In Focus | Steve Wandler

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 KelownaNow.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.

What is your name?
Steve Wandler.

Where are you from and how long have you lived in Kelowna?
I grew up in Cold Lake, Alberta, but have live in Kelowna for the last 18 years, other then living in San Francisco for a year.

Who is your favourite person to spend time with and why?
This is a difficult question and could get me into trouble with other people, but I'm going to say my 18 year old daughter, Faith. She has an amazing brain and is smart beyond her years. She's an absolute joy to be around. I'm also selfishly hoping that by saying it's Faith I gain extra points over her new boyfriend.

If you could go anywhere in the world right at this moment where would you go and why?
This is going to sound strange, but I'm going to say Kelowna. I spend most of my time in the United States traveling for work. As I write this, I'm on a plane to Texas, so coming back home (especially in the summer) is where I'd like to travel to. Is that a cop out?

What is your favourite local store in Kelowna and why?
Easy question, the wine section at Cask and Barrel in West Kelowna. I live in the Okanagan, the answer has to be a wine store.

What is your favourite activity?
The last question should be a clue. Drinking wine on a patio with my friends.

If you had to choose: pizza, tacos, or burgers?
Pizza hands down. I'd eat it every day if I could, but I'm 45 and my metabolism would never allow it.

What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you?
Let's just say the bedroom door wasn't locked.

What is the most inspiring thing that has happened to you?
Picking just one is impossible. I work in K-12 education and I spend a lot of time in classrooms around North America. I truly get to see inspiring things that happen in classrooms that give me goosebumps on a regular basis.

Tell us your favourite childhood memory.
Working in my grandparents corner store with my uncles and having food fights in the store when it wasn't busy. Frozen grapes hurt, by the way.

Where do you volunteer or give back to in the community?
In my spare time I work with a non-profit I started nine years ago called Metabridge. It was designed to help startup entrepreneurs get access to high valued people in the Silicon Valley in a meaningful way to help them be successful. Being a startup entrepreneur is difficult. Since I've walked through that minefield a couple times myself, I wanted to find ways to help entrepreneurs miss a few landmines that I and some of my friends in the Silicon Valley have already stepped on.

If you could change one thing in the world what would it be?
President Donald Trump. There I said it.

What is your favourite activity in Kelowna?
Anything with live music.

Where would you sneak away to in Kelowna to spend some time alone?
My backyard, I love cooking on my charcoal grill in my backyard with a cold beer or a glass of wine. It's so peaceful!

Where would you like to see positive change in Kelowna and why?
Kelowna's downtown core would be one. Thoughtful planning that combines looking after our homeless, affordable housing and amenities for middle income people would be a chance. I do think we're heading in the right direction here, but feel that the growth of our city and the speed we're working at aren't matching the needs.

What do you think makes Kelowna great?
Have you steps outside and looked around? I'm very proud of how the city has transformed from a retirement community to a place where young people feel they can come, stay, work and live. It's a piece of paradise that you can actually live in. I'm proud to be a part of the community.

What are 3 things on your bucket list?
I don't really have a bucket list to be completely honest. Is that a requirement in life?

Tell us something that not everyone may know about you.
I have ADHD. It drives me crazy sometimes, because I have an attention span of a squirrel. In the last few years I've really learned to embrace it. I think people with learning disabilities have special superpowers that just need to be harnessed.

How do people connect with you, personally, through social media?
Twitter. I tend to keep my other social channels private.

What is the name of your business/organization?
FreshGrade.

Why did you get into/start this business?
I struggled in school, which is why I dropped out in Grade 11. Although I loved being in school, I had poor grades and was constantly being told I sucked at it. I want education to stop focusing on just grades and take a more holistic approach to education. Learning is not just about a grade and FreshGrade is designed to show examples of that learning outside of a single test score.

What is the goal of your business?
To change the way we measure our kids in schools in North America. It's archaic. Learning doesn't happen between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday to Friday on a bubble sheet. We need to prepare our kids for the world we live in, which is very different when my grandparents, parents and I went to school. It doesn't reflect that as well as it needs to.

What has been your biggest struggle either in work or life?
Finding great people to help build our team to meet our vision and goals. We need to move faster.

If you could start all over again would you do things the same or would things be different?
I'd always tweak a few things but overall I wouldn't change a thing. It's like I'm living in a dream. I couldn't think of anything else I'd want to be doing.

What do you always find yourself saying?
I've been spending a lot of time in Texas, so I tend to say 'y'all' a lot more then I probably should. I tend to say 'eh' more on purpose when I'm down south so they know I'm Canadian.

If you could spend one whole day with anyone in the world who is currently alive, who would you select?
Sir Ken Robinson. If you haven't watched his TED Talk, you need too.

Why do you think it is important to shop locally?
Supporting our local stores allows us to create a more diverse community. Although I like and shop at some larger chain stores, who wants to live in a city with a bunch of big box stores and restaurants ? Not me.

What has been your proudest accomplishment?
Building and selling my first technology company to our largest competitor in the Silicon Valley, then moving to San Francisco. I feel that through that process I got a university degree without having to go to university. Fun fact: I'm a high school drop out and I now sit on a university board. Ironic?

Give someone you think that deserves it a shout out and explain why!
My 12 year old son, Noah. He struggles with similar learning challenges as I have my entire life. What I love about that kid is how he embraces it. He doesn't do or approach things in a typical manner, and I love watching him and his amazing brain grow up. Noah has superpowers he's yet to discover!

My choice for the KelownaNow In Focus spotlight is:
Jeff Keen from Wheelhouse Ventures.

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.