Finding success and happiness by doing work that matters are words that Kim Appleton truly lives by. So it was to no one’s surprise when Kim took home the 2019 Judy Heffernan Award at the Women In Business Awards gala last spring.

The award, named in honour of Heffernan, a well-respected leader of the local business community who passed away in 2013, recognizes a female entrepreneur, mentor, or student who embodies her legacy of humbly helping others succeed.

“Winning that award holds a special place in my heart,” says Kim, who was a mentee of the late Heffernan. “I feel blessed and grateful. It was a nice reminder of how others view my contributions to our community.”

As a business owner, mentor, and volunteer, Kim takes great pride in helping others reach their full potential through sharing her knowledge and experience and by mentoring business professionals.

Kim is the co-founder, president, and CAO of Peterborough-based technology company Emmatt Digital Solutions. For over 20 years, the company has provided support to businesses across North America — including government healthcare agencies, manufacturers, small businesses, and not-for-profits — to modernize and expand their digital presence, with everything from document scanning to web development.

In 1998, Kim launched Emmatt Digital Solutions with fellow Fleming College classmate, Chris Calbury, not long after they both graduated from the Business Administration program, specializing in Information Technology. Kim handles the finances, administration, and human resources, while Chris manages sales and client projects.

Starting out, the partners successfully tapped into the then-new disruptor of microfilm and fiche: document imaging, which quickly became the flagship of the company.

It has remained lucrative to this day, Kim explains, due to the fact that in areas such as healthcare, records must be kept for decades, and scanned files are much more efficient to store and retrieve when necessary. Plus, attempts at making offices paperless have just not fully materialized.

“We recently finished a scanning project that was close to 300 boxes and took nearly 2,000 hours to complete,” Kim points out.

Since its humble beginnings, Emmatt has moved with the times and evolved to offer website design and custom development services, which put it in a great position to begin offering search engine optimization, web hosting, cloud-application development, and e-commerce systems.

VIDEO: Emmatt Digital Solutions Inc. – Full-Service Web Agency

Emmatt also offers unique custom platforms, including a specialized e-commerce payment solution, an online e-learning management system, a digital signage communication system called BallyhooTV, membership management platforms, and a customer relationship management and call-centre management system for real estate sales professionals.

Looking back, Kim recalls how so much has changed in the technology and marketing landscape. When they started the business, there was no such thing as Google.

“Back in our early days, which was before Google, we used to teach people what a search was and how to do it,” she says, laughing.

In order to navigate the rapidly evolving business world, Kim also needed to adapt with the changes. To stay laser-focused on her path to professional and personal fulfillment, she sought out self-development training courses, many of which were taught by the Law of Attraction teachers from The Secret: Jack Canfield, Hale Dwoskin, Abraham Hicks, and John Assaraf — and others including Tony Robbins. And yes, she points out, she did do the “fire walk” across the hot coals.

Over the course of five years, she and Chris travelled throughout North America learning the secrets of how to create rapid and lasting transformations in both life and business.

“We aren’t as immersed it in as we once were, but we’ve stayed in that mode and it’s an ongoing evolution,” Kim says. “I think that’s the reason why we’ve been able to keep the company flourishing. We learned that we don’t have to struggle. The more gratitude you have, the more joy and abundance you experience — and it just keeps coming back.”

It’s this expression of gratitude that has fostered continuous loyalty from Emmatt’s clients. After two decades in business, the tech company still works with some of their original clients.

“Today, we’re still working every week for the very first document imaging client we had 21 years ago,” Kim says.

Even though technology is the backbone of the business, she says it doesn’t run the company — relationships do.

“If I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that sales is all about relationships. We listen to and understand our customers, and then give them what they want.”

For Kim, that also means delivering projects on time and on budget, keeping clients informed and giving them full transparency, and solving problems immediately when they arise.

When she’s not co-leading a full-time staff of seven, Kim is busy honing her skills as a certified holistic life coach and volunteering in the community.

She served with Community Futures Peterborough for nearly eight years, including time as both board treasurer and chair, and she is a past president of the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough as well as long-standing member.

Kim is also a member of both the Peterborough and Kawartha Chambers of Commerce and the local 100 Women’s group, supports businesses through a mastermind group that meets regularly, and is a formal mentor to entrepreneurs who are just starting out.

