Rosslander honoured as 'Influential Woman in Business'
By Rossland Telegraph
The latest issue of Kootenay Business magazine notes that all 103 Kootenay women nominated as Influential Women in Business for 2018 are outstanding for their “business savvy and generosity of spirit in their communities.” Of those nominees, three were chosen for special recognition from the East Kootenays, three from the West Kootenays, and one from Revelstoke.
Natasha Lockey of Kootenay Gateway in Rossland described the awards ceremony. It began with the MC reading out comments made by the nominators about the winning nominee, without disclosing who the nominee was. At first, Lockey said, most of the comments “could apply to just about anyone in the room.” Then the comments became more specific. “When they started talking about working with children, and biking, and then mountain biking – it began to dawn on me that those comments might be about me!” And they were. Natasha Lockey was one of the three West Kootenay award winners.
The comments went on for about five minutes before the name of an award-winner was announced.
Lockey acknowledged, “It was very heart-warming to hear all the positive comments! Sometimes it’s really hard to keep going – you hit walls, and someone steals your van and it ends up in a ditch, and you wonder why you’re even bothering . . . and then you realize that you really do make a difference.”
Asked whether she thinks the award will give her business a boost, she responded, “Yes. I’m here to inspire and motivate people to do more in their lives, so it’s important that people know who I am, and I need to be in a space where I’m OK with people not liking me. You have to risk that to make a difference.”
Lockey referred to the next phase of her business, which will be a program to help people develop and maintain their strength for their chosen activities. She mentioned recent findings confirming two important ways to delay or prevent the onset of dementia in old age: regular moderate exercise, and socializing.
Another name familiar to many Rosslanders graces the name of one of the other award certificates: Pilar Portela, with I4C Innovation Centre, was one of the other West Kootenay women honoured. The third West Kootenay award recipient was Rauni Naud of Sun Life Financial in Castlegar.
The Rossland Telegraph congratulates Lockey, and the other winners, and each and every nominee as well. They’re all doing something marvelous to be nominated to that list and they deserve special recognition in their communities, and beyond.
