CHL Leaders: Josh Domingues gets creative in grocery industry
Josh Domingues went from a hockey player to an industry innovator.
Founding Flashfood Inc. in 2016, the former Canadian Hockey League talent who spent three seasons with the Owen Sound Attack and Gatineau Olympiques offers up a creative solution that brings the best of both worlds – less food waste and more cash in your pocket – by connecting savvy shoppers with supermarkets moving surplus items at a reduced rate.
The foundation of the business is built on Domingues’ decorated background, one that includes an education from Saint Mary’s University, where he obtained a bachelor of commerce degree in finance and management science. That opportunity became possible following Domingues’ time in the junior hockey circuit where, following an untimely injury, returning to the classroom became a reality thanks to the CHL scholarship program.
“(The scholarship program) was why I made my decision to go to university,” Domingues told Junior Hockey Magazine. “I spent three years in Halifax, I got it all covered, and those were three incredible years of my life.
“I just knew that I was going to have to leverage hockey for something different than playing professionally. I wanted to go to school because, one, my body hadn’t held up too well the last few years in hockey and, two, if I can go to school and come out without any debt, that’s a massive win from a life perspective, and that’s exactly what I did.”
It was also during Domingues’ time in junior hockey when he learned the many life lessons he still uses today in his business career, including the value and importance of effective time management.
“That balance becomes an integral part of your life. It’s directly correlated to the skills that I learned while I was a student-athlete with the CHL and while at university. You regiment yourself,” detailed Domingues, who also spent three seasons with the varsity Huskies. “When I was playing junior hockey, I was coming to the rink at 9 o’clock, working out, going home, doing work, and then coming back to the rink and practicing with the team.
“It’s just life lessons that you learn at such a young age that you have to go through if you want to be the best. Those learnings have been absolutely paramount to what I have been able to transcend as a business.”