The startup culture in Vancouver is not only thriving, it’s growing. It’s become a trend of it’s own that inspires, and encourages everyone to join in. People who move to the city see and experience this first hand, and realize that when surrounded by the energy here, there isn’t anything they can’t do. The world is your oyster in Vancouver, but how did that come to be? Why is Vancouver such a hot-bed of self employed creatives?

As part of an ongoing series, we’ll be meeting and interviewing creative entrepreneurs in Vancouver to see how and why they think this has happened, how they’ve benefited from it, and what makes them tick as an entrepreneur. We want to know, “Why Vancouver”.

One of the wonderful things of a co-work space, is the movement of people. This office isn't static and closed; we have weekly events and lots of people coming through our doors. So many people in Vancouver are "our" people, even though they don't physically work here. This weeks interviewee, Mathilde came through our doors for a Vancity Business Babes event, and we fell in love with her cute baby products! Here's what Mathilde has to say about living the Vancouver dream. 

"After growing up and living in Paris (France) for years my partner and I looked for a place where we could do our work, enjoy outdoor activities, be closer to nature and not lose hours everyday in the commute. At that time we were both working in the film industry so Vancouver was the place to go. We came for a year... 5 years ago.

I think Vancouver is an awesome place for people to start their own business because there's a big community of entrepreneurs eager to learn and share their knowledge with other. I love Vancity Business Babes event[s] for that. I had the opportunity to meet amazing women and start collaborations there. As an entrepreneur you can often feel you're on your own but if you open your eyes and look around you will see you are not alone and many people will be happy to help you. [L'Atelier] is also totally amazing for that as it brings together people who would otherwise work on their own. You will never grow as much on your own as you would carried by a positive community.

I have no idea if it's a trend in other cities as I've only lived in Paris and here. But I know here every door [is] open if you want to start something - when in France you need to battle with administration to start."

Stay tuned for more interviews (1 every week!) with other creative “do-ers” on the topic of “Why Vancouver”, and in the meantime check out Mathilde’s top 5 for getting sh*t done:

1. Do you have a favourite cafe or local spot to work from?
I usually work from home as I'm cutting, pining and sewing fabric many hours a day and also need my home computer to work on my pattern or edit my photography but when I need to relax and breath fresh air I like to grab a hot chocolate at Delany's coffee and go for a walk along the sea.

2. What's your favourite music to listen to whilst working?
I mostly listen to soundtracks but I also love to listen to some documentary my partner share with me and talk about it at the end of the day.

3. What's your favourite thing about Fall in Vancouver?
I love the colours, the last hikes before the snow comes and biking on the almost empty seawall when it rains.

4. What's one thing you can't live without?
My two men. My partner who is very supportive and my 2.5 years old who just told me the other day "Mommy I'm very proud of you". With those two around, there's no obstacle I can't overcome.

5. What's the best advice you've ever been given as freelancer/ self employed designer?
"Say yes to every opportunity". You don't know what can happen. Worst case scenario, you loose some time, but even then you learn that it wasn't meant for you, so it's still a win. So far every time I said yes, very good things happened. I met amazing people, work on great projects.