Through Emmatt Digital Solutions, Kim and Chris support local charities including the BEL Rotary Club’s golf tournament, Shared Dreams for Independent Living, Soroptimist Peterborough, the YWCA Women’s Shelter, and have provided the Peterborough Humane Society with a free website for their “Our Pet Project” fundraising initiative.

While giving back is good for the company’s reputation, Kim says it’s just plain good for the soul.

“You have to live with a more joyous, abundant and grateful heart. It’s so true: when you give, you get it back tenfold.”

Emmatt Digital Solutions Inc. is located at 649 The Parkway in Peterborough. For more information call 705-750-0476, email info@emmatt.com or visit www.emmattweb.com. You can also connect with Emmatt on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Is your gas pedal always on? You may be causing damage to your health.

Chiropractor Dr. Ange Wellman knows firsthand the damage that stress can do to your body. Growing up as a competitive swimmer, health was a priority for Ange from a young age. This passion for health led her to become a chiropractor.

“At the core I’ve always known that I wanted to help people,” she says. “And I’ve always held health as a very high value — probably my number one value.”

Her chiropractic practice in downtown Peterborough uses state-of-the-art scanning technology and gentle torque release chiropractic adjustments to empower patients to unwind the negative effects that years of stress can have on the body.

For Ange, even with an active and ‘healthy’ lifestyle, something was missing. Shortly after graduating and beginning her career as a chiropractor, she was sidelined by a herniated disc and a diagnosis of melanoma. She felt like she was doing everything right, but it was clear to Ange that something was wrong.

“Through my challenges with my own health I’ve realized that stress is the thing,” she says. “I wasn’t taking care of my mind, I didn’t have good strategies for stress management, and I certainly didn’t live in the moment.”

When she returned to work, her practice changed dramatically. She switched to a torque release method of chiropractic care, which Ange explains is more suited to dealing with the effects of stress.

“Torque release is a very gentle tonal technique that’s focused more on the nervous system and creating ease in the body. When there’s ease in the body, the body will unwind and chronic tension patterns can start to shift.”

After completing advanced training with the Center for Mind Body Medicine in Washington D.C., Ange has also embraced mindfulness in her practice.

“I would say that’s how I’m different from other chiropractors,” she notes. “I have a strong interest in the mind-body connection, and in particular the emotional piece and the role that plays in the body.”

She says the time off from her practice reminded her of what brought her to chiropractic care in the first place.

“I came full circle. What brought me into the chiropractic profession was this resonance with the idea that the body is self-healing and self-regulating, and it felt like a place where I could integrate the passion I have for psychology and personal growth.”

Ange is particularly passionate about using these techniques to help families. As a mother of two, she is intimately familiar with the normal stresses of family life: the physical stresses of birthing and carrying children, and the mental stresses of balancing work and family life.

That’s why she is keen to provide support to parents.

“I like working with parents and families because I think they need a lot of support,” she explains. “My mission is to help local families create extraordinary health and wellbeing from the inside out using gentle chiropractic adjustments.”

To support her work with families, Ange has completed the Epic Pediatrics Training Program and is currently in the process of completing her International Chiropractic Pediatric Association Certification (ICPA).

She says that working with kids from a young age allows her to target the patterns of stress and tension that can ultimately lead to health problems in adulthood.

“I believe strongly that the first five years of life are when patterns are laid down that can predict your future health,” she says. “Working with kids and educating parents from the start is a proactive, preventative approach to health and wellness.”

For Dr. Ange, this type of approach just “makes sense”.

Dr. Ange Wellman’s practice is located at 315 King St., Suite A, in downtown Peterborough. You can email Dr. Ange at info@drangewellman.com and learn more about her practice at www.drangewellman.com, where you can also book an appointment (or call 705-991-1555). You can also find her on Facebook and Instagram.

Ally Pyle thought she wanted to be a nurse, but after she finished her first year Trent University, it was evident that she needed to find another path to supporting people in her community.

“I was terrible at biology and anatomy,” she laughs. “But I was pretty good at economics.”

