Nicole Brandson describes herself as fiercely independent, a character trait made evident both by her work as a consultant forging her way in male-dominated industries, and in her outdoor pursuits.
Brandson not only owns and operates her own company, Cariboo Safety Consulting, but she tries to make every journey she takes an adventure, whether for work or recreation.
While traveling around the province to work with organizations ranging from municipalities to schools to construction companies to forestry companies, she usually brings her bike and seeks out some form of adventure along the way.
She travels for work a lot, thanks to the success of the business she started with the help of a small business program she took through Community Futures when her son Leif was just two years old.
While she had been working for Tolko at the time, she wanted to have a more flexible schedule while raising her son.
“It was fantastic,” she recalls of the program, noting they helped ensured she dealt with all the fine details of starting a company.
At the time, the BC Forest Safety Council had been bringing in Safe Certification to address the number of injuries and fatalities in the forest industry.
Starting out giving safety talks in truck shops to groups of men as a young woman was initially a tough learning curve in figuring out how to belong and get the respect for her work while listening to the workers and their experiences.
Brandson said while women are often undervalued, there is a tendency for women to also undervalue themselves. She feels passionate that young women should be shown how to both embrace their nurturing side while also being able to see themselves in leading roles.
Nearly two decades on in her career, she said even though sometimes she still sometimes sees doubt in people when she shows up, her work speaks for itself and she has the confidence not to let those reactions phase her.
Her ability to prove herself and show doubters how capable she is caters to her competitive nature.
Brandson said she was not necessarily always the smartest person in the room, but “I was always the one who tried the hardest.”
She also loves the variety in her work.
“There’s never a day that’s the same,” said Brandson.
The flexibility of being self-employed provides her the opportunity to pursue her other outlet for her competitive nature — mountain biking.
The sport, which she has been doing since the 90s, is part of why she moved back to the lakecity after having lived part time in Quesnel for six years while raising her son.
Brandson was not born in Williams Lake, but it is clear her feelings for the lakecity run deep.
“I love it here so much, it’s home” she explains.
She was born in Abbotsford, but her family moved to Williams Lake when she was two years old. Her dad built the family a house on Fox Mountain and her parents live there still.
She was the eldest of three girls, with younger sisters Robin and Jaimie coming up behind her.
Brandson is the only one of the three siblings who ended up in Williams Lake.
She bought a house in town about three years ago and enjoys having somewhere she said really feels like “this is exactly who I am” when she walks in.
Brandson is not planning on leaving anytime soon, with her business, her parents and great mountain biking all here.
She spends a lot of time on the local trails year-round, mountain biking, hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing, getting out regularly when she is at home.
At 50 years old, she said she loves it and being outdoors “makes her soul sing.”
Read more: OUR HOMETOWN: Cariboo mountain biker is forging a new path for himself
Read more: Sunshine for a spring ski at Bull Mountain near Williams Lake
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