Luke Butterworth
Graduation Year: 2014
Hometown: London, Ontario
Program: BHK Movement Science
Post Grad: MBA Innovation and Entrepreneurship- University of Alberta
Activities: Human Kinetics Society Treasurer, HK Society Representative For UWSA, Kin Games Team Captain, Athletic Therapist, Personal Trainer/Instructor
Current Occupation: CEO & Founder at Trioova- Edmonton, Alberta
Industry: Digital Health
“When I was in my undergrad my goal had been to become a physical therapist (PT), although after graduation I was rejected from all six of the PT schools I applied to. Clearly my career would need to head in other directions. Michelle, my fiancé, was a far better student then I was and was immediately accepted into the Masters of PT program in Edmonton. One month later I would pack up the car and join her in Edmonton. Luckily, I made trip during the great economic downturn of Alberta in 2015. I could not find a job to save my l and I became an excellent cook for for six months (unemployed). Another Human Kinetics alumni, Adam Simmons, was the first person to reach out to me through LinkedIn and tried to help me secure a job with Great West Life, which lead me to finding a position with Sun Life Financial. Adam and I were adamant about creating change. The more we talked about the healthcare industry, the more that we understood there was an opportunity for disruption. Accessing medical information is a long, labor intensive process, effective communication was non-existent, and collaboration always lagged. While we were having these conversations, I was accepted to the MBA program at the University of Alberta. Together, Adam and I used the connections I developed through my time in the MBA to help find a solution for the problems we identified. We spent three months utilizing white labelled software, but we came to the realization that we would ultimately only become successful if we built it ourselves. Overnight, we changed our idea completely and decided that we needed to create our software platform from the ground up and build a brand-new industry around it, thus came the creation of Trioova”
“Looking back at my time in HK, I have no regrets. I absolutely loved the program, and Windsor was more about the people than the actual city. I was as active in the program & school as I could physically be. University is a time to grow and it can have a powerful influence over define your pathway into the future if you’re willing to challenge yourself. Being involved in such a wide variety of activities while in HK taught me valuable life skills such as learning how to work in teams and time management. As Trioova has evolved, so too have the people we work with, which are spread across three provinces: Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta. With this kind of distribution we must be able to maintain strategic goals throughout the company. Being involved in so many organizations throughout my time in undergrad provided a unique opportunity to evolve as a leader and learn valuable skills such as delegation.”
“To the young entrepreneurs coming through the program, be sure to utilize the university’s resources while you can. I was always told to use your status as a student to your own advantage, business leaders don’t view students as an individual looking for employment, use that to get coffee and learn. Don’t be afraid to reach out to businesses, alumni, and professors to get their advice. The chances are that they have already been through a similar experience and they will likely be happy to mentor you through a given situation. A closing thought I have is that an idea for a new product or service is one of the greatest moments you will have, but even a $10 million idea only becomes a $10 million company through grit and resilience.. Remember to be tenacious!”