Matthew Huotari

Born and raised in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, my journey has taken me from pizza delivery and roofing to building and leading businesses, traveling the world, and becoming deeply rooted in community work. Along the way, profound loss and defining experiences shaped not just what I do,  but how and why I do it.

At my core, I believe in building a life and businesses that create freedom, presence, and contribution, not just someday, but along the way. This is a window into that journey.

Welcome. I’m glad you’re here! 

A Turning Point & the Drive to Build Something More

During high school, I worked part-time delivering pizzas at a local Panago Pizza franchise and spent my summers roofing. Those early jobs taught me discipline, humility, and respect for hard work. After graduation, I joined The Pacific Group of Companies in 2006 as materials handler. The work provided stability and opportunity, but the long days and commute left me quietly questioning what kind of life I wanted to build.

A couple of years in, I acted on that question in a big way. I left Pacific to pursue my commercial helicopter pilot's licence. Earning that licence remains one of the proudest achievements of my early life. It was the first time I bet on myself and a different kind of future.

Then, just as I'd finished, everything changed.

Between 2009 and 2010, I lost my dad to a persistent lung infection. Thirteen months later, my mom passed away after a short battle with lung cancer. Just six months after that, I lost two close friends in a tragic car accident. Those years were the hardest of my life. They forced deep reflection and shaped the values I carry forward today. I was held together by the support of my friends during that time, and I remain deeply grateful to them.

Watching my parents pass away without fully realizing their dreams had a lasting impact on me. My mom had worked at the same company for 30 years and passed just months before retirement. Her savings were liquidated and heavily taxed. She never experienced the future she had worked so hard for. My two friends, both under 25, had their lives end in an instant.

That period clarified something essential for me: time is finite, and life deserves to be lived intentionally. I knew I needed to build something that offered both stability and freedom — not later, but now.

First Steps into Business & Real Estate

Around that time, my mom still owned our family home, a place we called Stonehouse. I had just been approved for a mortgage on a condo, but instead, she offered me the chance to purchase our family home at a discounted rate, fully aware it would require very extensive renovations.

I said yes.

I worked 10.5-hour days at my job and spent evenings and weekends rebuilding the house alongside my closest friends. It once again became a place where people gathered just as it had been during my childhood. (My childhood home was always known as the place for gathering for my family and my parents' friends when they were still together). That experience sparked my love for ownership, entrepreneurship, and building environments that bring people together.

After my mom passed, the money I had paid her for Stonehouse came back to me through her estate. I used it to purchase a foreclosure across town. We renovated it over the summer of 2011 and rented it out once complete. Those early projects cemented my passion for business and investment, and showed me the power of patience, teamwork, and a shared goal. 

Despite having a solid career, I could see the path ahead clearly, and it wasn’t one I wanted to stay on. In 2012, I sold my house, quit my job, and moved to Vancouver Island to attend university for business, majoring in finance. I was the first in my family to pursue post-secondary education.

Building Businesses & Designing a Life

While in school, I returned to Panago Pizza part-time as a delivery driver. I moved quickly into leadership roles as supervisor, then manager and then became deeply interested in ownership.

Over the next two years, I saved aggressively, explored opportunities across Canada, negotiated with banks, and worked to earn the trust of the franchise. 

In 2016, I purchased my first Panago Pizza franchise on Vancouver Island. I sold the other rental home on the mainland to help fund the down payment of the franchise. 

The early years were demanding, but meaningful. Within a few years, we doubled revenue and quadrupled profits. In 2018, I co-founded a second location nearby, which we later sold in 2022 to focus on new opportunities.

By 2023 and 2024, I realized I had built the life I once only imagined, traveling the world, living fully in the present, and knowing my businesses were operating successfully without my constant presence. The effort, patience, and risk had paid off after years of immense work. 

In the fall of 2024, I sold my remaining Panago Pizza business and stepped away from the franchise model, closing an important chapter and creating space for what came next.