With her father’s influence — he was an economist on Bay Street — and an early start at Scotiabank, Ally’s path became clearer. She loved finances, was an avid learner, and knew she wanted to pursue a career empowering others.

“I always felt a strong connection to my community,” Ally explains. “The support I received over the years helped me understand the importance of giving back. The financial service industry offered me an opportunity to do just that.”

After working her way up the professional ranks, Ally eventually found her perfect fit as a Wealth Advisor at ScotiaMcLeod®, a division of Scotia Capital Inc. Part of a team of six located in Peterborough, she delights in her daily role supporting clients with education, knowledge, advice, and guidance.

“There is so much diversity in what we do,” Ally says. “I’m always learning — if you’re not learning every day, you’re not doing the best for your clients.”

The learning that Ally does includes professional development; she recently passed the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Level 1 exam and is currently a Level 2 candidate. She also admits to spending a lot of time listening to Bloomberg Radio and processing as much data as possible to be prepared to assist her clients.

The other big component of this learning, though, is understanding the needs of each individual client.

And these needs are important, especially when Ally is assisting individuals, family members, and businesses through a comprehensive financial planning process. She develops relationships and determines clients’ objectives and risk appetite based on their unique life circumstances and goals. From there, she gets to work on making recommendations and providing advice.

Ally says these client relationships bring her tremendous personal satisfaction and fulfillment. She takes great pride in easing the financial concerns that some clients have, and helping to turn their challenges into achievements. For Ally, it’s all about helping people realize their dreams.

She also loves seeing her clients move through life’s milestones. In fact, the simple honour of being invited into a client’s home where she can get to know their kids and pets reinforces the fact that she’s made the right career choice.

“This is all about the individual, what we do,” Ally notes. “There is no one-size-fits-all approach. We tailor our offering to each client who walks through our doors.”

From choosing suitable investments for clients’ portfolios to determining how to assist the transition of wealth to loved ones at the end of life, Ally will work independently, with her team, or with other Scotia Wealth partners to develop the best strategy.

“There is a great feeling of satisfaction that comes from seeing the weight lifted when we let a client know that we can look after their loved ones and that everything will be okay,” she says.

Ally prides herself on being a problem solver and creative thinker. She knows that the key to delivering exceptional results for her clients is how focused she is on listening to the important information they have to share. This also involves asking the right questions at the right time.

“The numbers are important, but this is only part of the equation,” Ally explains. “Everyone measures success in different ways. And we always need to see the big picture. If you focus on one data point, you’ll miss something. We focus on the forest as well as the trees.”

Ally’s passion for empowering others is evident in her professional life, but she also takes it outside the office with her busy volunteer schedule. Her charitable spirit was inspired by all the support she and her family received helping to raise her younger brother who has Down Syndrome.

“Seeing the impact of all that support made me understand how important it is to donate your time and energy to helping those in need,” Ally says. “I’m a board member of 4th Line Theatre, the PRHC Professional Allied Counsel, and treasurer for the Down Syndrome Association of Peterborough.”

She is also a member of 100 Women Peterborough and is actively involved with the Butterfly Run, Habitat For Humanity Peterborough & Kawartha Region (Women Build), and many other local charities.

When asked how she fits so many commitments into her week, Ally laughs and confesses that she’s bad with idle time. For her, helping others is life’s most uplifting reward. Thanks to her valued clients and volunteer community, she’s never lacking for motivation.

“Connecting with others is what makes me happy.”

Alexandra “Ally” Pyle (B. Sc. Econ, C.I.M) is a Wealth Advisor with The Pyle Group of ScotiaMcLeod®, a division of Scotia Capital Inc., located at 111 Hunter St. W., 2nd Floor, Peterborough. You can reach Ally by calling 705-876-3703 (toll-free 1-855-870-7112) or by email at alexandra.pyle@scotiawealth.com.

For more information about Ally, visit her on LinkedIn. For more information about The Pyle Group, visit pylegroup.ca.

After Jeannine Taylor spent her Christmas holidays in 1995 surfing the internet for the first time, she had an intuition the world was about to change.

But she couldn’t have predicted that, 24 years later, she would be the first and only female owner and publisher a locally owned digital media company serving the Kawarthas: kawarthaNOW.com.

