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SHARPWOMEN
RANCHELLE VAN BRYCE co-founder
DANIELLE KLOOSTER co-founder
TEAM
CARLA HOWATT editor in chief
KELSEY EVANS executive assistant
RACHELLE SCRASE director of photography
THIS MONTH’S
GUEST CONTRIBUTORS
GRACE WONG business
JENNIFER WILSON spirituality
KATHRYN LORANGER relationships
TARA BOOTHBY personal growth
TAMARA NOLIN health & welnness
WANDA ROGERS professional development
LYNN GAGNE finance
MONIQUE MACDONALD food
PAULINE MELNYK leadership
LANA SANTANA non-profit
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letter from the editor
PERSPECTIVE IS EVERYTHING FEBRUARY 2021
Perspective is a strange thing. From some angles, it seems like a lifetime ago when we were shaking hands, packing onto public transit and even coughing in public. At other times, it seems like only yesterday that we were going into lockdown. I was reflecting on this phenomenon today as I played with our new puppy Carrera. A three-month-old black pug, she is tiny and cute as a button. When we brought her home, she was about three pounds. I’m shocked when I hear others say she has grown so much. When I look at her now, she appears the same size as when we brought her home before Christmas. When we pulled out our kitchen scale though, sure enough, she was almost five pounds. Somehow, without me noticing, she had grown. This is a good illustration sometimes about life and how important it is to step back and look at things with fresh eyes. The other day, I was down and blue. I don’t get like that very often so when I do, I have little patience for myself. I was talking – okay, complaining – to my business coach about how frustrated I was that I wasn’t where I wanted to be with my work. She had me stop and look back for a moment at how much I have accomplished, how my attitude has evolved and how much closer I am to my goals. It was one of those ‘give my head a shake’ moments. Sometimes you are so close to things you can’t see the proverbial forest for the trees. You are so used to where you are and what you are doing that you miss out on the big picture. So this month, as we begin to wind down the winter months and spring can be seen somewhere in the distance, my hope for you is that you take a moment and stop. Step back and look around you. Take a deep breath and notice the big picture. See how far you have come, the progress you have made and appreciate where you are today.
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This Month’s Articles 4 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR FEBRUARY 2021 6 IN THE RAW THE DAY SCIENCE & SPIRITUALITY MET 8 DATE WITH DANIELLE THE JOY AND MEANING OF JOURNALLING 10 BUSINESS SCREEN TIME FOR KIDS 12 SPIRTUALITY THE POWER OF NATURE ON OUR SOULS 14 FEATURE AN ANGEL AT THE MALL 18 RELATIONSHIPS SHIFTING YOUR RELATIONSHIP RESULTS 20 PERSONAL GROWTH DO THE HUSTLE 22 HEALTH & WELLNESS THE FALSE VORTEX OF SOCIAL MEDIA HEALTH 24 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPING DURING A SEASON OF UNCERTAINTY 26 FINANCE THE SINGLE BIGGEST MISTAKE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS MAKE AND HOW TO FIX IT 28 FOOD CHOCOLATE, WHY DO I LOVE THEE? 32 YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR ON THE ROAD AGAIN 34 LEADERSHIP THE STORY OF LOUISE 36 NON-PROFIT A VISION OF INCLUSION
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from the CEO
RANCHELLE IN THE RAW The Day Science and Spirituality Met b y Ra n c h e l l e Va n B r yc e
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Up until 2019 I kept my ‘woo hoo’ side to myself. I wouldn’t say that I kept it hidden per se, but rather I didn’t talk about it unless I saw someone else wearing healing stone bracelets, talk about energy or see crystals hanging from their neck. My spiritual journey started young. My Dad sobered up when I was 14 or 15 years old and he introduced me to some pretty amazing authors, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, Norman Vincent Peele to name a few. Attending Alateen allowed me to have a relationship with my Higher Power so that there was a lot of healing there; my many pleas to God for help felt like they were unanswered until I went to Alateen. There were many days that I thank God for Alateen, correction, there ARE many days I thank God for that program, it saved my life.
What’s Woo Hoo? So, for me, the tiny journey from being spiritual in nature to also being ‘woo hoo’ didn’t seem like a stretch. Perhaps this is a great time to share my definition of woo hoo. I believe in energy work, past lives, spirits, and other supernatural ways. I believe that disease is linked to how we think. I’ve had miracles in my life due to energy work, specifically Reiki. I also believe in God. I sometimes refer to God as Creator, Spirit, Higher Power or Divine Intelligence. I believe in forgiveness. I am more spiritual in nature vs religious. I am proud to say I have an incredible relationship with ‘the God of my understanding’. So, when I became a certified Reiki practitioner after my daughter became sick, I realized it was a stretch for a LOT of people who believed in God. I was shocked. To me, I saw the correlation between the two. So, I became careful about who I shared this with.
Dimming My Light This wasn’t the first time that I dimmed my light so others would be comfortable around me. Perhaps you have done the same thing? Someone that you love or admire isn’t comfortable with what you believe, who you are becoming, or how you want to change? A few years later, I found myself dimming my shine even further and forgetting to live the principles of Alateen, energy and spirit. I lost my way. I lived in fear. I was facing bankruptcy, the end of business relationships and finally, the end of what I thought was a good marriage. One of my favourite quotes from Wayne Dyer is, “when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change”. This is very important. In my world, your beliefs, how you think and what you think, send a cause
in motion and the end result is a different outcome, result or circumstance. This is often referred to as The Universal Law of Cause and Effect, which is a subsidiary law of The Law of Attraction, or what I prefer to call, The Law of Manifestation.
Living by the Universal Laws Towards the end of 2018, as I re-entered the life of spirituality, I stumbled upon an author, Rd. Joe Dispenza who wrote a book, Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself. I began researching how the brain is wired and how we can rewire it. I love reading about neuroscience, neuroplasticity and how habits are formed or broken.
Science and Sirituality Meet As I was diving deeply back into spirituality, I recognized some very limiting beliefs and wanted to crack them wide open so I could re-program and rewire my brain differently. I whittled away and day by day, worked on a limiting belief so I could live my life with purpose and on purpose. There is a system that I use when I recognize that I am operating from a limiting belief so I can look at the situation differently, and therefore, have a different outcome. In science, this is referred to as activating the RAS (Reticular Activating System). A great example of this is when you buy a new car. Let’s say you buy a blue car and previous to the purchase of that car, you rarely saw a car that was the make, model and colour you just bought. Once you have purchased your car, you start to see your car everywhere. This is because your RAS has been activated. You provided a new stimulus and now it sees it everywhere. Some of my favourite books are Lisa Wimberger’s Neurosculpting, anything by Dr. Joe Dispenza, Limitless by Jim Kwik, The Hoffman Process, by Tim Laurence, and Atomic Habits by James Clear. This is a combination of brain science, healing trauma, and ways to develop new habits. Recently, I started sharing with my clients the marriage between science and spirituality and how the two work really well together, that an either/or approach is not necessary and, in fact, the two work so well together that I am seeing some really awesome results with my clients. Till next time, stay Raw. XO
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a date with danielle
JOY AND MEANING IN JOURNALING by Danielle Klooster
I do a lot of journaling. It is a big part of my morning practice and I look forward to it every day.
Why Journal? One word: clarity. I journal because, often, I can’t identify my feelings. I know I am feeling something, whether yummy or yucky, but sometimes I just can’t put my finger on what true emotion I am experiencing. And, even if I can identify my feeling, there are times that I don’t know what to do with it. I get “stuck in yuck” and can’t see any other perspective or possibility than my negative headspace. Journaling gives me a chance to get it all out on paper and reflect. It also gives me an opportunity to make a different choice for how I look at things and opens up options for moving myself forward.
What Do I Journal About? There’s no right or wrong way to journal. Just write down some stuff! What’s happening in your life, how you feel about it, what you’re grateful for, your goals, your relationships… really, anything. There’s long form journaling with pen and paper bullet journaling, voice recordings on your phone – whatever works for you is great. I utilize several different journaling processes, but here’s a favourite I came up with that really helps “Get me there” (which is what I actually named this process) when I need to get myself unstuck and
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move from an unhealthy, unproductive headspace – that limits or punishes me - into a clear, constructive headspace that serves me and moves me forward. Here are the nuts and bolts of it: • • • •
What happened The Sh*t (all the yuck) The Good Stuff (what else is possible that might be a different, healthier viewpoint to consider) The Learning (My ahas, boundaries, goals and affirmations)
Joy and Meaning Journaling I’m sure you’ve heard that gratitude is all the rage these days. Between Oprah and Brene Brown, we’ve all been exposed to the power of having a gratitude practice. I recently became aware, in fact, that gratitude actually rewires your brain, elevating your mental function, increasing your clarity, decision-making capacity and ability to focus. That’s powerful stuff! I’m working, not just to have the basic three-point, end-of-day, here’swhat-I’m-thankful-for list, but to consciously step into gratitude all through the day. I want to view myself, my life and the world as a whole through a gratitude lens. So, I knew I’d need to bring the big guns to my gratitude game. But what is that? I wasn’t sure. I have been rereading Brene Brown’s book, The Gifts of Imperfection, and, near the end, she discussed joy and meaning. She stated that sometimes, in our quest for achievement, accomplishment and striving to reach our goals – which we think will bring us joy and meaning - we can overlook the joy and meaning we already have in our lives. Being forward-looking comes with a potential hazard of not being fully present. And, as a massive benefit, those who subscribe to the universal law of attraction know that like attracts like, which means that the more I focus on the joy and meaning in my life, the more of it I will bring into my experience. Way cool! This seriously inspired me, so I sat down with my journal a few days ago to journal about all the joy and meaning I have in my life. I decided to start with relationships, because that matters to me more than anything else, and I worked my way through health, time, finance, growth and business. Guess what? I focused in on my primary relationship – my significant other – and wrote two full pages. That was it for day one! On day two, I wrote about my business partner. Day three, my sister. Day four, my kids. That’s where I’m at now, and I plan to write about my grandkids tomorrow (and possibly the next day, too, as that will be a biggie!). I had no idea
that, once I dug in and really thought about it, I’d be embarking on a journaling journey that could easily run for a month or more, but I’m loving it! Here’s what it looks like: “I have joy and meaning in my relationship with ___________ because_____”. I just write that sentence over and over and end it with whatever comes to mind. By the time I’ve journaled for ten minutes, my heart is overflowing with love and appreciation for that person. Yup… GRATITUDE!
How to Eat an Elephant Maybe the thought of journaling is overwhelming. Seems like a big thing to take on, right? Like, why try and add this seemingly huge undertaking into your already overflowing schedule? Perhaps you think if you can’t do it right, maybe you shouldn’t do it at all. Here’s something I learned from another book I highly recommend, Atomic Habits by James Clear. Often, we avoid doing things because we think they will take a lot of time and require a lot of learning or stretching. So, because we don’t have an hour to dedicate to the activity, we don’t do it at all. The two-minute rule changes all that. It says, “Just do it for two minutes.” Anybody can do just about anything for two minutes, right? I mean, excepting planking! Don’t rob yourself of the joy of journaling and the opportunity to step into some pretty powerful gratitude just because you’re busy. Journal for two minutes. That might mean you get two sentences down. That’s fine. That’s two sentences you didn’t have yesterday, right? I love journaling so much that I teach it! Join me for my next Effective Journaling workshop - or buy my journal! I am having a Your Life, On Point journal published, and you can pre-order it now. Just get in touch. Meanwhile, enjoy your journey into journaling and, above all, stay Sharp!
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SCREEN TIME FOR KIDS
business
HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH? by Grace Wong Today’s children have grown up with a vast array of
electronic devices at their fingertips. They can’t imagine a world without smartphones, tablets, and the internet.
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of infants six to 11-months-old use a touch screen daily. As you can well imagine, those numbers have only gone up.
The advances in technology mean today’s parents are the first generation who have to figure out how to limit screen time for children. While digital devices can provide endless hours of entertainment and they can offer educational content, unlimited screen time can be harmful, according to the British Medical Association.
It’s important to understand how too much screen time could be harming the whole family.
The Canadian Pediatric Society recommends parents minimize screen time for children. Despite those recommendations, Active Healthy Kids Canada reported in 2014 that children three to five years old spend an average of two hours per day in front of screens. Only 15% of preschoolers met current Canadian Sedentary Behaviour Guidelines for the early years, which recommend limiting screen time to less than one hour per day. In the USA, rates of mobile media use among two- to four-year-olds increased from 39% to 80% between 2011 and 2013 and a recent UK study found that about 51%
Whether you keep the TV on all the time or the whole family sits around staring at their smartphones, too much screen time could be harmful. Here’s what some of the research says:
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Negative Effects of Too Much Screen Time
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Behavior problems: Elementary school-age children who watch TV or use a computer more than two hours per day are more likely to have emotional, social, and attention problems.
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Educational problems: Elementary school-age children who have televisions in their bedrooms do worse on academic testing.
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Obesity: Too much time engaging in sedentary
“It’s important for you to set healthy limits on your electronics use for your own sake, as well as your child’s sake.”
problems. Even if you aren’t experiencing any tangible health problems stemming from your digital device use, there’s a good chance your electronics could be harming your relationship with your child. In a 2015 survey by AVG Technologies, one-third of children reported feeling unimportant when their parents looked at their smartphones during meals or when playing together. Even replying to a quick text message could be sending your child another message - that your phone is more important than them. Giving your child interrupted care - by repeatedly checking your smartphone - could also affect his development and his mental health. A 2016 study suggests looking at your digital devices could increase your child’s chances of developing mental health problems, like depression.
Family Rules Telling your child to turn off his video games while you’re sitting in front of the TV won’t do anyone any good. It’s important for you to set healthy limits on your electronics use for your own sake, as well as your child’s sake. Here are a few household rules you might want to establish to curb screen time:
activity, such as watching TV and playing video games, can be a risk factor for becoming overweight. •
Sleep problems: Although many parents use TV to wind down before bed, screen time before bed can backfire. The light emitted from screens interferes with the sleep cycle in the brain and can lead to insomnia.
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Violence: Exposure to violent TV shows, movies, music, and video games can cause children to become desensitized. Eventually, they may use violence to solve problems and may imitate what they see on TV, according to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (although these results will differ compared to Canadian studies).
Digital Devices Can Harm Family Relationships Most of the conversations about the dangers of screen time focus on children. But it’s important to recognize that adults may experience many of the same harmful effects as well, like obesity and sleep
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No digital devices during family meals. No electronics use during family fun nights. No screen time in the car. No screens allowed in bedrooms.
In addition, consider an occasional digital detox for the whole family. Create a screen-free night once a week or commit to unplugging one weekend a month. It could be good for everyone’s physical and emotional health, as well as your family’s relationships.
With 23-years-experience in computer and mobile device repairs, Grace Wong has owned Apex Computer & Mobile Repairs for five years. She lives and works in Sherwood Park with her husband and 16-year-old son who she adores to the moon and back.
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spirituality
THE POWER OF NATURE ON OUR SOULS by Jennifer Wilson
Life has a way of keeping most of us very busy, even through a pandemic. While we may have put some activities, events or regular occurrences on hold, most of us have filled that space with other tasks or commitments; some by choice, others perhaps not. We are still leading busy lives; they just look a little different. We have shifted schedules and pivoted priorities. We are juggling more things now than we may ever have in the past. Our different worlds and environments seem to overlap, many of us have lost our boundaries between work and home and our relationships are stretched.
Finding Our Way However, through all the chaos, stress and anxiety, it’s still important that we are all able to find a way to have balance in the wellness aspects and spaces in our lives. Our physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social wellness elements are as important now as they even have been. Finding a way to balance them in our currently unbalanced world, is our task. We all need a place to breathe, to find peace, to let go of the worries of the day or life and just be within
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ourselves. While finding this time for self-reflection and appreciation isn’t always easy, it’s always rewarding, refreshing and gives us a sense of renewal and purpose. One of the easiest ways to achieve this can be as simple as stepping outside and into nature.
