Editor's note: For the next three weeks, Coast Reporter will be profiling the nine nominees for the inaugural Awards of Excellence for Sunshine Coast Women in advance of the awards ceremony set for Jan. 30. This week we profile the three nominees in the entrepreneurship category.
The results of the inaugural Awards of Excellence for Sunshine Coast Women are public and a volunteer committee has selected nine nominees in three categories.
Organizer Charlene SanJenko considers that the effort was hugely successful. "It's not a new idea, we've just never run with it before," she said.
The program was modelled after the YWCA Women of Distinction awards, and although a winner in each category will be chosen at a banquet and ceremony on Jan. 30, SanJenko feels that the process honours all nine nominees.
Opportunity is a word you hear frequently from Marilyn Magas. According to her nominators, Magas is driven by opportunities and she shows dynamic leadership in capturing them. The busy entrepreneur can't sit still. She loves being involved with people who are starting projects - particularly employment related. Her nominators point to a handful of unique programs that she has developed, such as Women in Trades (later, Working in Trades) Eco-Tech and Welcome Older Workers. The community employment service that she co-ordinates offers various programs and has grown quickly to 23 staff who run an array of projects - currently they have seven on the go.
Her leadership style is empowering to staff. "I work with people," she points out. "They don't work for me."
Magas is most proud of a Young Adults Working (YAD) program, not just because it has been a successful step forward for marginalized kids, but because it's actually very creative.
"You receive direction from the government as to funding and targets," she said, "but you can take it and mould it from there to give back to the community."
The former Winnipeg high school teacher likes living on the Coast and sees a lot more potential here. There's still much more room for growth, she believes. This belief has prompted her and others to look positively at the businesses that exist on the Coast and help make the changes that will fill the community's needs.
At first, it seems that Roberts Creek financial planner Sandy McBride does not fit the definition of entrepreneur. Although she runs her own business, her most valuable service has been as a volunteer in the community. But innovation is the key - McBride is all about starting something new and showing leadership, said her nominators. She also knows when to step aside and mentor others to continue projects. The personality traits that make her business shine have been put to use in the community during her 25 years of volunteering. McBride has lived on the Coast since 1976 and has a thick career resume that includes tax planning for her husband's small business, running Rockwood Centre, working in the school system and, in 1995, offering financial planning services with an existing company. In 1999, she opened her own business in the same field to provide financial guidance.
Service is what her business is all about. Her work is confidential, so there can be no examples of client satisfaction, but she will say that much of it involves assistance to women, especially those who are leaving relationships.
She is most proud of her involvement in promoting socially responsible investing through workshops and client guidance.Her volunteer involvement is also innovative: it includes set up and ongoing commitment to the Sunshine Coast Community Foundation and the founding and development of the Community Resource Centre (formerly the Women's Centre) in Sechelt. Crackerjack retailer and Zócalo clothing store owner Joann Hetherington fits the bill in the entrepreneurship category.
She's been having an outstanding year after moving her former business, Matthews and More, into her own new quarters, an attractive building in Lower Gibsons, and, together with sister Patricia Hetherington and Wanda Pollock of W-West Coast, she has launched an entire shopping destination. Shoppers can browse Zócalo, check out shoes next door or try on a nightgown in a neighbouring store.
"This block is not just an accident," she said of the shopping area. "We intended it that way." Her acute business sense was honed at an early age operating a clothing boutique in Calgary. For anyone who thinks that running a boutique is glamorous, Hetherington notes that while it is deeply satisfying, at the same time, it is an absolutely serious undertaking.
She does all the purchasing for the store, but Zócalo is not just about selling clothing. Like its name - which means town square in Mexico - it is a gathering place, a veritable magnet for women.
"I really enjoy looking after people beautifully," she says with sincerity.
