By all appearances, Alan Oishi had it all.
Four years ago, Oishi was a top executive with Colliers International. He had a great house in West Vancouver, played golf at Marine Drive and travelled the world.
"Everything was great – on the outside," he recalled.
Oishi said he started to realize he was simply pretending to be happy, and that his success was largely "ego driven."
"[I got] caught up in the ego side of things, being successful and the picture society paints around that, feeling successful because you have all these things you can point to," he said.
Oishi said over the course of two or three years, he slowly had to admit that he wasn't happy with his job, and the loneliness and lack of fulfilment were affecting every aspect of his life.
"It showed up in my family, it showed up with my friends, it showed up in my health," he said. "It showed up everywhere."
At a 2009 meeting with his boss to discuss his role going forward, he realized he couldn't deny it any longer.
"[In the past], we could always find some fit that the business and I were totally connected about," he recalled. "This was the first time where there wasn't a fit anymore."
Later that year, Oishi got a job offer from Shirlaws, a business coaching company he had worked with during his time at Colliers. His role would involve working with companies that wanted to make positive changes, and he felt the fit would be great because he would be making a meaningful impact.
Taking the position, however, would mean a step back financially. But his wife reassured him he needed to do this for himself, and he said he was then sure this was the right move.
"It was a very liberating, energetic moment."
Oishi finished working for Colliers at the end of 2009 and started at Shirlaws in 2010. The fit, he said, is incredible.
"We now have a team of 10 of us across the country, amazing people who want to have an impact," he said. "It's fun and it's rewarding. And it's financially successful too."
"I've gone from my ego's definition of success to being way more successful in life and feeling great about what I do."
Oishi said his work now is an "energetic experience" where clients become friends and partners. "I love what I do," he said. "I know I will be in this business for the rest of my life."
