Of business and brooms
Olympic, world and Brier champ Brad Gushue speaks about planning for success
As Brad Gushue has grown as an elite curler, so too has he grown as a businessman.
Throughout both processes, the correlations between competitive sport and the business world have become clearer and more defined.
“The sport is kind of a catalyst for it because I’m so involved in it and research it so much and I’ve also seen some success from it,” says Gushue.
“You try and take that into the business setting and I’ve seen that evolve, particularly over the last three years as it has in our team, it has in my business as well.”
Trust, talent and motivation are among the keys to finding success in both arenas.
But it also helps to be vulnerable, a subject Gushue broached during a St. John’s Board of Trade luncheon on Wednesday.
He told the audience that following an early draw loss to the Northwest Territories at this year’s Tim Hortons Brier in St. John’s, one of his teammates admitted to feeling the pressure. They talked it through, developed a plan to deal with the pressure and eventually found themselves celebrating the province’s first national men’s curling championship since 1976.
“I try to do the same thing in business. I think anybody that’s working closely with me in our
businesses, I want them to ask questions. If they’re not prepared or they don’t know what to do, I want them to ask us,” says Gushue, who, in addition to real estate interests, owns a pair of Menchies Frozen Yogurt shops and earlier this year paired up with longtime teammate and friend Mark Nichols to open the province’s first Orangetheory Fitness franchise.
“If we can help them it makes things smoother as opposed to them making a decision on their own to prove they can do it and maybe be wrong.”
Long before this year’s Brier and world championship victories, the Team Gushue/brad Gushue brand was already well
established and Gushue recognizes that it has probably helped in some regards, particularly at Orangetheory.
“It’s fitness, and we’re athletes and fitness is a big part of what we do. I think it’s added some credibility and the fact that our team is in there working out and that’s what we do for our fitness.”
Even with their recent wins coupled with past success, Gushue says they don’t feel the pressure to continue finding success on the ice to protect the brand and its impact off the ice.
“Really, for us now to a certain extent it’s gravy and that’s not to say we’re letting down or not working as hard, but it certainly takes a little bit of that pressure off, that you don’t have anything to prove.”
The pressure, it seems, comes from trying to maintain a healthy balance that lends to positive results in all areas of life. Whereas most of us have but to manage a work-life balance, Gushue and company have the added challenge of maintaining a competitive position in the world of elite international curling.
Being a private business owner makes that easier in the sense that he can dictate his own schedule, but it also means he’s always working.
“I am active in all of our businesses and there’s only so many hours in the week and we’re devoting so much time to curling that the remaining hours have to go to business and that takes away from family life and just relaxing.”
Even when he is criss-crossing the country or headed to Europe to compete in World Curling Tour events, Gushue still has to wear the businessman hat. In fact, he’s been forced to withdraw from events for business reasons. “While curling has been wonderful for us over the years, it isn’t our sole way to earn income because if we don’t win games we don’t make any money … so the business definitely has to take priority in a situation like that, and it does.”