City-size success in a small community

The name Isosceles Business Systems was inspired by his math homework in high school, and Ryan Doehle loves how it worked out

Ryan and Laurel Doehle stand at the entrance to their business, Isosceles Business Systems, in Fernie. — Photo courtesy Ryan Doehle

“I was a nerd in school, I hung out with nerds, and most of what I know about this business, I learned from hands-on experience,” said Ryan Doehle (pronounced Doyle), owner of Isosceles Business Systems Inc. in Fernie.

“Being self-employed has always been my dream,” he said. “I wanted to work for myself, work with computers, and stay in a small town.”

Young and determined

Doehle started his IT business when he was in Grade 12, working out of his vehicle. He helped teachers with the school’s network, and friends and family when they needed tech support. Isosceles now employs eight, including Doehle and his wife, Laurel.

From the start, Isosceles has been a family business. Doehle’s mom did the accounting in the early days but handed the job to Laurel, who also does web design; the two Doehle children recently did a radio commercial for the company; and Doehle’s father, Stanley, now retired from Telus, is co-captaining the telecommunications arm of the business.

A full-deal company

Isosceles provides a comprehensive technology package. The company builds, sells, installs and repairs computers and the systems to support them, and now encompasses other high-tech equipment like photocopiers, Internet cameras, wireless solutions and VoIP (voice-over-Internet protocol) systems.

“Our company slogan is For All Your Technology Needs," Doehle said. “Computers are changing fast, so we’ve diversified into other areas like telecommunications.”

Watching the trends, Doehle thinks that his generation will be the last one to have computer tech jobs as we know them now. Tech equipment is getting smaller and cheaper, and the trend seems to be to replace rather than repair.

“We’re always learning something new,” Doehle said. “If you’re not a learner, you’re not going to cut it in this business. The most fun in our job—and everyone here agrees—is when something new comes out and we get to check it out and play with it.”

Family and community complete the triangle

To balance their high-tech occupation, the Doehles volunteer in the community and enjoy activities with their children. This family loves the outdoors; they hunt, fish, camp and often go bow-shooting. Both children are involved in hockey and figure skating, and those activities fill up most winter weekends for the family.

Doehle is vice-president of the Fernie Chamber of Commerce and a chamber board member in Sparwood. Isosceles has donated websites to the local rod and gun club and the skating club.

“It’s important that we give back to this community that’s so good to us,” Doehle said. “Laurel does an epic amount of volunteer work in the community, and ideally we would like to support everybody who asks us.”

In the midst of success, Doehle has retained the priorities that he had as a youngster, and added one more: to give back to his community.