 Not many understand nature’s healing powers, much less take a total leap of faith when it comes to starting a new business. A famous quote by Benjamin Franklin states that: “Out of adversity comes opportunity.” Susanne Heaton had two significant losses in her life prior to 2009 that had profound impacts that made her understand and appreciate the fundamental healing properties of nature for people. In 2008 she decided to write a book in the memory of Sarah, her friend’s little girl who died young in 2003 due to a rare type of brain tumor. Susanne named the book "ABC Field Guide to Fairies." And in 2009 after her beloved father passed away due to cancer, she left her job, finished the book and started a unique and fabulous small business called 'Motivated by Nature.' A compassionate and determined entrepreneur, Susanne started researching the benefits of nature and embarked on a lifelong transformational journey of nature exploration and healing, starting with climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in 2011. Today in her business, 'Motivated by Nature’, Susanne teaches individuals and teams through speaking engagements and her online nature challenges to get out, move outdoors and be mindful. By doing this, people become aware of slowing down, looking and listening to what has always been around them. Even the pandemic with its full force did not hinder her resolve. In fact, during the pandemic, people realized how important it was to get out in nature. She was thrilled to see many individuals and families getting outdoors that previously had not. Some prominent benefits of nature are:
Susanne connects people with nature using online forums and challenges. Her sessions are quite unique. After the pandemic, she aims to provide both physical and online motivational services. What puts her ahead of the curve is her distinct offerings. She offers movement, mindfulness mentorship, as well as a safe community which was lacking during COVID-19. Susanne’s ultimate goal is to do whatever it takes to help make this planet a better place for seven generations to come. Inspired by nature and feeling one with nature, she is striving to impart this knowledge to the world through any available avenue and platform. Susanne diligently believes in trying hard and not being afraid of losing. She succinctly advises other entrepreneurs: "I love the acronym of fail being ‘First Attempt In Learning’. Because when you fail, that is when the biggest learning happens. As declared before by many experts, If you're not failing, you're not trying hard enough."    Bullying, sexual harassment, and workplace abuse are the multi-headed ‘Hydra’ beast pillaging our societies today. It affects workplace morale, decreases productivity, and puts victims into a pit of depression and despair. Ruining in its path many promising bright careers and lives. Enter 'Harmony In The Workplace' an Alberta based business that was established in 2016 by Ruthann Weeks, Founder and principal Slayer of the Beast. Ruthann herself had a run in with the beast years ago that caused her to lose her own job. However, being a strong willed and resilient warrior, Ruthann got back on her horse and resumed combat against the beast by helping employers create “Workplace Harmony and Psychological Safety.” Thus, avoiding being burnt by the beast. Ruthann assists businesses in boosting their employees' productivity by creating an environment that is free from toxicity and where the workers are encouraged to participate with devotion without any lingering fear of being bullied or harassed or harmed. "I really help businesses and industries capitalize on their human talent by creating environments where people are free and encouraged to bring their whole selves to work and participate fully." When Covid-19 hit the world, many businesses pivoted to the online world, wisely, Ruthann also pivoted to the online space. She launched an online learning and training academy to cater to the needs of companies in creating a peaceful environment. Her learning modules include details about human behavior suffering from bullying, how to identify that the environment of your office is getting toxic, and how to rectify the unpleasant and unsafe surroundings. She creates plans, policies, and procedures to instill a harmonious workplace. One may wonder what difference her sessions would make in the workplace environment or how they would help increase the overall productivity of businesses and organizations. The answer lies in the following shocking statistics: about 45% of Canadians are bullied at work, and around 52% of women suffer from sexual harassment. The more these incidents prevail in a work environment, the more the organization will suffer in low morale, productivity loss, bad reputation, and ultimately future sustainability. This is where the services of 'Harmony In The Workplace' come to their rescue. Ruthann is an experienced speaker armed with advanced relational skills, as well as possessing excellent acumen in intercepting human behaviors to help identify a person suffering from workplace abuse. This being one of the competitive advantages setting her apart from others in the industry. Ruthann is on an unwavering life mission to help the corporate world get rid of this social disease. She is a visionary with high hopes for the future of 'Harmony In The Workplace.' She plans to publish a book and aims to be an international speaker to address the devastating effects of this multi-headed beast that has been pillaging the corporate world for ages. Her last words of advice to other small business owners are: “Don't quit. Hang in there. Just stay forward focused. That's something I've learned, as long as you keep moving forward. Turtle pace is okay. And the world really needs what you bring to the table.”   