Nature’s Answer Our minds, bodies and souls need nature. They crave it. Research shows us that just being in nature helps to reduce fear, stress and anxiety. Being in nature can help to reduce our blood pressure, heart rate and decrease tension. Nature does wonders for our minds and our souls. Getting out in nature allows us to hit reset; and there are days when we need to hit that button. Hitting reset doesn’t mean we are starting anything over or giving anything up. It doesn’t mean we are abandoning, ignoring or quitting anything; although that might be an outcome or positive realization once we do. To hit reset means that we take time for ourselves, to focus on what matters most to us. It means that we get away for a while, even just mentally, to gain a new perspective and help renew our passion, energy and strength.
we have a new outlook or new priority hierarchy on all we do; or perhaps not, but we will have a renewed sense and desire for what we value most. Nature is healing. It offers no judgement, only empathy and compassion. Nature regenerates us. It invigorates us. Nature is powerful. It’s something to be respected, protected and enjoyed. Living a busy lifestyle has definitely become more of a norm in society these days, even through these challenging times. We are accumulating more stress than we ever have in our lifetime. Our way of life has changed, at least for the moment. We are connected to everyone and everything and are constantly multitasking in order to get just a few things done on our endless lists of “things to do”. We are trying to make ends meet, doing all we can for our aging and isolated parents, helping our kids with homework, volunteering and fundraising. The lists are endless, and while we do our best to prioritize, sometimes it becomes very overwhelming, which is why every so often it’s important we reset. What inspires us? Truly, madly and deeply inspires us? Whatever it is, and wherever that leads us often happens when we are at our best selves. In order to do that we need to find a way to achieve peace in our multiple dimensions of wellness. Nature can give that to us. It infiltrates us, it feeds us, it gives what we need and asks only for our love and respect in return. Do what your body and soul needs. Get outside, breathe and discover your inner-self and inner-strength. Getting outside and into nature has no limits. It has no requirements, no minimum age and no cost. Immersing ourselves into nature can be as simple as going out the door and into our backyards, front porches or even onto the soccer field behind where we live. Once out into nature our challenge is simple, but something we don’t do nearly enough of. Once outside, find a bench or place to sit, or walk, stroll or meander through the landscape. Take a breath. A deep breath. Clear our heads and leave our connections and commitments at home in order to reflect. Watch the sky and the wind through the trees; listen to the birds and rustlings of nature. Reset. Feel the warmth of the sunshine beating down on our face, or the crispness of the cold air as the snow falls from above. Rejuvenate. Feel. Be.
The Road Back When we return to “life”, it’s important to ask ourselves how we felt before we went out, and how we feel now? What did we discover about ourselves as we engaged our inner spirit? How did we positively influence our minds because we allowed nature into our soul? What did we learn and discover because we were brave enough to breathe? After this reflection, we may find
Jennifer Wilson works for Strathcona County’s Recreation, Parks and Culture Department. She is a wellness minded individual in all aspects of her life and passionate about community health and wellness. She enjoys all seasons adventuring in a variety of activities with her family, especially mountain biking, hiking, backpacking, outdoor skating and cross country skiing.
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feature
AN ANGEL AT THE MALL by Carla Howatt
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“…giving of your time, giving to your community is like recycling love.”
valuable and a smile comes to her face as she talks about each one. Her volunteer work is no exception, and she shares that learning the ins and outs of fundraising started with working on her son’s hockey team, for the Boys and Girls Club, and doing fundraising events. Sometimes, you meet a person who makes you sit back in your chair, gather your breath, and think “wow, just wow!” Glenda Sheard is one of those women. The optimism, humour, and joy of life just radiate off her, whether she is talking about her career with the Strathcona County Library as their donor relationship specialist or talking about other parts of her life. There are a lot of happy and encouraging people in this world, but when you have a chance to get to know Glenda, you begin to understand just how amazing it is that she is one of them.
Her Roots Born an only child in Edmonton, Alberta to Glen and Anastasia Gates, she was a child who played with barbies and doted on her pets. A self-described good kid, Glenda, and her parents spent a lot of time at the rink when she took up figure skating. Over the years, just like many women, Glenda grew up, went to work, married, and had a son. She was a stayat-home mom for a while, volunteering at hockey games and school. When she went back to work, her career ran the gamut from being an insurance agent, a promotion assistant, business owner, and even doing voice overs.
She established strong relationships and connections through her years of volunteer work, and it is obvious it played a significant role in her life. It’s clear she took to heart the words her mother told her “Glenda, giving of your time, giving to your community is like recycling love.”
It All Came Together When Glenda applied for the donor relations position at the library 13 years ago, she knew it was the perfect fit. She had amassed a network of connections that ranged from the janitor at the local school to CEOs of companies. She was able to bring these connections with her to the capital campaign to build the library in the Community Centre. She threw herself into the campaign and didn’t look back. There doesn’t seem to be anything that Glenda does half-hearted and she brings her sense of humor and joy of life to everything she touches. Her face lights up with pleasure as she talks
Every job taught her something
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about her passion for literacy and the children who visit the library. It’s not surprising then to learn that after Glenda became involved with Toastmasters, she went on to teach hundreds of children the Toastmaster’s Youth Leadership Program. Once she reached the highest level possible in Toastmasters – she is a Distinguished Toastmaster - she became a public speaking coach and developed the Communicate with Confidence program.
Demons In Pursuit To look at the life Glenda leads, to hear of her accomplishments as a business owner, as a professional speaker, and the awards she has received for her community involvement, you would be forgiven for thinking life has always been easy for her; in reality, her life is a testament to the strength of a woman driven by the need to spread empathy and compassion. She has fought and continues to fight, demons from the past that only seem to fuel her determination. On Nov. 21, 1997, Glenda lost her beloved son Darrel, her only child, in a horrific car accident. Not surprisingly, the sudden loss threw Glenda into a dark place and she was left dealing with flashbacks and posttraumatic stress. “I died that day,” she explains. “For two years, I was dead.” It is a place that Glenda still struggles not to fall back into, but she gets up and gets out of bed every morning because she is on a mission to make a difference, to show compassion and empathy in her community.
…I died that day, for two years, I was dead.
How did she pull herself out of the hole of depression she was in? It all started one night with a trip to the Sherwood Park Mall to run errands. There must have been something in her eyes because when she headed towards the doors to leave, a man stopped and asked her how she was doing. She gave the usual, casual reply of “I’m fine and you?” that everyone says but many don’t mean. He held the door open for her and as she passed, he reached out and gently placed his hand on her shoulder and said, “You matter.” Those two words woke her up and were the beginning of her changing the course of her life. To this day, Glenda has never laid eyes on him again. But because of her experience, Glenda knows the impact that kindness to strangers can have and it is a lesson she has never forgotten.
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Out of the Depths The two years she spent in a deep depression left her with little confidence and unsure if she had any gifts or skills that anyone could use. A friend found her a job as a bartender, and she rediscovered herself. “I learned that I could still make people laugh, that I could help people, that I have customer service skills,” Glenda explains. “I learned that I still could make a difference.” The next few years were hard, and to this day Glenda still suffers from PTSD, but her life is rich and full. In addition to her work at the library, she is a keynote speaker, workshop presenter, coach and mentor, a certified coach practitioner, motivational influencer, speaking coach, and best-selling author.
Finding Moments of Courage In her role as a speaking coach, Glenda is passionate about helping bring people to their moments of courage so they can find their voice. She believes strongly that the world shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to hear and know her clients. Through it all, Glenda has never lost sight of the importance of community, compassion, gratitude, and authenticity. In between her work at the library and her work as a speaking coach, she continues to give back to her community. “When you are focussed on others, your own pain, your own grief, your own problems, your own trials and tribulations, they aren’t as big because you’re focussed on others.”
Q: Your Best Piece of Technology?
A: Phone Q: What two things would you take to a deserted island?
A: Son Darrel’s teddy bear and his picture Q: Best Movie of all time?
A: The Help Q:Favourite singer or band?
