Early Spring Edition 2012 Vol. 6 No. 1 Brought to you by: Career Alternativeswww.islandbusinessnews.comhttp://islandbusnews.wordpress.com

cont’d on p. 5cont’d on p. 3

cont’d on p. 2

Bill Schurman - The New Executive Director with The Summerside Chamber of Commerce

Bill Schurman recent-ly took over the position of Executive Director with the Summerside Chamber of Commerce. We asked him what his key plans are for the Chamber. “I plan to let the membership tell me. Their needs are more important than mine in this whole thing. At first, I’ll be responding to any minor changes we make – tweaks and

You probably don’t know this, but there is a private investigations service right here on PEI. You won’t see his face or any headlines in the pa-per. Why, because he is discreet, knows his busi-ness and doesn’t want

anyone knowing yours.Todd Moase began his

private investigation work after he graduated from the Atlantic Fo-rensic Investigation and Consultants Ltd in 2005. He worked with different private investigations

cont’d on p. 2

companies across Atlan-tic Canada and contin-ued with his education through the Atlantic Police Academy, course work in Canadian law and further private in-vestigations training.

The following is part 1 of our 2 part Q&A with Sherry Johnson of Strict-ly Staffing. For most businesses, staffing is an ongoing issue. Staffing as an industry has a major impact on the economy and personal lives and the welfare of many in-dividuals. With over 30 years staffing industry

Strictly Staffing(part 1 of 2) experience, Sherry has

a great feel for the ever-evolving nature of the in-dustry, and her Strictly Staffing business was launched, as you’ll soon discover, with business owners and small busi-nesses in mind. Enjoy.

ISLAND BUSINESS NEWS (IBN): How did the decision to launch Strict-

L-R: Allison Clark, Member Services Coordinator, Bill Schurman, Executive Director, and Kelly Perry;

ExecutiveAssistant.

As a business / cor-porate traveler myself, I know first hand how time consuming and frus-trating it can be trying to book my own travel. Even when I’m working with a corporate client who is booking the travel and I’m simply providing preferred travel dates, it can still be a complex pro-cess if you’re not a spe-cialist in the travel field.

Enter the PEI based, Atlantic Canada op-erated travel special-

ists The Travel Store. As specialists in the

field of travel, whether that includes corporate flights, or corporate trav-el packages, The Travel Store can help simplify the process for you.

Working with one of their agents can be more beneficial for corporate travelers who would oth-erwise book their travel personally or even for those relying on some-one internally within the company – someone

The Travel Store - Corporate Travel Made Easy

Andrea Carr-McNeillBusiness Development

Manager

Island Business NewsPage 2 Early Spring Edition 2012

• MoRgan Marketing• Summerside Chamber of Commerce• EyeSpy PEI• A.P. Reid Insurance• Profit Learn• CYBF Feature on Higher Design• Wendy Chappell - The Whole Way• Whisperwood Villa• Strictly Staffing• Home Instead Senior Care• The Travel Store

Profiles and Articles:

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

CREDITS

Contact InformationCareer Alternatives /

Island Business News(902) 303-4218

Design and Typesetting MJS Marketing and Promotions,

Kensington

Contributors: Nancy M. Doucette

Terry of TNT TrainingSimply For Life (PEI)Sheldon Brushett and

Larry Sider June Ellis

Publisher & FounderCorey Poirier

Island Business News On the Net

http://www.islandbusnews.wordpress.com

www.tisti.ca

Emailislandbusinessnews@

gmail.com

Published by Career Alternatives

Opinion DisclaimerContributed articles are the views of the contrib-

utors and not necessarily those of the publisher. Career Alternatives reserves the right to reject

or edit articles.Articles may not be reproduced without the writ-

ten approval of the publisher. The publisher of this Newspaper in its complete state is Corey Poirier (Career Alternatives).

Any unauthorized reproduction in whole or in part of this publication without such consent is prohibited by law.

Columns:Sheldon Brushett/Larry Sider Q & AKen PierceFrom The Heart by Nancy M. Doucette Simply For Life Nutrition TipsTNT Training - Tips ColumnTaking Care of BusinessStanding Ovations from Every Customer

...and I Quote....

Taking Care Of Businessby Corey Poirier, Founder/Publisher

Island Business News

Paraphrased Ben Franklin Quote“Your best investment is to pour your purse into

your head, and no one can take it away from you.”Benjamin Franklin

Quote from The Mentalist Television Show“Once the game is over, the King and

the Pawn go back into the same box.” Character Patrick Jane, The Mentalist

(Italian Proverb)

Bill Schurmancont’d from p. 1

I was recently very for-tunate to be able to give a talk at an ALS Bucket List Event in Halifax. The event took place at an Empire Theatres.

This isn’t my first time presenting at an Empire Theatres, and I have to say, always very cool presenting in the theatre environment.

Given the bucket list theme, my talk was aligned around living one’s bucket list. But a strange thing hap-pened as I was bring-ing my talk together.

What was originally planned to be a talk about traditional bucket

list adventures that I had attempted over the years - like skydiving, surfing, trying stand-up comedy - turned into a talk about living a life that matters – TO YOU, ON YOUR TERMS.

What I mean is this – so many people live years of their lives for someone else. Don’t let that person be you.

Going to a certain school for their parents, taking over the family business, marrying the person someone else said was meant for them, worrying about what someone else thinks about (or say’s about) them. Examples of this are everywhere, and it happens everyday.

I realized as I was bringing my talk to-gether that many peo-

ple (myself included) draft someone else’s bucket list rather than their own list as well.

And that was the mes-sage as I presented to the ALS group. LIVE YOUR BUCKET LIST.

How that relates to this column is this - my hope as you read this month’s issue (and future issues) of Island Business News (and as you feed your brain in anyway going forward) is that you truly make sure your decisions are YOUR decisions and not someone else’s. Use the wisdom in this pub-lication perhaps to guide a decision, but not to make a decision for you.

There is no greater sadness (in my opin-ion) to discover on one’s death bed (or even at 30 or 40) that the life they

have been living hasn’t been their own – espe-cially when it’s a life they haven’t been living to the fullest in the first place.

In the coming months, years, and decades, you’ll be faced with many im-portant decisions. It could be to launch or expand your business, accept a certain job, fol-low a certain career path, enter or leave a certain relationship.