Out of the womb of adversity, a star is born. Founded by DeeAnne Riendeau, due to personal childhood health challenges, ‘Your Holistic Earth’ launched in September 2014, based upon a vision of creating the first holistic health care system in Canada. A vision that is all about the community. "I had this incredible vision; it was a vision of creating community, helping people, and bridging health gaps." DeeAnne put it succinctly. ‘Your Holistic Earth’ has helped thousands of individuals heal spiritually and physically. It is a platform that helps educate people about the power of prevention to lead a happy and healthy life and assist the ailing in getting back on their feet. It is the ‘bridge that connects individuals to local and national experts in the field of holistic medicine.’ The team includes certified nutritionists, homeopaths, naturopaths and a wide variety of health practitioners and uses a holistic rather than conventional approach to medicine to improve the overall well-being of people’s lives. Eloquently describing what they do, DeeAnne said: “Your Holistic Earth is a holistic health care system. And by that, I mean that we help the public to access care and educate themselves on holistic natural medicine and modalities. In another way, we also help the businesses, the health entrepreneurs, that want to serve other people. We help them to gain exposure, confidence, credibility, and support them in the success of their business. So we work with both sides, the practitioner and the public, bridging the gap between the two, so that both can be served in the way that really helps to create sustainable lives for themselves.” Upon reaching success in the field, DeeAnne created a compilation book called “Heal” which narrates the stories of people who have gone through their healing journeys, whether it's mental, physical, or spiritual. The book was well received by the public, and now its fourth edition is being put together for launch in early 2022. Their latest endeavor is launching a program called “Wellness Warriors”. Where people can sign up as a wellness warrior, which is all about advocating empowering people, helping people to have the tools in order to have a better quality of life. This is acutely needed in the current pandemic environment the world is going through. This will be launching later this year. What puts the business ahead of the curve is their uniqueness of bridging the gap between the public and the provider. As other organizations focus mainly on health practitioner, ‘Your Holistic Earth’ believes in having the approach of encompassing both the public and the provider under the same umbrella. The other factor providing them the edge in their field among all others is that they genuinely care, and they are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty for people. Being true to their word and vision of creating community and being passionate about having an impact, they added a non-profit component to their business to help uplift community members and advocate on behalf of people. This business is more people driven than money driven. DeeAnne’s vision for the future of Your Holistic Earth is to be recognized internationally and to spread the word about the holistic approach of healthcare far and wide. DeeAnne’s last words of advice are: “Walk the talk, if you tell people to do something like living holistically or leading with your heart, you should be living that as well.” She explained it more profoundly: “Fill your soul bank first. Listen to your heart, listen to your passion, and it will become fulfilling for you on so many levels. When we fill our soul bank, when we do what we know in our hearts is the right thing to do, then the money bank fills just naturally and you will have all you need.”   Opting for a career in the general insurance and brokerage industry is a challenging undertaking, but when you have the right mentors to guide you through and help you learn the ins and outs of the industry, then you could have a bright future ahead of you. Enter “Advance Insurance Educational Services” a career-defining mentoring service in Alberta, operating under the leadership of its visionary founder and president, Helene Wood. This insurance educational platform has earned a great repute and has helped boost the careers of numerous insurance brokers and agents’ and empowered them to flourish. Advance Insurance Educational Services (AIE) offers insurance and brokerage-related seminars to aspiring insurance agents Canada wide. Helene and her team of top-notch educators prepare students for provincial licensing exams. With expert guidance, these students can start their careers in this ever-expanding industry. Their seminars are not all-exclusive to the insurance sector, but they provide educational workshops on the ongoing world happenings, which makes this educational platform worthy of attention from anyone that has a desire to learn. Insurance brokers have to have 15 credit hours every