“I’d always worked in marketing and promotion and I just knew that the internet was a game changer,” Jeannine recalls.

At the time, she was working as a freelance managing editor for three local print magazines. When she was returned from Christmas holidays, she encouraged her publisher to get ahead of the game and go online. But he wasn’t convinced the internet was anything worthy of attention.

So Jeannine decided to strike out on her own. There were only a handful of websites in the Kawarthas at the time, and nothing providing local news or community information. She saw an opportunity to provide local content online and, only five months later, launched an “e-zine” called Quid Novis on May 1, 1996.

A loose variation the Latin phrase for “what’s new?”, the Quid Novis website at Quidnovis.com received 10,000 visits in its first week.

“That was a lot of internet traffic back in 1996,” Jeannine laughs (by comparison, kawarthanNOW.com gets an average of 33,000 visits per day). “It’s funny now to think of the publicity we got at the time. CBC Radio called me to come to Toronto for an interview, and the local daily and television news covered it too.”

In 1996, there was virtually no advertising online, so how to monetize Quidnovis.com was an open question. However, soon after launching the website, local businesses began to seek out Jeannine for her guidance in web development and internet marketing. Quid Novis soon morphed into Quid Novis Internet Productions, and the company began to focus on websites and online marketing, initially for local clients.

“We got really busy doing website development,” Jeannine explains. “It was so busy we didn’t need to look for new clients. They came to us.”

Over the next 15 years, Quid Novis Internet Productions grew, developing and hosting hundreds of websites for the private and public sector and garnering local, provincial, and international awards.

All the while, Jeannine continued to develop and operate Quidnovis.com as a free community events website. She committed staff resources to maintain and update the site, even though it was a cost centre for her company. While traffic to the website consistently increased, it was as a labour of love.

A pivotal change happened in the mid-2000s. Not only had many other companies entered the web development industry, but it was becoming increasingly easy for people to develop and host their own websites using third-party services. At the same time, social media networks like Facebook and Twitter were gaining traction both with individuals and businesses.

“I realized the potential to grow the web development business was limited,” Jeannine says. “But I had this community events website with huge potential to become what I had originally envisioned back in 1996.”

Because the Quid Novis brand had become synonymous with web development, Jeannine rebranded Quidnovis.com to kawarthaNOW.com in July 2010, and greatly expanded the site’s content to include news, arts, lifestyle, and business content — while also expanding the community events that made the original site so popular.

A complete redesign followed in 2016 and since then kawarthaNOW.com has continued to grow, reaching 3.5 million unique readers and 12.1 million page views in 2018 and now with more than 53,000 followers on social media.

In 2011 and again in 2013, kawarthaNOW.com was recognized with the Greater Peterborough Chamber of Commerce Excellence Awards for Entrepreneurial Spirit, and was a finalist for the Kawartha Chamber of Commerce and Tourism’s Entrepreneur Innovation Award in 2018.

Along the way, Jeannine has garnered her own share of awards and accolades. She was Peterborough’s Business Woman of the Year in 2005, a Premier’s Award nominee in 2003, and received a City of Peterborough Civic Award for chairing the development of Millennium Park.

More recently, she was nominated seven times by her peers for Heather Doughty’s Inspire – The Women’s Portrait Project and was honoured with an inaugural Peterborough-Kawartha Women’s Leadership Awards in 2018 from Peterborough-Kawartha MP and Minister of International Development and Minister for Women and Gender Equality Maryam Monsef.

As someone born and raised in Peterborough, Jeannine has always been passionate about supporting her community, particularly local non-profit arts organizations.

Quidnovis.com provided an early free online presence for local organizations such as ReFrame Film Festival, ArtsWeek, and Folk Under The Clock, and Peterborough Musicfest — back when it was called the Peterborough Summer Festival of Lights.

“Fred Anderson had to be convinced the internet was important,” Jeannine recalls, referring to the festival’s late founder.

That support for the arts has continued with kawarthaNOW.com, which now sponsors Public Energy, Market Hall Performing Arts Centre, Showplace Performance Centre, ReFrame Film Festival, Peterborough Theatre Guild, 4th Line Theatre, and St. James Players, not to mention the hundreds of local musicians, artists, writers, performers, and makers that kawarthaNOW.com supports through its local coverage.

