My name is Hunter and you're probably wondering how I got in this situation.
The journey of PORCH started 2 years ago when Neil (my dad and goofy guy beside me in the picture) and I sat down to brainstorm some ideas.
It was sort of a tradition we had. Whether we were on our way to hockey, sitting in the hot tub, or eating dinner, every couple of days we'd spitball about 10 different business ideas.
Most of them were sh*t but it was always fun to come up with 10-minute businesses. We'd run through the whole business plan and then normally end it with "..... yeahhh that isn't going to work".
We did this for years. But then I was away at school and so these brainstorm hangouts became less frequent.
That was until I came back at the end of one of my semesters and we grabbed a seat at the famous kitchen table and the idea of PORCH was born.
A few months later we launched the first real community focused specifically on immigrant entrepreneurs. Not just immigrants. Not just entrepreneurs. But immigrant entrepreneurs who face many different challenges and roadblocks than an entrepreneur born in Canada/U.S. will face.
A year and a half later this picture is taken at one of our regular beautiful events with immigrant entrepreneurs from all over the world coming together to learn and support each other in their journeys!
People from 60+ countries with different backgrounds, cultures, walks of life, and journeys all coming together is a beautiful thing to see.
The other fun people in this picture are Susan Cayne and Pete Crouse who were some of the amazing coaches for the Coaching & Coffee event in September (along with Will Greenblatt and Nirma Jesuthasan).
Yes, I hope PORCH can continue for years and years to come. But the number of amazing people I have met, learned from, laughed with, built friendships with, it's all priceless and I am very grateful for what has been built by the community and every moment we've had together.
Thank you to everyone who has had a role in making PORCH what it is today. The partners, the ambassadors, the first members who trusted us, the latest members to join, and everyone in between.
It's been an awesome 2 years!