Grace Reynolds has limitless energy and enthusiasm for everything she tackles.

She’s an award-winning mortgage broker with Northwood Mortgage Ltd, she’s taken on the role as the 2019-20 President of the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough (WBN), and she just scored a big win through the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce as one of the chamber’s 2019 4-under-40 Profiles.

“I love what I do,” Grace says. “And the past few years since coming to Peterborough have been a whirlwind. It’s been overwhelming, but I’m just so happy to always jump in with both feet.”

And she does jump in with both feet — even when it’s an interview which, Grace admits, is a bit weird.

“It’s hard to talk about myself,” she laughs. “It makes me nervous.”

But with her positive spirit, her nerves don’t show and she bubbles her way through a conversation about the line of work that she excels at … after she kind of fell into it.

“I’m not a businesswoman in the wearing of high-heels and carrying a briefcase kind of way,” Grace explains. “That’s not my jam, but I want to help people. I always want to help people and so this was actually a perfect fit.”

Grace moved to Peterborough a few years ago so she and her husband could be closer to family. Her father-in-law had a background in the business, and he thought she would do well as a mortgage broker, so she gave it a try.

Grace was taking courses while she was breastfeeding her son and, by the time he was a year old, she had launched her mortgage broker business. And her father-in-law was right: Grace was really good at it.

Since starting on this new career path, she has scored an award for Best Newcomer Agent at the Mortgage Awards of Excellence and has also been recognized as one of Canada’s top “Young Guns” by Canadian Mortgage Professional (CMP), the leading magazine for mortgage brokers and finance professionals in Canada,

Grace says she has succeeded because she treats her clients the way she wants to be treated.

“I am also a consumer and I know that there are a million brokers that you could be working with,” she says. “I love that I help clients on their journey of buying or re-financing their biggest asset.”

And while not everyone thinks to call a mortgage broker first, Grace says she also works with some big banks so she can make those connections too.

“I help people put plans together and as a broker I am highly regulated and audited,” she explains. “I can lean on a whole team when I am looking at a client’s financial landscape and my job is to help them navigate this journey. It is a complex process now, with the new rules and regulations set just a couple years ago.”

Grace has had lots of jobs over the years and she draws on some diverse experience for her current role. She was a bartender and a server and, through every position she has held, she’s always been focused on supporting clients.

“This is really about how people want to be treated,” Grace says. “I am grateful that I get to look at people’s financial back-end. It’s an honour and all I focus on is this: what can we do to help you.”

Helping people doesn’t end with financing homes. Grace is active as a volunteer within her community. Stepping up as WBN president for 2019-20 has Grace pretty excited. For the WBN theme this year, she’s encouraging members to focus on “being you.”

“I am my business, I am my family, and I am here to help my clients and community — this is who I am,” Grace says when explaining her theme. “Our world is so complex, I want to bring people back to who they are and to just love being themselves: just bring it back to being you.”

Grace has also found success as a fundraising champion, one of a group of women called the Mombassadors who have raised thousands of dollars for the Peterborough Regional Health Centre’s Labour, Delivery and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Her goal to support and care for others comes from a strong belief in working hard and appreciating what’s important in life — from financing a home to supporting moms and babies in need.

“I live in this world and I see what it does for me,” Grace notes. “I want to give back, I want to help others, and I will share all of my skills to make this happen.”

Grace Reynolds is a licenced mortgage broker with Toronto-based Northwood Mortgage Ltd. You can reach Grace at 416-833-3317 (cell) or at grace@reynoldsmortgages.ca. For more information, visit reynoldsmortgages.ca. You can also connect with Grace on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Brenda Booth has spent a lifetime connecting people to resources that will make life better.

She did it with great enthusiasm as a media sales expert for 25 years and now she has ‘un-retired’ to use her skills as a Client Care Coordinator at ComForCare Home Care in Peterborough — connecting vulnerable seniors to supports that keep them in their own homes.