“The support of all arts and music is very important to us,” Jeannine explains. “That dates back to my education in arts administration. Our readers have always relied on us for arts and music coverage and they can always rely on us for that.”

To help keep her finger on the pulse of the local arts community, Jeannine is also now sitting on the City of Peterborough’s Arts Culture and Heritage Committee.

Along with its reputation for high-quality content, one of kawarthaNOW.com’s distinguishing characteristics is its team of local writers, who come from Peterborough to Bancroft and Cobourg to Havelock.

“I often joke that my only true talent is recruitment,” Jeannine says. “I recruit all of our writers. We have amazing talented writers on our team, and they all understand our focus on high-quality content, which is a key feature of our brand.”

She notes kawarthaNOW.com is well positioned to expand its high-quality journalism as well as its branded editorial. However, in an increasingly competitive media landscape, Jeannine is always looking ahead to the next trend.

“We constantly need to re-evaluate our position in the market and watch who’s crossing into our business lane at any time,” she explains. “We have to make the time to plan strategically and be ready to take action when needed. With the pace of change on the internet, it’s a daily process to stay tuned in and be vigilant.”

While for most people this might seem exhausting, Jeannine says it actually energizes her.

“It forces me to be constantly researching and learning,” she says. “For example, we’re currently planning some new products that will be important for small business to ensure affordable access to digital advertising.”

It all comes back full circle to that Christmas holiday in 1995 that led to the creation of that first community information website in the Kawarthas.

“It’s a good thing that, over 23 years later, I still believe the internet is the future of news and communication.”

The head office of kawarthaNOW.com is located in Peterborough. For more information, contact Jeannine Taylor at jt@kawarthanow.com or 705-742-6404. You can follow kawarthaNOW.com on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

When Allison Laming entered an online contest for a complimentary 12-month membership to the Women’s Business Network of Peterborough (WBN), she was shocked — and delighted — to find out that she’d won.

An anonymous donor had offered the complimentary 12-month membership and Allison thought, ‘Why not enter?’ To sweeten the pot, she was also vying for this profile feature in kawarthaNOW’s 2019-20 WBN digital section.

Allison had attended two previous WBN meetings as a guest. With her eye on the prize, she submitted her entry with the expectation that it would get lost among the multitude of deserving entrants.

“I saw all of these amazing reasons why other entrants thought that they should win this contest,” Allison recalls. “Then (kawarthaNOW.com publisher and WBN member) Jeannine Taylor announced that she would like to include a feature in the digital section with this wonderful donation.”

“I have wanted to be a member of the WBN for years,” she adds. “There’s so much value in it. The speakers are great and the networking is fantastic. It’s great just being able to go out and meet other like-minded people.”

When she was contacted about her win, she was told that the donor wanted Allison to “give as much as she gets and pay it forward” with her free membership. Allison set her intention to do exactly that.

“I was shocked to win, I couldn’t think of any words to say, and there wasn’t just one person I could go and hug to thank,” Allison explains, “I thought to myself, ‘I need to make sure that, every Wednesday night when I attend these meetings, I bring my best game in with me, include other women when I can, give back to other entrepreneurs, and bring people with me on this journey.’ It’s a wonderful opportunity and not everyone gets to do this.”

Before joining WBN, Allison had joined a free group called the Lady Bosses of Peterborough (now The Founders Collective).

“I could chat and network with other like-minded women,” she says of the Lady Bosses. “There are a lot of really wonderful, kind and involved/connected women in that group.”

Allison also joined Inspire: The Women’s Portrait Project — founded by local photographer Heather Doughty — as a board member in charge of grant research and fundraising. The project aims to create a safe space to honour, share, and celebrate the stories of women by recognizing the remarkable in the regular. Allison herself has been recognized by Inspire.

“I was nominated as an Inspire woman back in 2018,” Allison notes. “And then I was featured at the Inspire display (at VentureNorth) on George Street earlier this year.”

Her work with Inspire is her first experience on a non-profit board, and she’s pleased to report that there has been a lot of partnership and support from the city. She now chairs her own subcommittee and is proud to see Inspire continually growing.

