Charlie Frise, a third-year Architectural Engineering student at UWaterloo, has not let the pandemic slow him down. Rather, he has used the changing work culture to springboard his new venture of creating customisable office space in your backyard. Combining his passion for building with a keen sense of entrepreneurship, Frise kickstarted Frise Design and Build and got busy designing and creating tiny builds. With most of his family either working or learning from home during the pandemic, space was at a premium. So Frise got to work on his first project - creating a modular structure in his parents' backyard that meant family members could retreat to a quiet office space to work, free from distractions. He filmed the design and construction progress of his backyard office space and posted it to his Youtube channel, landing his first client in the process!
Frise has also launched "Open Book Entrepreneurship" on his Youtube channel, where he shares insights into what it's been like for him to start a company, change tack halfway through a project, create custom designs, and ultimately, meet his client's goal.