In her media position, Brenda worked with different clients, all with different needs and different budgets, by creating the best possible advertising programs and packages. She spent significant amounts of time determining their goals and together, they would see results.

Brenda loved this work but as she got closer to retirement, she started thinking about making a change.

“I was thinking about how my life was changing,” she says. “I was thinking about my needs, how I loved to work but also, I saw myself as someone who would need different things as I aged.”

Brenda laughs about accidentally falling into the media — an accident that lasted a really long time because of her natural desire to care and to support others.

“I’ve always been that way,” Brenda explains. “I always want to know that I have helped someone a little bit.”

This passion for providing support comes from her Aunt Brenda.

Brenda takes a moment to compose herself before reminiscing about her beloved aunt, who passed away last spring. The two Brendas were very close and spent much time together, even when her aunt and uncle retired in England.

“I met her when I was five and she moved from England to live with us,” Brenda shares. “She made a big impression on me. She was always helping, supporting — it was how she was.”

When her aunt moved to the U.S., teenage Brenda would travel by bus each summer to Baltimore, to live with her aunt during her summer vacation. More and more of her Aunt Brenda’s caring ways inspired the teenage Brenda.

“She was big into the United Way and she was big into volunteerism,” Brenda recalls. “It was about learning to contribute rather than to take.”

This spirit of contributing is what helped Brenda return to work shortly after she retired.

“I wanted to un-retire and work with the senior population,” Brenda says. “Before I was in sales, I worked as a medical secretary, so I had some understanding. Now I support people to live the best life possible.”

At ComForCare Home Care, Brenda’s care team supports older adults living in their homes by making sure the best people are providing essential support services as often as they are needed.

Brenda loves this role. She works with seniors, their families, caregivers, paramedical support providers, and an amazing team of co-workers to solve problems and to keep older adults safe, happy, and supported.

Each day, she feels satisfied, renewed, and inspired as she works with the ComForCare nurse to develop care plans for each individual client. The care plans include important support services like family respite, meal preparation, eating assistance, personal care, toileting, medication reminders, light housekeeping, laundry, bed changes, errands, shopping, transportation, and companionship.

“This is not a physically taxing role,” she laughs. “I have two new knees, but my role isn’t physically taxing. I like to have a purpose — my work does that and I work with great people.”

Brenda saw the increasing needs of her Aunt Brenda, especially in her final years of life, and she knows how meaningful ComForCare services are to families and their loved ones. The work she does each day — and the connections she builds for her clients — make each day more enjoyable.

And her work at ComForCare is not all she does. Brenda loves being the matriarch of her small but mighty family and she’s also very involved with her Rotary family. She also sits on the board of Showplace Performance Centre and the Elder Abuse Prevention Network, and she has helped with organizing committees for some large events hosted by Peterborough, including the International Dragon Boat Festival, the Ontario Winter Games, and the Ontario Special Olympics.

As a Rotarian, Brenda works with local youth, helping them to learn interview skills, and she always emphasizes the importance of giving back and volunteering. Through this work she passes on her Aunt Brenda’s message of learning to contribute and she hopes to inspire then next generation to care for and to support others.

“Show what’s in your heart,” Brenda says, sharing her aunt’s wisdom. “Show that your efforts are supporting your community.”

ComForCare Home Care is located at 294 Rink Street, Suite 203, in Peterborough. For more information, call 705-874-5770 or visit comforcare.ca/ontario/peterborough.

You can also find Brenda Booth on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

If you’re working on launching any kind of a successful business, you’ll want Gail Moorhouse in your corner.

As executive director of Community Futures Peterborough, Gail works hard to support entrepreneurs in all phases of business development, from start up to succession planning.

Before taking the helm at Community Futures, Gail worked for leading technology companies including in sales at Hewlett-Packard and as a sales trainer at Microsoft. She was an agent for Catalyst Finance Partners Inc. and also ran her own business offering sales training and coaching to business people.

