Local Entrepreneur Brings New Business Summit To Truro
TRURO — If there’s one thing you should know about Alicia Simms, it’s that she loves Truro. After moving there in 2014 from Newfoundland, she has become part of the fabric of the community. She owns three businesses in the area: Rolling Sea Tattooery, Truro Buzz (which keeps people up to date on what’s going on in the town), and Secret Nova Scotia.
On March 3, Simms will be showing what Truro and Colchester County has to offer, economically, while giving entrepreneurs from across Atlantic Canada a chance to network and hear from some of the region’s most successful business people.
Simms, along with the Truro Colchester Partnership for Economic Prosperity, will host the first-ever Set for Success Summit. It will be a full-day experience with speakers like Dr. Ashley Margeson(Cornerstone Naturopathic), Dr. Ange Cooper (Dean of Wellness at Dalhousie University), and Matt Dagley (Dagley Media).
The keynote speaker will be Tareq Hadhad, who founded Nova Scotia’s most famous chocolate shop: Peace By Chocolate.
Simms has been dreaming of hosting this kind of economic event in Truro for years. As an entrepreneur, she has attended several similar forums throughout North America.
“I’ve been trying to do it for the last couple of years. I had the idea, initially, two years ago, and then with the uncertainty of events with [Covid-19] I decided to put it down. But I’ve been marinating on it,” said Simms. “During that time, and finally this year, the stars seem to align and away we went. And I really feel that we can offer this kind of high-quality event right here in Nova Scotia.”
“It’s a bit of a selfish endeavor because these are things that I really love to attend. So I think I really wanted to put it together because it’s something I really love to do and I really wanted the chance to showcase the incredible people, and businesses events, and event planning that we have right here in Atlantic Canada.”
Simms stresses that this will be more than a “networking” event. The 100 attendees will get a full day’s experience. She says it will be a chance to learn and also a chance to take home some amazing, locally produced swag.
“This is an entire experience for the day, so it’s not just networking, it’s not just seminars, it’s a little bit of everything. With the price of the ticket for the summit you are getting all of your food and beverages that are locally made, you’re getting access to speakers and seminars on a wide range of topics that I really feel will speak to a lot of people, whether they’re small business entrepreneurs, side hustlers, or micro businesses.”
“We’re also including a swag bag of product that is local as well that they’ll walk away with kind of a little flavor of what other people are doing. We’re also going to have a pop-up market there of local vendors so you can have a look at other people who you may not have seen in your neck of the woods.”
In terms of the speakers lined up for March 3, there are a couple who will be focused on wellness. Not necessarily the wellness of one’s wallet, but of one’s mind and body. Dr. Ashley Margeson (Cornerstone Naturopathic) is an expert in a subject many business owners know too well:
“She works specifically with female entrepreneurs, but she’s going to be speaking a lot with that about how to avoid burnout in your business and elevating your success,” says Simms.
That is a subject not far from Simms’ mind. Trying to juggle three businesses comes with its fair share of stress. That’s why the Truro entrepreneur believes it’s important to delegate and trust your staff.
“I couldn’t do one of the businesses I do without the incredible staff and team we have here,” said Simms. “Burnout is something every entrepreneur or small business or management level person deals with. So I’m very excited to hear Dr. Ashley speak about her take on burnout and how to avoid it and how to elevate your success for sure.”
The keynote speaker, Tareq Hadhad, barely needs an introduction at this point. His family’s story of arriving in Antigonish as refugees from Syria, and then creating Peace By Chocolate, has now been covered in a book and movie.
“Everybody’s pretty much familiar with his story; how they resettled over here and went from making chocolate in their kitchen to being a global brand with a movie about their story. So, he’s going to speak about his journey through entrepreneurship of going from his kitchen to a global brand and how we can help entrepreneurs at this level.”
Derek Montague is a Huddle reporter in Halifax. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].