The only way (again, in my opinion) it’s the wrong decision is if it isn’t your decision.

So, until next time, here’s to YOUR bucket list, YOUR next deci-sion, and YOUR BET-TER LIFE – hope to see you soon on the BET-TER LIFE FREEWAY.

Corey PoirierFounder / PublisherIsland Business News

adjustments and making sure our membership is happy with those chang-es, as I have to be flex-ible to respond to their feedback,” he explained.

Bill reviewed some of the changes coming up. One big change this year is the location of the Tradeshow from the Waterfront to Credit Union Place. The trade-show has operated at the Waterfront for a num-ber of years, so this is a change that will hope-fully work to the ben-efit of all involved. Most recently, the Chamber partnered with Hockey Day in Canada making it a big success in the city.

For him though, it is trying to understand what the members

need, and where pos-sible, finding creative solutions, being a cham-pion for the area cel-ebrating successes and learning from failures.

Some of the most re-cent successes include partnering with a pro-gram for new entrepre-neurs that for the first time in years had a wait-ing list. At his first Pres-ident’s Dinner, Bill was given a chance to share some of the Chamber’s go forward visions based on feedback from members. He foresees improved communication and a re-vamping of the website. “We’d also like to see more collaboration in the community. I’d like to see us become more of a builder of communities.”

To assist with the work, Skills PEI has partnered and through

them three extra people are in the Chamber of-fice. “That has allowed us to tackle some things quite quickly. We’re av-eraging something new to work on or delve into every week it seems since January, and I joined the Chamber in October 2011. Seeing where members weigh in on certain top-ics and their opinions on certain issues are impor-tant. The good news is that there is really noth-ing about our work that doesn’t impact business, so we have a lot of respon-sibility to be involved in a lot of ongoing devel-opments in the city.”

In response to talk about Downtown Sum-merside, Bill stated, “We are planning to find out what is really happen-ing downtown by getting an outside person’s per-

spective so we can really delve into whether there is a parking issue, an is-sue with development and so on. I’m not saying there isn’t or that there is – just that we need to find out if the wheel is broken before giv-ing it too much grease.”

If downtown turns out to be an issue then efforts will need to be focused on that area. “We want to put our fo-cus where it needs to be without losing focus on other areas within the city that require it.”

Bill’s personal phi-losophy is, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” With this, he contin-ues to look for oppor-tunities for our ‘Small City with Big Ideas’.

who may not specialize in travel and therefore may not realize the many variables that can turn an otherwise seamless business trip into a series of unfortunate events.

Some of the many benefits corporate trav-elers might discover when they work di-rectly with The Travel Store might include:

• Industry Knowl-edge – with The Travel Store that knowledge in-cludes access to 430 years combined experience in the travel industry

• The ability tofind the best options to meet your corporate trav-el budget and timelines

• Access to group

discounts, special rates regardless if it’s air, hotel or car rentals

• Immediate Ac-cess to your travel pref-erences (which are al-ready on file from your previous travel history)

• Theconvenienceof having your Travel Store advisor taking care of all booking logistics

• The time anddollar savings your busi-ness could realize as a result of working with specialists in the travel field – as opposed to the more costly learning while doing it approach to travel arranging

Perhaps just as impor-tant to note, as the travel industry grows more competitive, The Travel Store is continuing to

look for ways to provide excellent personal ser-vice, while also looking for ways to customize the booking experience to the individual corpo-rate traveler. A great example of this is the re-vamping of their website, a revamp intended to al-low for a much smooth-er user experience.

Their newly rede-signed website can be seen at www.thetravelstore.ca

Tune in for part two of our piece on The Travel Store when we will chat with The Travel Store’s Business Development and Groups Manager, Andrea Carr-McNeill (pictured with this ar-ticle), about the various aspects of your corporate travel The Travel Store

can assist you with.

Until then, if you have immediate travel arrangements for your business and you’re tired of learning by trial, and the unexpected travel hiccups that can some-times come with such an approach, don’t panic, just pick up the phone and call 629-7808 or drop an email to Andrea at The Travel Store (acarrmc-neill@thetravelstore.ca) and she’ll match your travel needs with one of their dedicated advisors while giving it the per-sonal professional touch your corporate travel arrangements deserve. You can also learn more about The Travel Store at www.thetravelstore.ca

The Travel Storecont’d from p. 1

Island Business News Page 3Early Spring Edition 2012

Eye Spy by June Elliscont’d from p. 1He is a member of Pri-vate Investigators – At-lantic Canada and serves as vice-president for the PEI division. His train-ing in investigations, po-licing and law is ongoing.

He started working for other companies that were based off Island, and when they had a PEI job, they would contact him. From this, Todd felt that he might as well have his own business to serve Islanders better. “I decided that perhaps PEI needed its own private investigator, so that’s when Eyespy Investiga-tions was born.” From there, the camera secu-rity business evolved.

Since 2010, Todd has offered private investiga-tions for businesses and

private residents of PEI. He also sells and installs camera security systems, p.a. systems, hidden cam-eras, home automation, intercom systems, gps ve-hicle trackers, computer spyware and much more for both businesses and residential dwellings.

Todd says, “Security cameras are becoming very popular in people’s houses. It gives them a sense of security espe-cially if they have young children or if they travel a lot. They can view their property from anywhere in the world or over their smart phone. Also video intercom systems are popular as younger chil-dren or babysitters can talk and view who is at the door without opening it.”

His business also sells a lot of wiring for sys-

tems. It is less expensive to purchase a cable for your computer or satel-lite from Todd as you only purchase the required length; therefore, pay-ing a fraction of the price you would at the store.

What makes Eyespy Investigations unique is the nature of what he does. Not many people realize that there is a pri-vate investigator on PEI. “It makes it difficult to obtain work as I am ‘pri-vate’ and I don’t want my face plastered every-where in articles as then it would be very difficult for me to conduct surveil-lance for days at a time without being noticed. Customers choose Eye-spy Investigations for the simple reason they trust me with their infor-mation, a lot of work I do is very sensitive and I be-

lieve my customers can see that. They know any-thing told to me is strictly confidential and all files are under lock and key for my eyes only. That is how you get a good repu-tation for investigative work,” Todd explains.