A: Rod Stewart
Glenda’s Advice for Scared Sick Public Speakers: Either join toastmasters or hire a speaking coach that believes in you, supports and inspires you and will teach you how to get through your nerves.
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relationships
SHIFTING YOUR RELATIONSHIP RESULTS THE NEXT STEPS by Katherine Loranger
there some relationships that didn’t even show up in the description of what you’d love? This is also a clue for us about where we might not want to be looking, or about areas where we don’t have clarity on what is really important to us.
Sometimes being honest with ourselves can be uncomfortable
Step Seven Make a list of your longings and what you would truly love in each of those relationships (or desired relationships) in your life. If you’re looking at an existing relationship then this is your invitation to get even clearer on what you’re happy with, and what you’d love more of. If you’re yearning for a relationship of some type, then here’s your chance to identify what is truly important to you in the context of that potential relationship. List 50 things that you would love for each of those relationships you’ve identified. Write those things in the positive tense.
Step Eight Last month I shared the first five steps in the process of getting clarity on both the current status of your relationships, and on what you would really love to have happening in all of the relationships in your life. Great job on leaning in! Sometimes being honest with ourselves can be uncomfortable and bring to light things we haven’t wanted to look at. So, if you took that look, rated your relationship satisfaction, asked yourself what you’d really love and then wrote it out – high five!!! I celebrate you for taking those first steps!
So What Now? Although it’s great to have an idea of what you want, the truth is, you want the amazing relationship results, not just the idea of them.
Step Six Have a look at what you wrote about what you would love in your relationship. Get curious. What do you notice? What are your longings and what did you identify that you’d love based on your current discontent? Our longings and discontentment are how life speaks to us. The discontentment with our current situation or circumstances and the longing for something more, or different. Notice if you invested a lot of time in describing certain relationships in comparison to others. Were
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Notice what comes up as you start listing what’s important to you and what you’d really love. Bestselling author and relationship therapist Gay Hendricks writes about what he calls the “Upper Limit Problem”. Think about it like an internal thermostatic setting. We all have an internal, often unconscious, thermostatic setting that dictates how much love, success, happiness, health, and abundance we’re comfortable with, and will therefore allow into our lives. Our internal operating system, which has developed over the course of our lifetime, seeks to keep us operating within our internal setting or upper limit. As you start to lean into the powerful question, “what would I love?”, and to list what you’d love, your internal operating system can start to show up and try to keep you within your current settings through your limiting thoughts, beliefs, feelings or even bodily sensations. Our mind can get focused on the how, or even tell us that we’re not worth it, that we don’t deserve it, that we haven’t had that kind of relationship before so it’s not for us, etc. Here is your opportunity to notice some of your internal operating beliefs and know that if they’re coming up that’s actually good news! It means you’re starting to expand your internal thermostatic setting!
Step Nine Put the how on hold. This part is about tapping into your imagination and into the realm of possibility thinking.
My Husband Many years ago, I used a less sophisticated form of this process to manifest the man who became my husband. I’d been in a series of long-term, monogamous relationships where I kept feeling alone, unsupported and unseen. I finally made the decision to try something
different and to tune in to what my heart and soul were really wanting. So, I listened to myself, made a list of qualities and attributes and shortly thereafter met him. At the end of this series, I’ll share my heartfelt experience of coming up with that list and of meeting him. Stay tuned and good work! You are doing great!
Katherine specializes in helping heartcentered entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, business owners and dreamers build their dreams, accelerate their results and create richer, more fulfilling lives. She holds an M.Ed in Counselling, and is an NLP practitioner, and is certified as a life mastery consultant.
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personal growth
DO THE HUSTLE B y Ta r a B o o t h b y
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that it’s one thing to be a psychologist, and a whole other, great big thing to be an entrepreneur. I’ve loved being taught by the stretches and challenges over the years of owning a business but one of the most important things I have learned can be summed up in the acronym H.U.S.T.L.E
Head Down Building your company is a journey. As you embarked on this journey it quickly becomes apparent that a relationship forms between you and what you build. Just like parenting we need to keep our head down, to keep our focus. What you build goes through stages, changes, and development, a lot like parenting a child. Keeping your head down, focusing using your discipline, and putting the time in, are all required. The earlier the stage of our relationship with our company the more this is true.
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Up & Up There are many groups, tribes, and mentors out there. Do take advantage of learning from those who have gone before you. One of the greatest benefits to me is that I not only own a psychology clinic with my parents and husband, but my parents are business people, with many more years of experience than me. No matter who builds into you, be on the “up and up”. There is no reason to throw shade at someone you have learned from. Mentorships very rarely last a lifetime and when it is time to move on when you have learned what you need, move on with grace.
Stick With It When I was working on my master’s degree, one of my professors said “pick a final thesis project you will love, because by the end of this you will hate it.” This sounds very cut and dry, but I have to say, there are days I hate my clinic. It’s hard. It’s hard to lead,
it’s hard to grow, it’s hard to recreate the wheel; and you will recreate the wheel many, many times. But when you stick with it and put all your creative and physical energy into the task at hand, the breakthrough is thrilling. I often say “the bad times make the good times good”.
Team Assemble your team. This is fun and rewarding. You will see, as the years go on and you become the mentor, with more wisdom to share, the capacity for leadership will evolve with you. Don’t be afraid of the people that don’t stick. You’ll hire people who don’t fit, and that’s okay. Learn from all the people that come and go. If you’re doing a good job you should have some people leave, and you should have some, high quality, team members stay long term. I used to be so afraid when we asked people to leave. I was afraid of how it would look. Then I realized a couple of things: 1. People who aren’t a good fit will always surprise you because you don’t operate the way they do. 2. Why would someone go around town and brag about how they could not make it work at your company? Believe in you and believe in the high-quality team you will assemble. This is tried and true and cannot be disputed.
Learn
Earn it Slay the day. And tomorrow slay again. Set goals. Take courses. Read leadership literature. Love the people you learn from. Create a strong team and cultivate your team. Let go of the parts of your company that doesn’t work for you or support your goals. And as you are “earning it” here are a couple pearls of wisdom that I have been blessed to know: 1. My dad’s previous business partner was truly a self-made man, an immigrant with a couple dollars in his pocket who made it as a successful entrepreneur. His adviceto me was to take “A little cream off the top.” As you hustle, make time to reward yourself and reward your team. 2. Take time to rest and reflect. Entrepreneurship is a seven-day a week commitment, a relationship! Make sure you learn to balance your life by including build-in rest, and making space to slow down. You can schedule days off, trips, training days away from the company, work from home, or take some meetings at a coffee shop to name just a few ideas. The company always comes with you, because it is one of your relationships. Don’t fight it. It’s part of you. As we are mindful of our bond with our business, we can find ways to diligently rest and reflect, just as we can in all our other relationships. You’ve got this! Remember your HUSTLE!
Never stop learning. One of the greatest compliments I receive is that people know me as someone who is consistently pursuing professional development, and I always have a mentor, or three, in my life beyond my clinic partners. I’m old-school about respect and hold my mentors in high esteem. I feel confident that as I learn from them, I am also learning the experience of being led. This is huge for a team leader. The more we learn to be led, the more insight we have into maintaining high-quality team members. And don’t forget, we also get to learn from our team.
Tara Boothby is a Registered Psychologist and co-owner of Sojourn Psychology for more than 15 years. www.sojo.ca
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health and wellness
THE FALSE VORTEX OF SOCIAL MEDIA HEALTH b y Ta m a r a N o l i n
In these trying times that currently have our mental state in a constant cycle of peaks and valleys, the tendency for some, has been to have difficulty summoning the motivation to engage or participate in their physical wellbeing. Given the stresses of our surroundings over the past year, it’s been quite the shift in not only finding ways to be active but finding the motivation. Given that we had switched much of our visual stimulus to online or on a screen, there was much to soak in with regards to social media fitness apps, food plans, health groups, and workout clothing advertisements. Because of that, patterns emerged that affected our ability to adapt and keep active in a more constructive and mindful way. It’s important to understand how too much screen time could be harming the whole family.