During that time, she spent two years volunteering on Community Future’s board of directors and acted as interim director for two months that she realized she wanted the leadership role. She accepted the position fulltime in March 2018.

“The experience of being a Community Futures board member made the learning curve much easier,” Gail says.

Community Futures is a business development organization that helps create jobs in the City and County of Peterborough, primarily by offering financing and business counselling services.

The non-profit has seen entrepreneurs from different industries walk through its doors — starting restaurants and retail stores, to inventing products, to selling their creative or professional services.

Since 2018, Gail has led a team of professionals who have dispersed close to $4 million in loans to nearly 70 businesses in the region, an investment that has impacted more than 500 local jobs.

Add that to the $28 million already invested in more than 700 small businesses and the creation and maintenance of over 3,300 jobs in the region over the past 35 years, and you’ve got an impressive record.

Many businesses that would be ineligible for loans from traditional banks are able to access funds through Community Futures, Gail explains.

“A lot of the clients we fund may not have access to funds from traditional lenders. In comparison, our rates are attractive, usually six to eight per cent. It’s certainly wiser to work with us than put money on your credit card.”

She says her hope is to see the funds have a positive impact in the community and create local, sustainable jobs.

Over the years, Community Futures has added new programs and services to respond to community need. Since the inception of the Eastern Ontario Development Program (which is no longer accepting applications), it has invested $80 million in more than 7,600 businesses and community development projects. In the last two years, 55 businesses received $900,000 in non-repayable grants.

In 2018, Community Futures launched the Ignite100 program, an innovation competition that allowed local businesses to compete for a $100,000 loan, interest-free for the first three years with no payments for the first year.

While consulting and engineering company Cambium Inc. won the grand prize, the other two finalists — Cottage Toys and Goodwin Metals Products Ltd. — also benefited from participating in the challenge. They too are now working with Community Futures to finance their new business ventures.

In 2019, Community Futures announced the Rural Innovation Initiative Eastern Ontario to support advanced manufacturing innovation and business expansion. Applications have been received and the majority of funds have been allocated to 30 local businesses.

A tireless ambassador on behalf of Community Futures, Gail is passionate about helping business owners navigate the challenges of growing their companies. As a mentor, she has personally helped hundreds of people understand the ways to plan out the necessary steps needed to achieve growth and success.

To see it with her own eyes is very rewarding.

“It’s feels great when I’m out driving around and I see the businesses that we have helped,” she says.

With her wealth of sales, technology, and financial knowledge, Gail consults with local business owners on financial and innovative strategies, while still maintaining the drive and compassion that fuels enthusiasm among her team.

Moving the Community Futures offices from Charlotte Street to the VentureNorth building in downtown Peterborough last year was a key milestone and also a strategic decision, she notes.

It brought them under one roof with economic development organizations Peterborough & the Kawarthas Economic Development and the Innovation Cluster, increasing opportunities for collaboration and further strengthening Community Futures’ mandate.

“Our mandate is all about partnership,” Gail points out. “The relationship we have with our valued partners has given the organization additional exposure to more businesses.”

While Gail is the first to acknowledge that the success of Community Futures is not hers alone, there’s no denying the impact of her leadership in that success.

Gail’s passion for helping the community extends beyond her office. She has sat on the board of directors for the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough and coaches women in business, offering some gems of wisdom she’s gathered over the years.

As for giving advice to those looking to start a business or expand upon an existing one, Gail offers up a suggestion.

“Many businesses require financing, but they also need more than money to be sustainable. They require strong business plans, marketing strategies, and an advisory team comprised of people you will listen to when they give sound advice.”

Community Futures Peterborough is located at 270 George St N (Suite 103) in Peterborough. For more information about Community Futures and how it can help your business, call 705-745-5434, email info@cfpeterborough.ca, or visit communityfuturespeterborough.ca. You can also connect with Community Futures Peterborough on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

The affordable housing crisis is something that Sarah Burke, Chief Executive Officer of Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region, is very passionate about. For the past 11 years, she has increased the number of affordable home builds for her local Habitat for Humanity affiliate, while continuously striving to “do more” — and it’s working.