Eyespy Investigations has a strong customer ser-vice approach. He deliv-ers a high quality service and products for camera security and installation. “I’m not satisfied until the client is satisfied.”

His business is still growing and he is happy with the success of hav-ing Canada wide clients calling his business for work on PEI, such as law firms, disability claim investigations and oth-ers. He also has a well established business that he provides and services

their camera security.

With growing technol-ogy changes, Todd con-tinues to keep abreast of the new developments. Where he may not be on par with the prices of the equipment, he offers the clients valued customer service. “I can be one on one with the client and if there is a problem, they call me and I will go to

them instead of them call-ing the large company to help them.” Todd can of-fer the personal service.

Todd’s future goal for Eyespy Investiga-tions is to continue to focus on providing Is-landers with a profes-sional discreet service.

For further informa-tion, he can be reached through his website w w w . e y e s p y p e i . c o m

“Delivering at the level the customer ex-pects is crucial to us. In fact, when someone is considering hiring me, I have actually said that if I don’t get a standing ovation, don’t pay me, and I mean it, because I need to commit every-thing to each show and that keeps me account-able to my performance.”

Musical Comedian Jim-my Flynn (from the Best-Selling Conversations With Atlantic Canadians)

Recently, I was speak-ing to a group about Getting Standing Ova-tions from Every Cus-tomer when an attendee asked me, “…and don’t you hate how every second server today has a friggin’ tattoo?”

Now, this may be a controversial answer to some but I replied, you

know what I hate more than tattoos? Someone who is dis-interested in whether or not I, as their customer, walk away from their business with a smile on my face.

To go one step further, what’s on a person’s body is less important to me personally than how that person makes me feel while shopping at their business, and someone having a tattoo, or many tattoos, in my opinion, has very little to do with my experi-ence at their business.

Here’s why I bring this up. I was in a drive-thru today and I noticed the server had a large gawdy looking white band-aid on, and I recalled that she had it on during my pre-vious visit over a month ago – I thought to myself, wow, that wound is tak-ing a long time to heal, and then I realized that her employer had her

covering up a tattoo with the gawdy looking thing.

I asked her to show me the tattoo, and to be honest, the band-aid looked much worse than the TAT itself.

I next thought to my-self, interesting how they’ll let staff mem-bers walk around with a frown on their face, dis-interest in their voice, and a poor attitude, but make the best server they have cover up a tattoo.

I’m not judging the business owner, man-agement, or saying it’s wrong to have an em-ployee cover up a tat-too, as that depends on the nature of their busi-ness, and perhaps other variables, but perhaps to at least provide a skin coloured band-aid.

My next stop was at a service station where the friendliest employee had a tattoo inside her index finger. I barely noticed

Standing Ovations From Every Customer

it and most wouldn’t have, but I asked her to show it to me as well.

Anyway, coolest tat-too, super friendly em-ployee – I’ll be back.

Here’s the thing - if you’re bothered by some-one having a tattoo also having a job or a career, in 2012, I think you’re go-ing to have to start stay-ing at home more often – because it’s becoming more and more accepted.

I stopped by a pharma-cy the other day, and the head pharmacist had a large tattoo right on her wrist running into her forearm. My doctor has a tattoo on his ring finger. This wouldn’t have been the case twenty years ago.

Personally, I now have tattoos on the tops of my feet (all in the name of getting a story for this very publication a

number of years ago).And one of my favor-

ite tattooed women (Kat Von D) has become a very successful (and re-spected) entrepreneur, and even gives talks to troubled youth and so on, and that girl is cov-ered with a capital C.

The bottom line isn’t whether or not an em-ployee has a tattoo, it’s whether that tattoo im-pacts their level of ser-vice (not your perception of whether it does) and I have yet to see a case where the tattoo itself has negatively done that.

Besides, I think it’s difficult to argue the

by Corey Poirier

cont’d on p. 4

Corey Poirier, Founder/Publisher of Island Business News, hams it up with Musical Comedian Jimmy Flynn?

Island Business NewsPage 4 Early Spring Edition 2012

MoRgan Marketing is not just any marketing business. What makes it different is that its founder is a young 10 year old entrepreneur by the name of Morgan Whitman. Since the business started in late 2011, she has already doubled her clients.

Morgan explains, “MoRgan Marketing is a business I started to help people in busi-ness connect with one another. We take 100 business cards from our clients and mail them out to 100 other busi-ness people and then

we bring them together every couple of months at a networking event where they can all con-nect and maybe do busi-ness with each other.”

Her short term goal is to make enough money to fund her university education. She is on tar-get. She started out with 25 clients and within two months moved up to 56 clients. Her goal is to establish 100 clients and keep them year after year, generating revenue of $10,000 per year. Her other goals are to as-sist her friends in other provinces to start a simi-lar business, perhaps a franchising opportunity.

MoRgan Marketing To pick her clients, Morgan has one employ-ee (her father Matt Whit-man). “He meets a lot of people and tells them about my business,” ex-plains Morgan. Her em-ployee picks up the cli-ent cards and does a lot of the running around. For this, he is paid $5.00 from every $25.00.

A big networking event is coming up and Morgan’s goal is to have 200 people attend. This young entrepreneur will be speaking in front of the crowd. When asked if she would be nervous, she admitted “I will be at first, for the first 5 min-utes, but I’ll get over it.”

The business makes for a lot of work with stuffing

of envelopes with cards, but her family is quick to lend a hand and makes a fun game out of it.

She hasn’t had to deal with a lot of tough cus-tomers, everyone has been great. She hopes to achieve her goal of 100 customers and continue to grow. “It’s hard to imagine 100 customers, but in only a few months we are half way there so we’ll keep on growing.”

The exciting thing about running your own business is that Morgan got to attend a Kidpre-neur’s Expo recently put on by Willy Badger. He was able to give advice on starting your own busi-ness, which Morgan has evidently already used.

Morgan acknowledges the encouragement from her parents (Matt and Cathy Whitman) and the help they gave her to set up her own business. When asked if she would come back and talk to us when she is a mil-

lionaire teaching others how to become million-aires, she said without hesitation, “I sure will.”

If you would like to be part of this net-working opportunity, just go on facebook “Morgan Marketing”

ProfitLearn PEI is or-ganizing a special work-shop “Meeting Today’s Business Challenges” on Thursday March 22, 2012, from 9 am - noon at the Rodd Royalty, Charlottetown for busi-ness owners across Prince Edward Island.

