Clean Tech

GreenStep Solutions

Using Technology to Save the World

GreenStep Solutions has doubled its size with a total of 16 people working in the Kelowna head office or remotely across Canada.

WATCH

It was a desire to save the world that compelled 18-year-old Angela Nagy to start GreenStep Solutions. It’s been a desire to persevere and stay true to her purpose that enabled Angela to make Greenstep one of the country’s leading companies to promote sustainability initiatives in business and politics.

Saving the world seems like an overly ambitious goal when starting a company, but that’s exactly what spurred Angela Nagy to launch GreenStep Solutions in 2008. After completing a sustainability strategy for their first client, a large, well-known company, Angela realized that there was more of a need to help small and medium sized businesses, which make up a huge percentage of the market.

In the beginning, GreenStep worked onsite with these businesses; however, Angela and her team knew that the only way to scale their business and quickly create the big impact they wanted was through digital technology. So, they developed online assessment tools that businesses could use to measure and improve their sustainability performance.

As part of the company’s evolution, they moved further into the clean tech sphere by acquiring a carbon measurement software company in 2013. The GreenStep team completely redeveloped the software and designed it as a tool for small and medium sized businesses to measure and track their carbon footprint.

“What I’ve learned in operating my business, as I’ve grown the digital side of the company, is the amazing network and support systems that are available to entrepreneurs in the Okanagan,” says Angela. “Whether that’s through Accelerate Okanagan or other entrepreneurs…It’s mentors and programs for businesses like mine that help us grow.”

GreenStep Solutions has certainly flourished, doubling in size each of the last few years, with a total of 16 people working in the Kelowna head office or remotely from locations across Canada. As her company has grown, Angela has dealt with the ups and downs of entrepreneurship, her resiliency and ambition guiding her every step of the way. Through both the good and tough times, she was able to find encouragement and connect with like-minded people thanks to organizations like Okanagan Women’s Mentoring and Angel Network and WeBC, who specifically support women entrepreneurs.

As an entrepreneur, Angela knows that building and nurturing relationships is key to success. To this end, GreenStep developed a long-standing partnership with the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association, who they are working closely with to become global leaders in sustainable tourism.

“Our big, hairy, audacious goal is to become the business most known for improving the sustainability performance of small and medium sized businesses throughout North America,” says Angela. “Our legacy would be that it started here in Kelowna, that it’s an Okanagan success story and that it has a positive impact on the business community within our region.”

The positive impact the company wants to achieve is already well underway—GreenStep Solutions has worked with more than 3,000 tourism destinations, businesses, and organizations, including Tourism Kelowna, who in 2021 achieved Platinum Certification through GreenStep’s Sustainable Tourism Program. 

As Angela reflects on her more than 20 years working in Kelowna’s technology ecosystem, she observes how neat it’s been to watch things incubate and grow, with numerous entrepreneurs in the region using technology to solve environmental problems.