Donald Cooper: Profile

Having spent 20 years as a world-class manufacturer (Cooper Sporting Goods) and 14 years as one of Canada’s most innovative retailers, Cooper knows what hard work is all about. He got his start working at his family’s business – Cooper Canada at the age 0f 6. Cooper Canada went on to become the world’s leading manufacturer of hockey equipment and Canada’s largest maker of both sporting goods and fine leather goods. After leaving Cooper Canada, he founded Alive & Well, a unique women’s apparel and gifts “warehouse boutique” that fundamentally reinvented the very idea of what a retailer could be and attracted international attention. In just 3 years, it garnered seven awards for marketing, service and business excellence and community involvement, including being voted Canada’s Outstanding Innovative Retailer in 1991.

Cooper speaks to and coaches over 30,000 business owners, leaders and managers each year, drawing from his past business experience. His unique insights, innovative concepts and simple processes create extraordinary organizations, and extraordinary lives.

Cooper is respected by clients as a “thought leader” and a passionate visionary. His benchmark work on vision, mission, marketing and management effectiveness has helped businesses create clarity, commitment and accountability about where they’re going, and how they’ll get there. He brings to any results-based discussion a rare balance of reality and possibilities.