The Floatation Centre’s Lindsay MacPhee proves doing good is good business BY ROBYN McNEIL PHOTOS BY AARON McKENZIE FRASER
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efore you even walk through the Floatation Centre (TFC) doors, you sense something different awaits. The rainbow flags, inspirational quotes, and anti-racist messages that greet you at the front door confirm the centre’s reputation as a safe, inclusive space is not just well-earned. It’s intentional. Stepping inside the centre, which just marked six years in business, you find a cozy, welcoming space. A bright teal accent wall behind the front desk casts a cheery aura and highlights the counter’s honey-stained wood. Colourful Tibetan prayer flags hang across a hallway to the right of the desk. To the left, a place to leave your shoes, and a waiting area and retail space that features a large palette sofa and a selection of local goods for purchase. Another hall leads to more of the centre, including the back office. That’s where I meet the centre’s founder, Lindsay MacPhee. MacPhee radiates happiness. That may sound trite, but it’s true. It’s almost like she vibrates at a higher frequency. Yet, despite that natural buzz, she still exudes an even calm that leaves you completely at ease. “She’s nothing but a bundle of good energy and love,” says Mase Keeping, a massage therapist who works out of the centre one day a week. Obviously, as a boss, she’s awesome. But as a person, she’s amazing.” Queer girl in a rural world MacPhee started life in rural Nova Scotia. Until about 13 or 14, she lived with her parents and younger sister in a tiny community called MacPhees Corner in Hants County. At that time three branches of her family called the corner home, but the name is pure coincidence as far as she knows. In her early teens, MacPhee’s parents divorced. While her dad stayed in the corner, her mom relocated to Shubenacadie. MacPhee and her sister spent the years that followed moving between them in two-week rotations. While many teens struggle when parents divorce, MacPhee wound up with “two awesome sets of parents,” she smiles. “I’m very lucky. My mom (who does the centre’s accounting) is my best friend.” MacPhee loved the adventures her country home offered during her earliest years, but as she grew, the isolation, rural lifestyle, and small-town mentality made her feel caged.