“This session is con-sidered as a gift to small business owners from

ProfitLearn. Effective March 31, 2012 the pro-gram and my responsi-bilities with it, will come to an end. I wanted to bring something special as a final learning ex-perience and I trust the four speakers at “Meet-ing Today’s Business Challenges” will bring great value to business operators who are able to participate,” says,

Marg Weeks the Prof-itLearn PEI Manager for the past nine years.

Special guest present-er will be Doug Shepherd, Executive Director of the Andrew’s Hockey School. His stories around the skills, discipline and dedication involved in developing top notch athletes, apply directly to business development.

Doug will bring a very motivational message to small business owners.

The three additional speakers to be featured during the morning ses-sion include Bill Martin, a ProfitLearn trainer who has delivered the “Start-ing Your Own Business” sessions more than a dozen times through the ProfitLearn program; Martina MacDonald a career entrepreneur who has built several busi-ness ventures in both re-tail and tourism and has been a great ProfitLearn supporter through the CBDC program in east-ern PEI; and Patrick Ledwell, a ProfitLearn alumnus, a designer, writer and now a Prof-itLearn trainer around technology topics.

All four speakers will draw on their personal perspectives and strat-egies in dealing with business challenges in the current business climate. The goal is to have workshop partici-pants leave the session with some very specific tips that can be applied to their own business.

Cost for this ses-sion is only $25 + GST. Credit card pay-ment is preferred.

To register, con-tact Lisa MacKinnon Laybolt “Lisa MacK-innon-Laybolt” <lm-mackinnon@upei.ca>.

Space is limited to 40 participants.

For additional informa-tion, contact Marg Weeks m a r w e e k s @ u p e i . c a

Business Community Invited to Final ProfitLearn Session

fact that Tattooed busi-ness people have been receiving standing ova-tions from their cus-tomers for years now.

Think Ozzy Osbourne, Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue, Spoken word artist and Punk Legend Henry Rollins, Pink, Lenny Kravitz…most of these performers (whether you’re a fan or not, or whether their off-stage antics are questionable or not) have been receiv-ing Standing Ovations from “Their Customers” for years – tattoos or not.

So perhaps a good summary would be this – maybe it’s time to start worrying more about the employees with the frowning faces and poor attitudes than the ones with tattoos.

And if you’re worried that having employees with tattoos will im-pact your business in a negative way, show your customers you care and ask their opinion?

I’m not saying to use your customer’s feed-back as a way to let go of a good employee with a tattoo if your customer is bothered by it, and if there is a solution (I don’t want to get the human rights organi-zations after me), I’m just saying at least then you’ll know whether a solution is needed (like covering the tattoos with a gawdy band-aid!), and you can act accordingly.

But just make sure you also consider doing some-thing at the same time (or better yet before) about the dis-engaged employ-ees who don’t want to be there in the first place!

Just one man’s opinion, mind you,

Until Later, have a Rock N’ Roll Day…

Corey PoirierBest Selling Author /

Award Winning Speaker/Customer Service Specialist

Publisher, Island Business

www.coreypoirier.com

Standing Ovationscont’d from p. 3

Marg Weeks, ProfitLearn PEI

by June Ellis

Island Business News Page 5Early Spring Edition 2012

Dynamic Young Couple Make Artistic Design and Media Their Business

cont’d on p. 9

Kenny Driscoll of Prince Edward Island was inspired to pursue a career in entrepreneur-ship by one of his instruc-tors in the creative arts program at the Hillsong International Leadership College in Sydney, Aus-tralia. Before long, Kenny and his wife, Klasina, put the plans in place to set up an artistic design and me-dia business in Canada.

With support from the Canadian Youth Busi-ness Foundation (CYBF), Kenny and Klasina opened up their business, Higher Design (www.higherdesign.com), in Summerside, Prince Edward Island in 2006.

Today, Higher Design employs four people and has expanded its services to provide web develop-

ment and hosting, video production, social me-dia marketing, graphic design, photography and application and soft-ware development to clients across Canada.

CYBF is the national organization that helped Kenny and Klasina launch Higher Design. Dedicated to growing Canada’s economy by helping young people launch and sustain successful businesses, CYBF provides entre-preneurs between 18 and 34 years old with pre-launch coaching, business resources, fi-nancing and mentoring.

CYBF’s world-class mentoring program matches entrepreneurs with experienced busi-ness experts that offer

guidance and advice in the first two years of business. Kenny and Kla-sina definitely benefited from their experience working with a CYBF mentor. “Business men-torship provides young entrepreneurs a support network during the early and most critical years of their business,” said Ken-ny. “The encouraging, yet objective words of a CYBF mentor provide in-sight, wisdom and hope to a young entrepreneur.”

CYBF’s community partners are integral to getting entrepreneurs like Kenny and Klasina the help they need to open their businesses. According to Nicole Os-mond, CYBF’s director, Atlantic Canada, “CYBF works closely with a net-work of over 180 commu-

nity partners to deliver its programs. In Prince Edward Island, we are fortunate to have three dedicated community partners who are able to meet the unique and localized needs of the outstanding young peo-ple that take the leap into entrepreneurship.”

Kenny and Klasina have become recognized as successful business leaders in their region. In 2009, they received the Business Excellence Award from the Com-munity Business De-velopment Corporation and in 2010, they repre-sented the interests of Canadian entrepreneurs at the G8 Young Busi-ness Summit in Italy.

Since inception in 1996, CYBF has helped

over 4,900 entrepreneurs across Canada, like Ken-ny and Klasina Driscoll, launch businesses. Over 4,000 individuals have volunteered their time

as CYBF mentors. For more information about CYBF, to find out how to apply as an entrepreneur or to volunteer as a men-tor, visit www.cybf.ca

ly Staffing come about?

SHERRY JOHNSON (SJ): After leaving my post at the world’s larg-est staffing agency in 2003, I wasn’t initially sure what my next ven-ture would be. I explored many different options, including toying with the idea of opening a restaurant. I also went for interviews with sev-eral targeted companies, but decided I would be happier starting my own business. When I called my lawyer and asked him to look over a lease for office space on Young St., he told me he had space to rent in the building where he had his practice. Once I took

ownership of the space, painted and furnished it, it really hit home that I was a business owner.

IBN: Aside from your background, why Staffing?

SJ: I wanted to start this business to help small and medium-sized organizations thrive and grow by supplying them with staff that had the experience and know-how to come in to their operation and be im-mediately productive. I saw a niche for a staffing agency that would cater to smaller businesses, offering them flexibility and exceptional service. I also saw a niche for a firm that would special-ize in placing legal assis-tants and paralegals, as

this was an opportunity that no other agency had cultivated. I had so many supporters helping me in the early days. In fact, my daughter came on the road with me for the first six months as I vis-ited clients and got the business off the ground.

IBN: How did the Strictly Staff-ing name come about (and why) originally?

SJ: I wanted the name of my company to re-flect what I did, so that it would be evident to people from our name what the nature of the business was. I was toy-ing with the idea of hav-ing the acronym S.O.S. since I wanted to be a helpline for business-

es, but I couldn’t find a name I liked that had those initials. My niece was traveling in Austra-lia and saw a business called Strictly Person-nel. I liked the “Strictly” and put it together with “Staffing,” so I could keep the two S’s (a reminder of the S.O.S. philosophy) and have a name that ac-tually said what we did!

IBN: What was the most difficult part about running your business in the early days / now?

SJ: The most difficult part of opening my busi-ness was finding a bank that wanted to work with a small business. I also found it difficult to get good financial ad-

Strickly Staffingcont’d from p. 1

At TnT… we believe in your safety. I hope the fol-lowing tips help to make you safer at your workplace.

TNT Training Solutionsby Terry Jeffery

Some Simple Forklift Safety Rules…• Wear seatbelt when operating lift-truck• Be alert to your surroundings• Watch overhead clearance• Keep forks low when traveling• Do not let anyone ride on the lift truck as a passenger• Drive in reverse when required• Lower fork tips flat on floor when lift-truck is parked That may save your life…

Other workplace tips…• good housekeeping• Display safety signs where required• Bring up safety issues at your safety meet-ings• Work together with fellow employees to spot and correct safety issues

And remember: Safety is everybody’s Job…

“Safety Training for Today’s Workplace”

Island Business NewsPage 8 Early Spring Edition 2012

The amount of in-formation available on health and wellness can be staggering at times.

These days, in fact, we are constantly bom-barded with “new” information or the “brand new discovery or approach to becom-ing healthy, fit and well”.

The irony is this.

After reading the teachings and findings of thought leaders in the wellness industry like Doctor Oz, Deepak Chop-ra or Dr. Andrew Weil, I have personally found that their teachings are not only similar to one another, but similar to the beliefs about prop-er health and wellness for thousands of years.

So why is it these leaders in the field, lead-ers who focus often on simplistic, holistic ap-proaches to wellness, aren’t typically the same people sharing this “new” information?

Makes you wonder doesn’t it? Could it be that the staples of healthy nutrition, regu-

lar exercise, relaxation (think meditation, yoga) and supplementation just when necessary might actually work?

At the end of the day, that’s really for you to decide, because you have to take the approach that works best for you.

Perhaps that’s why Personal Fitness Train-er, Wendy Chappell, operator of The Whole Way in Charlottetown, and oftentimes known as Barefoot Wendy, is just as happy when people discover her approach to one on one or class fitness is not for them, as when they discover that it is.

When I say her ap-proach, she is quick to admit that it is definitely different, perhaps even unique, from the common ap-proach to personal training and fitness.

For starters, her fo-cus is on complete awareness and mindful-ness during workouts.

This is why her classes, and training

sessions, don’t include background music. As someone who has at-tended fitness classes throughout the years myself, I can tell you this is not common in to-day’s fitness class world.

Her approach is also different because she brings a unique per-spective. As someone who has managed to age gracefully as a result of her approach to health and wellness, she also brings a perspective on aging that not ev-ery trainer would have, and she confronts it head on during her ses-sions – which is again not always the norm.

Another thing that makes Wendy’s ap-proach to health and wellness unique is that she chooses to focus on exercise and fitness, and leaves the nutrition as-pect to others, despite having an extensive background in nutri-tion and naturopathy.

You might ask, why this unique approach? Don’t you need TV screens and blaring

music to get the most from your workout?

Well, consider this, obesity is a bigger prob-lem today than at any time in the past, and our ancestors didn’t listen to an IPOD, or watch Auc-tion Hunters or Ameri-can Idol while shopping (aka. hunting) for sup-per, and they were ar-guably healthier than most generations since.

But for Wendy, it’s more than that.

It’s the discovery that she didn’t enjoy run-ning as much when she listened to music while running, rather than listening to her body, she has seen more peo-ple get injured using weights like Kettle Bells when they weren’t there in the moment than those who were there in the present moment.

And she has also dis-covered something else.

She has discovered this – if you’re not enjoying something, it’s probably better to go find something

else you do enjoy.This approach for Wen-

dy appears to be working. In fact, she rarely adver-tises, doesn’t have sig-nage, some people don’t even know where her lo-cation is, and yet she still has a steady flow of loyal clients on a regular basis.

Tune in next time

when we interview Wen-dy and ask her whether cardio or weight train-ing is better, or if both are even necessary.

In the meantime, you can learn more about Wendy and The Whole Way at www.t h e w h o l e w a y . c a

Wendy Chappell - Helping People Discover The Whole Way

Wendy Chappell - Personal Fitness Trainer(AKA Barefoot Wendy) finished

a 10 kilometer marathon barefoot.

Island Business News Page 9Early Spring Edition 2012

Everyday as insur-ance brokers, it is A.P. Reid’s continuing goal to Exceed the Expecta-tions of their customers with the insurance prod-ucts they purchase for them, the pricing they negotiate on the client’s behalf, and the service they provide. A shining example of this is the launch of their new ten-ant insurance website,

ZipSure is a fast, con-venient option for ten-ants and landlords alike. Everything to do with ZipSure.ca is online, helping tenants obtain a quote, pick their cover-age and purchase insur-ance. It’s also a fantastic risk management tool for landlords, as it helps manage the exposure of uninsured tenants.