Thinking back on one of her first Habitat home dedications, Sarah remembers the moment when she knew that she was on the right track by thinking bigger.

“I had just returned from maternity leave,” Sarah explains, “We were building on Towerhill Road and we had a huge ground-breaking ceremony. It was a momentous event for us. I remember thinking this is it — we’re on the right path. When I realized the amount of support we had and how excited people were — well, it fuels you, it fuels your passion.”

Sarah has devoted her career to increasing the number of people that Habitat is able to help. However, having a bigger impact means building more homes. The easy answer would be to enter the rental market, but Habitat’s mission is to empower families by helping them build strength, stability, and self-reliance through affordable homeownership.

“I love our mission: it’s not just a hand out, it’s a hand up,” she says. “It’s a beautiful model. I love what we do and I love the premise. If we want to have a real impact, we have to think differently — we have to think like a developer. We can’t just stay on the sidelines any longer, confining our building activity to the traditional single-detached home built one at a time. We need to innovate in a big way — the need is just too great!”

By the end of 2011, Habitat was completing an average of eight homes over a two-year period. Sarah was able to hire a solid team to support her while she continued to build upon her affiliate’s growth. She was now able to focus on growth initiatives such as partnerships, acquiring new properties, and figuring out new ways to finance projects — more time to do more and continue to evolve for affordable housing.

“We’re about to transform again,” says Sarah. “What I’ve learned over the years is that nobody has the silver bullet when it comes to solving the affordable housing crisis. But Habitat has a lot of resources and a lot of really good support to bring to the table. We’re a really strong organization, but we’re not doing enough. People just want a safe place for their kids to play and, while there are tears of joy and happiness every time a home dedication happens, I always think we could be doing more.”

For Sarah, doing more means taking on one of the most ambitious projects Habitat has ever attempted.

“The board and I had a discussion two years ago and they were really ready for change,” she recalls. “We decided that we want to be more about impact and that we want to be leaders helping to address the affordable housing crisis.”

The plan was to move beyond Habitat’s traditional model of single-family homes being built one at a time. As a result of this shift in thinking, Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region is launching its first-ever multi-residential project to construct a 41-unit affordable condo building in Peterborough.

The three-storey, 41-unit building will be located at 33 Leahy’s Lane in Peterborough’s northeast end. The project is slated for completion in 2020. Suites will have one, two, or three bedrooms. Smaller units mean smaller families (single parents), couples, and seniors will be able to apply. The single family homes Habitat traditionally builds have only been available to families with children.

“It’s really innovative and hasn’t been done by Habitat before,” Sarah notes. “If it can work in Peterborough, it can work in any community in Canada.”

Energy efficiencies will be standard issue in the building of the condominium units, with an aim to help owners live a greener lifestyle while keeping their household costs down.

The 33 Leahy’s Lane development will offer a fully universal design that will accommodate current or future homeowners’ accessibility needs. Located near green spaces, schools, and playgrounds, this new development will provide safe and affordable housing for residents of Peterborough who need affordable housing.

VIDEO: What a new Habitat home means

Qualifying for a condo will require applicants to demonstrate they can afford to repay an interest-free mortgage. Payments are geared to income to help those who don’t qualify for a conventional bank mortgage.

Each homeowner will be expected to put in 500 “sweat equity” hours at the ReStore (Habitat has two retail thrift shop locations in Peterborough) or by helping with other Habitat initiatives. For single-family builds, homeowners can contribute their hours by participating at the build site; however, due to the scale and complexity of the 33 Leahy’s Lane development, homeowners will not have the same role at the build site as in past single-family builds.

While volunteers will have less of a role at the Leahy’s Lane build, there are many other opportunities to donate your time to Habitat, including volunteering at a ReStore, volunteering at future single-family builds, or volunteering at the office. Sarah says that, by volunteering with your Habitat, you can be a part of the change you want to see in the community.

