Say hello to koula

Olivier Tsinos, MBA
Sep 8, 2018 · 4 min read

As you read this story, I’m at home both freaking out and extremely excited. I quit my full-time job at a great company to start my own consulting practice. It’s called koula, and this is our story.


In September 2017, I attended a design conference called One&All at the historic Outremont Theater in Montreal. I had been trying to rekindle my inner creativity for quite some time and One&All seemed like a good place to get inspired.

Conrad Poirier [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

It was a cool and rainy day. As I approached the theater, I started getting a little uneasy. I didn’t know what to expect. I felt like I didn’t fit in because I was a business guy among very creative people, sporting really cool haircuts and hipster glasses. I smiled at a couple of people as I entered the theater and found the closest seat to the exit. As everyone got settled in, I began questioning why I was even there. And finally, the lights dimmed, I collected my thoughts and focused on the first speaker.

Each presenter was really interesting, but they focused almost entirely on graphic and user interface design. Then an unassuming gentleman by the name of Sebastian Speier walked out onto the stage and started talking about business and real-life experiences. He was talking about sneakers and Nike. As a self-proclaimed sneaker-head with a puny collection of about four pairs, I was drawn in. And then he said a phrase that may have been the TSN Turning Point of my career. He said something along the lines of, “… my job as a designer is to get rid of the friction points that my customers experience on a daily basis…” He went into detail about the sneaker aftermarket and the struggle that many sneaker-heads go through to get a pair of exclusive releases. He also talked about the mobile application that Nike created to attempt to democratize this market, called SNKRS. This app essentially turns limited sneaker releases into a type of lottery that’s both fun and engaging for their target audience. His talk opened my eyes to a world of “design” that is intrinsic to products and services rather than superficial.

I left the theater feeling inspired. All this excitement made me hungry so I grabbed a smoked meat sandwich at one of the nearby delis and contemplated my next move. I told myself, “F*** it, what do I have to lose?” So I went on LinkedIn and found Sebastian’s contact. I thanked him for his talk and how it resonated with me as a business person with creative inclinations. I asked him a bunch of questions about design and how I could go about creating a future for myself in this field. He suggested two steps to get me started:

1. Work your ass off

2. Read this book: The Best Interface Is No Interface by Golden Krishna

Thanks to the magic of Amazon Prime, I had the book in my hands the following day. I read it through and through in about four days. I’ll save my book review for another story, but all I have to say is that The Best Interface Is No Interface further opened my eyes to the possibilities of human-centered design.

The wheels were now set in motion. Over the span of one year, I worked feverishly on my business plan, and most importantly, my confidence and self-esteem. And here I am today, launching my own boutique advisory firm! As I embark on this journey, I want to thank my friends, family, and partners for their continued support.

Say hello to koula.

We are a CRM and workplace productivity advisory firm based in Montréal, Québec, Canada.

We help our clients grow by creating effortless employee experiences using cloud technologies such as Salesforce, GSuite, Office 365, Slack and many more.

We do it by putting humans at the center of everything we do.

To increase employee productivity and happiness.

To prepare people and businesses for the future of work.

To give back to our community through koula cares and Pledge1%.

kensington st.

A blog about the future of work. Kensington st. is a koula.com publication.

Olivier Tsinos, MBA

Written by

Founder @ koula. Work smarter, not harder. [koula.com]

kensington st.

A blog about the future of work. Kensington st. is a koula.com publication.

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade