March 8th is International Women’s Day. A day to celebrate women’s achievements and to raise awareness of the advocacy and action still needed to bring rights to women all over the world. This Women’s Day we’d like to highlight four amazing females in our community. These women have overcome challenges in pursuit of their entrepreneurial dreams. They are valued members of the Streetsville community and we are happy to be able to share their stories with all of you.
Monique Corbet, Restore & Replenish Spa
It all started in the basement of her childhood home. Monique’s parents recognized her talent and passion for esthetics. They built her a small salon and spa to allow her to practice her skills and begin building her clientele. When she was finally ready to open her first store front, she found that no one wanted to lease their space to such a young girl with big dreams and a small business. That didn’t stop her. In 2009 Restore & Replenish Spa was born, the first Vegan and Organic Spa and Hair Studio in Mississauga.
Using Canadian products that are healthy for their clients and the environment, they offer a full range of services including hair, massages, manicures, pedicures, waxing, lashes, reiki and facials. Monique’s accomplishments include winning best esthetician, and favourite spa in the Mississauga News’s Readers Choice Awards, creating her own skin care line, and making it through the pandemic.
When she’s not making her clients feel beautiful, she loves to travel and read, and explore new business ideas. On top of being a successful business owner, her greatest joy is being a mother.
Lily, Little Bee Farmers Market
Lily first came to Canada from Ukraine in 2004. She began her career in the fashion industry after graduating from the International Academy of Design and Technology as Fashion Designer. When her second child was born, she took a break from work to focus on raising her daughter. She took to cooking and like most parents, she wanted the best for her baby. She began looking for local farms selling fresh fruits and vegetables. She missed having access to fresh produce like she had in Ukraine. In her pursuit for for farm fresh ingredients, she learned that many of the farmers were struggling to sell their products.
Without planning to start a business, she began helping to sell. She was introduced to the Mennonite community where she fell in love with the freshness and quality of their locally grown produce. More and more people were contacting her, looking for access to farm fresh products. In 2017 she created a Facebook group to connect with those who needed her help. With her daughter by her side, she began delivering orders. She felt as if she was a busy bee, constantly buzzing around.
As demand grew, she could no longer store the produce at home, so she opened a warehouse with a small store front for order pick up. She looked for more farms who were struggling and helped by selling their produce at local farmers markets. She was inspired by the people she met but as a busy Mom with a full-time job, she couldn’t continue the early weekend hours of the markets. She had an idea to create littlebeefarmersmarket.com, an online farmers market. The goal was to bring the freshest, top-quality, local produce directly to customers’ doorsteps.
Lots of people told her it’s a utopia, farmers can’t feed cities, big box stores have better deals, Little Bee won’t survive. There were many moments Lily wanted to give up but she thought about her family and the farmers who depend on her. This past year she moved her commercial kitchen to Streetsville, a community she had come to love (and one that desperately needed a grocery store, we might add).
Little Bee is a farmers market all year round; connecting 30 small family farms and 20 local producers in one space. Open Tuesday to Saturday, they offer home delivery and in store pick up. To avoid food waste, all fruits and vegetables with imperfections are put into ready made meals, available for purchase. Lily works with a team of other females, who she teaches and empowers. She is committed to growing and offering the best quality farm-grown produce and locally made artisan products from all over Ontario.
As a mother of two children, she cherishes spending time with her family. Their passion for nature and traveling, has taken them to many different countries where they’ve explored new cultures. They particularly enjoy exploring farmers markets and sampling local foods. Lily’s current goal is to find a balance between work and family.
Carmela Vedar, The Book Wardrobe
Carmela Vedar is the owner of The Book Wardrobe, a cozy-for-browsing independent bookshop offering new books in Streetsville, Mississauga. It is also the home of the AUTHORity book club with the author in person during the book club discussion. She has been dressing up your bookshelves since 2017 in her small, intimate space which she describes as “your walk-in closet of stories”.
She believes it was purpose, and not destiny, that helped her fulfill her twist of happenstance. She is certain that it was written in the pages (and not in the stars) that the amalgamation of all her work experience in both the Philippines and Canada prepared her for the bookstore business. She is the creative chaos to her husband’s calm, and when they travel, they always do a bookstore pilgrimage. When visiting other bookstores, she suggests titles to unassuming customers and enjoys the moment every time they say, “Thank you for the recommendation. Do you work here?” She unapologetically embraces being an ambivert. Carmela celebrates her mother Alegria, Our Blessed Lady of Fatima, and all the women who make their own kind of miracles happen as noteworthy title-bearers of Women’s Day.
Savannah Vautour, Nox Wine Bar
Savannah Vautour, a woman of versatile talents and a true force within our community. With an impressive 13-year tenure as the co-owner of Skintricate Tattoo Company, she has not only left a lasting mark on people’s lives but has also significantly influenced the local artistic scene.
You may recognize Savannah from one of the many community events she’s been a part of. Her dedication to the Village of Streetsville was on full display last year at Streetsville Spooktacular where she pulled out all the stops to host an unforgettable Halloween event for the community. Savannah spends her time balancing her roles as the owner and manager of two businesses, the head of the BIA’s Marketing Committee, and a devoted mother of two boys. She epitomizes strength, resilience, and the art of gracefully juggling multiple hats.
Her most recent endeavour into the hospitality industry has brought us Nox Wine Bar. A trendy new bar and patio in the heart of The ‘Ville, serving up Japanese Whiskey, an exclusive wine menu, and the most delicious food. Savannah is a creative spirit, fierce business woman, an advocate for Streetsville, and an asset to the BIA. We are lucky to have her!
Happy International Women’s Day to all of the amazing women in Streetsville. May we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.