A.P. Reid Insurance aren’t the only ones who think Zip Sure.ca is great, they’re a finalist in the Insurance Canada Tech-nology Awards! These awards celebrate organi-

Strickly Staffingcont’d from p. 5

Simply For Life - Nutrition Tips

1. Food is energy for your body. You have heard the term “Eat to live, don’t live to eat” So, think about your food before you eat. Ask yourself the questions-”Why am I eating this?” “Do I really need this?” This will help you focus on eating enough to keep you moving, and choos-ing foods that will give you prolonged energy. Watch high sugar foods as they give you immedi-ate energy but in a short time that sugar is right out of your system leav-ing you craving those sugars again and again.

2. Suffering from midafternoon tiredness? To help you maintain con-sistent energy through-out the day, don’t let too much time pass between meals or snacks. Aim to eat every 3-4 hours as this will keep your blood sugars regulated and energy levels balanced.

3. Mild dehydra-tion will slow down one’s metabolism as much as 3%. The body is a remark-able piece of machinery.

It puts itself in survival mode when water intake is low and begins to store all available water out-side of its cells. This sur-vival action of the body results in swollen feet, legs, hands and ankles. By increasing your wa-ter intake, the body will continually replace any stored water. The rec-ommended water con-sumption for most peo-ple is 2-3 litres per day.

4. A big part of changing your lifestyle is learning now to han-dle the temptations and hidden threats when res-taurant dining. Avoid-ing any “white” starches

(bread, pasta, rice etc), processed meats, deep fried food, heavy sauces, and high sugar foods are things that we all know. Don’t forget about con-trolling your portion size of your meals. Have a healthy snack before go-ing to the restaurant to curb hunger pains, ask your server for a pitcher of water for your table, and order a green tea to start. When your food ar-rives, as for a “to-go” con-tainer and save half of your plate for tomorrow. You will leave feeling empowered and satisfied that you took control of your choices, instead of extremely full and tired.

by Amie Ceron and Jillian Wood - Nutrition Consultants at Simply For Life

cont’d on p. 10

Ever since Aileen Reid started A.P. Reid Insurance Stores in 1980, they’ve been Exceed-ing Expectations. Back in the early 80′s most of Aileen’s competitors expected that she’d fail. Aileen herself was only expecting to venture out on her own and operate a small independent in-surance brokerage. Of course, they’ve Exceeded all of these Expectations.

The handful of cus-tomers who followed her in those early days did so because they knew they could Expect More from Aileen. A.P. Reid Insurance Stores have worked every day since 1980 to Exceed the cus-tomer’s very high Ex-pectations, as well the Expectations of every cli-ent they’ve earned since.

“Exceeding Ex-pectations” has be-come the internal, and now external, slogan.

zations in the Canadian Property and Casualty In-surance industry whose implementation and use of technology shows a significant impact on a process or group of pro-cesses used in the sale, processing and servicing of insurance in Canada.

Everyday as business owners, it is A.P. Reid’s continuing goal to Ex-ceed the Expectations of their staff with the work-ing environment, job security and career ad-vancement opportunities they provide. In today’s economy, most people think that job security and satisfaction are things of the past. With A.P. Reid Insurance you can protect all of your be-longings and your career!

With locations throughout Nova Sco-tia and 1 in New Bruns-wick, the future of A.P. Reid Insurance has never been brighter.

A.P. Reid’s Insurance School is also ground breaking. Recently 10 new employees started

vice, and I listened to some people I probably shouldn’t have. I also wished that there had been a “one stop shop” for opening a business. In order to find out all the information I needed, I had to go digging myself in several different plac-es, and contact people in several different gov-ernment agencies. Now that I’ve been through that challenging period, I always try to offer my support to other indi-viduals who are open-ing up small businesses, and pass along the things that worked for me, and the resources I discov-ered. My challenge now that I am trying to grow the business, is, interest-ingly, the same challenge that I faced in the early days – trying to find a bank that will give me the financial support to get through the growing pains. It is hard to find a banker that will believe in your business, espe-cially now in this fragile economy where every-one is very risk-averse.

IBN: Has the econ-omy impacted the

organization? Posi-tively / negatively?

SJ: My business is very much tied to the economy of Atlantic Can-ada. When my clients are busy, or are expand-ing, that is when we can be of service to them by providing the staff they need. If their businesses are struggling because of the economy, my business will struggle as well. When the reces-sion was in full force in 2009, no one was hiring permanent employees. I managed to keep Strictly Staffing afloat because we fill assignments for temporary employees.

IBN: What makes Strictly Staffing unique? Why do your clients (regu-lar / new) choose Strictly?

SJ: Strictly Staffing is very unique. Our screen-ing process goes well beyond industry stan-dards. We really get to know our candidates and their skills so that we can place them in posi-tions where they can be immediately productive. We have very high stan-dards for the employees we hire, and we conduct

extensive follow-ups with our clients to ensure that they are pleased with our employees. We en-joy working with small and medium-sized busi-nesses. Because we are a small business our-selves, we can appreciate the unique situation our clients are in and we can offer them the flexibil-ity to meet their needs.

IBN: Your strategy for hiring and retaining people yourself? How big of a challenge is it? Your key advice to cli-ents getting ready to hire new people or in need of staffing requirements?

SJ: Hiring the right employees is always a challenge for businesses, and it is about to get even more difficult with the im-pending labour shortage.

Tune in next time when Sherry reveals strategies for thriving during the impending labour shortage, her long term goals, her ap-proach to customer ser-vice, and much more.

In the meantime, you can learn more about Strictly Staffing at www.strictlystaffing.ca

Island Business NewsPage 10 Early Spring Edition 2012

When I was growing up, aging wasn’t some-thing to look forward to. In fact, there was no aspect of aging that I recall anyone in my family admiring or talk-ing positively about.

To listen back then, you could almost be led to believe that reaching 50 meant you’re life was about to go downhill, and fast. Perhaps that’s where the term “over the hill” comes from.

It seemed that their belief was that the move to a long term care (or in-dependent living) facility was just on the horizon, and that the move was one to be feared, the sign that one’s life, and resem-blance of it, was over.

The last time I found myself at Whisperwood Villa, in Charlotte-town, I finally realized the error of our ways.

As it turns out, we should be so lucky as to find ourselves in a place with that

Whisperwood Villa - “Where growing slightly older doesn’t have to mean growing up”

much life still left.

