[ep 103] Braden Parker on Possibility, Reinvention & the Revival of a Legacy

About this episode

Braden Parker discusses his journey from a small town in Alberta to becoming the CEO of Westbeach, exploring themes of possibility and reinvention.

Braden Parker—the new CEO of Westbeach —grew up in Cochrane, Alberta—a small town of fewer than ten thousand—obsessed with the Titanic and dinosaurs, building lemonade stands with his siblings, and raised by two teachers who believed deeply in curiosity and going after what you want. His dad was offered a sabbatical at Stanford university, moving the family from the Prairies to Silicon Valley, where Braden’s world opened wide: multicultural families, friends whose parents were shaping the future at places like Netflix, and an early sense that you could design your own path if you were willing to build it. That instinct became a lifelong throughline, from being a snowboard coach for kids to becoming a UBC Sauder School of Business student. Then a door-design entrepreneur, followed by a career in real estate. He experimented with selling cricket pasta and conjured up concepts for a luxury toothbrush before landing on Casca—the footwear brand he co-founded with Kevin Reed at 26. He’d work his day job and fly to China for Casca on vacation days, walked factory floors, learned cross-cultural communication, and tried to create the perfect everyday shoe. Seven years later, he exited at…

People in this episode

Host: May Globus

Guest: Braden Parker

Topics covered

• entrepreneurship
• reinvention
• legacy
• business
• community
• innovation

Keywords

• Braden Parker
• Westbeach
• entrepreneurship
• Casca
• Silicon Valley
• legacy
• innovation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Westbeach, UBC Sauder School of Business

Products: Casca

Places: Cochrane, Alberta, Silicon Valley

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