Duncan Garage Cafe & Bakery

In the spring of 2024, my partners and I purchased Duncan Garage Café & Bakery, a historic and deeply loved organic café, bakery, restaurant in the Cowichan Valley.

Our mission is to serve high-quality, organic, and nourishing food while creating a space that fosters connection and community. The Garage is definitely more than a café,  it’s a gathering place where people meet, slow down, and feel at home.

Building on its success, I continue exploring ways to expand our impact through farming partnerships, nonprofit collaborations, and thoughtful growth initiatives that strengthen local food systems.

Becoming Stewards of the Duncan Garage Building

In 2025, alongside my partners, I took another meaningful step by acquiring the historic Duncan Garage building itself.

This decision wasn’t driven by financial ambition alone. The building has been part of the community for over a century,  home to small businesses, creatives, wellness practitioners, and shared spaces that give downtown Duncan its character.

We see ourselves not as landlords, but as stewards, committed to preserving the building’s history while caring for its future. That means supporting tenants, investing in the building, and ensuring it continues to serve the community for generations to come.

For me, this marked a quiet shift from focusing primarily on operating businesses to helping shape the environments in which businesses and communities grow.

First Class Facilities

Raising the Standard in an Overlooked Industry

In 2023, I co-founded First Class Facilities, a mobile restroom, portable toilet, septic servicing company operating across Vancouver Island.

I’ve always been drawn to essential industries that often go unnoticed. First Class Facilities entered an industry ready for some disruption. 

From the beginning, we focused on clean, modern equipment, transparent pricing, pride in frontline work, and a hospitality-driven customer experience. Our goal is to raise the standard of an industry communities rely on every day — while building a company that values people, efficiency, and integrity.

I Am Generosity

“I am generosity” is one of my guiding principles in life. 

Giving back has always been a core part of my life and work.

Over the years, I’ve helped raise and donate hundreds of thousands of dollars to causes focused on youth mental health and nutrition.

I currently serve as Board Chair of Community Futures Cowichan, supporting rural entrepreneurs through financing, mentorship, and economic development. Between 2019 and 2022, I also served as a director, First Vice-President, and Chair of the Business Advisory Committee for our local Chamber of Commerce. 

Generosity, to me, isn’t just financial. It’s showing up, sharing knowledge, creating opportunities, and contributing where it matters most.

A Passion for Storytelling & Building in Public

Since 2022, I’ve explored storytelling through film and media, working as a background actor on various productions. That experience rekindled a deeper interest in how stories shape understanding and inspire action.

Today, storytelling has become a way to build in public, sharing the real journey of business ownership, leadership, and community stewardship. I believe there’s value in being open about the wins, the challenges, and the lessons learned along the way.

By sharing our stories, I hope to demystify entrepreneurship, encourage others to pursue ownership, and show that meaningful success can be built with integrity and intention. Long-term, I’m interested in continuing this through film, long-form content, and producing stories that connect people to possibility.

The Person Behind the Camera

My partner Brian and I have been together since 2017. He's been there for every chapter since the pizza years, the leap into the café, the early mornings and the long ones. Somewhere along the way, he also became the storyteller of it all. Brian happens to be the videographer and editor behind nearly everything we share, so when you watch our stories, you're seeing this life through the eyes of the person actually living it with me.

Outside of work, our life together looks a lot like the one described on this page. We love to travel, we're always hunting for the next restaurant to try, and we've stayed close with all of our friends. Many of the same people who've been part of this story since the beginning. 

Looking Ahead

Every chapter of my life, the losses, the risks, the work, the relationships has prepared me for what I’m building today.

As I move forward, my focus is on building with clarity and intention, supporting others on their journeys, and contributing to systems that outlast me. I’m grateful for the people who’ve walked alongside me, the communities that have trusted me, and the lessons that came from both success and failure.

The work continues but just with a wider lens, a longer horizon, and deep appreciation for the path that brought me here.

Thanks for being here and sharing a part of it.

— Matthew Huotari