INDEX Food Kids Pages Money Matiers NEWS photo Mike Wakefield A good balance: Coastal Meriia president Jim MacKenzie on the Capilano Suspension Bridge. The popular tourist attrraction is one cf his company’s clients. Fre Katharine Hamer News Reporter- JIM MacKenzie got his first taste of the lime- light when he was only six vears old. The North Vancouver resi- dent —now president of Coastal Media Group — filed records at the Saskatoon radio station launched by his father. From there, he became a teenage DJ. The first song he plaved on-air was The Rolling Stones’ “It’s Only Rock and Roll.” “As much as 1 enjoy Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett,” he ins, “at that age I was into rock and roll, and there was some great music not being played in the city.” It wasn’t long before MacKenzie achieved greatness, topping Billboard miagazine’s 1975 list of five best Canadian radio stations. He decided te take his tal- ent on the road, and made the move to Vancouver — where he worked for local radio sta- tion CHQM before embarking on an eight-year stint as an Compiete mechanical repair. 3 licenced mechanics, 6 Bays, | BCAA & AirCare Approved West. Van Shell Service / Ambleside Market, 13th and Marino \ account executive at BCTV. In 1998, MacKenzie start- ed Coastal Media Group — a one-stop shop ad agency — with business partner Dan Hunter. : “A lot of people said { was crazy,” he muses. “There was certainly a Jot of stabiliry at BCTV. Buta lot of clients were pushing me in (the solo) direc- tion.” It helped that many of MacKenzie’s BCTV clients — including Park Royat Shopping Centre and Capilano Suspension Bridge — followed him when he started his new company. ld Fashioned Full Service ad agency “We started with three employees, and now we're up to 20 employees,” he observes. “Ir was a tough road to start with — we did everything from empty the wastepaper bins to meeting clients. Now [have more time to spend on the business side of things.” Coastal Media is what MacKenzie refers to as a “full- service agency.” They do han- dle the creative side for some clients, but are also responsible for placing ads in key media outposts. Coastal’s team = (“very bright people,” says MacKenzie) come from diverse dackgrounds. A lot of them had no previous agency experi- ence, but then, MacKenzie asserts, they also “don't have some of the bad habits people get when they’ve been in one business for a jong time.” MacKenzie says the compa- ny is unique in two ways. its new media service means Coastal is the only agency in Vancouver to plug clients into Web-based advertising — and the company’s approach is a lit- de more hands-on than usual. “moa relationship- builder,” he says, “I like going the extra mile, and being con- cerned about how their busi- ness is doing.” A North Shore resident for nine years, MacKenzie says there’s “so much to do here, There are two great mountains really close, ail the amenities you need, and I've got a fot of friends here. He likes to sneak out and “hit a golf ball” too, in his spare time —or play soccer with his nwo daughters. Mostly, though —— as with any start-up business — he’s either in the office or on the hunt for new clients. “As long as we put people in the gate,” MacKenzie says, “we're doing our job.” The Face of Business is a new moathly feature from the North Shore News, profiling indeten- dent business leaders who live or work in the community. If you would like to be interviewed for ft story, or recommend a unique individual, please contact Katharine Hamer c/a the North Shore News, 1139 Lonsdale Ave. Narth Vancouver B.C. ¥7M 2H4— ar e-mail . Wednesday, January 26, 2000 - North Shore News - 15 Capilano’s well known gardener WHEN Napoleon St. Pierre died in 1937, the North Shore lost one of its most famous “char- acters. St. Pierre was famous for his gardens and snake hedges in front of his first and second houses on the property at MeGowan Avenue and Marine Drive and legend has it that he and William Wilkins, who lived across the street, had a serious feud going. Port of the evidence pointing to the feud was that rhe larter also had a snake hedge fronting his Dew Drop Inn Tea Gardens, When Napoleon died in 1937, the North Shore Press paid tribute with the following: “The North Shore’s own Napoleon St. Pierre has gone to his last resting place and in his passing this community has lost one who for almost thirty vears occupied a position that only Napoleon himself could occupy. “Bor in Benoit, Quebec on June 30, 1856, Napoleon St. Pierre reached the ape old age of eighty-one and his was a life fall of activity, the fame of which had spread from one end of the continent to the other as a result of his extensive activities among thousands of courists who in’ years past, made the North Shore a ‘port of call.” “A good many years ago, Napoleon established a small home for himself at the corner of MeGowan Avenue and Magne Drive, Capilano. From a meagre beginning, he creat- ed, after years of toil, a garden possessed of attractions thar Were unique on the continent. He possessed monuments in floral design, he had the fanious “snake,” also in floral design. Napeleon’s day mystery house was another feature of his premises and of antques, he had an abundant supply collected from all sorts and parts and which proved big attractions to tourists from many lands. “Few and far between are the residents of the North Shore who do not know Napoleon ar at least know of his activitics. He could even tel! fortunes but sometimes said they were “misfortunes.” Known fer his thritt and willingness to toil long hours in the beautification of his premises and garden. Napoleon was a well-known figure throughout the communi- See Napoleon page 20 photo North Vancouver Museum and Archives NAPOLEON St. Pierre lived in a house at the cor- ner of McGowan Avenue and Marine Drive in “Capilano, B.C.” in the ‘20s and ‘30s. In the sum- mer tourists came from near and far to admire his house and gardens. for 1°. 15% off at our grocery market with ad* Large grocery and confectionary sections. Lottery centre Proud Suppliers—North Shore Parts, Raybestos and Penz Filters Best flowers Best price Best service