62 - Avi Butalia

Serial entrepreneurs are a regular fixture on the podcast, but this week’s guest got started early at just 12 years old. Lifelong entrepreneur Avi Butalia drops by to talk about the many businesses he’s contributed to, especially his current role as Owner, Baus, and Janitor at BLKWTR Creative.

Proudly called the “un-agency”, BLKWTR sheds the trappings of a traditional creative agency. Unlike other agencies that operate for themselves first, full of experts who believe they know more about your business than you do, BLKWTR doesn’t chase agency awards, they chase success for their clients. They recognize the pain points many businesses experience with creative agencies and provide value by acting as the marketing department of their clients’ businesses, making it possible for their clients to access a huge variety of marketing and creative services when and as they need them.

This client-first approach is made possible by Avi’s vast experience on the other side of the table. At just 12 years old he started his own business delivering flyers for Safeway and London Drugs in Northwest Calgary, giving him early experience in managing a team and learning accountability. In his early 20s he identified a gap in the women’s sporting goods market and started retail operation Helia Sports, which won best new concept store from Nike, Adidas, and Puma in their first year of business. After Helia Avi started ticketing company Zoobis, breaking the local monopoly of ticketing giant Ticketmaster, and later partnering with with a competitor in the sector to form Showpass, a marriage of amazing technology and amazing experience for their customers.

Avi also shares some insight into his philosophy around workplace culture. While it is not uncommon for companies to use the term “family” to refer to their team members Avi takes this to heart. When COVID19 hit Alberta many employees in other companies were laid off, but Avi understood that families have to weather the storm together. This meant not only that nobody in the BLKWTR family would lose their jobs, but that as the head of their workplace family Avi would need to step up and make sure that his team wasn’t just financially taken care of but that their mental health cared for too. To help with this, especially for employees who were living alone, Avi made sure they were in touch with each other every day over video calls, and even dropped off care packages for them which often included some beers for the team to enjoy together virtually.

“You spend a third of your life at work. You should enjoy that environment, and that environment should be supportive, and it should allow you to grow as an individual"

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Let’s Meet For A Beer: website | facebook

Alberta Beer Festivals: website | twitter | instagram

Avi Butalia - BLKWTR Creative: website | twitter | instagram | facebook