Patrick Cairns is a husband, father, grandfather, entrepreneur and a Believer.
He grew up in the shadow of Table Mountain in Cape Town, South Africa, spending the first 14 years of his life restricted as a “Coloured” citizen under the laws of Apartheid. His parents found ‘a way’ for his family — including older sisters, to emigrate and settle in Winnipeg, Canada. After attending a prominent design school, Patrick quickly blended his two loves, athletics and design, and carved out a career path in marketing, highlighted by designing for multiple sports attire manufacturers in Winnipeg (Mondetta, MWG, Bonwit, Gemini Fashion, Pacesetter, Modern Headwear, Woody Sports Apparel, and Sun Ice). His collaborations were highlighted during the Pan-Am Games (1999), Western Canada Games (1987), and he has developed the branding, marketing and merchandise campaigns for many professional teams in the NHL, NBA, NFL, MLB, as well as and provincial and national sporting bodies and organizations.
He has over 35 years of experience in creative design, marketing, corporate branding, communications and sales, developing and revitalizing corporate images, and the design and implementation of marketing and promotional campaigns, both in an entrepreneurial capacity, and through contracted marketing executive positions.
Cairns Studio Incorporated (CSI) was founded in 1989 to enhance the profile, position and profitability of the companies and organizations that he has had the opportunity to work with. As an experienced owner operator, internal executive within clients’ companies, consultant, and other entrepreneurial endeavors, Patrick has been afforded the privilege of multiple successes and experiences in business.
Some of the CSI clients include Applewood Auto Group, Audible, ATTN, Arctic Cat, Beaver Truck Centre, Black Film & Music Manitoba, Camp Arnes, Canada Beef, Connexion Industries, FWS, GFL Environmental, Government of Manitoba, JBS Canada, Justin Timberlake Enterprises, Manitoba Blue Cross, Manitoba Moose Hockey Club, Mazer Implements, Meat Business Pro, Mondetta Sportswear, MWG Sportswear, Niska Group ltd, Oasis Originals, Polaris, SEC Worldwide LLC, Tribal Fuels,Ltd., WeCommunications , Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Winnipeg Goldeyes, and Yamaha.
Partnering with Ray Blumenfeld, the founder of Sports Masters, developed the vision of a digital magazine with a mission to create a community of peace, cooperation, camaraderie, inspiration and sport for mature individuals (Master Athletes aged 35+) across the globe.
In 2009, Patrick formed 1310 Productions with partner Matt Fabbri to develop a feature-film screenplay called Coloured: A Tale of Apartheid, telling the story of his sister Lesley’s life as a swimmer longing to compete at the Olympics, and his family’s history in Apartheid South Africa. In 2016, Cairns and Fabbri formally partnered with Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple at Iron Ocean to produce the project. With the realization that Apartheid South Africa destroyed all records of Coloured or African citizens’ successes and no proof of the story, at Biel and Purple’s encouragement Cairns and Fabbri created The Lost Olympians, an audio documentary utilizing interviews and primary source recreations to chronicle stories of athletes around the world who would never see the Olympic Games, including his sister Lesley’s own story. In 2023 the audio documentary was nominated for a Webby (winning third place), a Shorty (winning the Audience Award), and the Anthem Awards (Silver medal).
Continuing in the storytelling vain, he is passionate about Black Film and Music Festival (Manitoba), and believes that this is the start of a movement to not only highlight the incredible talent in the region, but tell stories through a variety of media that will educate, document and celebrate the vast landscape of culture.