FOUNDING MEMBER
Below you’ll find an index of the growing list of team and mentors being added to the membership.
MENTOR INDEX
SUBMIT A QUESTION
As Founding Members, we’re building this ecosystem for creatives together, and that means that the questions, problems, and challenges you’re facing on the day to day matter. Use this form to submit specific questions, challenges, and issues you’re facing and we’ll be using these in a variety of ways including how we shape the programming flow over the course of the year.
GARRETT
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KING
@SHORTSTACHE
Garrett is a lifestyle photographer with a knack for storytelling. He currently resides in Southern California, but seems to travel anywhere to get the job done. Design, photography, and videography are his main focuses. His unique perspective in the creative industry is evident through his color aesthetic and derivative in his style. Storytelling is a key element he emphasizes through both his personal and professional work. The moments in between are what matters the most. It’s about the bigger picture and journey as a whole.
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IRENE
RUDNYK
@IRENERUDNYKPHOTO
Irene is a portrait photographer, Youtuber, and educator inspired by feminine beauty. She works to capture the woman in front of her camera in a more creative, romantic manner, putting a lot of thought into the environment and details of the photo to create a visually pleasing and feminine version of the finished product. Irene enjoys helping other photographers with tutorials, behind the scenes, and DIY videos and has built a significant platform and Youtube channel where she instructs and engages with thousands of photographers through her educational videos, workshops, content, and creative work.
SCOTT
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BAKKEN
@SCOTTCBAKKEN
Scott Bakken is an entrepreneur, photographer, and brand consultant who specializes in community engagement and social media marketing. He is best known as the founder of Socality, a community organization based in Calgary, Canada. Scott lives in Calgary, Canada with his wife, Jessica Bakken, and their two children: Sydney Rose Bakken and Cruz Bakken.
ELLIOTT
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CHAU
@LIFEWITHELLIOTT
Elliott is a full-time travel and landscape photographer from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. For the past five years he has travelled to some of the most beautiful places on earth photographing for world-renowned brands. Known for his vibrant and ethereal work, his photography has taken him to over 60 countries and counting. Alongside his love of travel and photography his passion lies in inspiring and teaching others.
Elliott's work has been featured by a wide range of publications including Travel + Leisure, Beautiful Destinations, Forbes Travel Guide, Elle, Complex, Cosmopolitan, and more.
JONATHAN
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ZOETEMAN
@JONATHANZOETEMAN
Jonathan is a Canadian lifestyle, portrait, and travel photographer drawing inspiration from film, narrative, and creative expression. His work focuses on emphasizing and capturing feeling, emotion, and story, while exploring the relationships between individuals and the world around them. His subjects range from friends, artists, musicians, couples, and models to destinations, fashion, and more. Along with commercial, editorial, and lifestyle photography, Jonathan is passionate about building community and supporting other creators with the development of spaces, events, education, and workshops through Socality’s creative community and as a Canon Ambassador alongside the Canon Creator Lab program.
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NICOLE
ASHLEY
@NICOLEASHLEY
Nicole Ashley is an international portrait and wedding photographer based out of Alberta, Canada. Her influence has branched out far beyond the boundaries of her city, bringing her throughout much of Canada, and on to international destinations such as Iceland, Italy, Switzerland, and Australia. Nicole has built an impressive resume, photographing magazine features, best selling novel covers, internationally acclaimed musicians, music festivals and fashion shows. With innate creativity, unparalleled work ethic, and a passion for the entire craft, she is not only a photographer but an artist. Her main areas of focus are now intimate weddings and couples portraiture. Not only an artist but as an educator in her craft, she also hosts and speaks at several awards winning photo conferences throughout the world.
JOEY
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SPEERS
@JOEYSPEERS
Joey Speers is aiming to build a world where more people succeed at doing what they love. After building a 6 figure creative agency as a teenager, Joey decided to share the secrets to building a business, so he started Creativ Rise. Today, Joey is a brand strategist, marketing consultant and communicator.
CHRISTY
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SPEERS
@CHRISTYJSPEERS
Christy Speers is a commercial photographer and brand strategist specializing in emotion-driven commercial photography that generates attention and sells for her clients. Along with her husband Joey, she leads Creativ Rise, sharing the knowledge they’ve picked up along the way. Christy also co-hosts the Creativ Rise Podcast which you’ll find anywhere you listen to your favorite shows.
LACHLAN
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SHUM
@LACHLANSHUM
Lachlan Shum, the founder and CEO of Focal, brings a refreshing outside perspective to the photography industry and creative business mentorship. It all started for him when trying to book a couples photographer for his anniversary went terribly wrong. Coming from a tech and business background, he couldn’t believe how hard it was to give creatives his money when he wanted to book! This led him on his journey to starting Focal, a website and booking platform designed to make it easy for photographers to book their clients. Lachlan has mentored over 1000 photographers and creatives in how to build sustainable businesses at the intersection of art and selling.
SAM
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NEWTON
@SAMNEWTON
Sam Newton is a travel filmmaker, YouTuber, and Canon USA Ambassador who has built a career off of creating travel films on YouTube.
Known for his funny antics like wearing turtlenecks and calling out the cliches of the travel community, Sam uses a unique blend of humour and cinematography to prove to people that being original will always beat out following trends and copy-pasting work for the algorithm.
MIKE
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PAYNE
@MMMIIIKE
Partners in business, and in life, Mike and Mitzi Payne are entrepreneurs, parents, and creators who have spent their combined twenty-year marketing careers making waves online. Together they lead Arcade, an award-winning digital agency specializing in strategy, content, and distribution for the world’s rising direct-to-consumer brands. They’ve curated a team that brings diverse expertise into a niche service mix that produces meaningful brand growth and measurable impact for every one of their client partnerships. They’ve been featured in publications like Fast Company, and they’re hot off a Webby Award for their work with John Krasinski's "Some Good News”.