Picture Perfect For many, the pressures that come with being bombarded with what seems like a perfect picture of health or fitness on every platform imaginable doesn’t always lead to a motivating feeling. Much of what we see perpetuates an incredibly false, filtered, or highly exaggerated standard of positivity. It feeds us a narrative that can seem unattainable. How do we combat being motivated in
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a False Vortex of Health? This has been the consistent feeling among many of my clients, and others as we look to keep ourselves uplifted with more activity at home.
Realistic Goal Setting Currently, the idea of goal setting seems daunting as we have so much on our minds. Much like we would make lists for smaller things, being active in making lists for our wellbeing doesn’t have to be an all or none thing. Nor does it have to be grandiose. In my many years working with clients, the smaller steps are always the most successful and the easiest to add to. It’s tangible and realistic for where you are at, now. Nothing feels better than something tangible and doable for the good of yourself, for yourself. For example, week one you break every day into sections of four topics to accomplish what you know deep down would bring you a few steps closer to better health.
Contribution, Elimination, Congratulation, Evaluation Contribution. Before you start your day, write down and
promise yourself to include three servings of veggies in your day, and switch a to very small treat during lunch time when you are more likely to use those calories versus at night. Then add a goal to go for a 20 min walk with your favorite playlist. Zoom call a friend for a small workout and each add five things to a list of things to get done or hire a trainer to see you at least once a week, so you have scheduled time. Some of us even do online training. You would be surprised at how even 20 minutes make the mind feel engaged and open to re-evaluation. That’s exactly what health and fitness is to one’s life, a contribution. Elimination. Now improve your success by honestly recognizing the things that blocks your goals. Reduce Netflix, make the kids a snack plate instead of a bigger meal to save you time, cut back the scrolling on social media for what you know to be useless time-wasting activities (pull yourself away, it’s not helping you), or simply call a friend on speaker phone to vent while you walk. Just do.
Grace Wong
Motivation is not merely an action you need or feel. You have to create it, like you would a recipe. It’s a choice of what ingredients you add to make your outcome something you would like to achieve daily. Our days are not like we used to know, and it is getting easier to have stress lead the way. Health and fitness don’t have to come in packets of 90 min for five times a week, but 20 minutes twice daily, or 10 minutes four times daily. When we change the pattern of negative energy, and negative health habits even for 10 min, you are more likely to go on to another 10 more listening to your favorite songs or a great podcast, thinking of your day, or remembering a place you once visited. The feeling of accomplishment is most infectious and as long as it serves you in a direction that is both realistic and allows forgiveness, you will look forward to more, rather than look back. Impacting change through perseverance, Strength in motion.
Congratulation. Add yourself to a fitness or health group that you can participate in sharing your small steps. The responses you will get are well worth the small effort to participate. You will find others will give you a boost of additional activity, or a partner just to bounce ideas off. Have a friend keep a calendar for you, and vice versa to color in the day that you each accomplished. Congratulate the small attempts as well and recognize you started the goal..
Did I get more veggies in, more water? Yes.
Evaluation. For every good thing you are including, remember there will be something that will get easier over time, as it’s never a punishment. This is where forgiveness and evaluating what’s realistic is key. Build onto the things that you make happen for your day. What’s realistic often may not be what you see reflected on social media as the norm.
Did I do 20 minutes for a walk? No. I got 10. GREAT! DO IT AGAIN!
Add onto what worked the first time and allow yourself flexible expectations. In an era of instant outcomes, quick fixes, and the false expectations shared on social platforms, we forget that it’s not necessarily the norm and it never shows the viewer a complete picture. Finding people that share your wants and needs to be successful is incredibly uplifting. Join several as it will keep you a little busier with the reminders of people trying to make changes like you are.
Tamara has served Strathcona County, Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan for well over a decade. She has competed at the provincial level in the Alberta Body Building Association and currently owns Real Body Wellness. My focus is eliminating time wasting protocols emphasizing proper biomechanics with an attention to postural needs.
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professional development
DEVELOPING DURING A SEASON OF UNCERTAINTY by Wanda Rogers
Living through the last year of a global pandemic and ceaseless restrictions has stretched people in many ways. In a lot of cases people are floundering, feeling ‘stuck’ and ‘stagnant’. Many people are unemployed and needing to figure out a fresh start. It may be a breath of fresh air to do some professional development during this time.
out to personally, or an area that interests you. You can gather information from these sources but once you have it, it’s time to narrow it down. You will want to structure a SMART goal around your findings. •
What specifically will you be working towards improving or increasing your knowledge of?
In some industries/professions you must maintain consistent training and learning to maintain your designation. For others it’s about maintaining growth and forward motion in their expertise, skills and knowledge.
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Do you need to take a structured course to gain the development? Is there a mentor you can work with?
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Are there books, podcasts, videos on this material that you could watch? How will you identify you have successfully mastered this knowledge?
Making it Work
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Do you have the time to fit this in with your other commitments? Will it be done during working hours or is it all during your personal hours? Is there a cost?
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Is this likely to advance your knowledge/skill? Is the time spent good value in relation to the pay off?
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When will you start? How long will it take? When will you see success?
But how do you know where to direct your development so it’s worthwhile in your career? Well one way is certainly from a performance appraisal; others may include asking a peer or mentor for feedback, expanding on something that you are looking to branch
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Facing Barriers
5. Reading material/podcast/research – you can expand on your knowledge on a subject, topic of interest.
As women the biggest culprit in our way of any type of development is finding time. It’s not so much that we are too busy to do it, just that it falls to the bottom of our priority list when life and obligations get into our way.
The best thing you can do for your career is to continue to focus on your professional development and with some reflection, research and SMART planning you will see the advantages of continually developing yourself forward in your career. These uncertain times open a place where the below quote is so true.
This is why pre-planning and making a SMART goal will help you with success. Personally, as a busy HR Manager with two young children I have learned that the most impactful part of the SMART Goal plan for me is the Realistic part. Is this ACTUALLY going to pay off? If I convert x energy into this development is it going to deliver results? I have learned over the years that I can quickly jump into things to flounder and not complete them. I’ve learned to pace myself and also to choose development opportunities that interest me. For example, I am less likely to sign up for a development opportunity on finance in my job versus diversity and inclusion. I am positive I would learn something from the finance class, but I would enjoy the diversity and inclusion more and be more inclined to follow through with the results.
“The last of the human freedoms: to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Viktor Frankl These are tough times, but let’s not focus on that. Let’s focus, as women, on becoming stronger, better, and more knowledgeable than we were before.
Grace Wong
Countless Opportunities There are so many ways you can develop yourself 1. Online Courses – there are literally thousands of online courses available on any conceivable topic. Many universities are offering online courses and amazing coaches in every profession are available online. Be sure to vet the course you are taking to see that you are learning from an expert or knowledgeable person in that field. 2.
Ask for a challenge – Is there a specific project you can do for work? Perhaps some new venture at work they were thinking of pursuing? Ask for it. You can research, read books, investigate options and develop a presentation of your findings.
Wanda Rogers has spent 11 years in Human Resources Management and now calls Airdrie home after many years in Northern Alberta. She lives with her two sons, crazy cat, Siberian Husky and ex husband with whom she co-habitats to raise their childrenand they all give her all she needs to write about.
3. Teach an online course – perhaps you have a skill or experience that others could benefit from you teaching about. It will expand your presentation skills and build your confidence in that area. 4. Find a Mentor – Do not discount the value of a great mentor in your life. Perhaps there is someone at your work, or a person you know in the community. Reach out, ask for a meeting, ask them questions about their journey. Learn from their experiences.
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finance
THE SINGLE BIGGEST MISTAKE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS MAK E
It may seem like common sense, but it happens. All. The. Time.
If it is business related, use your business account to pay for it.
Many business owners tend to think this means keeping separate receipts for business and personal. Separate transactions are a good practice, true. But what’s especially important is where those transactions are coming from. You should always have a separate bank account and dedicated credit card for business transactions. If you’re using a personal bank account to pay for business related items, or if you have a corporation and are using money from your corporation to pay for personal items, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
A ND H O W TO F I X I T
There are several reasons for this. Here are some tips and important rules of note.
b y Ly n n G a g n e
The most important one is traceability for Canada Revenue Agency. Auditors will ask for your bank statements, both business and personal.
