A chat with Brent Brathwaite (interview)

Back in my Canadian days and more specifically when I was doing business development for a design agency, I was at an event and looking for a break. I went outside and saw this small mobile rock climbing wall in the entertainment area. There wasn't much of a crowd for the owner and so I started to have a chat with him. The connection was immediate and we it wasn't long until we were laughing and sharing our life stories.

Brent has been a friend and mentor for many years now and from the very first day, I was always impressed by his strong entrepreneur mindset as well as his positivity. He's like a bulldozer! The type of person that nothing can stop and who fully lives a life he loves.

He gave me a few kicks in the butt when I needed it, and even went above & beyond by creating a website for one of my projects. I remember not being too sure about my skills to do that project and he looked at me clearly, right in the eyes and declared: "Don't you ever doubt about what you can and cannot do. Just do it." This still resonates in my head on a regular basis and I'm grateful for his guidance.

I'm thrilled to have him answering a few questions and giving some of his insights.

Tell us more about you: who are you and what do you do?

My name is Brenton Leigh Brathwaite and I own a small amusement rental business in the greater Toronto area. I've been bringing my fun and games to youth at risk and young at heart adults for over 21 years and it was quite a unique journey to get here. I thank my lucky stars for the lifestyle that I lead, working 6 months out of the year and traveling the other 6 anywhere I so wish. And I have now been doing this for over 20 years! I wake up everyday loving my job to the point where I would do it for free and I have not had a bad day or even a bad moment in the last two decades. But life has not always been this way, as a matter of fact quite the opposite.

You had a very unique path, could you tell us more about it?

I have worked and lived in four major cities that have had a huge influence on the way I conducted my day-to-day affairs. I grew up and went to high school in central France, then I moved to Calgary, Alberta in Canada to study and subsequently graduate with a psychology degree from the University of Calgary. I then returned to my birth city of Montreal to study marketing and finance and got a job as a stockbroker working for Merrill Lynch in my early twenties.