Rather than fearing the day when my turn will come, I’m kind of looking forward to it.

To borrow from my interview with Leader-ship Guru Robin Sharma from a couple of years back, Robin noted in that interview, “a lot of people die at 20 but wait until they are 80 to be buried” the walk-ing dead he called them.

If that is the case, which I do believe it sometimes is, it may be that there is just as much life inside long term and indepen-dent care facilities as there is outside them.

I’ll let you decide with a quick overview of life inside the care facility known as Whisperwood Villa – a facility that welcomes independent, interim care, and long term care residence.

I recently spoke to Whisperwood team member, Jodi Nutbrown,

who shared with me just some of what goes on in-side the walls of Whisper-wood on a regular basis.

“On any given day, you will find seniors in our facilities playing bean-bag throw, cards, trivia, walk & roll club, knifty knitters club, watching performers, attending the Captain’s Dinner, or bowling together with Nintendo Wii, even tak-ing music lessons.” Notes Nutbrown “…and we’re adding more activities on a regular basis, we’re preparing to start offering flexible mealtimes, and we’re even now in the stages of preparing to open an internet café set against a Victorian decor.”

Wow, internet café set against a Victorian Décor, talk about a com-ing together of opposing eras. How cool is that.

Add to this the red seal chef, full salon ser-vices, and the recent performance by Island Fiddler Richard Wood,

and you can see why I’m not exactly in fear of my possible stop at Whis-perwood Villa, or simi-lar care facility, when my time does come!

You can learn more about Whisper-wood Villa, and PEI Senior’s Homes at w w w . c h a r l o t t e t o w n .peiseniorshomes.com

Q & A with: Sheldon Brushett and Larry Sider

of Investor’s Group

TIPS from the

Investing Trenches

Sheldon Brushett Larry Sider

A.P. Reid Insurancecont’d from p. 9

Embracing LifeSeniors at Whisperwood Villa enjoying fun activities such as

beanbag throw and music lessons.

ISLAND BUSINESS NEWS: What’s the num-ber 1 thing the average person wouldn’t know about taking care of their future (financially) that would benefit them to know immensely?

SHELDON BRUSH-ETT / LARRY SIDER: Most people see financial planning as simply man-aging their investments. A properly written com-prehensive financial plan will include Retire-ment Planning, Estate Planning, Tax Planning, Risk Management, In-surance Planning and Investment Planning. A proper comprehensive

financial plan takes on average 20+ hours to prepare and depending on the complexity could take many, many more. If all of the steps aren’t taken then you have to wonder how comprehen-sive the plan really is! The Financial Planning Standards Council has laid out the process. You deserve to work with a professional that will fol-low this process for you.

ISLAND BUSINESS NEWS: If someone hasn’t invested, pur-chased insurance, etc. but finds the investment tough to make all at once, what suggestions

would you make for them getting started and into an effective plan?

SHELDON BRUSH-ETT / LARRY SIDER: Many plans can be start-ed with as little as $25 per month. Start with a small amount and gradu-ally increase it as you get comfortable. The more you put away today the more you will have for retirement. Dollar cost averaging into the mar-ket is one of the smart-est ways to save money.

Check back next time for more investment ad-vice by Sheldon Brush-ett and Larry Sider.

on their way to being cer-tified to sell insurance in Nova Scotia. By the time they write their In-surance exam, they will have 140 hours of train-ing under their belts.

A.P. Reid Insurance believes in being ac-countable to their clients as well as their commu-nity. In their efforts to support local charities,

they have adopted The Canadian Red Cross as their charity of choice and pledge to donate $25,000 a year towards this wonderful cause.

The mission of the Canadian Red Cross is to improve the lives of vulnerable people by mobilizing the power of humanity in Canada and around the world.

At the end of March, A.P. Reid’s Amherst store employee Raya

Donkin is joining the Canadian Red Cross ef-forts in Guyana. Raya is a shining example of the great people employed at A.P. Reid Insurance.

Go to www.apreid.com to get a free quote, find the nearest loca-tion, and apply for a rewarding career.

A.P. Reid Insurance.

Be Insured. Be Ready.

Island Business News Page 11Early Spring Edition 2012

by Nancy M. DoucetteFrom The Heart

Special March Birthdays ~ From My HeartMarch 1 Audrey Doucette My MotherMarch 2 Tanya Paynter My CousinMarch 2 Jimmy MacAusland My CousinMarch 4 Mike Arsenault My CousinMarch 4 Urban MacLellan My FriendMarch 4 Kyan Riley My CousinMarch 6 Donna Lee Gallant My CousinMarch 6 Marion Clow My FriendMarch 7 Barry Brown My CousinMarch 8 Carl Perry My Cousin March 9 Vanessa Doucette My CousinMarch 16 Phyllis Cormier My CousinMarch 17 Patty King My CousinMarch 18 Marlene Gallant My CousinMarch 18 Dale Savidant My FriendMarch 28 Kelly Wynn-Arsenault My FriendMarch 30 Leonard Gallant My Uncle

Remembering can be such a wondrous thingSometimes such contentment it can bring

It can make you want to laugh & singYes, it can be so pleasant ~ just remembering.

The pranks, the laughter are all part of a nice memory

That’s the memories that are still here with meThe painful memories are still present from time to time

But as time passes they are less & less on my mind.

Forgetting the pain & sorrow from the pastSometimes that’s quite a difficult task

Some things more than others just seem to stay with meI guess part of me refusing to set them free

But oh the joy of a sweet memoryOnes like any of the many my “Mamie” left here with me

Has it really been 16 years on the 30th of this month since shesaid her final good-bye to all of us - her family?

If I close my eyes her precious vision I can stil today seeI am sure anyone of her family would quickly with me agree

She was & remains the strong hold of our family tree.

By Nancy M. Doucette

This poem is written in memory of my beloved Grandmother Veronica (nee Doucette) Gallant, DesRoches who passed away

On March 30, 1996 and will forever live on in my heart…Love You & Miss You Forever & A Day ~ Mamie

“Remembering Can Be A Wondrous Thing”

ISLAND BUSINESS NEWS (IBN): Last time we spoke, you men-tioned that ‘Love’ is the meaning of life and the path to happiness – can you elaborate on this?

