#FF Bill Beattie

As I mentioned in my earlier post about Jim Rudnick, I’ve found that the people in Hamilton have an amazing capacity to give of themselves. It may not seem like a lot to them, but to me, it has meant the world. Enter Bill Beattie.

I met Bill at my first meeting of the Hamilton Business Networking and Entrepreneurs Group back in November, just two days after making the decision to move here. I remember him being one of the first people that I spoke to at this meeting, along with his wife Arlene. Both were extremely kind and offered to help in whatever capacity they could. The house my family was moving into had already been arranged, so the need of an agent wasn’t in the cards, but I needed to start building my network in Hamilton and meeting great people like Bill and Arlene was key.

I was planning on moving at the end of December and needed to get quotes for moving companies. Who better than a real estate agent to give me some good advice on who to go with? I called Bill and he gave me the name of Mountaineer Movers who were a pleasure to deal with. I’d gotten about five or six quotations and I ended up going with the one he recommended and was not disappointed.

When I told him about my Women In Technology Hamilton initiative and that I needed sponsors for the event, he didn’t hesitate, even though he isn’t in tech, nor a woman. He just thought it was a great idea and that he needed to help out. Thanks to him and the other sponsors, I was able to have a great launch and we got it off the ground. Now the fun begins.

So get on Twitter and follow this fine man, Bill Beattie.

Bill Beattie

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#FF Jim Rudnick

I can’t remember exactly when I met Jim Rudnick, but I’m sure it was at Democamp, Startup Drinks or an event at the McMaster Innovation Park. Anyone who knows Jim will agree that this guy is everywhere in the Hamilton, Ontario region.

When I refer to the differences between Toronto and Hamilton, I say that people in both places are very supportive. The big difference is that people in Hamilton have the time to actually help. That’s not to say that Toronto people don’t want to help and not everyone is like that. Life in Toronto is just so full that most just don’t have the capacity. But I digress…

Jim has always given his time to advise me, whether it be on my consulting business or reaching out to his network to ask for support with my WITH Initiative. Best of all, he gets results! Thanks to his personal touch, I raised more than half of the money I needed to launch.

Jim is a mentor through the Innovation Factory and is helping so many entrepreneurs I’ve lost count. He keeps his ears to the ground on many of the goings-on and has even put my name forward for a few positions.

If you don’t know Jim, you can most likely find him at any tech event in Hamilton and of course, you can follow him on Twitter here. Thank you Jim.

Jim Rudnick of Canuck SEO and KKT Interactive