Each year, Caldwell Partners International chooses 40 Canadians who were under 40 in the past year to honour for their outstanding achievements. Click here to learn more about the program, and find more winners in the list below.
Women’s clothing and cellphones may not have much in common, but to Stewart Lyons, good customer service knows no boundaries.
Mr. Lyons credits his business mindset and drive to succeed to his grandfather, Penningtons womenswear founder William Drevnig.
A lifelong Torontonian, Mr. Lyons is the middle of three children. He initially followed in his father’s footsteps in becoming a lawyer, graduating from Osgoode Hall Law School and getting called to the bar in 2000.
But the business bug bit, so he earned his MBA at the University of Toronto, and later worked in financial services, at Scotia Capital Inc.
While director of operations for the Toronto 2008 Olympic bid, he met businessman John Bitove.
Mr. Lyons said Mr. Bitove approached him about bringing satellite radio to Canada from the U.S. Mr. Lyons led the launch of the business and regulatory licensing process, developed customer operations, created and led the company’s direct and indirect sales teams, and implemented its subscriber acquisition and retention toolkit.
Then, in March, 2008, Mr. Bitove established DAVE Wireless (consumer brand name Mobilicity), and received approval to participate in Canada’s wireless spectrum auction. The company spent $243-million to acquire 10MHz of spectrum covering 16.1 million people in 10 large markets in Canada.
Mr. Lyons led the initial formation of the company, and plays an important role in its equity and debt fundraising efforts. As COO, he oversees all major operations, from billing and operational support systems to information technology, handset acquisition and logistics, as well as the call centre and customer care, and is responsible for the regulatory aspects of the company.
Launched in May 2010, Mobilicity now has about 350 employees across Canada, including 150 at the Toronto head office.
Mr. Lyons and his wife have sons ages 6 and 2, and twin girls who are five months old. His charitable work includes serving on the board of ProAction Cops and Kids, an organization that aims to help improve relationships between police officers and at-risk youth.
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