Carolyn Gibson is an entrepreneur with an extensive background in training and development who is a pillar of support for businesses in Revelstoke. From her first days as a consultant to becoming the driving force behind The Pines Business Development—her own advisory service dedicated to helping local businesses thrive—Carolyn has been on a remarkable journey.

Carolyn’s true passion lies in nurturing aspiring entrepreneurs and helping them launch and elevate their businesses. For the past six years, Carolyn has partnered with Start-up Revelstoke, providing support, networking, mentoring, coaching, and training to a variety of clients. 

Given her influential role within the community, it was a natural fit for Carolyn to extend her expertise to the WeBC community. Her journey with WeBC began as a leader in the Taking the Stage® training program, and later as a WeBC Peer Mentoring Group facilitator. Carolyn’s dedication and commitment to empowering local businesses and entrepreneurs make her an invaluable addition to WeBC, so she became a Regional Ambassador in 2023. 

In this new role, Carolyn is determined to empower Revelstoke’s entrepreneurs by providing them with essential resources and valuable support. Carolyn’s wealth of experience and dedication make her a driving force behind Revelstoke’s business community.

Ambassador Q&A

Q: Can you share any lessons you’ve learned and your biggest strengths from your journey as a business owner?

A: The biggest lesson I’ve learned is how important entrepreneurs are to the economic diversification and sustainability of communities. Revelstoke is an entrepreneur-based community, and it allows for the culture and flavor of Revelstoke to come out. It also allows for money to stay within the community and that’s really important, especially when there are all these competing factors like big box stores.

Through becoming an entrepreneur, one of my biggest strengths is being able to pull multiple organizations together to create something bigger. By having the organizations talk to each other, it just benefits the individual entrepreneur so much more. No one person has all the answers, so building out my network within my community where we can all find answers together is important.

Q: What made you want to become a Regional Ambassador?

A: When WeBC asked me if I would take on the Regional Ambassador role, I was excited because it’s another tool I can provide for entrepreneurs here in town. They have a variety of different services, and I can offer options no matter where they are in their journey. What I love doing is connecting people with the available resources, so it was a great fit.

Q: What are you most looking forward to in your new Regional Ambassador role?

A: I’m excited to continue my involvement with WeBC. My previous experiences with the Taking the Stage® program and Peer Mentoring program have been incredibly positive. It’s all about like-minded individuals coming together, which I find fulfilling. 

Q: What advice would you offer aspiring entrepreneurs looking to start their own business?

A: I like to caution against the “Field of Dreams” mentality, where you assume that if you build it, they will come. The more work you can do before you start your business to make sure you’ve done your research properly and understand your customer base, the better. So, the best advice I can offer to aspiring business owners is: do your business plan!

Where to find Carolyn Gibson

LinkedIn

Email: carolyn@thepinesrevelstoke.com