Company History

Jim Hayhurst Sr, founding partner of The Right Mountain, founded The Right Mountain originally as the Hayhurst Career Centre, after having sold his original business, a thriving advertising company, in 1985. He had become disillusioned with his career in advertising and realized he needed a major shift in his career and life. Jim started off simply volunteering at a local career centre before making the bold move to start his own career counseling company.

In 1988, Jim made another bold decision, to climb Mt. Everest. He was offered the chance to try out for a team that was to attempt the climb. Originally, he said no, imagining that it would be too tough for him. His 20-year-old son, however, was gung ho on the idea. He listened in as his son talked to the team leader and realized that the challenges presented by the climb were a great metaphor for life and career development. As a result, he changed his mind and decided to join the team with his son.

The experience of climbing Mt. Everest with his son was affected Jim so profoundly that he returned to his life and career centre with renewed vigour. He became an active motivational speaker using his experience of climbing Everest as a powerful metaphor. He went on to give hundreds of inspirational talks over the years, which earned himself an international reputation. He eventually renamed his career centre, The Right Mountain, to reflect his Everest metaphor. He also published 2 books, The Right Mountain and Where Have I Gone Right?, that also addressed this metaphor.

The Right Mountain has been going strong now for a total of 15 years. The Right Mountain’s career counselors have given career planning advice to hundreds of people in Toronto, helping each of them find a career inspires them.