year to be recognized as professional brokers or insurance agents in the industry. Advance Insurance Educational company offers these seminars not just as a formality to make the students eligible for the insurance industry or provide certification. Helene wants to keep these seminars exciting and informative so that every attendee has a takeaway lesson and has some new thing learned. Helene aims to better their educational programs more and more, and for this reason, AIE has introduced a very unique and informative Alberta broker training program. Helene is a full-time broker, so the words coming from a successful professional who has 30+ years' worth of experience have their significant value. The brokerage educational services from the brokerage chair take to enhance the license training to a new level. A considerable influx of people has been observed entering the field of insurance. AIE helps these career changers stand in this impeccably rewarding field and make their place. Helene's educational assistance did not stop until the achievement of the license. She realized that after getting their licenses and even scores a job, but after that, most individuals wander clueless as to how they can perform their job well; they don't know what to ask and from where to get their questions answered. So, to help those individuals, Helene has developed a comprehensive procedure manual on how to do the job efficiently as an insurance or brokerage agent. Insurance educational services is not a new idea in Alberta, and many centers claim to provide the best seminars in the area but what sets Helene's AIE apart from its competitors is that they don't only provide education, but they go an extra mile to make sure every deserving individual has access to it. Helene does not believe in delivering the textbook knowledge only, because according to her, the educational possibilities are far beyond textbooks. AIE’s support continues by helping their students gain jobs in the industry. This is why any person once enrolled in their program would come back if they have a genuine thirst for knowledge. 
 Horses have long been regarded as one of the most intelligent and sensitive animals. Most of us are used to horses being utilized mostly for transportation, sports, agricultural uses, and recreational activities. However, there's more to horses than that. Recent studies have discovered that, horses have amazing healing abilities for mental anguish. Dorothy Turek discovered these facts after a personal experience through the interaction between a horse and someone who was going through a rough patch in life. Dorothy noticed how the equine friend absorbed and disposed of the negative feelings of anguish and sadness of the person interacting with it. That stirred a unique business idea in her mind. With a degree in animal behaviour and years of learning the techniques of equine-assisted learning (EAL) under her belt, she laid the foundation of a now renowned EAL business called 'Centaur Wellness'. Dorothy explains that because the horses' #1 priority in life is to feel safe (not food or water), they require people to step into their own power and become the leader for them both. What makes working with horses more effective in personal and team development is that you can't fool the teachers, unlike human coaches who always have some sort of human bias. Horses don't judge us and react to changes in our intentions and actions immediately which is what leads to our growth. "I don't offer therapy, but I offer people a way to develop life skills, improve their communication, and right their relationships." Dorothy works with individuals and teams providing transformative experiences and helps them clear the inner roadblocks utilizing the natural stress-relieving instinct of horses. Bullying is one of the most depression-inducing triggers. To that end, Dorothy provides anti-bullying EAL workshops. Another vital area of focus is women empowerment for women who experienced bullying, empowering them to lead a better life on their own terms. When the pandemic hit, families were forced to stay together for longer periods of time. Some families grew emotionally stronger, but others strived to remain on good terms with each other. This is where Centaur Wellness’s equine-assistance learning sessions came to the rescue of these families and helped them bond better and develop life skills together. The EAL sessions also assisted people that were forced to work in uncertain conditions during the pandemic. They were experiencing a great deal of pressure and stress, and Centaur Wellness helped them relieve their stress by fun filled learning sessions. Their main clientele are families and businesses. For families horses help families to bond better, strengthen their ties, and live a happier, more contented and connected lives. For businesses, the programs aim to assist them in team building and enhancing productivity. “My programs work on improving resiliency and team cohesion, which would ultimately affect productivity.” In future, Dorothy aims to hold more anti-bullying sessions for school-aged kids and corporate employees to help them get a clear vision of life and get past the trauma they experience due to bullying. Dorothy advises small business owners to be crystal clear of their vision and become more flexible and adaptable to every challenge that life throws at them. |
