Vancouver's Business Lifestyle Magazine

Our friends at Paramount Pictures gave us tickets to the screening of “She’s Out of My League” …. To Win this prize all you have to do is name the lead actor and actress in the movie. Tweet us the answer @ReachMagazine ….

Special thanks to Mijune from Paramount Pictures.

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Earlier this week, we were invited to hang out with Richie Rich and Pamela Anderson at the new lounge, Joseph Richard. Click on the image to view the whole gallery.

Pamela Anderson @ J.R

Pamela Anderson & Richie Rich

Melita @ J.R.

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Natalie Sisson is a Kiwi entrepreneur and adventurer. She’s passionate about getting more women into business and so founded WomanzWorld.com late last year as ‘The Ultimate Resource for Female Entrepreneurs’. She’s also Co-founder of ConnectionPoint Systems and is a Product Evangelist for FundRazr – a Facebook application that empowers social commerce. Marketing, communications and business development has been her favourite gig for over 8 years. She’s also a tad competitive and holds the World Record in Dragon Boating across the English Channel & is a World Champion Beach Ultimate Frisbee player.

The 6 questions:

1) What’s the one piece of technology that you can’t live without?
These days it seems it’s my sexy iPhone. Once a Crackberry addict I’m now a full convert to the iPhone where I can conduct almost everything I need both personally and professionally.

2) What is your favourite online resource?
Outside of WomanzWorld….Google. The entire suite of Google products and application are just mind blowing and incredibly useful, and powerful. If you’re talking a true resource then I’d say SmartBrief – they provide excellent summaries of all the trending topics, articles and news direct to your email inbox. There’s several categories and I’ve signed up for the Entrepreneurs and Marketing Trends.

3) How many e-mails do you get in a day?
It ranges from 60-150 – lately I’ve been unsubscribing from several newsletters and adding them to my RSS feed or cleverly filing them in a folder called `To Read’. I’m totally transforming the way I deal with email and it’s really helping actually. People are ruled by their inbox and it’s scary how debilitating it can be to being productive.

4) Tomorrow there is no internet. What do you do?
I head to Laos to consume book after book, write a novel and practice yoga daily. I create purposeful Mastermind Groups of super smart and energizing people to meet with weekly and keep me thinking at a higher level.

5) Are you followed or are you a follower?
Tough question. I think I’m pretty unique, but then I gather most people feel the same way about themselves. I definitely like to emulate people I admire and respect, and people who are doing amazing things incredibly well. Outside of that I like to challenge the status quo, and should do it more often. Despite the fact I’m from New Zealand I hate the sheep mentality of following the leader and not questioning.

6) What¹s your favorite magazine?
Success Magazine. It’s just an excellent all round magazine for Entrepreneurs with shining real life examples and inspiring interviews. It’s what I’m wanting WomanzWorld.com to become. The must read magazine for entrepreneurs.

*5 Questions was created by James Wallace from This Is a Collective (http://thisisacollective.com/).

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Mode Management Group is proud to present the First Year Anniversary Party for REACH Magazine (www.reachmag.ca).

Date: February 10th 2010

Time: 8pm

Venue: Joseph Richards (1082 Granville Street)

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We will be giving away special swag bags to the first 50 Guests

Special Thanks to the following Gold Sponsors
- Sugar Cane Natural Skincare
- Sammy J Peppers
- Shutter Island (Paramount Pictures)

We invite you to join us at this classy affair taking place at the Brand New Boutique Lounge – Joseph Richards.

For more info, and for guest list, pls email reach@reachmag.ca

Media Passes available upon request.

Reach Magazine 1yr Anniversary Party

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The Banks are at it again. This morning an article on new online bank fees caught my eye. The article was written by Fiona Anderson from the Vancouver Sun. Kudos to Fiona for putting the banks on blast.