Also growing in Allison’s life is the business she and her partner established together. In 2018, Allison and her fiancée Ryan (who both attended Trent University) decided Peterborough would be the home base for their advisory business and would continue to be the place where they would raise their two children.

“We met while working at the same company back in 2016,” she recalls. “We had dreams of one day going off on our own and working together.”

She says their business now takes them “anywhere from Ottawa to Niagara” and won a couple of local awards during their first year.

“We deal with a lot of small and medium-sized businesses,” Allison explains. “It’s important that people make educated choices and understand their options. I speak to people the way I’d want to be spoken to. I want to sit down and talk about what worries them, what their intentions are, what their timeline is, and how I can help.”

Her biggest focus is making people feel safe and comfortable, so that they won’t shy away from asking tough questions.

“People perpetuate the cycle of not getting advice out of fear,” Allison says. “Everyone has a different history and they all have different goals going forward, so it changes with every person we talk to.”

You can follow Allison Laming on Instagram and connect with her on LinkedIn.

Karen Laws is a pack leader with a heart for helping dogs and their owners have the life of their dreams together.

Now, with her sights set on helping more people and pooches, she’s focusing on growing her “dog university” program. She’s spent years developing the program for the dogs she trains and for their families — and the results are monumental.

Karen promotes and teaches five basic principles of leadership at Ontario Dog Trainer, but number one on her list is to build the dog-owner relationship. This is what inspired the switch in focus to her success-building boarding programs.

Karen knows that dogs are not verbal creatures. The pack animals hear with their noses and they use physical interaction to message to the rest of their pack. And just like humans, dogs need to build solid relationships, so that’s what Karen teaches the people she works with — and their four-legged family members.

“We focus on the relationship first,” Karen explains. “With dogs, with staff, and with our clients: relationship first.”

This approach means more time with dogs, so Karen has stopped teaching group classes and put more energy and expertise into her boarding programs — including dog university, where dogs come to stay at Karen’s facility for three weeks or longer.

“We need to build trust with the dog,” Karen says. “If it takes ten days for the dog to understand that we are going to be consistent, then that’s how long we take before we start the formal obedience training.”

The training Karen and her staff cover can include whatever the dog needs to be part of their family, especially real-world adventures in everyday places like stores where dogs are allowed.

“With so many urban dogs, we do lots of work on how to behave in public places and how to greet people and dogs properly,” Karen explains. “And just like some humans, sometimes we teach how to be tolerant without actually meeting.”

All of this takes time — time for Karen to build the relationship with the dog and then additional time to help rebuild the relationship between the dog and its family. And every step of the way, with the dog university program, it’s about benevolent and predictable leadership.

While the doggie students are at school and after they graduate, there are up to five more private sessions together with the human student that take a couple of hours each: two sessions at the facility and also three on-site or in-home sessions post-graduation.

The first session, mid-way through a dog’s stay, focuses on how far the dog has come. It’s also a chance for Karen to learn more about the owners and the life they dream of with their dog.

“I need to show them what’s possible with their dog,” Karen points out. “Then it’s time to help the owners understand it’s possible for them to live a life with their dog beyond basic obedience.”

Karen says she helps her clients feel comfortable enough to reveal where problems might be lingering, so that everyone can experience the success that comes from being focused on a desired behaviour — as opposed to dishing out discipline after something bad has happened.

“People think I’m in the dog business, but that’s only part of it,” Karen says. “I’m in the relationship business.”

The shift to more boarding programs is having a positive result. Karen says she’s constantly hearing positive feedback from more than just dog owners. She’s also hearing from vets, dog walkers, and groomers who appreciate the huge changes they are all seeing.

And it’s not just about immediate results. Karen says she hears from past clients all the time — like the dog she just received an email about, who graduated four years ago.

The dog was supposed to be chasing geese off a golf course, but he would never come back if he was off leash. The dog and his owners completed Karen’s program and kept working to build their relationship. The geese are now gone, and the dog has become a valued member of the family and golf club staff.

Karen is excited about taking her dog university in a new direction as she trains more staff to do what she does. As a coach, she believes in making everything easy for the client and this means having more trainers available with her skills.

