In the early 1980s, the economic landscape of Alberta was a testing ground for the resilient. For Woody Paylor, the foundation of a future multi-location success story was not laid in a high-rise boardroom, but on the unyielding gravel of a Red Deer driveway. Having spent eighteen years earning a deep professional backbone as an operating manager and partner at Uncle Ben’s RV, Woody decided to take a gamble on his own vision.

The early days of Woody’s RV World were a masterclass in meticulous, hands-on grit and a true family affair. Sourcing pre-owned units through the Auto Trader, Woody spent his days in his driveway overhauling trailers he acquired. Inside the house, the rhythmic hum of his mother’s sewing machine filled the air for hours as she stitched custom interior fabrics and replacement cushions "to the nines" to bring the worn-out units back to life. This driveway period built the mental endurance required to transition from manual grit to commercial scale.

Woody Paylor, the visionary founder of Woody’s RV World, loves to compete. One may go as far as suggesting that he lives to compete. While many business owners may view competition as a relentless hunt for market share, Woody Paylor, on the other hand, suggests a more profound paradigm: the CEO as an endurance athlete playing the long game.

For Paylor, leadership has always been an extension of physical and mental mastery. During the RV dealership’s formative years, he adopted a lifestyle of extreme physiological discipline, including intermittent fasting decades before it became a wellness trend, to sharpen his mental clarity and build the stamina needed for gruelling workdays. This personal discipline ensured that when external conditions were unforgiving, the internal engine of the company remained optimized.

That internal engine faced its first major test on February 24, 1986, with the official opening of a 5,000-square-foot showroom in Red Deer. On that opening day, the lot was swallowed by a classic mid-winter Alberta thaw: a messy, half-frozen expanse of heavy mud and melting slush. Yet, standing by the "Opening Soon" sign, Paylor’s expression was one of unmistakable pride. He was looking at a destination. By competing against himself to maintain focus amidst the thaw, he turned a risky venture into a provincial landmark.

As RVs grew in size, Woody realized the dealership needed a home that matched the evolution of the vehicles. The business moved to a prominent, three-acre location on Highway 2 South, directly in front of the Westerner Exposition Grounds, tripling its service capacity. To capture the attention of travellers, Woody commissioned a three-meter-tall neon woodpecker mascot atop a 15-meter sign. For travellers speeding down Highway 2, that bright mascot became a beacon of permanence—a reminder that Woody's was a fixed point in an ever-moving world.

This strategic move was underpinned by a radical philosophy on competition. Woody identified "five competitors" for any business: the owner, the management, the sales team, the staff, and lastly, the dealer down the street. While most business owners obsess over their neighbours, Woody viewed the dealer down the street not as a threat, but as a fellow pacer in a race he was running against himself.

By ignoring external noise and focusing entirely on his own stride, Woody actively welcomed side-by-side competition on the highway. He understood that creating an RV "hub" benefited the collective. If Red Deer became Western Canada's undisputed destination for RVs, every dealer in the cluster would see their traffic multiply. For Woody, the goal was never to steal a competitor's slice of the pie; it was to grow the entire pie together.

This patient, long-distance strategy mirrored Woody's legendary athletic pursuits. An elite triathlete, Woody represented Canada at the 1997 Spain Marathon and achieved a staggering age-group victory at Ironman Brazil with a finish time of 12 hours, 17 minutes, and 41 seconds. Reflecting on that gruelling race, Woody encapsulated his approach to both sport and commerce. “When I got to the run I was in third place with 26 miles left and I was fortunate enough to reel them in.”

This ability to "reel in" milestones through rhythmic precision is a trait modern organizational research frequently links to executive success. Data from EY reveals that 94% of female executive leaders have an athletic background, showcasing how the resilience, team-first accountability, and coachability forged in sports translate seamlessly into the C-suite. Applying the endurance of a triathlete allowed Woody to guide his company safely through Alberta's famously cyclical "boom-and-bust" economic storms that claimed less disciplined competitors.

As his business grew, Woody’s focus naturally transitioned from building profit to building a broader industry. He became the first Albertan president of the national association, Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association of Canada, representing 450 dealers nationwide. His approach to the association was rooted in a team-sport mentality, specifically drawing on the cooperative spirit of cricket, where every player must execute their specialized role perfectly for the collective to succeed. While leading the association, Woody was guided by a simple, generous motto inscribed on his personal plaque: “Anything that we can do to help our fellow dealers across Canada to become better at what they do would be a step in the right direction.”

In the final stretch of his career, Woody's focus shifted from market endurance to community endurance. Through multi-million dollar donations, he and his wife, Val Jensen, ensured that the next generation of Albertans had the space to move and compete. From the splashing children at Woody’s Spray Park at the G.H. Dawe Community Centre to the sprinters on the track at Woody’s Athletic Park at Lindsay Thurber High School, these recreation facilities serve as active invitations for the community to discover the same health and vitality that fuelled Woody's own journey.

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