“People want to be inspired and they want to inspire,” Sarah explains. “The way we inspire people is by empowering our volunteers to support affordable housing in the community. When you’re a volunteer you learn a new skill, make a difference, and meet new friends in your community. Together, we can do amazing things.”

Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region is located at 300 Milroy Drive in Peterborough. Habitat for Humanity Peterborough ReStores are located at 300 Milroy Drive and 550 Braidwood Avenue. Sarah Burke can be reached at 705-750-1456 extension 202 or at sarah@habitatpkr.ca.

For more information about Habitat for Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region, visit habitatpkr.ca. You can also follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

We can be many things at once, but how well do these “things” connect?

Therapy, coaching, human resources management, business consulting, and quilting instruction may seem unrelated to some people, but for Colleen Carruthers these disciplines are all connected. She uses a combination of all of these skills to help both individuals and businesses.

Colleen leads The T-R Group’s coaching and learning practice area and she also runs independent psychotherapy practice Growing Edge. As a Personal Certified Coach (PCC), she became accredited through the International Coach Federation. She also holds a degree in adult education from Brock University.

“We take a comprehensive approach,” says Colleen. “Our human resources business includes a full range of HR services for our clients. Services include writing policies and procedures, training employees, conflict resolution, and more.”

In her role with T-R Group, she teaches leadership and development skills to supervisors, managers, and senior executives. Her specialty is communication and relationship dynamics, using a coaching approach that embraces conflict resolution. Her Action Learning Programs help to facilitate group processes and strategic planning.

“Everything we do at T-R Group fits really well together and it’s truly full service,” Colleen explains. “We cover all of the things that have to do with the people side of a business.”

“On one hand, we’re going into a business and we’re doing all of the things they need us to do from an HR/administrative perspective,” Colleen adds. “Our primary goal is to keep any business running properly on the people side. And then I might go in to that same business and do workshops to help everyone cope with stress and learn how to handle conflict better.”

While an organization’s HR needs may vary, anxiety is a common problem that people face both in the workplace and in every day life. Colleen believes that a sense of purpose and direction is one of the keys to combating the pressures of modern life.

“So many people are struggling with anxiety today,” she notes. “I help people grow beyond it, whether I’m working with an individual or members of an organization.”

Stitching together her passion for helping people cope with anxiety with her own favourite hobby, Colleen instructs quilting classes out of a store located in Millbrook called The Quilter’s Bolt.

“I teach quilting because I hope that other people who learn how to do it will have something to keep them feeling good about life in general,” says Colleen. “Quilting does bring people together. And I know that if people don’t have some kind of hobby or some kind of a passion, they often aren’t as happy.”

Colleen herself keeps very busy. In addition to teaching the art of quilting, she is a faculty member at Fleming College. She has instructed the school’s Peak Leadership Program for several years.

In addition to her work and hobby, Colleen is a member of two boards: she is the director of Tri-County Community Support Services and sits on the Alternatives Community Program Services boards (both are organizations that support people with intellectual disabilities and/or autism). She has also served on the board of the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough, on the committee to run events for International Women’s Day (IWD), and has spoken at past IWD celebrations.

In fact, in 2017 for Canada’s 150th birthday, she coordinated a special IWD quilting project for the June gala of the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough. The project honoured “unsung female heroes of Canada’s history”. Proceeds from the fundraiser were given to the YWCA Peterborough Haliburton’s Crossroads Shelter for women and children escaping abusive situations. At the time, she had completed approximately 40 quilts; two years later, and she has increased that number to almost 70 quilts.

While Colleen’s work keeps her busy, her quilting passion and her volunteer work reflect her belief that people need to think about leading a purposeful life when they retire and exit the workforce.

In Colleen’s experience, many retirees finish working with no activities planned. Working takes up a lot of time and retiring leaves a void that needs to be filled.

