Brandon Greenall has made the most out of his time at UNBC while working on a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

The fourth-year finance and marketing student created a student-run business, launched a podcast, led the Commerce Student Association, and participated as both a delegate and co-captain in UNBC’s JDC West program.

It is his Commerce, Coffee, and Community podcast that he launched in October 2021 which earned him a TELUS Storyhive award worth $10,000. He’s one of 91 creators from B.C. and Alberta to receive the funding.

For the podcast, Greenall interviews professionals from all Commerce backgrounds (accounting, finance, human Resources, marketing) to share their experiences and career journeys with the UNBC student body.

Once produced, the episodes are shared through the UNBC Commerce Student Association and UNBC School of Commerce student list.  

“The funding will help tremendously with the purchase of higher quality equipment for video and audio production and will also help me pay for professional video editing services,” Greenall says. “With this higher level of production in mind, the episodes produced for TELUS Optik TV will focus on featuring the stories of local Prince George entrepreneurs, as well as our beautiful Prince George community through video.”

Greenall credits earning the award to his university experience and what he’s learned so far at UNBC.

“It’s my education at UNBC, and my participation in programs such as UNBC JDC West, that prepared me for this opportunity by allowing me to grow as an individual and become more confident in myself to step out of my comfort zone and try new types of content creation,” he says.

As part of the Storyhive award, he’ll participate in workshops in February to expand his knowledge on content production (editing and planning), video and sound stage production, and improve his interview skills.

Greenall says it’s important to share the stories of other entrepreneurs in our community because for the average person it can be hard to see not only what goes into a local business, but also the trials and tribulations that a business owner has gone through to make it all possible.

“We all have a favourite local brewery, coffee shop, restaurant, mechanic, or artisan, but very rarely do we see the person or people behind the scenes that make it possible,” he says. “It would be wonderful to be a part of helping local businesses facilitate this discussion. For our student listeners, this can also be a great opportunity to learn more about what goes into the process of entrepreneurship.” 

In 2019 right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Greenall launched Campus Cleaners, a commercial office and janitorial cleaning service. He wanted to learn about and gain first-hand experience on all the elements that go into starting a business – such as service design, marketing, legal registration, compliance, and accounting functions.  

“I had had some experience with these due to taking part in UNBC’s fantastic co-op program, but I wanted to get some experience with designing these functions from the ground up,” he says. “COVID happening shortly after certainly presented some difficulties for our business but we’ve navigated through it to create a brand that is all about providing high quality janitorial; living wage, flexible employment to local students, and working as a community-focused organization that contributes to local charities and student organizations.”

Greenall plans to approach a variety of business owners and entrepreneurs to appear on the Commerce, Coffee and Community podcast and share their stories.