Editor's note: This is the first in a series of stories about people who were raised on the Sunshine Coast who are making a successful mark in the world in their chosen vocations. Some are residents of the Coast while others have left to pursue their dreams.
Andi Mortenson is one of those people many of us envy -bright and personable, at 29, she's the head of her own company, Epic Design. Several of us have seen Mortenson's work without even knowing it. The designer behind the Canucks Fan Club promotion in 2008, Mortenson had her creative genius profiled on bus wraps, large posters around Vancouver and even on the team's tickets.
"Bridge Communications (the contractor for the bus project) had seen my work on other buses, and when the Canucks job came up, I held up my hand and they bought into my ideas," Mortenson said.
She ranks the excitement of seeing the "Canucks" buses on the street as the high point of her career to date.
A gutsy young woman, Mortenson made the momentous decision to go out on her own just over a year ago.
"It's the hardest decision of my life. It's really paid off. It's the best thing I've ever done," she said.
From an early age Mortenson knew that graphics were going to play a big role in her working life. A straight A student, Mortenson gives credit to two teachers at Elphinstone Secondary School for nurturing her interest in the field.
"Mr. Mitchell taught me Grade 12 drafting. I liked the course so much, I took it twice. We tried to get a graphics club going, but there just wasn't enough interest," Mortenson remembered.
Another teacher, Mrs. Silver, hired the young woman for her first design job. "She paid me $50 to design her deck -my first paying job," Mortenson recalled.
One of Mortenson's first positions after finishing college was with the former Coast Independent newspaper (a paper that was sold to The Reporter in 2001, which then morphed into Coast Reporter). From there she went on to work as the senior designer with the Vancouver Canucks in-house team.
A definite Type A personality, Mortenson also worked with the Winter Olympics every Friday for two years, a good fit for an "avid athletic." A keen snowboarder and mountain biker, Mortenson will try almost any sport once.
She credits the mentoring of two "amazing" women at Bridge Commu-nications, whom she refers to as her "aunties," with helping the young entrepreneur grow her business.
Today she's busy working with such diverse organizations as Simon Fraser University Athletics and TheatreSports Fanlinq. Her many talented promotions can be viewed at www.epic-design.com and recently she was profiled on a Yaletown newsletter that can be seen at http://yaletown.ca/andi-mortenson/.
A true Coaster, she said the one thing she doesn't like about Yaletown (her new home) is the funny looks she gets wearing gumboots to yoga.
"What? I'm from Roberts Creek," is her cheeky reply to the critics.
