NEXT Canada, GRIT Ed.06, Brain Gain vs. Brain Drain - Magazine - Page 10
BLENDING NORTHERN ROOTS WITH
U.S. AMBITION
Kerry
Roberts
Co-founder,
Everipe; Next
Founders, 2021
Kerry grew up in Northern Ontario, attended Laurier University and spent years working in consumer branding and research before she met her co-founder and creator of
Everipe, Greg McMullen, from the Summerhill grocery family. Everipe takes fruits picked
at peak vitality that have been freeze-dried so they never spoil, and create superfood
smoothie recipes that store in your pantry and blend in seconds. Together, they are
working to take the produce aisle to the pantry and help us all eat and feel better!
10
GRIT
A
s I reflect and write this today,
I’m back in my home country
of Canada for the first time in
two years, thanks to the pandemic, fresh from a run along the
shore of Georgian Bay and wondering again why I’ve left this incredible
beauty to make a life for my family
in New York.
I believe that my story is similar
to that of many. As my husband’s
career in packaged goods accelerated, it became clear that ascension
meant relocation. We both grew
up in Canada, received an incredible education here, and intended
to stay, raise a family and live out
our days. As technology made the
world smaller, large companies realized they could centralize leadership and the corporate campuses
north of the border became centers
for the execution of US-led strategy
rather than for autonomy and innovation.
Moving my own career as a
branding consultant offered an opportunity for my Toronto-based
firm to access and better service
US-based clients. The professional
and financial gains made the decision at that time, an easy one. We
thought it would be a two or threeyear adventure. As we approach
12 years living in the US, it’s harder
to see a path back to Canada before
retirement.
When I consider our social network in New York, some of our best
friends are also Canadians that relocated to the US for the opportunities. There’s a surgeon who received
a coveted internship and stayed,
the Lawyer who went to Columbia University and was scooped up
by a major NYC law firm, and the
consultant who got into an Ivy
League school for his MBA and now
runs the NY practice for a large
management consultant firm. I’m
betting not one of us graduated
from University with solid designs
on life in the United States. It’s a
bit unsettling to me that I benefited from a system that supports a
more equitable path to higher education and am no longer contributing to that system. I reflect on the
likelihood that my children, and my
children’s children, might now make
their lives outside of the incredible
country I still consider ‘home’.
When it came time to choose
where to launch my own health
food startup, Everipe, with my
Canadian co-founder, the United
States with 10 times the population,
one language, and a slightly less
stringent regulatory body, made it
an unfortunate no-brainer. We hope
to grow the business enough to be
able to invest in a Canadian expansion in the coming years. Programs
like NEXT Canada with their focus
on creating companies that start,
thrive, and (most importantly) scale,
here are critical elements to ensure
that Canada can retain and attract
talent. I question whether the pan-
demic, which has made work-fromanywhere possible, might further
exacerbate the recruitment of talented Canadians who can continue
to benefit from the quality of life in
Canada, whilst earning the salary
and recognition that comes from
working at a large US corporation
- making programs like NEXT that
much more important as Canada
continues to grow its presence on
the world stage as a tech innovator.
As much as we miss Canada
and treasure our visits, we are lucky
to live in an incredible part of the
United States just outside New York
City. We ski on winter weekends,
have access to the city for things
like museums and plays, and still
we live in a small town where everyone looks out for each other. What
I miss the most, especially growing
up on the shores of Lake Superior,
is the access to freshwater lakes. My
dream would be to one day have
a cottage that we can spend the
summer months at, an increasingly
realistic prospect if ‘work from anywhere’ becomes a long-term reality.
One day, too, I would love for
my own children to cross back over
the border for their own big opportunity in Canada.
ADVICE FOR FOUNDERS
“In the earliest days, your personal network is invaluable and staying close
to home can be a smart strategy. Working with and among the people
who know you and your work ethic best, perhaps having the opportunity to fuel job creation in your community - it’s hard to imagine anything
more rewarding than that. Once you’ve proven that your business idea is
a proven concept and ready to scale, there can be time then to plan for
advantageous tax, labour, and regulatory environments.”
GRIT
11