HOW I GOT STARTED WITH CODE ZERO

Andrew Field visited me around three years ago to introduce me to the concept of the Code Zero driving programs and to get my professional opinion as to whether the business concept could be franchised. I first met Andrew 20 years ago when we worked together to raise the money for a local drive Ross Bentley to race in the Vancouver Molson Indy. This was a formidable task – in a soft economy – and there were many people who said it couldn’t be done. Well, we did it two years in a row and it has never been done before or since.

I was President of the ‘Spirit of Vancouver’ the association that was formed to raise the not insignificant amount of money. However, the catalyst to making the whole thing work against all the odds was Andrew Field. From that association was borne a twenty year friendship. Over that time we have developed a strong mutual respect for each other’s business abilities and integrity. I respect Andrew’s vision, credibility and ability in the automotive world and I believe he respects mine in the world of franchising. I was excited about the potential of Code Zero from the moment Andrew introduced me to it. My initial advice was to continue to develop the business and then we would revisit the opportunity, which we did.

I have been involved in the business of franchising for around 30 years and it takes a really good business opportunity to get me excited or willing to participate; however, I never hesitated about getting involved with Code Zero as I believe it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I felt that by combining our skill sets we had a winner as it occupied such a unique marketing niche. However, we needed to ’round out’ the team and bring in someone with first class organizational skills. I approached Athena Paling who was originally one of my clients and had just sold her business. Fortunately, Athena shared our vision, joined the company as VP Operations and demonstrated her commitment by investing in the company. With Grant Kinney already in place as Chief Instructor the team was complete.