Brian Jessel BMW

Brian Jessel, the eponymous founder of Brian Jessel BMW, always dreamed of owning his own dealership. Brian grew up in Ontario, and worked in Toronto as a car broker. In the early '70s, he made his move to Vancouver, where there were more opportunities for owning the dealership he envisioned.

He continued his career as a broker in Vancouver -"the job he knew", and one, he says, that "you do when you have no money." He laughs. Eventually, he found the chance to start a used car dealership. He had managed to accumulate "six used cars at once, and so there you go - a dealership," he says. He found space to lease at Burrard and 1st, and thus began Brian's storied career as a car dealer.