Jason Zanatta began his career in the textiles business sweeping floors and stocking shelves at his family’s mattress company.
But it wasn’t long before he wanted in on the action himself.
At the age of 22, after graduating from the British Columbia Institute of Technology with a marketing diploma, he partnered with his cousin and uncle to buy a small pillow-making company and transformed it into a profitable venture.
Unfortunately, he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis a few years later, but he wouldn’t let the malady get in his way.
Instead, Zanatta persevered and transformed the venture into Novo Textiles Co., a Surrey-based customized pillow, mattress and duvet company.
Since 2006, Novo has seen an average annual growth rate of nearly 40%.
Zanatta said breaking into a well-worn industry such as textiles hasn’t been easy, but hard work and ingenuity has paid off.
“We’re young, we bring a fresh approach to a very old industry,” he said. “We’re focusing more on the consumer’s different sleeping habits rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. We’re customizing sleep.”
When he’s not working to develop his multimillion-dollar manufacturing business, Zanatta and his wife give back to the community through donations to disease research foundations.
On top of that, he recently became a father.
But despite his success, Zanatta has no plans to leave the business. Instead, he wants to continue growing Novo into something even bigger.
“My goal for the company would be to continue to grow it, and continue to supply everyone from independent retailers to national chains and see where it takes us from there,” he said. “I can’t see a time when I’m not going to enjoy it, I’m having fun.” •
