PROFILE
Paint The Town
fred
How do you show your love for the city you call home? If you are Halifax-based entrepreneur, style guru and risk taker Fred Connors, you use your success to benefit the community. BY LOLA AUGUSTINE BROWN PHOTOGRAPHY BY STACEY VAN BERKEL
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Fred Connors (left) and partner, Joel Flewelling, walk their dog, Ollie.
veryone in Halifax knows Fred Connors. He’s a former mayoral candidate (who came in a close third). He is one of the most sought-after hairstylists and makeup artists in the city. He is a small-business owner, a media personality (who has appeared as a makeover and selfesteem expert on The Marilyn Denis Show as well as Slice network’s X-Weighted) and a strong supporter of various youth and LGBT charities. Oh, and he has also led a tireless fight for the right to own backyard chickens as pets. Fred Connors is a man who does it all—and he’s absolutely fearless as he moves from one venture to the next. “I’ve known that I wanted to be very successful since I was seven years old,” says Fred. The road to his current career(s) began in 1984, during a work placement with a British Columbia–based fashion designer. “She opened my eyes to the world of fashion and beauty, and I was hooked,” he says. In 1986, at 19, he borrowed a little money from his mother and started a studio of his own. Later that year, he landed a contract to design uniforms for the Canada Games. He thought he had it made. Though he was creating clothes for MuchMusic hosts and other cool clients, fashion design didn’t pay the bills. “My dreams were coming true left, right and centre, but there was no money in it,” Fred says. CANADIANLIVING.COM | AUGUST 2014