In my twenty-plus years as a career bookkeeper, one thing never changes: how so many business owners struggle with their bookkeeping. And it isn’t just the small business newcomers. Even longstanding business owners often have their difficulties. Any business owner, at any stage of business, can make bookkeeping errors that end up costing them unnecessary taxes or even land them trouble with CRA.
Imagine, for a moment, that you use your personal account for business income. Now, suppose in 2018 you had $500 paid to you from a friend for a loan you gave them. You are accountable to CRA for all the income you had. If you cannot prove that $500 is personal nontaxable income, Canada Revenue Agency just very well may assess it as business income, and you will pay tax on it.
That’s why I’ve built my career on educating business owners rather than just doing the bookkeeping for them.
Remember that when Canada Revenue Agency asks for information, they are often doing so on two to four years prior. They are seldom asking you for information that is current.
As a Certified Professional Bookkeeper, I’ve taken on my share of CRA audits for clients. This gives me a perspective that most business owners don’t have: viewing your books the way a CRA auditor does. It doesn’t matter to them if your business is big or small; tax laws are tax laws, and the rules they play by are one size fits all. There are several mistakes people make, but this one, hands down, is the most common mistake I see.
Don’t Mix Things Up Never cross your business and personal spending in your bank accounts and credit cards. Yes, I mean never. Literally.
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Clarity is important. As someone that specializes in helping people through an audit, the very last thing you want is to have Canada Revenue Agency guessing what really happened. You want to be clear and concise and show a history of good bookkeeping. It doesn’t matter what you *think* happened in a situation. What matters to the folks at Canada Revenue Agency is how good your paper trail is. Problems with missing expenses is all too common! By ensuring that all your business expenses come out of your business bank account, your tax professional is more likely to catch all the expenses. When you mix business and personal, it is untidy and difficult for any bookkeeper or tax pro to catch everything.
Two Most Missed Expenses There are two expenses that I often see as missed by the customer. The cell phone bill is often a family plan or on their personal bank account. And the car payments also come out of the personal accounts. Both of these are a write off, which can reduce the amount of tax you pay. By moving the payments to your business account, it is easier to keep track of these expenses so that they are not missed in a busy tax season.
business and personal separate! It is super important for all these reasons. When tax times comes, you’ll thank me for it! I always say, “A year from now you’ll wish you had started today.” That is so true when it comes to bookkeeping and taxes. Doing your bookkeeping wrong can be a difficult thing to recover from!
Missing receipts. After a trip to the pumps, my gas receipt often get lost in my vehicle like socks in a washing machine. Even though you technically should have the original receipt if Canada Revenue Agency asks for them, we all have receipts go missing from time to time. When your bank accounts are clean and tidy, then the missing receipt will usually be counted via your bank or credit card statements, even if that receipt is missing from the stack. But if you use cash or a personal debit card to pay for that gas, then how would your accounting professional know it’s a business expense? If it is at all business related, use your business account to pay for it.
Awesome Automation! Bookkeeping fees. If you make your bookkeeping a lot of work, then it drives up your accounting fees. If it is untidy, then somebody has to sort through it. Either you do it, or your bookkeeper or accountant does it. When you are using your bank accounts to cross over expenses, you make the process confusing and it is extremely easy to miss important details and write offs. Increased errors. There is no sure-fire way to create more errors than by mixing personal and business expenses. Either the bookkeeper will err on the side of caution when figuring out what’s not clear in your books, which means you pay more taxes, or they will err on the side of safety, which means you are liable to file an incorrect tax return and incur penalties and interest if/when Canada Revenue Agency asks you for the information. In either case, when the information is not tidy, it can present complications business owners don’t think about.
It doesn’t matter to the CRA if your business is big or small.
So, always have a business bank account and a credit card that you dedicated for business. And stay diligent when it comes to keeping
Lynn of BWize Consulting & Training is a certified p ro f e s s i o n a l bookkeeper who spent more than 30 years running businesses, including owning a professional bookkeeping firm with more than 300 clients over ten years. She built her company around providing tools to small business owners so they can keep more money in their pocket.
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food
Chocolate, Why Do I Love Thee? by Monique MacDonald JACEK CHOCOLATES Chocolate. The mere thought sends signals from our brains to our gustatory glands to go into salivation overdrive in anticipation of its sinfully tasty delights. Do you purchase and immediately devour it, or do you slowly let it melt in your mouth and savour every morsel? Either way, it’s our “go to” gift for any occasion, guaranteed to be received with appreciation.
Why do we crave it?
JACEK CHOCOLATES
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The obvious answer is that we enjoy its taste. It’s sweet and is a quick fix snack. But why else do we reach for that bar of pleasure? If your craving is high, you might have a magnesium deficiency. Dark chocolate has 327mgs of magnesium per 100gr. A 70% cacao dark chocolate bar is a surprisingly good source of magnesium. Higher in calories, it’s much tastier than a supplement. Magnesium also affects the release of neurotransmitters, such as dopamine. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter linked to reward-motivated behavior; it makes you feel good. For example, you are having a crummy day, you suddenly want chocolate, you have a bite, the high magnesium triggers dopamine to be released in your brain that sends a positive message to
your brain and you start feeling good. Your brain now associates chocolate with feeling good. Dopamine reinforces behaviours that result in something positive such as a reward. Chocolate also contains tryptophan which triggers serotonin. Serotonin is the feel happy and calm neurotransmitter. That’s one reason women reach for chocolate when they are menstruating.
How much do we spend on chocolate? Canadian households spend on average $224 per year on chocolate according to Statistics Canada. I don’t know about you but according to this statistic, I’m above average. Way above average. Here’s another trivia tidbit, the average Canadian who purchases chocolate on Valentine’s Day spends around $32. That’s a lot of chocolate.
Where did chocolate originate from? We have the Olmec civilization from Mesoamerica (Mexico) to thank for creating the first chocolate from the cacao plant. It definitely wasn’t the chocolate we all know and love. Containing no sugar, it was drunk as a bitter medicinal concoction made of powdered cacao and spices. The cacao beans were even used as a currency, so precious were they considered. Believed to be an aphrodisiac, you can understand why they were valuable to the Olmec people. Centuries later, Christopher Columbus introduced it to Europe where sugar was added to the cacao. And the rest, as they say, is history. The Olmec’s medicinal use of chocolate had me thinking, is chocolate or cacao good for you? Can it possibly be healthy? In an article by Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D. from the Mayo Clinic, some researchers believe so. To some degree. Cacao beans contains Flavanols. Flavanols contain antioxidants that reduce some of the risk factors of heart disease such as high blood pressure and they can improve vascular function. They could also reduce the risk of diabetes, stroke and heart attack. The darker the chocolate, or the higher the cacao percentage, the healthier it is for us. But just like anything else, chocolate needs to be consumed in moderation. A regular chocolate bar contains high percentages of sugar and fat. You can try adding store bought unsweetened cocoa powder to your coffee or cereal if you are looking for health benefits. But if, like me, you want to enjoy the simple pleasure of letting a delicious piece of chocolate slowly melt in your mouth, you should probably look at another means of getting a healthy dose of cacao.
