by CONNIE TABBERT
Editor
WESTMEATH — “It was a shock and a thrill for me,” said Dana Nicholson when she discovered she was one of the top three finalists for the Upper Ottawa Valley Chamber of Commerce Entrepreneur of the Year award.
Ms. Nicholson has been an Independent Consultant with Epicure for 17 years.
Many years ago, Ms. Nicholson said Sylvie Rochette, the founder of Epicure who lives in British Columbia, discovered that processed foods are formulated to create a bliss point that makes people crave and want them. She began creating spices, and then expanded to include cooking utensils and cookware.
“The company evolved into a healthy eating company,” Ms. Nicholson said. “We really believe that health is huge. More people die from stroke, heart disease, and other diseases, than homicide.”
There are about 500 ingredients that will never be in Epicure spices, such as artificial colours and sweeteners; bleached flour; high fructose corn syrup; hydrogenated oil, peanuts, proplparaben, tree nuts, sodium nitrate/nitrite and sodium glutamates and many, many more, she noted.
For Ms. Nicholson, the hands-on cooking classes makes her business stand out. This is an experiential retail – it’s not just selling something, she explained.
“We want people to be hands-on, to see how this will solve something for them…whether it be a time issue, a health issue, or a money issue if they’re looking for a business opportunity,” she said.
Ms. Nicholson holds about three cooking classes a week, which can include children’s cooking classes, baby food making classes, soup making classes. She also goes to businesses and people’s homes to demonstrate cooking. As an example, Ms. Nicholson is doing Lunch and Learn cooking classes for a company with offices throughout Renfrew County, noting this company realizes their staff being as healthy as possible has a big impact on their bottom line.
Each class has about 11 people, including the host, she said.
She explained that she’s a direct sales person, although it’s not just buy and leave. She helps people understand what they are buying and how to use it in cooking.
“Many people are not as educated or understand how our business model works,” Ms. Nicholson said “It is highly successful and effective, we just don’t have a bricks and mortar store front, but all of the other processes are in place. Part of my team is the 160 employees at Epicure in Victoria. I don’t have to find them, hire them, fire them. This is a huge win for everybody in our profession.”
As a direct sales consultant, it’s up to Ms. Nicholson to ensure the success of her business.
“Effort equals results,” she said, adding, “What you put into it is what you get out of this.”
To ensure her success, Ms. Nicholson talks to people and shares what Epicure has to offer. She talks about what Epicure can do for those who are gluten intolerant, need to eat nut free, just want to eat healthier or save time.
As for eating healthier being more expensive, she disagrees.
“Look at the long-term impact of what your health is and how taking an hour or so a week and prepping meals ahead of time can impact your health,” Ms. Nicholson said. “Nothing is more important than your health. You can have all the money in the world, but health is number one, your health, your family’s health.”
Looking back about 17 years ago, Ms. Nicholson was on maternity leave when she received some Epicure spices from a friend. She went to order more after her daughter Chela was born and found out the company is a direct sales company and asked if she wanted to become an independent consultant.
Since she didn’t like going to home parties for other direct sales items, she said no. But, with bills to be paid, and not wanting to put Chela in daycare, Ms. Nicholson, with encouragement from her husband, who was in Bosnia, decided to become a direct sales consultant.
A career she has never regretted.
“Neil was able to retire and be a farmer and stay-at-home dad,” she said. “Being in the military, he missed a lot (with the kids growing up) initially.”
With her husband in the military, the family moved around as they were posted to different places. However, whenever she moved, she never had to write a resume or go for a job interview.
“I just needed to get out and share what I had to offer with people,” Ms. Nicholson said, adding, “And I had my own job wherever we went.”
Epicure consultants have a lot of work in front of them, she said, noting it’s only in about 10 percent of Canadian kitchens.
Epicure is a way of sharing clean-eating solutions while the consultants educate and inspire people in their communities to take back their health and change the course of the next generation’s health and relationship with food, she said.
“We have a whole generation that doesn’t know how to cook,” Ms. Nicholson said. “We have people who didn’t have time to teach their kids, who are now maybe teens or early adults.”
Families used to sit down to supper together, but now everyone is so busy with other things, that’s been missing, she added.
Ms. Nicholson understands people can’t eat healthy all the time, and that’s why she calls herself a passionate realist – we eat healthy 75 to 80 percent of the time.
“I’m passionate about what I do, and I’m happy to serve Renfrew County and the Ottawa Valley,” she said.”
The Nicholson’s have lived in Westmeath for nine years, moving there from Petawawa, the final posting for her military family. She and husband Neil have four children, Chela, 17; Quaid, 15; Nya, 13; and Kelz, 11.
Ms. Nicholson said, “My job, passion, love, is to help people connect back to eating real food and how meals make a big difference, meal prep makes a big difference.”
The other top two nominees are Yvonne Keller with Das Studio and Leilani Borne with Pearly Whites Mobile Dental Hygiene Services.
The entrepreneur award is presented to an individual with an entrepreneurial character that:
– Demonstrates innovation, excellence/outstanding achievements
– Has verified business growth; created new employment opportunities
– Impacts and shows commitment to the community
– May have renovated or built a new facility
– Sound employee relations and a commitment to customer service- Commitment to safety in the workplace
– Has incorporated sound environmental policies and practices in the workplace.