Once this happens and she has some additional free time, Karen says she’s finally ready to start writing a book that will provide one more way for people to build lasting positive relationships with their dogs.

Karen Laws is a certified dog trainer and pet food nutrition specialist. Her business, Ontario Dog Trainer, is located at 814 Lifford Road in Bethany. For more information, call Karen at 705-277-1503 (mobile: 705-761-2159), email karen@ontariodogtrainer.com, or visit ontariodogtrainer.com.

You can also find Ontario Dog Trainer on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and connect with Karen on LinkedIn.

When Brenda Cowan opened the sealed envelope announcing her business had won the Consumer Choice Award, she was truly amazed by the news and she was deeply moved that so many people had taken the time to support her growing business, The Ear Depot.

Once the news sunk in and Brenda knew it was real, she took it as one more sign that helping people hear every conversation, better, is something she’s really good at.

Brenda owns and operates the Ear Depot, an independent hearing centre with locations in Bancroft, Barry’s Bay, Peterborough, and now also in Marmora. The business is thriving and growing — something Brenda attributes to trusting and empowering her team to deliver the best in technology and customer service.

“I was seeing that there was a lack of that old-fashioned service,” Brenda explains. “This is not just about the technology. We have the technology but without building a real relationship, there’s something missing.”

Hearing aid technology is challenging, and the device is only as good as the fine tuning that goes into it. And, according to Brenda, the fine tuning is a combination of understanding the technology and understanding the client’s needs.

Brenda works with her team to develop insightful and understanding relationships with each client. If they know where the client lives, what they do with their time, the different environments the client is going to need to hear in and have conversations in, that’s when the Ear Depot can make a significant difference in someone’s life.

“This all comes from within,” Brenda says. “You need to have that compassion for the client, and I love connecting people with people.”

Clients at the Ear Depot feel that connection from the moment they call to book an appointment, or when they walk through the door at any of the clinics. Each team member has been carefully selected by Brenda because of their ability to make that connection.

“It’s in their heart, it’s in their eyes — you can’t fake that,” Brenda says. “This is what we hear from clients. This is what they feel.”

And when people have trouble hearing, they have already lost that special connection with others.

The first impression is huge for Brenda and her team. She insists that it must be genuine and that it must be positive. Then the relationship is built, staff get to know the client, their family, and their needs. Once a product is recommended, time is spent fine-tuning it, testing it, and training everyone on how it will be used.

Follow-up is also huge for the team. If a client is not enjoying the anticipated results, the team will do whatever is needed to make sure conversation gets easier for those who have been struggling with hearing loss.

And hearing loss is a struggle. With all levels of hearing loss, the disappearance of certain sounds can happen gradually. In very subtle ways, even the most common hearing impairment can unknowingly become a very real strain on a person’s quality of life.

When we don’t hear clearly what other people are asking or saying to us, Brenda explains, people pull away from social connection and conversation.

“Our passion at The Ear Depot is in helping people remove the barrier that hearing loss causes and bring folks back to confident and enjoyable conversation every day.”

Helping people get back to enjoying social interaction is what Brenda gets excited about. You can hear it in her voice and, with the Consumer Choice Award secured, she feels good about the positive changes she is empowering her whole team to make in an industry that is known for high-pressure sales and a lack of support.

“You can’t buy this vote,” Brenda laughs. “This comes from years of helping people and from all the five-star reviews that we have on the internet. This means so much to us.”

The Ear Depot is located at 236 Parkhill Road East in Peterborough (705-749-0707), 229 Hasting Street North in Bancroft (613-332-3754), 1 Madoc Street in Marmora (613-472-6134), and 12 Dunn Street in Barry’s Bay (613-756-9550). For more information, visit www.theeardepot.com or email info@theeardepot.com. You can also email Brenda Cowan at brenda@theeardepot.com and connect with The Ear Depot on Facebook and on Twitter.

Frances Fourcaudot’s job can get ‘hairy’ … but that’s a good thing in her business.

The owner of From the Neck Up is a hair loss and trichology specialist. She helps people look their best with nonsurgical hair replacements after they have lost their hair primarily due to chemotherapy, autoimmune diseases, alopecia, female pattern baldness, and other hair loss conditions. In many instances, she offers these people a new lease on life.