My pursuit of all things chocolate, in the name of research for you, the reader, led me to reach out to two local chocolatiers. I spoke with Jacqueline Jacek, owner of JACEK Chocolate Couture and one of the Top 10 Chocolatiers in North America (Dessert Professional Magazine, NYC 2011) and Louise Ludwig, owner of Choclinations Chocolates & Confections, a fan favourite at local farmers markets. Jacek has been in the business for 14 years. When asked why she became a Chocolatier and what training she pursued to accomplish her goal, Jacek revealed that fashion played an important role, “I wanted to create a business that brought people joy, which of course is fashion and chocolate. To bring this concept to life, I took my first course online through École Chocolat, and have continued my training (and my team’s) ever since with online and live classes around the world.” As for Ludwig, she has been a Chocolatier for nine years, and traces her passion back to the age of five when she started making chocolate truffles with her mother. She too studied online through École Chocolat taking their Chocolatier, Master Chocolatier and Chocolate Maker programs. These two extremely talented women were a wealth of information on everything chocolate. The first thing I asked them was why they thought people enjoyed eating chocolate so much. Jacek thinks that it’s “the magical combination of bursting flavour, smooth texture and silky mouthfeel.” Ludwig quotes a study she read once, “Letting chocolate dissolve slowly in your mouth produces as big an increase in brain activity and heart rate as a passionate kiss - but the effects of chocolate last four times longer!” There is definitely a sensory thing going on here. You might want to go get some chocolate to nibble on before you continue reading. If you have had the opportunity to sample the delectable creations from either of these women, you know that they more than satisfy our buccal sensory needs. Jacek uses two cacao lines: Her Fabric Collection (bean-to-bar) and Valrhona chocolate from France. JACEK is also one of the few in Alberta to roast in-house, they source and process the cacao beans for their Fabric Line. Their beans are ethically sourced from Peru, the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Costa Rica. Ludwig uses chocolate that’s ethically sourced and comes from sustainable farms. She roasts a small amount of beans in-house and prefers to use Callebaut as she finds that they have a great variety of choices. She also uses Valrhona for some of her creations.
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Each woman is very particular about which cacao they use for their creations.
“We love all of our cacao equally.” Jacek tells me. “Each exhibits its own flavour profile and unique characteristics. We choose the cacao very carefully for each product so that it achieves the flavour and profile we want the piece to exhibit.” My next question to them was regarding the difference between bittersweet and semi-sweet chocolate and which they prefer to work with. And here, dear reader, is where I learned something new about my usage of dated chocolate terminology.
“Coverture chocolate labelling now generally has the percentage of cacao on the packaging so that people know how much cacao and sugar is in the recipe,” Jacek says. “For example, a 70% dark chocolate bar has 70% cacao bean and 30% sugar.” Ludwig explains further that “Darker chocolate has a higher percentage of pure chocolate. I prefer 100% chocolate to create Paleo and Keto chocolate. I prefer to work with milk for most other chocolate creations.”
There were many more questions I wanted to ask these two makers of chocolate delights, but I would have ended up surpassing my article’s word limit by quite a bit. Here are a few more that I did ask. Who is the most famous person to taste your chocolates, that you are aware of? JJ: “Melissa McCarthy & Ellen were gifted our chocolates.” LL: “Judy Schultz” What is the strangest Chocolate combination you have tasted that you surprisingly enjoyed? JJ: “One of the strangest we have done (and I loved) was a Sage & Chanterelle bonbon as part of our Alice in Wonderful collection years back.” LL: “Garlic toast dipped in chocolate. My kids love it!” Both Jacek and Ludwig recommend you store chocolate in an airtight container and in a cool (16-20 degrees Celsius), dry and dark place away from any source of heat. That’s presuming there are any left. You can find out more about JACEK Chocolates online at www.jacekchocolate.com.
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Choclination is also online at www.choclination.ca and at the Sherwood Park Farmers Market on Wednesdays.
JACEK HAND ROLLED TRUFFLE RECIPE Makes about 50-70 bonbons Ingredients 1.5 cups Valrhona Manjari (64%) callets 1 cup whipping cream 2 tsps light corn syrup 2 tbsps unsalted butter (room temperature) Also: Valrhona cocoa powder / sprinkles / (toasted) shredded coconut / chopped nuts etc. Preparation 1. Finely chop Manjari Callets, add to a heatproof bowl 2. Add cream and corn syrup to a pot and bring to 80°C (175°F), then pour mixture over the finely chopped chocolate. Let sit for 1 minute 3. Using a spatula, stir cream and chocolate together using small circles; starting in the centre and working your way to the outside until it’s all mixed 4. Add butter immediately and use immersion blender to fully mix. 5. Let the mixture cool to 25°C and use the immersion blender once again to obtain a nice, smooth emulsion. 6. Place bowl in the fridge to cool until firm (approx. 45 mins) 7. Once firm, scoop chocolate out 1 tablespoon at a time and roll into a ball. 8. Finish by rolling truffle in cocoa powder, sprinkles, (toasted) shredded coconut, chopped nuts, etc.
Monique MacDonald is a local culinary events organizer and food afficionado. She was one of the organizers of the Gluten Free Cravings Festival in Strathcona County, as well as Northern Bites Culinary Tours in Edmonton. She is presently the Culinary Events Coordinator for Silver Skate Festival and curator of its Celebrate Edmonton bags.
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young entrepeneur
KARLENE OESCH ON THE ROAD AGAIN 32
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Driving the range roads of Alberta is nothing new for Karlene Oesch. In fact, between her work in agronomy, and growing up on a farm near Ranfurly, she has spent an untold number of hours in the rural parts of the province. So, it only made sense that when she was looking for a name for her new spin studio in Vegreville she landed on Rg. Rd. Spin
Affected by COVID Karlene’s business was incorporated in February 2020, just before Alberta locked down due to COVID. She had also started a full-time job at Cargill, and planning a July 2020 wedding. Despite COVID, Karlene persevered, postponed her wedding, and began classes at the beginning of July. She offered spin, yoga, and barre so her clients would have a range of classes to choose from. She knew based on experience that doing strictly spin classes was not ideal. At one point, she had done spin classes five times a week and ended up in need of the stretching and variety that yoga provided. Rg. Rd. Spin was going strong and then COVID lockdown happened again. But Karlene knew she was ready. They rented bikes for their clients and transitioned to Facebook groups and posted lessons and videos. She also found other good virtual classes and recommended them. It is a testament to Karlene’s hard work and innovation that despite two lockdowns in less than a year she already has about 90 regular customers.
No One Left Behind Part of the reason for her success is Karlene put herself into the shoes of her clients and figured out what she could offer that others weren’t. By identifying her value proposition, she stood out amongst the other exercise options available. An example of this is her newcomer’s class called ‘Spintro’ and one for women in their 40s-60s called ‘Select Spin’. She is also planning a spin and yoga mini-retreat that is 80 minutes of self-care that ends with each woman taking home a bubble bath to cap off their experience. In addition to her unique ideas for classes, Karlene and her instructors have a philosophy of no one being left behind. All are welcome and encouraged, regardless of their shape, size, age, or gender.
fan, she immersed herself in some personal development and turned that question around to “What if I fly?” She knew she was going to have to kick every negative thought out of her head in order to not let them prevail.
Negative Voice and Limiting Belief Another reason why Karlene was able to conquer those negative thoughts was that she knew she needed the physical release that spin classes gave her and she wanted others to experience it too. Helping people is at the root of the reason Karlene gets out of bed in the morning, whether it is through spin classes or helping farmers through her work with Cargill. While helping people, Karlene found that she was expanding her social circle and making new friends. “It used to be, you go to the grocery store in Vegreville and you don’t see anyone you know, now I know lots of people,” Karlene explains. It is these people that spur her on and make her want to make her studio even better. She is excited that she has a new class coming up that is an off the bike workout; no matter what COVID throws her way, she will continue to build and adapt her business. So, what is in the future for the owner of Rg. Rd. Spin? For now, Karlene is happy to continue offering unique and helpful classes to her clients, and pursue her work helping farmers. Of course, once the world can meet in big groups, she will also have her long-awaited big country wedding.
Karlene claims to have always been strong-willed and opinionated, with an entrepreneurial spirit. She always knew she would open a business of her own, but it wasn’t until she was looking to take a spin class in Vegreville that she knew what she wanted to do. Despite her assurance, she still had to fight some of the inner voices that other women fight. She was concerned about her ability to succeed and wondered “what if I fail?”. Being a big Brene Brown
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leadership
THE STORY OF LOUISE Change and Leadership by Pauline Melnyk
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Change and transformation are a lot like entering a roundabout. People are trusted to use their judgement, do the right thing, and manage the intersection on their own with simple rules and limited technology. It’s all about social coordination and learning to go with the flow. What can seem overwhelming is straightforward with a clear understanding of the rules.
