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Presented by Kelowna's Chamber of Commerce and BDO, the "Top 40 Over 40" was created to showcase role models and champions within our community, and to encourage our future leaders. Here are your inspiring nominees from May!
Stewart Turcotte
Stewart Turcotte became interested in art at a young age, and eventually studied Fine Arts at UBC. He is now an artist, mentor and business owner, running Hambleton Galleries in Kelowna.
How long have you lived in Kelowna?
I moved here in 1966.
What is your favourite thing about this community?
I have seen it grow from 16,000 people to over 120,000. It is beautiful to see it welcome new residents
If you could change one thing about Kelowna, what would it be?
Improve the traffic issues, Westside bypass and have another road on the east side.
Who is your hero?
John Lennon. Imagine, all the people living life in peace.
What are three things on your bucket list?
Execute a major public art piece, snorkel the Great Barrier Reef, and take my wife to New Brunswick.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Our tenth grandchild is on the way this June. Family is everything.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
Super Diplomat - to convince every superpower to use their military budgets to combat global warming, and house and feed the poor.
What is your favourite place to go out for dinner in Kelowna?
RauDz.
If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
Turks and Caicos.
What is something most people don’t know about you?
I am a colon cancer survivor and I do my best to advise people to take the Fit Test, and get a colonoscopy if family medical history supports it. Early detection saves lives!
Richard Takai
Richard works at several different jobs and still finds time to volunteer in the community. He is the business development manager for Grant Thornton Accountants in Kelowna, a part-time export development officer for the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission, and runs his own HR and consulting firms. He is passionate about building connections and teams, and volunteers with several business contests and competitions run by Venture Okanagan, Okanagan College, UBCO, and the Central Okanagan School District.
How long have you lived in Kelowna?
My family and I have been in Kelowna for almost ten years.
What is your favourite thing about this community?
Kelowna is the best place in the world to raise a family.
If you could change one thing about Kelowna, what would it be?
The traffic!
Who is your hero?
My wife, Ingrid. For too many reasons to list here.
What are three things on your bucket list?
I was going to say drive the Nürburgring in a Porsche GT3, or something like that, but I am realizing how important it is to live in the moment. So, I am trying to adopt Ricardo Semler’s “Terminal Days” approach where a day or two a week you do something you would do if you were told you only had six months to live. It’s a work in progress because you have to be careful not to spend all of your money, or do things that will get you arrested, but it’s conceptually an important way of looking at life.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Fairly recently, through the wisdom of a very smart man named Adam Robinson, I came to understand that life is far richer and far more rewarding when you shift the focus away from yourself and put it on The Other Person. Amazing things happen when you connect with others without a self-serving objective.This may not fall into the classic definition of “accomplishment,” but it’s had a profound impact on my life, and I wish I had this realization decades ago.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
The ability to fly.
What is your favourite place to go out for dinner in Kelowna?
With the family: Mabui Sushi-Izakaya. Date night: Waterfront Wines or Bouchons.
If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
Japan. It’s part of my heritage and a country where I lived and worked for several years, and where I met my wife. My mother first took me there when I was six to visit the old family home in a tiny village in the mountains of southern Japan. Three years ago, some 45 years after I first visited, I brought my then nine-year-old son to the very same house so he could meet his Japanese relatives. That was a very cool experience.
What is something most people don’t know about you?
I almost never eat breakfast and often skip lunch. Every few months I will do a two or three day water-only fast. It’s probably best to avoid me on those days.
Joan Bottorff
Joan Bottorf is a nurse who became an instructor and researcher for the UBC Vancouver's school of nursing 25 years ago. When UBC Okanagan opened, she moved to Kelowna to continue her work. She has since helped develop several community programs to improve men's health, from living healthier lifestyles to losing weight to quitting smoking.
How long have you lived in Kelowna?
I moved to Kelowna in 2005 when UBC opened the Okanagan campus.
What is your favourite thing about this community?
I love the beauty of our landscape that is just outside my backdoor, and especially the flowers that dot the countryside in the spring. Being here has given me the chance to take up activities like water skiing and snow skiing again – which has been lots of fun.
If you could change one thing about Kelowna, what would it be?
There is really not much I would change. However, this year, reducing the water level to keep everyone safe and to protect our lake shore and beaches would be on my list.
Who is your hero?
My heroes are family caregivers. They are unsung healthcare heroes who provide care every day in homes to family members with long-term health conditions, disability or aging needs - often over extended periods of time and at great sacrifice. Our healthcare system has become dependent on these unpaid caregivers, yet their contribution is often overlooked and undervalued.
What are three things on your bucket list?
I don’t really have a bucket list – perhaps I should.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
I am most proud of the novel, cutting-edge men’s health promotion programs that our UBC teams have designed. To see our programs inspire men in our community to not only make a difference to their own health but also the health of their families has been and continues to be incredibly rewarding.
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
I would like the ability to instantly make changes that are informed by all the available evidence we have right now. This would be amazing because it would result in preventing over 50% of all cancers and would be a major step forward to a world without cancer.
What is your favourite place to go out for dinner in Kelowna?
My favourite place for dinner is definitely on my deck overlooking the lake on a warm summer evening. Who could ask for more? But a very close second is having dinner sitting beside the vineyards at Quail’s Gate Winery.
If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?
It’s Canada’s 150th anniversary this year, so I think this is the best place to be right now. Canadians are planning some amazing events to celebrate no matter where you are in Canada. I am looking forward to taking part in at least a few of these events and driving through the Rockies this summer.
What is something most people don’t know about you?
My mother and I graduated from Schools of Nursing that were both associated with the Edmonton General Hospital. We have attended many EGH Alumni dinners together since.
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