Jason Siebenga: ‘I see my job as helping people find their passion’

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Jason Siebenga, 34, is president of Kelowna, B.C.-based BigSteelBox, a national container sales, rental and storage company with 27 locations across Canada and more than 100 employees.

I always believed growing up that I would be in some kind of business. I was raised in Salmon Arm, B.C. as the second oldest of four kids. My dad was a serial entrepreneur and businessman. I grew up working at a young age for him and his various businesses.

My dad grew up on a dairy farm. Hard work was paramount to him. He never shied away from making us work 10-to-12 hour days when we were 10 or 12 years old. That didn't feel like a lot of fun when we were in school and working every summer, but I think work ethic was a big thing I learned from him.

In 1999, my dad got into the business of renting out shipping containers as a side business to his landscaping company. In the summer of 2002, after spending a year and a half in Alberta, I moved back home and started working as a contractor in my dad's landscaping business. That winter, I went through a community futures program. They support you with mentorship, education and finances.

In 2003, I moved to Kelowna and started my own portable storage business, in partnership with my dad. In 2004, my older brother moved to Abbotsford, B.C., and started a location there. In 2005, my younger brother moved to Kamloops, B.C., and started a similar business there. We had separate companies but decided to start trading under the same brand name, BigSteelBox, in 2005, to leverage the scale we had. In 2011, we consolidated our five companies.

It was a great start, looking back, and a unique opportunity.

I didn't get a formal education. I went as far as Grade 12. I'm planning on doing an executive MBA. To me, the experience I've had to date has been invaluable. I wouldn't trade it, but there are concepts out there I would be well served to know and not have to learn by trial and error.

Early on, I recognized the importance and value of mentorship. I would look for people with holistic success in their life, not just in business, but also in their personal lives. I've modelled my life after four or five other people I believe fit those criteria.

My dad has influenced me a huge amount in how he always puts people first. I believe we see that in our culture at BigSteelBox today. It's a heritage of seeing and treating everybody as equals and wanting to build a community, not just a business. We didn't realize it was different, at the beginning.

Business and culture are about 10,000 little decisions you make every day and the consistency of those decisions in a certain direction.

People desire community. Our company's culture came from within, from the staff and community. Our position is that we need to protect that. Among our values at the company, the first value is 'we love our family.' That really resonates with people. Another is 'we have fun.' We laugh a lot. Our staff loves to serve people and look to be the bright spot in someone's day. I think it's extremely unique that we have more than 100 people working for us and that they're excited about renting boxes. I believe strongly that, since we spend most of our time at work, we'd better enjoy it.

It's cliché, but you have to do something that you love. I love what I do. I see my job as helping people find their passion, obviously first and foremost in the business, but if not in the business anywhere else in life.

Nobody has an excuse to not be passionate about what they do. In a lot of companies, I think people are allowed to be in positions and not really care. I think that's a shame for them because they never get to live out their passion.

We're so much more effective when we're passionate about what we do. It doesn't always happen immediately, but I always try to find opportunities to move people toward what they're passionate about. It's best for them and for the company.

As told to Brenda Bouw

This interview has been edited and condensed.