Your current business capability and leadership is important to the success when you are in the midst of change. Most often we focus on the wrong things, and we notice the things that are changing rather than finding a solution. In the ‘busyness’ we end up on a roundabout of change, not knowing what to do.
We are living in a time of complexity. Our businesses are more hectic and overwhelming, and we are definitely changing the way we work. Complex problems can be solved with involving people, remaining positive and making courageous decisions as a leader.
Much like you would approach a roundabout, start by stopping and assessing the situation to ensure you are safe to proceed. Let people know which actions you are taking by signalling what you are planning to do. Then hold the space or create space in which to ensure
questions and they collectively determined how they would work together. As a result, her team stepped up with her to meet the challenges naturally and easily. If approached well, the change within Louise’s company can be as natural as navigating that roundabout.
CRITICAL FACTORS FOR SUCCESS ARE: proper flow and working with others. Sometimes, our assumption is we need to push forward and aggressively take a place or stand. Understand social coordination, learning and making sense of fairness will enable you to champion progress forward.
Change Leadership Roundabout If she had stopped to consider what needs must be met, she could then consider the value of coordinating with her team and possibly adjusting the recommendations of what the new IT system would provide. If she has the conversation with staff about what ‘good’ looks like, together they could decide if the change was being implemented in a way that they could all adjust to. The current situation with Louise’ team requires that conversations and agreements are negotiated around the new process or focus. Facilitating meetings that help Louise set her expectations, and modelling accountability is a something she needs to account for in her process of leadership. Louise’ decision around what was most important was done in isolation. Deciding to reposition her brand triggered a new way of working together that her team had not bought into yet. She needed to reconsider the team norms, values and performance criteria for the success of the change. Within our coaching sessions, Louise was able to reduce the resistance and judgement her team was exhibiting. Rather than a sense of being overwhelmed and helplessness a well- defined way of working together was created by her team. For Louise, her staff responded positively to her adjusted leadership style and managerial decision-making modelled the way she would answer employee’s
• Personal commitment to change and leadership - align values, norms and resources • Communicating and mastering storytelling (generating options and reaching agreement) • Training - explore issues and interests, help employees express confidence, wonder and belief. • Ensure any required resources are available for implementation and delivery of the change. • Predicted future capability understand how the team works together, any IT specifications and the time and cost of the change.
Pauline is a strong advocate for changing the behaviours, symbols and systems that create respectful and inclusive workplaces. Her goal is to create balance, wellness and finding a path forward for her clients through mentoring, coaching, issues management, c o l l a b o r a t i o n , communications and professional advice Pauline Melnyk CMP CPHR PCC
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non profit
A VISION OF INCLUSION by Lana Santana
It’s because of a strong vision, commitment and years of perseverance that has made the Fort Saskatchewan Multicultural Association such a strong organization in its community. Their mission is clearly defined as they work hard towards “creating a welcoming and inclusive community through celebrating our cultural diversity.”
In the Beginning Lana Santana decided in 2012 to create a safe space for newcomers to meet, where they could share their culture and traditions, food and music. Most importantly though, a place and a way for them to make friends so they feel welcomed and included in the place they now call home. At that time, there were no services geared to or for the easy integration of immigrants or newcomers to the community. This year, on June 13, 2021 the Fort Saskatchewan Multicultural Association will mark nine years since they embarked in this exciting adventure. They have overcome many obstacles, and crossed many hurdles while still using their perseverance to bridge gaps, create friendships and educate over 20,000 students and residents in some of the cultures and history that makes Canada so unique. The Fort Saskatchewan Multicultural Association became a non-profit organization that’s committed to celebrating the multicultural community and its
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diversity. They work together to enhance their rich cultures through their community-based approach and encourage respect of each tradition through education, participation and celebration.
Diverse Programs The most important one is traceability for Canada Revenue Agency. Auditors will ask for your bank statements, both business and personal. The programs focus on immigration, multiculturalism, workplace and school diversity and issues relating to building and sustaining a vibrant neighbourhood. They have a vision where there is total engagement amongst different cultures as they all learn, share and celebrate their diversity. The programs are geared to assist newcomers in settling in their new environment as well as promoting respect and supporting diversity and equality in all aspects of life. They do this by getting the entire community involved in order to enhance the preservation of cultures and traditions that reside in their community. The next goal for the Multicultural Association is helping children who have English as a second language (ESL). This will allow ESL youths an opportunity to better participate in their classes. The Association also recognized the need to keep their members engaged and further build their network, so they began hosting our community night and potluck event, a fun-filled event for the entire family. This event provides the space and opportunity to welcome newcomers and to meet community members, neighbours and established immigrants. It gives opportunities to the community members born in Canada to learn different cultures and welcome diversity in Fort Saskatchewan and
surrounding communities. Before Covid this event took place three times in the year and brought in more than 120 members. Taking it a step further, they embarked in initiating a women’s group. This group is aimed at breaking down the barriers to full participation of new Canadian women in the community. The group helps women socialize, make friends and learn about other cultures. They address issues that affect women as they strive to become independent and self-sufficient while also supporting the newcomers as they learn more about Canadian culture. This program allows the members to feel included in their neighbourhood as they experience a sense of belonging, safety and well-being.
implementation of measures to ensure inclusion as newcomers represent many customs and backgrounds. This opens up the need to assist in providing programs that will assist in easy integration and where they can realize their full potential, not having to worry about discrimination in a community where cultural diversity is valued and celebrated. The Association’s goals are to create a cohesive, vibrant community where all residents share in an awareness and appreciation of the diverse racial and cultural composition of the society, and that the richness of life in Fort Saskatchewan is enhanced by sharing that diversity.
The women in the group soon decided they wanted their children to share in the same benefits as them and they expressed interest in starting a youth group. These youth act as ambassadors to assist newcomer youth in their integration into the community. They have an opportunity to learn about other cultures as well as meet new friends. They are also given programs that will assist in their development and health and wellness. The youth have also taken on an environmental program where they will start pollinator gardens at some of the schools and hope to participate in activities that will assist in making an impact in the environment.
COVID’s Impact After Covid 19 turned lives around, they took the initiative to host programs that assist youth and adults who are feeling the effects of isolation. They host virtual sessions of yoga as they work towards building inner strength and peace. Our Mental Health and Well being seeks to assist us in staying positive during this pandemic. Afrofit helps us to get active even though we are isolated and in lockdown. The program is designed for youth and adults and they have reached people from all over the globe who are looking for something to help them stay connected. In essence, they are creating an environment that is inclusive, where all residents feel their contribution in the community is meaningful, and that their culture is being valued and celebrated. Our programing will ultimately cultivate a community where racial discrimination is eliminated in the workplaces, schools and community support groups. Fort Saskatchewan is fast becoming a very diverse community. With diversity comes the
Lana Santana is the Founder and Executive Director of The Fort Saskatchewan Multicultural Association. Lana has been a journalist, politician, recruitment officer and a manager of an unemployment relief program in her home country of Trinidad. She’s a volunteer, and aspiring writer of her first novel, a compilation of poetry and children’s books.
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g reat res o u rc e s
CRISIS CONTACT INFORMATION - Are you stressed out by life? COVID? Your relationship? Unsure where to start? Strathcona County CITY OF FORT SASKATCHEWAN – Mental health and well-being are an important part of overall health. Mental health affects how we feel, think, and interact with the world around us. Everyone has mental health! FCSS offers short term, preventative mental health services that help to support individuals build resiliency and connect to community services. More info here. CRISIS ASSOCIATION OF VEGREVILLE – Provides crisis intervention through 24 hour help line. Provides short term, safe and supportive environment for abused women and their children, women in crisis or other women needing accommodation. Provides clients with information about services available. TAXES – Looking for some help with your taxes this year? You may qualify if you are a resident of Strathcona County. Check it out here. COVID BUSINESS SUPPORTS: 1. Fort Saskatchewan: Resources such as how to calculate maximum occupancy, links to supports etc. More info here. 2. Strathcona County: Links to grants, resources and COVID status. More info here. 3. Vegreville: download a business sign, find the latest updates and information. More info here. --If you know of any resources available in your community that you think would benefit others, please drop us a line at carla@sharpwomen.ca
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