You are probably wondering why I’m P’Od about the situation. Yesterday i was granted the opportunity to have a meeting with the President of the EO (Entrepreneurs’ Organization), where i picked his brain on how to run a successful business. A factor we both agreed on was that the Banks are just useless.

In 2008, 98% of businesses in British Columbia were small businesses, and as Fiona puts it, its no wonder why Banks have been trying to attract this market. However, Banks are increasing charges every month without notifying their small business members. What exactly do they think is going to happen? Receive Grammy Awards or alienate a group that is very important to the Canadian economy, and a group that is a very important source of revenue for them.

You might think i whining, but these are the same individuals that want deficit spending to continue. When deficit spending increases, you do not need to alienate small businesses, this is when you do everything to attract them. I guess the Banks didn’t get that memo. Call up Obama.

Another annoying issue is that these fees are regressive, which means that they affect smaller businesses than larger ones. Happy i was awake in my Political Economy class for that one. It is up to  you to Investigate the issue. Call up your bank to find out if your charges have gone up. If they have, give em a hair raiser.

Send us an email if you’ve had this type of experience….You can  hit us up at reach@reachmag.ca

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Welcome to our brand new Reach Magazine Issue. This issue features entrepreneurs such as HOOTSUITE, BOYS CO, CARLIE WONG, and more. to download the issue, click on the cover below.

Reach Mag 2010

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By Dammy. O

Reach for Haiti

When i decided to start Reach Magazine, I saw it as a means to promote other individuals, and not myself. As most of you have witnessed, Reach Magazine has been able to accomplish this goal with every issue we have created.

Recently the country of Haiti was struck by a major earthquake which devastated the whole country. As human beings i believe that we have a social responsibility to care for our fellow human being.

I do not claim to be an individual who has gone through as much suffering as the Haitians have, however, as an individual who lived and grew up in a 3rd world country, i understand when individuals don’t have access to basic amenities.

Last week i decided to raise some funds for Haiti through Facebook, twitter, and Pay Pal. I have been blessed by meeting influential entrepreneurs through my line of work, so I called up the Canadian Red Cross Society, and FundRazr.

Natalie from FundRazr was nice to help me get the application working through the Reach Magazine Fan Page, and through this Facebook application, i hope that we can all raise $5000, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Red Cross Foundation.

I implore you all to help and donate $5, all you need is a credit card or a Pay Pal account (or both). If we can get 520 Facebook friends to donate $5 through Pay Pal, our goal will be reached in no time.

I hope you all can help promote this small cause.

To Donate Click Here

http://bit.ly/5qVBLl

——————————–

FACTs

1. All net proceeds go to Canadian Red Cross Society.***
2. $5 donations only pls.
3. Pay Pal account, or credit card required.
4. if you have any questions, email me directly – dammyo@reachmag.ca

*** This fundraising event is classified as a 3rd Party community fundraiser “for” the Canadian Red Cross Society. Community Fundraising Agreement Contract has been signed and delivered to the Canadian Red Cross Society on Jan 22nd 2010. If you have any questions for the Canadian Red Cross Society about the legitimacy of this fundraiser, contact Susan Borthwick Phone: (604) 709-6600

- If you would like to donate directly to the Canadian Red Cross Society, you can do this via their website.

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By Dammy. O.

Warren Dean

When it comes to music, you will always catch me testing my rapping skills over T.Is Paper Trails, or “trying” to sing a duet with Heather Headly, as both artists blare out from my 2 door Yaris SD. The ones with the alloy rims.

I had always believed that the days of Motown were over until i was introduced to Warren Dean. His voice, amazing, his talent, unmatched.  I was introduced to Warren through Carlie Wong, and i am proud to know that they will both be in the next issue of Reach Magazine.

Warren’s album Duality is out in stores very SOON, and i implore you to go out of your way to grab it. Duality is an impressive album that shows how well versed Warren is in 2 important sub genres of his genre. Hence The album simply blends the Motown sound of the 60s and 70s with mainstream RNB sound of today.