“Retirement is great, but I’m trained in positive psychology and we are always working with people in terms of discovering their purpose,” she says.

“It’s an interesting thing about going to work: when we wake up on a holiday Monday and have nothing to do, we think it’s great to have nothing planned and nowhere to be. But if you’re retired and that’s your reality every day, you never get to feel that. Today people are living to 100, so you’ve got to have something to do, to have a purpose.”

With everything she does, the quest for a raison d’etre is not a problem that Colleen herself has to face.

“I definitely have a lot of purpose in my life,” Colleen affirms.

The T-R Group and Growing Edge are both located in Peterborough. To contact Colleen Carruthers for HR/executive consulting, coaching, workshops or individual therapy sessions, call 705-872-2172 (cell) or 705-760-9409 (direct) or email growingedge@sympatico.ca. For general enquiries, you can also visit trgroup.on.ca. You can also follow Colleen on Twitter @growingedge.

After years in the financial sector, Suzanne Cody and Gwyneth James are taking their clients beyond the basics with a goal to connect clients to a higher level of financial management.

“Our plan is to add controllership functions to our suite of accounting services,” Gwyneth explains. “It is a level of expertise that smaller businesses find impossible to staff in-house.”

Controllers go beyond simple bookkeeping by providing reports, analysis, and advice. They not only prepare financial reports, they also interpret these reports and turn these observations into advice — something that all businesses need to survive and grow.

“Our staff are good at analysis and systems,” Suzanne says. “It’s hard for smaller businesses to afford someone to do this in-house. Sometimes they will have the same person who answers their phone doing their books and they may be missing out on important financial and business support.”

This is the big gap that Cody & James Chartered Professional Accountants (CPAs) are looking to bridge.

Clients who receive this controllership support have a better handle on when to expand, when to make big purchases, whether to buy a company car or enter into a lease, and whether to increase prices.

These are the additional pieces Cody & James CPAs want to offer to more businesses and, as a result, more businesses should do better in our community.

Cody & James CPAs are now offering this higher-level support to clients on an hourly basis, saving smaller businesses the financial burden of a full-time controller.

“There are lots of people who are good at data entry or people who use on-line bookkeeping but then they’re not looking back at the numbers,” Gwyneth says, “whereas our team has really good controller instincts.”

These instincts include understanding what the numbers are saying, being able to ask the right questions, and having the confidence to offer advice that can save a business from a long list of potential vulnerabilities.

Gwyneth explains that the numbers tell the story but unless you speak the language well, unless you have spoken the financial language well for many years — you’re not doing the best you can with your business.

“We do this because we care about our clients,” Gwyneth says. “Working with our team, your company will do better.”

The growing firm in the north end of Peterborough offers a full suite of accounting services — everything from financial statements, corporate and personal tax returns, bookkeeping, and payroll — in their personable, approachable manner and in a language the clients can easily understand.

Through their membership in Porter Hétu International they offer assurance engagements (reviews and audits) to clients. This association also provides research, support, and shared resources through fellow accounting firms.

The Porter Hétu connection aside, Cody & James have earned their local reputation for excellence in their services to small business and a long list of local not for profits — something that comes from the partners’ dedication to volunteerism. Both Suzanne and Gwyneth volunteer with different community organizations and not for profits and this hands-on experience is translated into more support for their clients.

Both partners love the company they have built, and the satisfaction that comes from supporting such a diverse client list. They have attracted a solid team of professionals and they look forward to taking the business in a direction that will create a climate of success for all the individuals and businesses they support across the region.

Cody & James CPAs is located at 260 Milroy Dr. #1 in Peterborough. For more information, call 705-876-6011 (toll free at 1-888-511-2791), email info@codyandjames.ca, or visit www.codyandjames.ca. You can also find Cody & James CPAs on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

You can also follow Gwyneth James on Twitter at @ghj_cpa and connect with her on LinkedIn. You can connect with Suzanne Cody on LinkedIn.