Spirited

Melina Lindsay, Liane Pinel and Melissa Porter

THE SPIRIT WITHIN

STORY BY STACIE GAETZ | PHOTOS BY SERGEI BELSKI

The Spirit Within Canada prides itself on being “the safe place to be the unicorn.”

“We welcome all paths, faiths, creeds, cultures, colours, races, genders, abilities; you can be pink with purple polka dots and we will accept you with open arms,” says Melissa Porter, co-owner of the metaphysical shop.

“What metaphysical means to us is exploring the nature of the human mind in ways that can’t be defined. We help people explore healing on every level: physical and spiritual, with all modalities.”

The Spirit Within has three locations with two in Airdrie and a newly opened store in Drumheller.

The store sells herbs, incense, essential oils, crystals, books, cards, personal care products, gemstone jewelry, art and more including candles, lotions, bath bombs and soaps that are made by hand in-house.

“Our most popular products are definitely our in-house-made self-care products,” says Porter.

“It is also incredibly important to us that we give back to the community that we are in. Our store’s items are about 60 per cent local consignment. Our motto is people helping people helping people and part of that is supporting local artists. It also gives each of our stores a different flair.”

GREAT GROWTH

The Airdrie Main Street location has been open for 10 years and has expanded to four times its original size in that time. The Drumheller location opened on Canada Day of 2020 and the east-side location in Airdrie opened on Halloween 2020.

“We call it universal magic that this all came together at the same time,” says Porter of expanding during the pandemic.

“When everything aligns so perfectly, we just knew it was meant to be.”

She adds the expansion didn’t come without its challenges with a sudden push into the online world during the first wave of the pandemic and the Main Street location flooding in August.

Porter says the rapid growth is a good thing and the owners have also been in talks about potentially opening a location in Calgary.

“We want to have little shops all over Canada,” says Porter, adding that there are four business partners in total including herself, founder Liane Pinel, Julie Marlatt and Melina Lindsay.

“What you see when you walk into one of our stores is the crystals and incense and beautiful tools to help you on your spiritual journey; what is going on behind the scenes are our healing services but what you don’t see is our goal to open larger healing centres across the country that help everyone from teens struggling with their gender identity to veterans with PTSD.”

SPIRITUAL SERVICES

Before the pandemic, The Spirit Within also offered in-person services such as reiki, psychic readings, meditation, sound therapy, hypnotherapy, card and tea readings and more.

A number of these services have moved to a virtual form for the time being, but Porter says owners are eager to get back to the in-person services their followers love when it is safe to do so.

The Spirit Within currently has more than 20 team members between the three stores but they do things a bit differently.

Instead of paid staff, the shops are run by volunteers who own their own businesses such as reiki massage, meditation and sound and hypnotherapy, who work at the shop in exchange for being able to promote their services to the customers.

“We help them build their business and we know that everyone who is working in our store wants to be there,” says Porter. life

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Action through Connection: If you own a business, or are a business leader, you have a tremendous impact on the growth and wellbeing of our community. The Airdrie Chamber of Commerce recognizes that by working together and championing local business, we will build a stronger Airdrie. The Airdrie Chamber (AC) is a dynamic, professional organization that provides value to our members and is an advocate for all business. Not only do we create worthwhile connections between our members, we connect members to new clients, and business to government. The Chamber works together with our members to improve the economic, civic, and cultural wellbeing of our community.

Advocates for Airdrie!

The Airdrie Chamber is Proud to Champion and Advocate for our Business Community!

It’s been a year since COVID-19 changed all our lives, but your Airdrie Chamber of Commerce continues to advocate for, connect, and inform our business community.

Our advocacy efforts are stronger than ever, as we ask the Government of Alberta to reopen ALL businesses and provide more subsidies for the hardest hit industries during the pandemic. In early 2021, we produced and circulated a compelling video showing the “faces of businesses” that are dramatically affected by the restrictions and it was a true indication of how dire the situation is for many local entrepreneurs. It is for them, and for so many others, that our chamber will continue to speak up for businesses who need a collective voice.

This January we were able to grant $1,000 to five local businesses thanks to our Heart Airdrie toque campaign and we plan to offer more business support campaigns in 2021. We continue to offer online learning and guidance including workshops on mental health and navigating government subsidies. We are also offering online networking opportunities and despite needing to again cancel our largest indoor event, the Airdrie Home & Lifestyle Show, we are still exploring the possibility of hosting an outdoor show this spring for our great city!

As always, the safety and wellbeing of our community, and the vitality and strength of our businesses are the Airdrie Chamber’s top priorities. We encourage all business, big and small to join your local chamber to benefit from our efforts and to support your business community as a whole.

Your Airdrie Chamber of Commerce www.airdriechamber.ab.ca