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FRONTLINES A New Location For Wigs To Wellness & The Mastectomy Boutique
Now located at 4454 Howard Avenue in Windsor, Jackie Apostol-Pizzuti, Owner of Wigs to Wellness & The Mastectomy Boutique, offers products and services to help women deal with cancer treatment with comfort and dignity, in a private, cozy and professional setting. Photo by Rod Denis.
When her sister Annette had trouble finding a suitable wig following a bout with lung cancer more than 20 years ago, Jackie Apostol-Pizzuti decided a change of career was in her future.
Trained as a hairstylist and working in Michigan for 25 years, Apostol-Pizzuti decided she would eventually open her own wig salon and dedicate her life to making sure no other women suffered the way her sister did when it came to finding wigs and other products to help in cancer recovery.
After meeting her future husband Joe, a Canadian, Apostol-Pizzuti moved to Windsor and launched Wigs to Wellness & The Mastectomy Boutique 12 years ago.
“When I saw my sister leave a wig salon in tears, I knew I wanted to help women with their journey and if I couldn’t fulfil that dream as a hairstylist, I would find another way to do it,” explains Apostol-Pizzuti. “I know now that I will keep doing this until I can’t.”
After working out of her home on Maisonneuve Avenue in Windsor for more than a decade, Apostol-Pizzuti has now established a new location with a separate work space adjacent to her home at 4454 Howard Avenue and meets with clients by appointment only.
“We have renovated our garage into a separate and private reception area and wig room so that clients can feel comfortable when they are getting fitted,” says Apostol-Pizzuti.
Apostol-Pizzuti, who is a licensed hair and wig specialist, as well as a certified mastectomy fitter, sells wigs, post-surgery healing kits, breast forms, bras, compression sleeves, mastectomy comfort pillows, seat belt cushions and different styles of headwear.
Her wigs can also be helpful to women suffering from alopecia or other hair loss issues.
“Women who have recovered from COVID-19 can suffer hair loss and many don’t make the connection with COVID,” Apostol-Pizzuti indicates. “Our wigs can help anyone with hair loss issues regardless of the reason for the loss.”
Apostol-Pizzuti also wrote a book in 2018 entitled Healing Pretty, which is a head-to-toe guide to help women feel comfortable, confident and empowered through chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and recovery.
In addition, she is a volunteer with the international Look Good Feel Better program, which teaches beauty techniques to people with cancer to help them manage the appearance-related side effects of cancer treatment.
For further details about this past Biz X Award winner for The Best Little Retail Shop Of 2017, you can visit the two websites: WigsToWellness.com and: HealingPrettyBook.com.
FRONTLINES
Pictured are entrepreneurs and mentors working together in the EPICentre’s coworking space. Photo courtesy of the EPICentre.
Your business is unique; your space should be too! Here’s a new program you may want to consider from the University of Windsor
Entrepreneurship, Practice, and Innovation
Centre (EPICentre).
This hub for entrepreneurial endeavours — located on the university campus — recently introduced its Coworking Program for new and existing companies to gain access to the centre’s open concept workspace, amenities, local entrepreneurship ecosystem, and other resources, to help a business grow and integrate into a vibrant entrepreneurship community.
The EPICentre Coworking Program assists entrepreneurs in running their ventures in an environment committed to nurturing creativity and innovation.
“We want start-ups and small businesses to reap the benefits of the entrepreneurial ecosystem that we’ve cultivated since the inception of the EPICentre,” states Wen Teoh, EPICentre Director. “Any entrepreneur knows that it takes a village, and with this program, we’re giving entrepreneurs, at any stage of their journey, access to an entire community.”
Start-ups, small businesses, and organizations looking to connect with other like-minded individuals and help build Windsor’s vibrant and collaborative entrepreneurship community, are all welcome in the Coworking Program.
Eligible members have two membershiplevel options to suit their start-up’s needs.
They can choose between the General Membership, which provides access to hot desks, members-only resources, and a network of mentors and advisors, or the Affiliate Membership, which includes access to dedicated desks, plus all the perks of the General Membership program and more.
Interested in joining? For further details visit: EPICentreuwindsor.ca/coworking.
2021 Business Highlights From Invest WindsorEssex
In late May 2022, Invest WindsorEssex (IWE) — the lead economic development organization for the Windsor Essex region — hosted its 2021 Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Caesars Windsor.
The AGM was held in-person for the first time since the onset of the pandemic and welcomed over 100 community partners, business clients and stakeholders. The meeting reported on the 2021 business development accomplishments and activities, including performance metrics and the corporation’s financials.
The 2021 annual report was also released (available on: InvestWindsorEssex.com). Overall, the performance of the Windsor Essex economy was very positive.
“Invest WindsorEssex was successful in attracting $9.9 million in government grants to support economic development initiatives for Windsor Essex in 2021,” states Stephen MacKenzie, President and CEO, Invest WindsorEssex. “The IWE team was also successful in attracting $110 million in investment and creating 776 local jobs.” 2021 department activity highlights include . . .
Under the Emerging Technologies banner, the Business Retention and Expansion team hosted two virtual conferences and two speaker series workshops, which attracted over 550 attendees from the region and beyond. Topics ranged from automation and cybersecurity to business strategies for success.
The Small Business & Entrepreneurship Centre (WEbusinesscentre.com) had a very busy year as they managed and administered the RE3 (Rebuild, Reopen, Revive) program for Windsor Essex and across Southern Ontario. The team distributed $1.8 million in COVID-19 relief funding to 379 small and medium-sized women-led businesses that were affected by the pandemic.
The Investment Attraction team laid the groundwork for many of the recently announced large investments in the automotive sector (including the Stellantis/ LG Energy Solution battery plant: NextStar Energy Inc.). Starting with the P3 Group Study, the team did extensive research into developing a strategy to grow the region’s zero-emission, e-mobility ecosystem.
They also succeeded in attracting several new IT companies to Windsor Essex.
Automobility and Innovation launched the Canadian Automobility Hub — a first-of-its-kind in Canada EV (Electric Vehicle) ramp-up factory. This facility will serve as an innovation centre for start-ups, SMEs, OEMs and research institutions.
Furthermore, the Federal Economic
Development Agency for Southern
Ontario announced a five year commitment and $7.5 million, to Invest WindsorEssex and regional partners, to offer of a full spectrum of training and programming for automobility entrepreneurs and scaling firms.
This will continue to attract investment to the region and create jobs of the future for Windsor Essex — The Automobility Capital of Canada.
Finally, Marketing and Communications launched a full rebrand, name change and new websites for the organization (WindsorEssex Economic Development Corporation is now Invest WindsorEssex). The rebrand reflects the organization’s continued efforts toward promoting and advancing economic opportunities in Windsor Essex in a modern and competitive way.
“The future is Windsor Essex,” MacKenzie concludes. “Our region is well positioned to continue this momentum in 2022 and beyond.”