I was given the honor to listen to a few tracks, and yes my mind was blown out this shell i call my body. Warren has worked with the likes of Divine Brown, Diane Warren, and many more impressive artists and producers. With a list of impressive singles under his belt, with an amazing album coming out soon, and being represented and managed by the very impressive Mitch Davis of The Artist Management, Warren Dean is one we should all be watching out for.

With that said, i’ll leave you with these wise words. “Watch out for Warren Dean”

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By Melissa Welsh

Pictures By Mike Chatwin

“I don’t drink coffee.”

The room is silent in slight apprehension.  This shocking statement coming from the man who just announced the beginning of a new organic coffee company.  It’s only a moment later when Rohan Marley, son of late reggae music icon and revolutionist Bob Marley, adds with a slow smirk, “I drink Marley coffee.”

He sits relaxed, slightly slumped in his chair in the dressing room of the small photography studio.  His long-time friend and Chief Executive Officer for Marley Coffee Shane Whittle beside him.  With that contagious smile and the occasional hair toss of dreads, the father-son resemblance is striking.  He speaks slowly in that all-too familiar Jamaican accent, that makes any listener add a mental ‘ya man’ in addition to an attentive head nod.

Rohan Marley is no stranger to the word celebrity.  He comes from a family whose name is still internationally linked to hit music with brothers Ziggy, Stephen, Damian, Ky-Mani and Julian all in the recording business.  But now Rohan is taking the Marley name back to its roots, way back to Jamaica, a legend full-circle.

This past May, Rohan along with partner Whittle announced the launch of Marley Coffee, a gourmet organic coffee consisting of five different blends with beans sourced internationally from Central and South America, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Ethiopia.  The brand stays true to the ITAL and rastifarianism movement that the Marley offspring grew up with, aligning itself with the philosophy of all that is pure, true and vital.

A past football player for the Ottawa Rough Riders, and owner of a clothing line Tuff Gong Clothing, Rohan can relate to the label sportsman or entrepreneur.  But a coffee connoisseur?

“I didn’t drink coffee,” said Rohan, dressed in jeans and a white and navy checkered button-up shirt.

“But what I do know about coffee is that it is the second most sought after commodity outside of oil.  So in my mind I’m like, ‘wait a minute, I just discovered black gold.’”

In 1999, Rohan bought a piece of farmland in Chepstowe, Portland Jamaica – fifty-two acres that sit atop the Jamaican Blue Mountains, a region that is prized as the best in the world to grow coffee.  In the U.S. a pound of blue mountain coffee beans sells for close to $50 per pound, in Canada the price doubles to $100.

In 2006, Rohan and Whittle’s idea for a coffee company originated.

“We were on our first plane ride out there a week later,” Whittle said.

Currently, Marley Coffee’s five blends are comprised solely from beans that they have sourced from some of the finest coffee regions in the world.  Blends that Rohan and Whittle boast have chocolaty, fruity notes, all with a smooth finish.

The names for each blend were inspired by songs from the late Bob Marley.

As Rohan goes through the list he stops to sing just one word, ‘Jammin’ after mentioning the brand’s strongest dark roast blend Jammin Java.

“And then from Jammin, my father wrote this song in the early ’60s because of the violence in the ghetto.  So he told the ghetto people ‘you know listen man, simmer down’ so since its decaf you know it keeps you cool,” Rohan said smiling.

“We call that one simmer down.”

The brand’s five blends also include one purely comprised from Ethiopian beans, a tribute to the birthplace of coffee Rohan says.

When Marley Coffee first introduced its coffee venture, the Jamaican newspaper the Gleaner was quick to point fingers, stating that Marley Coffee was trying to sell their farm’s coffee beans as blue mountain coffee without certification, while Marley Coffee was only stating that they hope to sell their blue mountain coffee from their private reserve in the future.

They are currently in the process of getting their Jamaican Coffee Industry Board (CIB) license approvals in order to add their own organic blue mountain coffee beans to the list.

