Ever since I stepped away from running Incite with Ted Kouri after 20+ years, people have been asking me the same question: “What is it that you do?”
Even my mom asked me recently over lunch: “This is embarrassing… but what exactly is it that you do? I mean… for a living?”
I’ve always liked Henry Edgar’s answer: “Jared? Oh, he’s… a man about town.”
It’s not entirely inaccurate.
The truth is, I’ve always been drawn to bold projects and interesting people. That’s been the common thread through everything I’ve done. Because at the end of the day, it’s always the people that I work with that seem to have the biggest influence on my success, my career and my life.
There’s an old idea that your life is shaped by the handful of people you spend the most time with. When I first heard that, I joked that I needed to make a few changes. (I actually decided to divorce one buddy… sorry Mike!)
But there’s truth to it.
So what do I actually do?
It’s… diverse. But in all cases, I try to attach myself to interesting assignments with exceptional people. Sometimes as an investor, sometimes as an advisor, often as a connector… and occasionally all three.
I spend my time helping build things… contributing where I can, drawing on 20+ years of trial and error, and a tremendous network of doers, makers, movers and shakers.
More than anything, I try to work with people who inspire me, who help me see the world a little differently.
One of those people is David Hawreluk.
Impeccably dressed, relentlessly energetic, and wired in a way that most people simply aren’t. David has built a career that spans law, business, and investment; a current partner at DLA Piper, King’s Counsel, Harvard-trained, and the founder of several companies across lending, wealth, and insurance.
But what stands out most isn’t the résumé. It’s his vision. And his capacity to act on it. And I’ve noticed that people like me seem attracted to him, not just because of his track record, pedigree, refreshing transparency, and work ethic, but because of where he wants to take us.
A good example of his vision is his recent purchase of the Union Bank Building on Jasper Avenue; a three-storey Renaissance-style building constructed pre-WWI in 1910, and one of the last remaining bank buildings from Edmonton’s early boom years.
Most people walk by a building like that and see what it was. David sees what it could be.
He’s transforming it into the future home of his Union Financial Group; and he’s partnered with the Sabor Group on a new, high-class, business-focussed restaurant concept called Rocha (which will open this winter). He’s not just restoring a historic space, but reimagining its role in the city.
That’s what I’m drawn to. People who see possibility where others see limitation. People who take on projects that feel a little uncomfortable. People who actually do something about it.
So when people ask me what I do, I’m still not sure I have a clean answer.
But I know this much: I try to spend my time with people like David.
Because in the end, the work matters… But the people matter more.