. “I read on my 20 minute commute to work. What I was reading made me realize that managing money better could make a huge difference in people’s lives. I considered becoming a financial advisor but changed my mind. I didn’t want to be someone who sold mutual funds."  Maureen developed a motto “run the numbers” and it has helped her create her work life. “I genuinely love what I do and I want other people to love what they do. When people run the numbers, they find out what they really need to live on. Then, they can make career decisions based on their true financial situation."

At this point in our conversations, we veer off slightly and discuss wise money management and Maureen shares a tip. Drive a beat up car. "“With the income from our cottage, we could’ve bought new stuff like a new car, but we didn’t.  We made sacrifices and drove an old 1998 Chevy Celebrity and we put our rental income back down on the mortgage to pay it off faster.” Now, her vacation rental property has almost become a passive income. "I have created systems that help me manage the emails and bookings, and the people who rent from us clean it themselves and do a really good job.”

Wise money management skills are essential skills for everyone and portfolio careerists managing multiple income streams need to learn how to manage their money wisely but it is not a skill that everyone innately develops. Maureen believes we have to be taught and she has spent hours combing over books trying to understand how to manage her money well. "When people don’t understand money," she says, "They often live in fear. You have to run the numbers in order to address the fear of not having enough because running your numbers helps you to see what is and isn’t enough." We discuss how fear often paralyses people and prevents them from changing careers.  "It’s a cop out to say I can’t change careers because of financial security. People have this underlying fear of how much they think they need so they don’t change anything. They stagnate and don't make any changes out of a fear of not having enough.”

Money, fear and careers. Maureen has made a career consulting business out of understanding some of our deepest fears around money and our jobs. She has also made some tough career choices herself. Three years after she and her husband bought their cottage in 2001, she got laid off from her job and it was a lesson in change and transition. “I started to volunteer in the career development field and shortly after, got offered my first paid job as a career professional.” Simultaneously, she got pregnant which was also a lesson in having tough conversations with a new boss. “It was a very hard conversation to have with a new employer and now that I understand that piece about our careers, I can help my clients with their tough conversations. Somehow, I felt like I had dishonoured my employer's trust because they had just hired me. But, from my experience, your boss will totally understand."

In 2005, she had her first child and went back to work six months later.  Then, in 2007, she decided to go in a different direction with her career as a career professional. "I officially walked away to start my second business. I always knew I wanted to work for myself. I thought I would be able to help more people if I could go out and do it on my own." As well, because Maureen’s husband works for the military, she knew he would eventually get posted somewhere else so entrepreneurship hit all of the criteria she needed for her career.  “I created a business plan and I showed a guy that worked at the entrepreneurship centre. He said my business plan was all good, gave me the thumbs up and it was like, 'Away you go’.”

She broke the news to her husband with a power point presentation when he was on a home leave from Afghanistan.  “I sat him down and I was at slide number two which was to run a business and stay home to take care of our daughter.” He stopped me and told me to go ahead and do it.” Maureen adds, “We have to have these conversations with our spouses.  A lot of couples don’t have these conversations and they stay in their jobs and aren’t happy.” It is often hard for people to break out of the work they are doing even when they are unhappy. Maureen adds, ”I firmly believe we are raised to think that we have to have a steady income but I think we are doing a disservice to ourselves. People approach their careers out of fear, fear of not having, and they sign up for misery, and in some cases, it's becomes like jail time. I’ve decided I’m going to make my own jail time and privately fund my pension.”

For Maureen, a portfolio career that allows her to income stream from different directions helps her create a work life she loves. "If someone asks me to do something and its fun, I'll do it. But if it isn’t fun, I won’t do it. When I first started my business, I said yes to everything but now I have built my life so that it wraps around my family life. When we lived in Europe, I worked enough but I was also able to travel. I can adjust my work life to match what I want. If I invest, I want a good outcome."

I ask her what advice she would give to someone thinking about a portfolio career. " They need to ask themselves what do they really need to make?” Maureen continues.  “Then, work for yourself. You are handing out the keys of your destiny to an employer and you don’t have to do it.  But, if you choose to work for someone else, either way, you don't have to hand them the keys. Your employer is not responsible for your happiness. If you are unhappy, do something about it. The next step is scary. However, we have to first work for ourselves by being wise with our money." 

How to Build a Freelance Photography Career You Love

Josainis Veria Belet is a focused, hardworking and ambitious fashion photographer who came to Alberta from Cuba, landed in Red Deer and didn’t know at the time that this prairie town would be the beginning of an freelance career in the fashion photography industry.  Just like many newcomers, in the beginning, she worked a variety of jobs. "I started with the beauty counter at Superstore. That was my first job in Canada."  