“Blue mountain is one of the most sought after coffees in the world obviously, and the Coffee Industry Board of Jamaica (CIB) hold a very tight grip on the control of that coffee, because it is their second biggest export of the country next to sugarcane,” Whittle said.

“We’ve applied for our licensing and its taking a little longer but we are working with them now hand-in-hand.”

The Marley Coffee company will be the first organic blue mountain coffee, once volumes are high enough to sell after getting certification.

After buying the land, Rohan was adamant that it be made over to become organic, a process that took just over five years to completely eradicate any existing chemicals.  No herbicides or pesticides have been used since.  The focus is to create a sustainable farm, one that maximizes what already exists on the property.

Today, the farm employs eight regular farmers, with the number increasing to 15 during harvest time in August to October/November.  Rohan’s face lights up when talking about two specific farmers who oversee the land.

When Rohan first bought the land, the previous owners told him not to hire a man whose name was Renort Walters aka Painta, they called him a thief.

“I said, ‘Painta why are they calling you a thief?’

“He said ‘mister Marley, when we were hungry we would take a coconut from the tree.’

“I said, ‘you see every coconut tree on my land, every mango tree, every banana tree, you see the banana there, you take them and eat them, don’t let them waste because if the food waste, then you have a problem with me.’”

Charles Willis, aka Mr. Willis, is also among the eight farmers on the Marley Coffee property, working the land for 10 years.  Mr. Willis is 82 years old.

“He’s not young, but no other man is as strong as Mr. Willis,” Rohan said.  “The man is a lion.”

Marley Coffee doubled the salary for their farmers from $6,000 per year to now $12,000 per year.  Mr. Willis can now afford to send his six children to school.

Chepstowe, Portland Jamaica is an area where rural poverty is apparent.  Shanty shacks house families, and often the lack of running water or adequate food are common problems.

“We came to uplift the community, not come to take away but to build and build,” Rohan said.

Rohan and Whittle are both committed to starting a foundation in the future to help out the youth in these rural poverty-stricken communities by means of a soccer academy.

“My father was a soccer fanatic and I think he left some of that in me,” Rohan said.

But being an avid soccer player isn’t the only correlation of the father-son relationship.  Bob Marley grew up in Nine Mile, in St. Ann Jamaica, and was from a family of farmers.  Returning to the farmland is something he always wanted to do, but a young death at the age of 36 years old, robbed him of the chance.

Rohan recounts a story his grandmother told him about his father as a child.

“He would have to go way out in nine mile you know and dig yam [Cassava].  My father would dig the yam and then put the yam on his back and walk the yam back so they can eat you know,” Rohan said.

It was his family’s history of farming that first got him inspired to come back to the earth and fulfill his father’s dream.

“You know cause I don’t sing you know, I try to at times alone (chuckles) but I can dance a little.”

But getting into the coffee business has proved trying for both Rohan and Whittle.

While some of the initial struggles are over including researching the market, coming up with their own specific coffee recipes, and getting the various certifications, the struggle now lies with meeting demand and staying competitive.

“I think the challenge of the business is that we are already a global brand, we already have awareness worldwide. Now how do we cope with that in a way that we are still growing our business and not getting to big too fast,” Whittle said.

“Our farm is a boutique farm in the coffee world, other farms may be a thousand or ten thousand acres.  You know, countries produce coffee.”

Rohan and Whittle have also received flack for marrying the name Marley to the brand.  A choice that may lead some to think their coffee company is just another exploitation of a famous name.  But given the ten years it has taken this far to get their beans on shelves, a true observer would conclude that Marley Coffee is not just a get rich quick endeavor.

“My name is on there for a reason, because we stand behind it,” Rohan said. “My name is Rohan Marley.  Why reinvent the wheel?”

Marley Coffee is currently sold throughout western Canada at 80 different locations, including stores like London Drugs or IGM.  To find out more information on the company or to buy online visit www.marleycoffee.com

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