The man with the expressive face sighs before he answers a telephone call. He listens carefully to the party at the end of the line and offers a simple solution. He hangs up, shaking his head briefly.

"Sometimes," he begins, "the hardest problems are solved with a small dose of common sense."

He laughs.

Dwight Hickey is the owner of four businesses in Yellowknife. Most of the time, he juggles a slateful of tasks and responsibilities. Not only does he own the recently re-opened Grandma Lees in the Centre Square Mall, the Airport Restaurant at the Yellowknife Airport, and the gift shop at the same location, but he also makes time to foster the growth of a smaller venture, Catering by Dwight. Hes a busy man, but always seems to make time for the smallest concerns. Its a hectic schedule handled by a man with a penchant for allowing his creative side to play a large role in his business world.

"I started in business when I was 19. I started a clothing store in Fredericton, New Brunswick and things went very well, almost from the day it first opened."

So well, in fact, that he sold the operation 7 months later, for a small profit. Profit he used to launch his next career.

Once upon a time, Hickey was a performance artist, hailed as a creative genius. Through the mid-80's, he enthralled audiences throughout the country with a mime performance many still hold in high regard.

"I went into the performing arts because I wanted a change," he chuckles, looking fondly at a picture of him performing at the Royal Ontario Museum.

"I used to do a lot of work in television and films. Later, I did some work in choreography for dancers and fashion shows." he says, almost wistfully, adding that he stopped because of the high toll it eventually took on his health.

Persistent back problems plagued him. He found himself unable to keep up with the gruelling demands of performance theatre. Several surgeries led to a career change many in Yellowknife are thankful he made.

When you first walk into the newly refurbished Grandma Lees, theres an overwhelming sense of down home comfort. The walls are no longer plastered with wallpaper, but rather, have been painted over with a desert-tone rust, providing a warmth some say was missing before Hickeys arrival in the fall of 2001. Almost everything has changed as well, from the chairs and the cups to the prices and the hours the business stays open. Changes that brought more customers into the restaurant. Some say, Hickeys strength has been in his ability to demonstrate how important creative details are when looking at the big picture. A strength that derives from his own view about life.

"I take life in small pieces," he says, pausing to answer a query by his manager.

"I never say Im successful. I always take things one day at a time."

"Most of the time, I let the people Ive hired to be the managers, manage the businesses the best way they know how. I manage to try to manage everything else."

A smile runs away on his face.

"But were doing alright. Weve had our share of ups and downs, but were getting there."

For new entrepreneurs, Hickeys advice is wrought from the years of sacrifice he made as an artist and business owner.

"If you believe in yourself, then others should believe in you too. But you have to remember, nothing happens overnight. Everyone wants a million dollar idea to work out, but they dont recognize how hard you might have to work to get it. People have to realize that success doesnt happen in a week. There will be ups and downs, but if you stick with it and keep working at it, good things will happen."