Faces in the Crowd – Powered By Passion

Vertigo derailed a successful professional downhill mountain biking career. Now, this Victoria. B.C.  resident is making heads spin in the business world.

Meet Andrew Mitchell.

As a child, he started exhibiting signs of fearlessness that would define him in his teens. At the tender age of three, he won his first BMX race. While he played and excelled at several sports including soccer, lacrosse and hockey, it was mountain biking that gave him his biggest thrills. His parents, Susan and Michael, were understandably concerned when he announced that he was dropping all of his other interests to pursue biking.

He started racing professionally at the age of 15, and in the ensuing years became a four-time Canadian champion. In his second year he suffered a head injury at the first race of the year in California. The ensuing vertigo plagued him for several years. A very serious ankle break caused him to ponder his future. His doctors were convinced that he would never race again, but his trademark tenacity had him riding after a stint doing construction work.

His goal had always been to be world champion but the reoccurring dizziness finally took its toll, and at the age of 23 his body told him it was time to move on.

During one of the hiatuses on the racing circuit, he did a year of Business Administration at UVIC.  The time away from biking gave him the opportunity to ponder his exit strategy from racing. When he finally packed it in, he sat down with his mother and they started working on business strategies. He knew that he would apply the same tenacity in business that he demonstrated on his bike.

Ultimately, he decided to look at the courier business but from a very different perspective. He decided that his business, Geazone Eco-Courier would be 100% emissions free. He now owns a fleet of bikes, cars and trucks that run entirely on human power and electricity. The business has doubled its revenues every year, having been in existence less than a half decade.

His goal is for Geazone to be a global company. “I am committed to environmental stewardship locally, but want to expand this around the world.”

According to his friends, this goal is achievable. One of his lifelong buddies said that “Drew is incredibly determined. He attacks problems as if they’re the beaches of Normandy. He never backs down or runs from a problem.”

Asked how he would like to be described fifty years down the road, Andrew said “I want people to know that I went for it in everything I did. I would rather die trying than not try at all.”

Although the climb to the apex of the mountain will be littered with obstacles, the view from the top will be sublime. Just don’t expect Andrew to hurtle back down on a bike … not that he wouldn’t be sorely tempted! http://geazone.ca/

http://youtu.be/WOcKxywUxfY