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Meet Emily Boese. She has been in Kelowna for a little over two years.
What is your favourite local store in Kelowna and why?
One Big Table! Local food is so important for food security, sustainability, the local economy, and it is fresher and tastes better too!
Describe yourself in one word.
Warm.
If you could go anywhere in the world right at this moment where would you go and why?
Panama to a friend's rad yoga and surfing retreat... Need I say more?
What is your favourite activity in Kelowna?
Hiking to Paul's Tomb and then swimming in the lake, or eating popcorn and drinking IPA at Micro. Tough call.
What is the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you?
Oh god... Too many to count. In grade two, I had to do a presentation on bees in front of the class and my fly was down. That one really stuck with me.
What is the most inspiring thing that has happened to you?
When I first started working in natural health an older gentleman came into the health shop where I was working. He was wanting some help with his diet as he'd just been told that he was on the road to having type two diabetes by his doctor. As we talked, it turns out his wife had recently passed away and he had never had to cook for himself. So he was grieving and also trying to look after his health on his own for the first time in his life. We gave him some basic ideas and recipes and off he went. A couple months later the same guy came back in and it was like talking to a different person! Not only had he improved his diet, lost weight, and was no longer in the 'pre-diabetes' category, he was totally confident around food, bossing his adult daughter around the shop. That moment showed me what supporting someone's health, with lots of compassion, can do. It still gets me teary-eyed.
Tell us your favourite childhood memory.
Camping in Saskatchewan in the Qu'Appelle Valley. Spending hours at the lake, swimming, reading, and canoeing. I can still sleep better in a tent than anywhere else unless the air mattress deflates, then I'm grumpy.
Where do you volunteer or give back to in the community?
In my rad job as the Nutritionist at Choices Markets, I do free nutrition tours for anyone in the community, groups or individuals!
If you could change one thing in the world what would it be?
I want to live in a world where natural and conventional medicine walk hand in hand to help people feel their best.
Where would you sneak away to in Kelowna to spend some time alone?
A cosy waterfront cottage on Kalamalka Lake in the middle of July.
Where would you like to see positive change in Kelowna and why?
I'd love to see a slick, efficient public transport system where that becomes the norm. Where it's easier to take transit than it is to drive because cars are not good for the environment, and these kinds of changes can help that.
What do you think makes Kelowna great?
We are so lucky in so many ways. We can grow so much of our own food and wine! I can't get enough of the lake in the summer or Big White in the winter. It's pretty rad here.
What are 3 things on your bucket list?
1. To spend a year in Italy eating all the food
2. To have a sweet little home where I can have a big veggie garden, fruit trees, chickens and bees
3. To live in a van for four months and travel across Canada with my husband and dog
Tell us something that not everyone may know about you.
I lived in New Zealand for 12 years in between Saskatchewan and Kelowna!
How do people connect with you, personally, through social media? (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.)
Facebook and Instagram.
What is the name of your business/organization?
Be Fierce Health.
Why did you get into/start this business?
I realized that conventional medicine only had some of the answers for my own health anyway. I discovered that there were other ways to support my own and others' health through food and plant medicine.
What is the goal of your business?
To help people feel awesome with the help of good food and lots of love and support.
What has been your biggest struggle either at work or in life?
Losing my dad this year is by far the hardest thing that I've ever had to deal with.
If you could start all over again would you do things the same or would things be different?
The same!
What do you always find yourself saying?
'Feeling good shouldn't mean living in a world without cheese'
If you could spend one whole day with anyone in the world who is currently alive, who would you select?
Brene Brown. I have read all of her books this last year and she is just the most amazing, warm, compassionate human I have ever had the pleasure of meeting via her books and social media.
Why do you think it is important to shop locally?
Our current model of industry and infrastructure is so much more fragile than we realize and we have to support our neighbours!
What has been your proudest accomplishment?
My degree in natural medicine.
Give someone you think that deserves it a shout out and explain why!
Giulio Piccioli for having big ideas and then following through on them!
My choice for the KelownaNow In Focus spotlight is:
Giulio Piccioli.
We encourage you to leave your comments and words of support below and submit your own nomination by clicking HERE. You are also welcome to submit a form of your own by clicking HERE.
In Focus is our gift to the community. A way for us to help show our recognition of the people, businesses, and organization that help make our city great. Thank you, Kelowna!
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