Reaching goals doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time, perserverance and the ability to plan. With these traits in hand, within only four months of arrival, Josainis enrolled in Red Deer College to study web and graphic design.  "It was an intense program and I had a language barrier but I made it through." When she finished her program, her entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and she immediately started her own business doing freelance website and logo design. "I thought this was what I wanted to do but I just didn’t like it,” she says.  "It wasn't a waste of my time though because I knew I could use the skills."

Her positive attitude seems to permeate everything she tackles. She quit her web design business and worked retail for five years running a store. She learned the ins and outs of managing a small business and started thinking about opening another business of her own. “I had an interest in photography but the equipment is so expensive. If I was going to start a photography business, I needed to make money so I quit my retail job and went to work in the oil patch.” It's not your typical career path. From beauty counter, to web design, to retail, to driving a Kenworth iron truck in the oil patch. Josainis was creating a random career path that didn't appear to make sense to someone looking from the outside in, but she didn't let perception get in her way. Her oil patch career move made sense.

To prepare, Josainis got all the necessary tickets, found a job and started driving truck with the goal of saving startup money for a photography business. Somewhere along the way, she went back to to MC College in Red Deer for makeup artistry because she thought the combination skills of photography and makeup would be good together. Her makeup artistry certificate alongside her oil patch safety certificates certainly make for an interesting combination of training and, at this point in our interview, I marvel at the unusual combination of skills she has built.

However, random skills can come together and since her business called Josainis Photography launched about 3 years ago, it has grown. Her style, business savvy, incredible work ethic and relationship building has brought her recognition in the photography industry.  She got into fashion photography by serendipity when she did a model’s headshot. Numa modeling agency became interested and hired her to do test shoots.  In addition to her work with Numa, she does her own freelance work, building model’s portfolios and shooting commercial and creative editorials that have been published in magazines.

But her entrepreneurial spirit won’t let her quit there. She recently decided to partner with two other photographers Emelia Kim and Chris McMullan to create a one stop shop for model portfolio building giving models access to three photographers, with three different styles and three different looks in one photo shoot with a hair and makeup team working alongside. It is a smart concept that helps models build their portfolio faster. The team also gives models the option of submitting to magazines for the additional exposure. She adds, “We work with the model to do whatever they want, mentoring with styling and posing so they can learn. We make up the mood board three weeks ahead of the photo shoot but we tailor for their preferences so they come out with a portfolio of photos that they feel connected to.”

Sometimes expanding a freelance career to include a partnership can be daunting but Josainis sees the value in collaborating. “Working with a team, we are shooting six outfits so it takes more time, but we help each other, and we are wearing a lot of hats. We will be a posing coach while the other photographer is doing lighting and we have to respect each other’s ideas, style and personalities. Communication can get tricky because we also have a hair and makeup team that we are also working with but the collaboration is good.” I ask her what is her role in the team and she responds, “I do a lot of the advertising. I’m the one who does the sales and communicates with the client. I also do pricing and then Emelia handles the communication. She also does the mood boards and Chris handles the printing. We have our jobs based on what we are comfortable with.”

When asked what her plans are for the future, there is a tone of determination in her voice. “I want to be able to do more commercial photography and work with other companies if possible in the beauty industry. I’m currently working on how to connect with other businesses. I want to understand more about how the beauty, modeling and commercial industry works.”  We talk about the importance of verbalizing our dreams and goals and how it is like creating a mood board of what we want our future to look like agreeing that we are more apt to go after our dreams once we put it out there with people. “What I want to do is take care of sales, work with my team, build teams of photographers, makeup artists and hairstylists and build relationships with businesses to take care of their photography needs.” She definitely has a vision of where she wants to go and she isn’t afraid of sharing it. “I’m not scared of sharing my dreams with other people. I can’t be scared because then I won’t do it.”

Josainis’ experiences and skills have come together in her business. Her retail beauty experience and makeup artistry training helps her in photo shoots. Her retail business management experience has provided a foundation for managing her own business and driving truck gave her the investment capital to get her photography business launched.  And, even though she didn’t like web design as a job, she is grateful that she has the skills to design and manage her own website and social media platforms. Since her arrival in Canada, the skills and experience built from a jagged career path has finally merged to create Josainis Photography.

If you want to learn more about freelance career strategy, subscribe to Career Corner Toolkit for FREE monthly injections of freelance, portfolio career and other career tips. To subscribe to Career Corner Toolkit or to have a free consultation, go to my home page.

I would love to connect with you if you are thinking of starting a freelance career or already have one and want to OPTIMIZE.

Emelia Kim, Chris McMullan and Josainis Veria Belet