With skills obtained as a former hairstylist, Frances can style and customize wigs and toppers in a way that look natural in appearance, and understands why it’s important to create a natural-looking solution that make people look confident.

“Hair loss is not a topic that is readily discussed,” explains Frances. “When clients come to see me, it can be a very emotional time.”

“My goal from that first client consultation is that they sleep better at night knowing that there’s a solution and somebody to help them, because that alone is half the battle — when they don’t know what’s causing the hair loss or they’re so overwhelmed.”

“It’s a game changer when the thought ‘How am I going to get through the day with my hair?’ doesn’t become their number one fear in the morning.”

With a passion for hair, Frances became a licensed hairstylist. She moved to Durham Region at 22 and, while raising a family, spent decades making locals look their best.

It was during that time she decided to turn her life to helping transform women’s appearances with hair replacements, and she opened two wig salons in Pickering.

“I had a particular skill that could help women get through chemotherapy and there weren’t many places in the area that were educated in wig fitting and did it well.”

A few years ago, her decision to move back to her hometown of Peterborough to be closer to family also offered up the opportunity for Frances to open another boutique — but one that catered to women, men, and children.

In 2018, From The Neck Up opened its doors in the lower level of the Westmount Pharmacy building on Victory Crescent in Peterborough. In a brightly lit, welcoming space that is private and confidential, Frances offers a selection of full and partial custom-styled human hair wigs, synthetic wigs and hair toppers, as well as wig repairs.

“Synthetic wigs are extremely low maintenance and economical,” she explains. “If you have temporary hair loss, I highly recommend synthetic.”

A human hair wig is more for long-term hair loss and it feels great on the skin, she notes.

“It does require more maintenance and you have to style it like you would with your own hair. But most people like to do that, as it’s what they miss most.”

A topper, which isn’t a full wig but a custom-made hairpiece, clips on top of the crown to mask the hair loss and blends naturally with remaining hair.

Rows of wig-coiffed mannequin heads in a variety of styles line the perimeter of the boutique. A long mirror hangs on the wall at the fitting station, furnished with a comfortable chair.

Frances notes she is dedicated to creating a space that will help clients look like the confident people they knew were always there.

After a free consultation, she works with each client to correctly distinguish the colour, quality, and length to simulate natural hair, and find the perfect wig style for them that is realistic and comfortable. She can also colour and cut the hair pieces to complement her client’s features.

“Clients come back to see me a year later and I don’t recognize them. Some have lost weight or have got a job promotion. Their newfound self-confidence has been life altering.”

“People aren’t in a hurry to tell others they’ve had a hair replacement as it’s relatively private. But when my clients go shopping or to the bank and get compliments, it affects everything about them — they walk different, they talk different, and they’ve got more confidence. They’re in control of their life again.”

Frances has recently expanded her services to include people in the LGBTQ community.

For those identifying as transgender who choose to change their appearance like their hair and be their authentic selves, Frances says she can offer custom cut and colour services, wig management and recommendations — all in a safe, inclusive environment.

“They have a vision of beauty and I can help them find it, while giving them the privacy and dignity that they deserve,” Frances says.

In addition to her work, Frances is a proud supporter of the Angel Hair for Kids and The Hearth Place Cancer Support Centre. She also volunteers her time at Peterborough Regional Health Centre’s Look Good Feel Better program, where she helps women fit themselves with wigs and hair prostheses during cancer treatment.

Her positive energy and enthusiasm have directly benefited many patients. She thrives on sharing her knowledge of the beauty industry and solutions available for people to enjoy better hair days.

Frances’ favourite part of the process is when she sees the total transformation from the hair.

“I love to see the look on a person’s face and how good they feel,” she says. “It brings tears to my eyes every single time. Knowing that I’m able to contribute to someone’s wellbeing has been very rewarding.”

From The Neck Up is located on the lower level of the Westmount Pharmacy building (Unit 3, 768 Victory Crescent) in Peterborough. Appointments are highly recommended for privacy purposes. Free parking and wheelchair accessible parking is available.

For more information, call 705-775-2797, email frances@fromtheneckup.ca, or visit www.fromtheneckup.ca. You can also follow From The Neck Up on Facebook and Instagram.