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Tom & Renée Burzuk

Tom and Renée Burzuk met in December 2001 and married nine months later in October 2002 in beautiful Kelowna, British Columbia, in the church where Renée grew up. They have been joyfully learning together how to best co-pilot this journey of life.

Searching for Bearings

Their journey began in Montréal, Canada. Soon thereafter, both of them had read several books in the Rich Dad Poor Dad series by Robert Kyosaki. These books gave them a new outlook on life. They realized that their previous notions of job security were false, and they searched for new direction. Renée accepted a job in Kelowna, the catalyst that brought them home, something for which they longed. Tom left his management job with a major national airline. Together, they decided they would take the entrepreneurial path and start their own business.

They read several leadership books. The common lessons were the importance of writing goals and finding mentors. The big question they were left with was, "How?"

Renée is a planner and very organized. She had written goals before, especially during university, and saw positive results. Tom, on the other hand, is spontaneous and had more of a short-term focus, which had been successful for him to that point in his life. Now, both Tom and Renée felt a lack of direction.

Peter and Rita Thomas introduced Tom and Renée to LifePilot. On January 25, 2004, their pre-flight training began. It is best described in their own words:

Pre-Flight Training

The LifePilot seminar gave us the answers we were looking for. We were impressed with the positive and professional presentation, and most of all, with the methodology that LifePilot provides. We immediately bought into the idea of defining our core values first - brilliant!

We worked independently on writing our values and goals. After comparing notes, we were happy to realize that our values are similar - a good thing since we will be spending the rest of our lives together! Combined, our values are freedom, generosity, happiness, health, relationships, and faith. We then wrote our financial goals together as that was something we knew we would have to work on together.

We Have Lift-Off

Once our LifePilot manuals were complete, we were ready for take-off. We followed the methodology we learned by reviewing our LifePilots regularly. Tom framed his goals and displayed them in our home office as a more constant reminder. We also talked about our goals with others. We feel that sharing our goals is important. You never know who and when someone is willing to help accelerate you towards achieving your goals.

Over the next year, we saw great results. Within two months of completing the LifePilot seminar, Tom secured two consulting contracts. Shortly thereafter, we started Integrus Management Corporation, thus achieving our goal of owning our own business and in less time than expected. Integrus specializes in operational and corporate financial consulting services. We chose the name because it is a play on the word integrity - a word we feel encompasses many of our core values.

Shortly after purchasing a duplex, we enhanced our investment to maximize our rental income. About a year after our LifePilot training, we purchased a condo, a goal we had set to seek additional investment properties. A few short months ago, we also invested in a development project; something that seemed out of reach only months earlier. And finally, we acquired an ownership position in a rapidly growing information technology company, Browen I.T. Solutions Inc. (www.browenit.com), which specializes in corporate computer security.

All of these ventures helped and continue to help us to achieve our goals of financial freedom. The amazing thing is that these opportunities just seemed to appear out of nowhere. For Tom, his spontaneity is now realized in what might come next, as opposed to a laisser-faire approach to planning. A statement that was made during the seminar rings true: "When you write your goals down, things just happen." Alternatively, as Bill Rancic eloquently stated: "Success comes down not only to meeting the challenges we set for ourselves, but in thinking to set them in the first place."

We believe that one of the main reasons we have reaped success is because we have sown generosity. We both feel that it is important to give our time and donate money to others. The age-old statement rings true: It is in giving that we receive. Tom serves on the board of directors for Freedom's Door, which operates Christian recovery homes for addicted men in Kelowna (www.freedomsdoorkelowna.com), and is the Executive Director for the Felson Foundation, a Christian organization that desires to help the less fortunate around the world. Renée serves on the secretariat for the Kelowna Cursillo Movement, a church organization, and enjoys cooking for her friends with newborn babies. This work is a truly rewarding experience for us and brings joy to our lives. We have learned that when you give, your hand is open to receive.

We also find joy in our faith in God. We both meet weekly with our Christian friends to discuss our faith journey - another important goal. We recently started reading a devotional together before going to work. We still have some faith goals on which we need to work. However, we are further ahead than we would have been had we not set goals.

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