In 1995, while still in university, Rik started one of Canada’s first web development companies. By 2001, he had already sold his second startup, a Vancouver-based software company, and moved to Nelson, BC to start Yellowseed Web Development (now The Seed). His vision has been to build a company that provides leadership in social media and Internet development, while helping create a more sustainable world.

Bradley moved to Nelson from Toronto six years ago, trading in his urban lifestyle for a mountain bike and snowboard. A real keener – he was the youngest certified financial planner and chartered life underwriter in Canada at 25. Bradley brings a level of squareness that only a 16 year career of crunching numbers can earn. However, his left brain is dwarfed by his creative and marketing savvy. Bradley also enjoys a warm family life with his partner Natalka and their active daughter, Jupiter Jane.

Paul grew up in the ‘burbs of Toronto, but was lucky enough to have an eccentric family that stuck out like a green thumb in yuppie Oakville. Rejecting the neighbourhood status quo, his family turned their lawns into organic gardens. After attending the University of Waterloo on a Descartes Scholarship and obtaining a degree in computer science, Paul worked his way around the world as a programmer. Never wavering far from his family roots, arriving in the Kootenays, Paul established an urban farm in Nelson backyards and married his passion for the environment with his passion for the IT industry.

Yani is a graduate from the University of California at Berkley, in Computer Science. He grew up on family farm near the beautiful Bulgarian city of Svishtov and still keeps close ties with his farming roots. As a developer, Yani Iliev enjoys the creative thinking needed to solve clients’ problems and finding ways to impress people with those solutions. Yani took his programming skills to the 2011 Facebook Hacker Cup, making it to Round Four (of five rounds) in the worldwide programming competition, beating out 97,600 programmers.

Arlen grew up in Victoria, BC, worked in the tech sector in the US before moving to London to work as a founding developer on an open-source ad platform that later became OpenX and Piwik. He has recently moved to Poland to live with his wife & two daughters to pursue new adventures in life & work.

As an account manager for the Georgia Straight and Canada Wide Media (one of Western Canada’s largest magazine publishing firms) Jenna handled advertising campaigns for hundreds of clients. She brings that experience to the Seed to help create great websites and compelling marketing campaigns. While her nails are always done up, Jenna doesn’t miss an opportunity to dig into the dirt on her Dad’s garlic farm or go on a hike in the woods looking for mushrooms.

Evan studied film when he started at the University of Western Ontario, but he was quickly drawn into media information and technoculture, studying websites, online media and networking. He saw this new media as the future and it was at Western that he learned the basics of the industry. After school, he started a digital agency creating iPhone apps, producing videos and gathering a finance clientele in Toronto. It’s an industry that thrives on communication and dialogue; Evan’s skills as a writer have helped him form a vital bridge between the money experts and their clients. He writes short, humorous pieces of fiction, and his engaging style seeps into his work for financial planners. There’s humour in the world, Evan says, even in finance. Evan serves as the Seed Studio’s video specialist.

Julia brings to The Seed a background as writer, artist, educator, and entrepreneur. She is passionate about bringing people together, telling their stories and nurturing ideas into life. As a businesswoman, she understands the importance of bottom lines, deadlines and efficient marketing tools and strategies. She’s owned and operated a ceramics design business, lived abroad and in the B.C. bush, taught at Selkirk College and managed a community newspaper in Nelson. When she’s not hiking up a mountain she’s usually skiing down one. Her family can often be found exploring B.C. back roads in their 1974 propane injected Winnebago.

Dan started developing online communities in '91, managing his middle school's BB system. Since then he has worked in Los Angeles and Maui as a search marketing specialist for mytravelguide.com, wellnessmart.com and many more innovative clients. For the Seed Studio, Dan is responsible for helping clients use Search engine optimization, content marketing, and pay-per-click advertising to help bring qualified visitors to their websites and convert those visitors into customers.

Whether it’s managing your email inbox, content management system or Facebook page – Sonja shows you how to make the most of your computer time so that you can spend more time doing what you love. She also provides in-house tech support and helps companies manage their online presence. Offline Sonja can be found on a dance floor shaking her bootay (as a certified Zumba instructor), or scaling the side of cliffs, boulders and buildings (to the chagrin of the Nelson Police Department).