MITZI
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PAYNE
@MMMITZI
Partners in business, and in life, Mike and Mitzi Payne are entrepreneurs, parents, and creators who have spent their combined twenty-year marketing careers making waves online. Together they lead Arcade, an award-winning digital agency specializing in strategy, content, and distribution for the world’s rising direct-to-consumer brands. They’ve curated a team that brings diverse expertise into a niche service mix that produces meaningful brand growth and measurable impact for every one of their client partnerships. They’ve been featured in publications like Fast Company, and they’re hot off a Webby Award for their work with John Krasinski's "Some Good News”.
BRIAN
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PRUETT
@BRIAN_PRUETT
Brian is an everyday health and wellness coach, digital content creator, and the founder of BFIT. He is a former Division 1 baseball player turned NASM certified Personal Trainer and Coach with a passion to help people become more and step into the life they were meant to live.
RJ
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BRUNI
@RJBRUNI
RJ Bruni heads up Inmist Media House, a documentary production house based just outside Vancouver, BC. RJ's commercial and personal work has involved commissions with a diverse group of clients ranging from tourism boards, sports and athletics, automotive brands like Land Rover, and frequent collaborations with outdoor focused creators like Alex Strohl of Strohl Works and others. His work focuses heavily on telling the stories of those whose lives engage with the world around them and connecting that to the range of human emotions and feelings that connect us all.
MAURICE
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LI
@MAURICE
Maurice Li spent a decade as a technology venture capitalist prior to making a leap to follow his creative passions in travel and commercial photography. Identifying gaps in the emerging world of social media content and digital agency services, he founded Stay & Wander in 2013 to help bridge the gap between creators and brands while the ideas of social media marketing, social-first asset libraries, travel influencers and sponsored content were not yet mainstream. Stay & Wander has since launched @CANADA, one of the preeminent travel & lifestyle social media channels in the country. Over the past decade, Maurice has earned a place among the world's thought leaders in the fast evolving social content space, and has been invited to share his insights at conferences such as AdAsia World Congress, various travel media trade group meetings and brand/advertising agency strategy sessions around the world.
CHLOË
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CHAPDELAINE
@CHLOE.CHAPDELAINE
Chloë Chapdelaine is a creator and vibrant internet personality who passionately shares her life, creativity, and travels on social media (find her on both TikTok and Instagram). Chloë has a background in journalism, and so with a storytelling approach aims to inspire positivity, creativity, and adventure with her dedicated audience. She’s known for spending time both in front of and behind the camera, and has grown a community of over 600K followers across platforms. (She also manages the social media for Socality!)
JUSTIN
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CHOQUETTE
@JUSTIN.CHOQUETTE
Justin Choquette is an adventure and outdoor photographer based out of British Columbia, Canada. As a kid, Justin spent his free time outside mountain biking, rock climbing, and hiking in British Columbia’s beautiful mountains. That sense of wonder and freedom that Justin got from nature as a child never went away, and there is still nothing he would rather do than play outside. Although now you’ll find him with his camera in tow! Always one to forge his own path, Justin’s distinct photographic style captures the intrepid human spirit engaging with diverse, remote, and off-the-beaten-path landscapes. Justin genuinely enjoys living on the edge, and the excitement and anticipation that he experiences for each new destination and adventure comes through in his unique and creative compositions.
JAMIE
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OUT
@JAMIEOUT
Jamie Out is a travel and adventure freelance photographer from Vancouver, British Columbia. Often found exploring the rugged coastlines of the West Coast or the immense Rocky Mountains of Canada, Jamie’s primary aesthetic is focused on telling stories and capturing the spirit of the adventure in such landscapes. Finding unique perspectives and exploring harder to reach places is something Jamie specializes in displaying. He has worked with many top brands, creating content that captures the essence and unique vision of the company. With a large presence in the Instagram community, Jamie uses this outlet to encourage organic exposure for his clients.
JASMINE
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LORIMER
@JASMINE.LORIMER
Hailing from a small town in Northwestern Ontario, Jasmine made her way to British Columbia to chase new adventures. Exploring and documenting her experiences via social media became a fun pastime, and in 2016 she was scouted via Instagram to lead as the first ever “Bachelorette Canada”. While slightly traumatizing, it also provided the opportunity to reach a new audience of like-minded Canadian women who shared the same passions for travel. Since then, Jasmine has continued to build upon that base, and in 2018, left her 12 year career as a hair colourist to become a full-time creator, developing a 6-figure income by working with some of the world’s largest brands including Volvo, Aeroplan, Starbucks, Prime Video, Mazda, Nespresso, Molson Coors, Bed Bath and Beyond, and more.
KOHL
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CRECELIUS
@KOHLGREYSON
Kohl Crecelius has over a decade of experience as a social entrepreneur in the fashion industry. Through his work as Co-Founder and CEO of KNOWN SUPPLY and Krochet Kids intl., he has worked to highlight the forgotten individuals behind the clothing we wear.
DAVEY
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GRAVY
@DAVEY_GRAVY
Davey is a photographer/videographer and an all around creative person. He tells authentic stories through everything he does, by creating natural feeling content with a hint of documentary style with a unique and meaningful approach. Being trained as a multidisciplinary artist has encouraged him to explore different mediums, overcome challenges and take risks to create something memorable.
MORE TO BE
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