New Beginnings at Any Age


businessmen, he’s shaking hands, meeting the players, studying the market, taking courses, getting his name out there. But unlike many businessmen he’s doing it just a little later in life.


M Marc LaCouveé of RE/MAX First Realty in Parksville


arc LaCouveé is a businessman on the rise in the Central Vancouver Island region known as Oceanside. Like many


At 49 LaCouveé is a single dad heading into a new career. The career is Real Estate, a business long associated with


grueling hours, competitive workplaces and tough, infrequent climbs to the top. But don’t bet against him. His knack for success comes from typical Vancouver Island principles: a passion for people, family and simply doing the right thing. LaCouveé learned young how hard work and a good attitude


would take him places. At 11 he began as a dishwasher at the Whale’s Tale in Ucluelet. Bigger deals were calling. “I remember when the first big herring season came in... as a kid


we were getting $50 tips. Holy!” That was Vancouver Island in the ’70s. Fishing, forestry or


bust. No scrubbing tartar sauce off dishes for longer than you absolutely had to. “The minute you turned 16 you could work for MacMillan


Bloedel,” he says fondly. After graduating high school he spent the next four years diving into the forestry, representing MacBlo all over the Island. But the bells were tolling, and the politically charged industry began to serve notice of a prophetic instability. “It was getting to a point where you didn’t know if you’d have a job the next day.” So LaCouveé left the mother ship of MacBlo and armed with


experience and a licence, he began measuring and scaling logs and assessing revenue as a contractor and owner of his own business. Over the next five years he built his company up to 37 employees. He not only travelled the Island, he was all over the province. Two more companies were started: a log trading company, and an evaluation and cruising company. Both were successes. However, some things don’t work out the way they’re


planned. A harsh change was coming. His marriage dissolved, and the forest industry tanked.


By Jeff Vircoe “Basically the collapse of the US housing market was the coup


de grace for my business and our industry,” says LaCouveé. “In the last five years 10 of the top 12 mills that I dealt with had closed down due to the market. The writing was on the wall...” And the inscription read “Real Estate.” “I’ve always been an active investor,” says LaCouveé, who


sees plenty of comparisons between the forest industry and the Real Estate market. “At the end, of the day when you’re buying logs, every deal is a negotiation. You’re negotiating a price. Every log deal is like a house deal. We’re talking hundreds of thousands of dollars.” LaCouveé heads into his new career ready and unwilling to


compromise his values or his commitments. That’s one of the reasons he says he chose RE/MAX. “RE/MAX has such great programs that help buyers and sellers


through one of the scariest transactions they will face in their lives.” The other reason is way more personal. His oldest child, at 12,


has chronic kidney disease. It’s a challenge on the most basic level, filled with questions, caution and trips to the hospital. “I also went with RE/MAX because I was really impressed by


the work they are doing with the Childrens Miracle Network and the B.C. Transplant Society. A portion of all our commissions go to the CMN.” In the end, the mild winters, the low crime rate, year round golf,


the natural splendor — moving to the Island is all about lifestyle. He thinks his customers will recognize that and want to be here too, with their children or grandchildren. “It’s getting out there with them. It’s going camping, fishing,


skiing. Squeals of joy when you see your son and daughters jumping over six to 10-foot drifts, or seeing your boy pulling in a 30-pound salmon — while your nine-year-old daughter has the fish club handy ready to hit them right between the eyes. That’s the reward of raising a family on Vancouver Island.”


IT


Marc LaCouveé can be contacted at marc@marclacouvee.com, www.MarcLaCouvee.com or by calling 1-888-243-1071.


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