There are moments in life that don’t seem important at the time—but later you realize they changed everything.
For me, one of those moments happened in a hospital room.
My newborn son was lying in his mother’s arms.
And I was sitting on the edge of the window ledge with a laptop on my knees.
I didn’t have a business degree.
I didn’t have formal training.
I didn’t have investors or mentors guiding me.
All I had was an idea and a relentless drive to make something meaningful happen.
Learning Without a Blueprint
I had no idea where to begin when it came to building a business.
So I did what many people do when they’re trying to learn something new—I immersed myself in environments where others were already doing it.
I would sit in rooms full of entrepreneurs and speakers and simply listen.
I took notes on everything.
Those notes slowly started turning into something that looked like a business plan.
Eventually, I decided to take a leap.
In that hospital room, while my son slept nearby, I pressed “enter” and submitted my first business plan to a competition.
I had no expectations.
But a few days later, they called me back.
“You Need to Do a Business Pitch”
The voice on the phone said, “Kendal, great job. You’ve made it to the next round.”
Then they added something that made my heart sink.
“You’ll need to do a business pitch.”
I said, “What’s a business pitch?”
They replied, “Have you ever watched Shark Tank or Dragon’s Den?”
I said yes.
They said, “It’s basically that. Come back next week and present.”
I remember thinking:
If I had known that was part of it, I might never have entered.
Facing My Biggest Fear
Here’s the truth most people don’t know about me.
Growing up, I was the shy kid in school.
Public speaking terrified me.
Standing on a stage and presenting an idea to judges felt completely outside my comfort zone.
I tried to find a way out.
I thought about making excuses.
But none of those options felt right.
So I showed up.
And when it was my turn to present, I did the only thing I knew how to do.
I told my story.
The Idea That Became a Brand
During that pitch, the judges asked me a simple question.
“What do you want to call your brand?”
I told them:
“Neechie.”
In our language, “Neechie” means friend.
It can mean brother.
It’s a word rooted in connection and community.
I explained that I wanted to create a sports-style brand and use part of the profits to help Indigenous youth and communities.
That story became the heart of the brand.
And I told that story again and again and again.
Eventually, something incredible started happening.
We started winning prize money.
Building a Business From an Apartment
Instead of celebrating those wins, I reinvested everything back into the business.
Our first “headquarters” was a small apartment.
On the kitchen table, I set up my first screen-printing station.
That’s where I began learning how to print T-shirts.
The balcony outside our second-floor apartment became my drying station where I cured the ink so it wouldn’t wash out.
In the corner of the room, I taught myself how to design graphics.
I learned how to build a website.
I learned how to run a business by doing as much as I could myself.
It wasn’t glamorous.
But it was progress.
When Everything Felt Like It Was Falling Apart
Then life threw another challenge our way.
My wife was a full-time student.
Our newborn son sat in his car seat beside us.
And we were struggling financially.
We didn’t know how we were going to pay for diapers, formula, or rent.
Eventually we found ourselves sitting in an office filling out an application for welfare.
And in that moment, something hit me hard.
I had a flashback to my childhood.
I remembered watching my mom budget a welfare check at our kitchen table.
And suddenly I realized something that shook me deeply.
I was about to take my own family down the same path.
I felt like I had failed.
The Decision That Changed Everything
Halfway through the application process, I stopped.
I picked up my son and told my wife we needed to go home.
When we got back to our apartment, I sat down with her and said something I will never forget.
“Rachel, I don’t know how we’re going to pay the bills. I don’t know how this is going to work. But I believe now is the time to go all-in on this business idea.”
Then I asked her something that meant everything.
“I need your support.”
She nodded.
And that moment changed everything.
The Poster That Reminded Me to Keep Going
During that time, I had a poster hanging on my wall.
I had bought it during my first week of university.
At the time, I could barely afford it—but something about it spoke to me.
The image showed someone climbing a mountain.
Every day when I looked at it, I felt like that climber.
Trying to make my way upward.
Trying to build something bigger than myself.
Underneath the image were words that stayed with me:
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
Every single day I saw that message.
And every single day it reminded me to keep climbing.
Final Thought
Looking back now, that moment in the hospital room—when I pressed “enter” on that first business plan—was the start of a journey I never could have predicted.
But the truth is, success rarely starts with certainty.
It starts with courage.
Courage to try.
Courage to show up.
Courage to keep climbing when the mountain feels impossible.
And sometimes, all it takes is one moment of courage to change the direction of your life.
hiy hiy
