Prince Albert’s Cody Demerais isn’t one to hide his past mistakes. The important thing, he says, is that he overcame the wrongs and followed his dream of becoming a full-time business owner.
The 26-year-old opened a brick and mortar store to house his inspirational clothing line—Limitless Gear Clothing and Apparel—in November of 2019. Now, he’s come out with a children’s book to drive home the same message: Life is Limitless, the title of the 29-page story.
“My biggest dilemma growing up and everything like that was trying to decide what path to go down,” said Demerais.
“I took a leap of faith and kind of went full-time as an entrepreneur. I’ve never truly been happier and I’ve never felt like I’ve made a better choice in my life.”
It wasn’t an easy road to get there, though.
In 2012, when he was 18 years old, Demerais was charged with impaired driving causing bodily harm stemming from a car crash involving alcohol. A friend of his was badly injured in the accident, and Demerais spent roughly four months in jail.
“To be honest, I did have quite a few years of dealing with (my) mental health and drug and alcohol issues, trying to cope with everything that was going on in my own world. I did try and take my life when I was a bit younger after that car crash and it kind of was a rude awakening that, you know, I’m here for a purpose,” he said.
“It did take me a while to kind of understand what that purpose was, but I got tired of disappointing people and I decided to take a leap on myself and my brand.”
Demerais and his friend who was injured in the accident remain extremely close. In fact, Demerais credits the success of his business partly to his friend, who helps out through his construction company.
Writing a children’s book has been in the back of his mind for about six months. But, with non-stop work managing his store and public speaking to youth in the Prince Albert area, the idea was put on the back burner.
Then, he was forced to temporarily close the store because of COVID-19.
“There’s no time like the present when it comes to having free time to work on a project like this, so it took me about a week and a half or two to put all of the pages together and put all the content together.”
He asked his friend, local artist Lacey Lorensen, to do the illustrations.
It took about a month to complete the illustrations, along with Demerais going back and forth with a publisher to fix minor errors, until the book was ready for the public to purchase on Friday.
Life is Limitless is available in paperback and eBook on Amazon.
Demerais warned that it does contain vivid illustrations, such as him behind bars, and that it’s ultimately up to parents to decide whether or not it’s appropriate for their children.
He feels the book is best suited for children contemplating what they want to do for the rest of their lives as he was in his pre-teenage years.
His store, located at 909 A Central Avenue, is opening its doors on Tuesday as part of the province’s plan to reopen the economy.
Whether through his children’s book, clothing line, or public speaking, Demerais said he hopes to inspire people that your past doesn’t define you.
“I’d like to just spread the message that you can come from terrible places…and still overcome those obstacles and move forward and make an impact, a positive impact, in the end if you just channel and focus all of your energy in the right direction.”
