Discovering the innovative mindset

Logan Grasby — Quest Climbing

Logan Grasby is a fourth-year business student and the founder of Quest Climbing, a startup company dedicated to creating at-home climbing experiences designed for kids.

At the beginning of his time at Mount Royal, Grasby didn’t consider himself an entrepreneur, much less an innovator.

“I didn’t have the confidence or the skill set,” he says. “I would look at the LaunchPad posters and think that I could never apply for something like that — in my mind, opportunities like that were for the Steve Jobs’ or the Bill Gates’ of Mount Royal. But MRU showed me that innovation can be more manageable than that.”

Specializing in MRU’s unique concentration in innovation and entrepreneurship enabled Grasby to embark on his innovation journey while utilizing his personal experience as a climber.

“It all comes down to the people who I was connected with. I had numerous opportunities to connect with my professors, in a valuable way, and through that, they were able to get me in the room with actual CEOs who know what it takes to be a leader in an innovative company,” Grasby explains.

“But I think the biggest thing, though, was forming relationships with other students. I was able to see that there are other people like me who are going through a similar journey who may also be questioning themselves. I began to realize that I can do it, I just need to have a good mindset.”

A fellow business student who knew of Grasby’s entrepreneurial aspirations introduced him to Ray DePaul, director of MRU’s Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE), who in turn convinced Grasby to join the LaunchPad accelerator program. Last year, Grasby took home $25,000 at the final JMH LaunchPad Pitch Pitch Competition for his business.

“Once I was in the program, it was amazing to set goals and complete them with other students at the same time. There was a real sense of collective accountability.”

Without this accountability piece, Grasby believes that neither him nor his business would have made it long term.

“The beginning is the hardest part because it's just you and no one else cares about your business idea. It felt like I could really easily give up and I kept telling myself that life would be so much easier if I didn’t try. But the Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship supported me throughout all of that. Now it feels like the world is keeping me accountable.”

Logan Grasby unmolding handholds for a climbing wall.

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Hundreds of customers later, Grasby sees the MRU community as the catalyst for his success, which shows no signs of slowing down. Recently, Grasby was one of 12 finalists (out of 300), in the Student Entrepreneur National Competition hosted by Enactus Canada.

Outside of the IIE, Grasby explains he found great value in MRU’s various clubs and campus initiatives, specifically the Outdoor Adventure Club.

“Running the club really prepared me for running a business on a small scale. I had to organize and execute ideas, and also plan and lead trips. I helped organize huge events, including fundraisers where we had speakers come in. All of that really taught me what it meant to execute and follow through with my ideas and it was very formative for me.”

At the end of the day, however, Grasby says it all comes down to the people.

“I don't know if this is normal in universities, but the openness of the professors, especially in the entrepreneurship program to talk with students outside of school, is amazing. The number of phone calls I've had about my own personal goals is crazy,” Grasby explains.

“I think it all comes down to the fact that MRU is hiring people who deeply care about their students’ success, which can be hard to find. I couldn’t have made a better decision in coming here.”

Looking back on his undergrad, Grabsy explains there are many lessons he learned at MRU that he will move forward with.

“MRU taught me what it takes — it taught me the importance of connecting with people, managing relationships, really understanding the problem, and creating an image for myself that people want to be part of,” Grabsy says.

“There’s so many things that I wish I could tell myself at the beginning of my undergrad. I wish I could stress the importance of being incredibly open to hearing criticism, to learn from other people's experiences, and to say ‘yes’ and take opportunities. If you don't put yourself out there, you'll never meet those crucial people and you'll never have those pivotal experiences.”

June 1, 2021 — Sarah Green