In Focus | Adam Bloch of Hopscotch Festival

Adam Bloch is ambitious, hard working and also fun-loving and kind. It's the perfect combination that you would look for in someone to head up the Hopscotch Festival. His ambition has seen him grow from handing out flyers to running the show and has driven that show to grow to have over 150 vendors and 12,000 attendees in Kelowna and Vancouver. His fun side has made the show a blast with live entertainment and a big breathalyzer to complement all the great quality vendors. Hopscotch happens tonight and Saturday night at the Kelowna Curling Club and tickets can be purchased HERE. You can read all about it here and check out Adam and Hopscotch Festival In Focus.

What do you always find yourself saying?
Breathe. You're healthy. What else matters?

If you could spend one whole day with anyone in the world who is currently alive, who would you select?
Barack.

If you were to receive any existing public award, what award would you like to win?
The Oscar. How cool would that be?

If you could spend a day with any historical figure, who would you choose?
Gaius Julius Caesar

Who inspires you?
Warren Buffett and My Dad.

What are 3 things on your bucket list?
Marry a Woman who inspires me everyday of my life until the day I die.
Experience the World Cup with an all access pass.
Live in NYC for a year.

Please tell us about a defining moment in your life
I responded to a job posting once upon a time on Craigslist. That was the major fork in my life's road.

If you had an enormous yacht, what would you name it?
All day.

If you could foresee a single day of your future in its entirety, what date would you select?
The day I tell my parents they never have to work again.

What are you passionate about?
I love life! Everyday I wake up is a new day for me to learn something new. I love everything that makes my life what it is. I love my job, I love my friends (and my family), I love where I live. I love going out for dinner, traveling, being on the water, being in a relationship with someone I love, I love starting new businesses, meeting new people (who have something to say), I love putting a smile on someone's face, and I love feeling financially secure.

What has been your favourite day of your life, up to this point?
I can't think of any specific day that has been an all-time favourite. The day I stopped living paycheque-to-paycheque was a HUGE moment for me. It allowed me to finally stop and smell the roses. The day when there was about 30 wild dolphins swimming around our boat in the Mediterranean and I said screw it, what happens happens, and jumped in to swim with them. The three days of my life that my sister told me she was pregnant was pretty cool. And every year the day after an instalment of a Hopscotch Festival is always an amazing day for me. It's too hard to pick just one.

What has been your proudest accomplishment?
The Hopscotch Festival by far. I came into this festival as someone to help hand out flyers and to working in the festival's office to eventually running the entire thing. When I first started it had about 600 people coming and had about 30 vendors. Now there are over 150 vendors and it welcomes more than 12000 people through it's doors. I oversaw that growth and I am very proud to have put a bit of my own stamp on Vancouver and Kelowna.

What is your favourite activity or event in Kelowna?
I love hiking Knox Mountain. That view is ridiculous. After working long hours on the festival, I like to take everyone who is working and go Go-Karting. Great way to relieve some stress and unwind.

What is the name of your business/organization?
The Hopscotch Festival

What does your business/organization do?
Educational Alcohol tasting Event

Where can people find you or your business online?
http://www.hopscotchfestival.com

Where can people find your business on Facebook?
https://www.facebook.com/hopscotchfestival

What is your Twitter account?
@hopscotchnews

What is your mission?
For one night a year, give someone the best night of theirs.

If you could achieve one thing within your field, what would it be?
The events are for charity so just to help more and more people through music therapy.

Where do you want your business/organization to be in 5 years?
In a few more cities.

Who do you consider to be a forerunner within your field?
Me.

What 3 qualities do you feel that your business/organization exemplifies?
Elegance.
Pride.
Respect.

What would you like to say to your employees/volunteers?
It's cliche but without them, I have nothing.

How does your business/organization impact the community?
We donate the proceeds to a Canadian charity called Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund. They are able to help more people because of the shows we help produce.

What makes you successful? Tell us about it.
I feel like I had a great childhood. I was never deprived of anything I ever needed yet was never given everything I ever wanted. I think growing up that way gave me the ambition to be able to have everything I need and as well the choice to have everything I want. I love nice things. Good food, nice houses, nice cars, free time and physical comfort. All of these things come with a hefty price tag and I am constantly trying to grow to be able to get to that level. But that said, a portion of the respect I have for myself, and enjoy from others, is how I am as a business person. This makes me strive even more.

If you were trapped in an elevator with several wealthy investors from any field, which field would you want them to be experts in? What would say to them/talk about?
I'd want to have an investor in every field and ask (from one to the other) how I should invest in their field! What's trending? Where is the next big thing? What companies I should be looking at and why? I'd love to know how they became so successful as I have a genuine interest in people's life stories.

If I could change 1 thing about Kelowna, it would be:
If the summer weather was here all around, I'd be perfectly okay with that. I am sure there are a lot of people who would agree!

What do you think makes Kelowna great?
The people. They are so friendly, so open, so easy-going. In terms of population, it is a bigger small city but the vibe within the city is small town. It is the perfect combination.

Some general comments I would like to share are:
No matter what, before every detail written above, I strive to be a good person. I feel like you have to treat everyone as an equal, no matter what. I am 100% about paying it forward and putting good energy into the world. If you stress out, others stress out. If someone smiles at me, it's like a drug. So, as such, I try to smile as much as possible and get everyone high :). See you at the festival!

In Focus is our gift to the community. A way for us to help show our recognition for the people, businesses and organizations that help make our city great. The team at WelcometoKelowna.com is passionate about this community and the people that make it amazing. We want to show our friends, neighbours, family and colleagues that we notice them and the fabulous things that they do. We encourage you to leave your comments and words of support below, and submit your own nomination by clicking HERE. You are also welcome to submit a form of your own by clicking HERE. Thank you, Kelowna!