Lindsay Nahmiache has had many successful public relations campaigns but one she will never forget involved an 800-pound mule, a freight elevator at Vancouver’s TD Bank building and an outbreak of hives.
She was escorting the animal up to a media event when she realized that she must be allergic to donkeys.
While she laughs about it now, the allergic reaction was not pleasant.
It is all in a day’s work for Nahmiache, who is one of two owners at Jive Communications.
What started as a partnership with fellow entrepreneur Almira Bardai in February 2009 has evolved to be a practice that has offices in Toronto, Los Angeles and Vancouver and a total of 18 staff and five contractors.
Clients include Telus Corp., Virgin Radio, Vancouver International Film Festival, Granville Island Brewing and many other brands.
Her success has netted her recognition from various publications. The Financial Post ranked her as one of Canada’s most powerful women in 2013, while more recent honours include Enterprising Women magazine naming her one of 2016’s 100 enterprising women of the year. Profit magazine put her on its 2016 list of the Canadian Business W100, which shortlists Canada’s top female entrepreneurs.
Nahmiache grew up in Metro Vancouver and then went to American International University in the U.K. for an accelerated BA (honours) in media communications.
She parlayed an internship at E! Entertainment Television into a gig in Mumbai, India, in 2005. There, she worked as director of sales and marketing for Contiloe Films Pvt. Ltd. She remembers working on projects to reformat MTV shows for an Indian audience.
She began to get homesick so she returned to Vancouver in late 2007 and created Jigsaw Communications in December of that year.
A little over a year later, she joined with Bardai to create Jive.
“We have a phenomenal team at Jive,” she said. “We always have. We’re all female staff. That wasn’t done on purpose but we have a wonderful team that is very much like family.”
Birthplace: Toronto
Where you live now: Split between Los Angeles and Vancouver
Highest level of education: BA in business communications with a double minor from the American International University in London, U.K.
Currently reading: Non-fiction: Power vs. Force by David R. Hawkins; fiction: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Currently listening to: Various music by Jim M. James (he has soul and purpose that is infectious)
When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: I wanted to be a businesswoman. I used to tell my parents that I was going to buy and sell companies
Profession you would most like to try: Private investigator
Toughest business or professional decision: To expand internationally and open a U.S. office. It was a big risk but also has big rewards
Advice you would give the younger you: Learn your numbers and always watch them. Don’t leave it up to bookkeepers and accountants
What’s left to do: Learning to intertwine motherhood with being an entrepreneur – my already crazy life is about to get crazier!
Join us to celebrate the 2017 Forty under 40 Awards on January 23, 2018, at the Vancouver Convention Centre. For tickets and event info visit http://www.biv.com/events/40under40
