New! Join the Creative Industries Trade Accelerator Program
Increase your international sales – bursaries available for WEC clients The Trade Accelerator Program (TAP) has developed a special cohort specifically designed for those in the Creative Industries! Women’s Enterprise Centre is a Supporting Sponsor of TAP, and we’re delighted to share this special cohort, which will provide focused support for the following businesses: audiovisual; design (exhibit design, fashion design, artistic product design, public art design, urban design); music; performing arts; publishing (books and periodicals); visual arts; interactive digital...
Read MoreSheila Malcolmson
BC NDP Candidate for Nanaimo I am running for re-election because I love my community, love the coast, and want to keep fighting for it. After 16 years of BC Liberal cuts to services, schools, seniors care, and tax holidays for the wealthy and well connected, the NDP has been working hard to build BC back up. We’ve made a lot of progress for Nanaimo the past three years – investing in childcare, care homes and the hospital here, for example. We’ve advanced reconciliation with Snuneymuxw First Nation. There is still more to do and the BC NDP will keep supporting people...
Read MoreIf you’re thinking about building a website
getting more online traffic, outsourcing, or growing your business then don’t forget to join us for one of our free webinars! , August 27 [This Thursday!] | How to Plan and Launch a New Website September 10 | Export Ready: Resources to Grow Your Business Outside of BC September 15 | Privacy: How to Outsource Work While Keeping You and Your Customers Safe September 17 | How to Get and Grow Your Website Traffic: The Basics September 21 | Finding and Bidding on Opportunities with the Government of Canada Please see below for more information and feel...
Read MoreFinancial Elder Abuse
Isolated adults are vulnerable to elder financial abuse but conversation can help drive change. Elder financial abuse is the most common form of elder abuse. It is defined as the unlawful or unauthorized use of an elderly person’s financial assets. It is also the act of pressuring an elder to authorize consent or use of their financial assets. How to Recognize Elder Financial Abuse Personal relationships are often leveraged to perpetrate investment fraud. To gain the trust of an older adult, a fraudster will often offer help or become a close friend. Learn more about the ‘trust...
Read MoreWhy Wool For Your Footwear?
In recent years wool has enjoyed a great surge in popularity. Not only is wool an environmentally friendly and renewable resource, the material is durable, naturally therapeutic and ideal for footwear. This is because wool acts as a natural insulator, keeping your feet warm in winter, and cool in summer. Wool fibres have a crimped shape, producing air pockets regulating temperature and absorbing more moisture than any other fibre — 30 to 40% — keeping skin dry, healthy, and odour free. Wool is naturally bacteria-, mould-, and fungus-resistant. Nearly all footwear is made...
Read MoreTake Charge of Your Finances
November was Financial Literacy Month, and this year’s theme is “take charge of your finances!” We’re encouraging new and seasoned investors to take charge by playing more active and engaged roles when it comes to their investments. One way you can become better engaged is by understanding investment fees and charges. Whether you are a DIY investor or you’re working with a registered investment advisor, it’s important to know what you’re paying to buy, sell or hold an investment. This article can help you better understand the structure of investment fees, and how investment...
Read MoreWhat’s a business coach?
Whether you’re an entrepreneur or work for a big company, a coach is someone completely focused on your success! What’s that like? Well, a great coach listens for opportunities and sees what you might miss and assists you to keep up the momentum when you need it most, during those difficult business and personal issues, conflicts and change. You also have a mentor for those business challenges or questions, they can provide the timely business tips and know how that you need. A trained coach asks questions that bring out those aha moments that pivot perceptions,...
Read MoreTime To Take Out The Trash:
On May 5, Kestrel Helicopters was in the air again, moving back and forth between ground crew at the mountain base and a receiving area where sorters prepared the garbage for transport and disposal.During two and a half hours of flying time, a total of seven tons was removed, including over a ton of tires, three and a half tons of metal and more than two tons of assorted garbage. While this was a good start, it did not begin to return the area to its previous pristine state. It is estimated that approximately 50% of the debris was removed and thus the job is not yet finished. The Rotary...
