LS908458.L23 Liza
SAVE $5
Winterproof your engine today!
GCOC
3330 8th St. • 705 22nd St. • 1204 Central Ave 802 Circle Dr. • 519 Nelson Road
On Any Oil Change Package
Open Late • Warranty Approved Services • No Appointment Necessary • Open 7 Days a Week
Valid at all Saskatoon locations. Starting at $52.99 with coupon for most vehicles Plus taxes and enviro charge. Present coupon. Not valid with any other discounts. Exp. January 27, 2014
Volume 11, Issue 2, Week of January 13, 2014
Saskatoonʼs REAL Community Newspaper
Heading for
success
Landa Houliston helps young people avoid a quarter-century crisis (Photo by Sandy Hutchinson)
Compass points young Saskatonians in positive direction
P
Cam Hutchinson Saskatoon Express
eople are having life crises younger and younger. Landa Houliston is helping those who are having a quarter-life crisis. There are no red convertibles and cosmetic surgeries in her business plan. At Compass Career Support, the 26-year-old helps clients increase their self-awareness, develop a career plan and learn to promote themselves. That’s what the brochure says. Behind the words is an entrepreneur, a volunteer and a person passionate about the program she has developed for people in their 20s. The idea for Compass Career Support came while Houliston was working at a credit union in Victoria.
LS908490.A13 Liza
In hindsight, perhaps it was sooner. When she was 15 Houliston became a weekend host at a restaurant. A minimal amount of the money was used for spending. The rest was put away to be used for flights to Saskatoon — home until high school when her clan picked up and moved to Victoria. She returned to Saskatoon for university. She had a bachelor of arts when she decided to step back. What did she really want to do? Her plan had been to teach French. Something said no. She went back to Victoria. At her wicket at the credit union she saw young people with heavy debt loads. Credit cards were maxed out and there was no plan for payment. The debt would eventually swallow them up.
RESTAURANT & TAKEOUT
Saskatoons Best Thai Cuisine
PAD THAI • TOM YUM SOUP • FRESH ROLLS • PHO SOUP • SPRING ROLLS • BUBBLE TEA
CATERING AVAILABLE
OPEN 11AM-8PM MON-SAT 3322 FAIRLIGHT DRIVE 306.343. I(8424)
She wanted to help. “The credit union offered lots of services, like a student line of credit. There were options for students, but they weren’t advertising them. I approached the branch manager, and I said, ‘Why aren’t we going after students? Why aren’t we promoting these services we offer?’ It was right in my age range; I had tons of friends that could benefit from this. She was like, ‘Well go for it.’ It was lucky for me early in my career to have that opportunity to have somebody who saw the big picture support me going after it.” Houliston started running workshops. Some were on company time and some on her own. There was a student campaign at the University of Victoria. It could have been called budgeting 101. The credit union
had her spreading the word as well. “I developed a relationship with the corporate relations department at University of Victoria. They had us on to do a bit of a campaign kind of thing. That started me talking to younger clients at the bank: young guys and gals 18 and 19 that were out of high school, but not sure what they were going to do.” She wanted to grab their attention before they started purchasing big-ticket items without the means to pay for them. Saskatoon would come calling again. She moved back and added an entrepreneurship minor to her resume. French major, entrepreneurship minor is not a combination you see every day. (Continued on page 4)
1/2 Price MENU ITEM
BUY ANY ITEM FROM THE MENU AND RECEIVE A 2ND ITEM OF EQUAL OR LESSER VALUE 1/2 PRICE. DINE-IN, TAKEOUT OR DELIVERY Delivery is extra. Tax is extra. One Coupon per order/table perday. Expires Feb. 15, 2014