KEN PIERCE (KP): When people talk about the meaning of life, they are usually referring to life’s four fundamental questions which each of us must answer to achieve self esteem: Who am I? Why am I here? Where did I come from? Where am I going?

Many believe love is the path to happiness and they are right and wrong. Love is the tool to happi-ness, but only genuine “happiness” not “Holly-wood or Disney fantasy

Ken

Pierce

happiness.” Love and happiness are probably the most misunderstood words in every language.

And society also con-fuses “love” with “in-fatuation.” Infatuation is seeing only the good in someone and ignoring the other half. Infatua-tion is only supporting someone and not chal-lenging them. Infatua-tion creates fantasies, tragedies, dependency and emotional fragility.

Love, on the other hand, is seeing both sides of everything and everyone. Genuine love both supports and chal-lenges equally. Which is why your parents, who loved you, equally sup-ported and challenged you to optimize your

Q & A Time With Psychologist

Ken Pierce of Clarendon Consulting

ISLAND BUSINESS NEWS (IBN): Picking up where we left off last time, can you share with us some of your (Home In-stead Senior Care PEI’s) top success factors?

HOME INSTEAD SENIOR CARE PEI (HISCP): In meetings with a number of key referral providers and family members of cli-ents; all have said that Home Instead Senior Care has a fantastic rep-utation. The credit for this has to be given to the CAREGivers and of-fice staff. I think the top success factor has been the positive reputation that Home Instead Se-nior Care has developed.

IBN: Major Milestones?

HISCP: In the time since I have been owner, the success of the ‘Be A Santa To A Senior” cam-paign, was very big. Not only did it provide gifts and companionship for seniors during the holi-days, it also promoted our brand. Brand recog-nition is something that will be very important as seniors take a more ac-tive role in planning for care in their future years.

IBN: Biggest Chal-lenges thus far?

HISCP: Getting to know clients and CARE-Givers came pretty natu-ral. Really to date the biggest challenge has been learning the ins and outs of the Prince Edward Island Health Care System. All the dif-ferent components of Health PEI make it chal-lenging. Finding out who is who, and what their roles are. There are a lot of different as-pects to their operation, and a number of changes have occurred recently. To date, figuring the system out has been the biggest challenge.

IBN: Future Challenges?

HISCP: What comes to mind is what we call the “Grey Market”, caregiv-ers who are being paid privately, and who do not have any insurance and who are not bond-able. This puts seniors at risk. Not to mention, the stress caused by giv-ing the senior or a fam-ily member the respon-sibility of managing the caregiver. In this regard, public education is need-

ed more than ever. Home Instead Senior Care pro-vides trained CAREGiv-ers who have a desire and passion to help se-niors stay in their homes. CAREGivers have exten-sive background checks, must be bondable and they are insured.

IBN: How has the economy impacted the business?

HISCP: There is no doubt that many seniors are facing financial chal-lenges and many are con-cerned with the talk sur-rounding old age security as well as the dismal in-terest rates and returns on secure investments. That being said, it is of-ten family support that plays an important role in assisting seniors stay in their homes. Home In-stead prides itself on be-ing able to work with the senior and family as well as insurance companies and other social service agencies to ensure that all available resources are accessed. The goal is to have each senior in Home Instead’s care happy to be able to re-main in their own homes for as long as is possible.

IBN: Future Goals/plans for Home Instead/Growth Potential etc…

HISCP: Our goal here at Home Instead is to “Change the Face of Ag-ing”. We want to build relationships and deliver quality care. I think we do this by building trust, taking the lead and by sharing our hearts. Our new Alzheimer’s and De-mentia CARE training program does just that. We are the first company to step up and offer as-sistance and support for those living the journey with Alzheimer’s and De-mentia. Our first group of CAREGivers are going trough training now and we will have a second group trained by Sum-mer/Fall. The numbers of those living with Al-zheimer’s and Dementia are increasing. This is one area we see a need

for support, and it is our goal to take the lead and offer quality support.

Another plan for Home Instead Senior Care is to become better known. Far too often I hear, “I never heard of Home Instead, what a great idea….” I want to change that. We want people to know their options and that Home Instead is the most realistic option. Be-ing an Island owned fran-chise sets us apart from other service providers in the field who are head-quartered elsewhere.

There is potential for growth in the mar-ket just based on demo-graphics and the per-centage of seniors living on PEI. However, there is a lot of competition. The “Gray market”, community care facili-ties, and other homecare companies all create a competitive market. We have to ensure seniors are receiving the best care possible. Changing the face of aging is going to be a challenge here on PEI. I often hear, “that’s the way it has been,” per-sonally, I think we have to be more aware of the impact that our aging population will have on all aspects of day to day living. I feel very posi-tive that Home Instead Senior Care will have a large role to play in the future of Health Care on PEI, and by “Building Trust, Taking the Lead, and Sharing Our Hearts, Home Instead will Change the face of Aging.

Spending More Time With Home Instead Senior Care

(part 2 of 2)

David

McMillan

learning. This is nature’s way to ensure your sur-vival and evolution.

Since we are part of nature, we follow its laws too. Even our relation-ships follow its laws. So for example, as a child, you perceived one parent as primarily your sup-porter and the other par-ent, your challenger. This ensured your survival.

The other major con-fusion many hold is de-fining “happiness.” If by happiness you mean more pleasure than pain, this violates a basic dual-ity law of nature called the law of symmetry. This law is demonstrated at every level of nature from subatomic particles (electrons & positrons) to marriages (optimists & pessimists) to politics (left wing & right wing) to star systems and beyond.

You can never have a one sided, mono-polar perception this side of the green grass. Here is a demonstration. Recall the last time you held a sleeping infant who was trusting you with their very life. Some call this

a magic moment. No-tice the good feeling you had and also notice at the same time the scary responsibility you had.

This is the law of sym-metry manifest. It holds true for every moment of our life. When we under-stand this law and appre-ciate how it serves us, then we are on our way to what we call “happiness” because we have learned to appreciate ourselves and everyone and every-thing else in our life. We see the perfection of what we call imperfections, this is true wisdom.

Tune in next time when we talk to Ken about how we can ad-just our behavior to get more of what we want and less of what we don’t want, how much of an impact he feels Social Media has had on our lives, and much more.

In the meantime, you can reach Ken, to learn more or get in touch, at www.clar-endonconsulting.com