Read MoreA Christmas Tail
“My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am” -Author Unknown They say if you are lucky enough to live with dogs that you can’t help but have a favourite & that you will undoubtedly have at least 1 pup who becomes the ultimate ‘million dollar dog’. Well, that would be my dog Peppy, 12 years old (with a 28 year old liver), having defied all odds of survival in dogdom, he’s actually a scabillion dollar dog. But oh so heart-meltingly adorable. I’ve also come to truly believe that with each & every health issue a dog...
Read MoreOur Plum Tree
Each year our wee yellow plum tree got bigger and fuller. It always remained a dwarf, but was lush with juicy fruit. At first the plums were yellow and round Then, as we became inundated with other fruit-picking the plums became pink and even more sweet and juicy. Each year our friends would come with their children and pick to their heart’s content. We took our picture in front of that tree and used it in our annual Christmas newsletter The HoHoHo Times, as well as in several articles that Laurie wrote. The tree was loaded for Laurie’s last summer, the fruit...
Read MoreLia Versaevel CVRD Area G
I am running as a Candidate in the upcoming fall elections, as Area Director in the CVRD. Area G encompasses many Gulf Islands, including Penelakut and Thetis, Valdes and Ruxton as well as the residential neighbourhood of Sunny Saltair and a vast swath of territory reaching into the center of Vancouver Island, almost to Youbou! With a population of approximately 2000 people, Area G has several distinct communities, and yet we all share common concerns. Thetis continues to enjoy its historic Forbes community center with plans to expand, while Saltair embarks on planning for the recently...
Read MoreGrace and Decorum
For those who haven’t guessed, I am a mature woman of a certain age that will remain confidential. Let’s just say that I now introduce my daughter as my little sister and my granddaughter as my daughter, much to their chagrin but my delight if I am believed. The three of us-daughter and granddaughter-had looked forward to our trip to Seattle to see Mama Mia at the 5th Ave. Playhouse. It was my granddaughter’s very generous treat. Fortune was with us when the long awaited day arrived. It was crisp and clear, beautiful. As foot passengers, we boarded the Bainbridge ferry...
Read MoreMirror, mirror on the wall…
Admittedly, my friend and I are no longer spring chickens,and it has been quite some time since the mirror was our friend. The ‘un-friending’ of the looking glass began with an unforgivable deception! The incident occurred when the faces we saw reflected were not ours but were that of our aged parents! That was a fright not to be forgotten or forgiven. From then on, the mirror gets only a cursory glance when applying lipstick to our less than luscious lips or brushing our hair which is the only “Fifty Shades of Gray” in our lives. Vanity has become such a curse. The other...
Read MoreAttention-Deficit Disorder.
– the new flavor of the month diagnosis or is it one that has gone unrecognized and misdiagnosed for years? Have you ever wondered why you, your loved ones or associates seem to march to a different drum? Are not just another sheep in the fold but were/are considered a rather unique individual? Why, despite being average or above average intelligence, you or your loved one are underachievers? Or regardless best intentions, anxiety kept you or yours on the peripheral? Why emotions seem to be more intense at times and detachment seemed easier at other times? Why you more reactive than...
Read MoreThe countdown to Christmas is here!
Some of us count down in days, others in weeks, and those with big shopping lists – in pay periods! One of the most fun ways to countdown to Christmas is with an advent calendar. I decided to add a new twist to an old tradition. In this article, I will show you how to make beautiful ‘advent’ boxes. These boxes also make perfect gift boxes for those ‘great things that come in small packages’ or, fill with chocolates for a wonderful hostess gift. In our home, we number these boxes and hang them on a garland, but feel free to hang them right in your tree or anywhere else that needs a...
Read MoreB.C. Seniors Advocate survey
B.C. Seniors Advocate Isobel Mackenzie released provincial results of her office’s survey of publicly subsidized residential care homes today. This is the most extensive survey of residents’ quality of life ever conducted in Canada. “For the first time in this province, we have heard the collective voices of some of our most frail and vulnerable seniors across all of our care homes,” said Mackenzie. “What they are telling us is that while some are satisfied in some areas, overall, we need to be doing better, and in some cases, much better in ensuring the needs of residents are...
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