All in a day’s work
Galloping Cows owner wins entrepreneur of the year award for overcoming brain injury
Though memory can sometimes be an issue, Joanne Schmidt still remembers the day that dramatically changed her life forever.
The owner of the family business Galloping Cows, known for zesty jellies and sauces, was heading back to home base in Port Hood 11 years ago, fresh from a delivery in Baddeck, when an accident changed her life forever.
“There was a construction line on this side of Whycocomagh and the truck was stopped and so we stopped in this long line of traffic and then a car came really fast,” Schmidt said during a phone interview during a standard busy day at Port Hood business.
“He hadn’t seen us and hit us pretty hard. It was a multi-vehicle accident. My seat broke on impact so that’s why my injuries were more.”
The brain injury she suffered that day initially saw her lose the ability to read or do math for a short time. Those skills have
mostly returned. Headaches and memory loss persist all these years later.
After the accident, she sought advice on how to continue the family business despite her injuries.
“It was a flat out ‘no.’ People with brain injuries can’t run a
business and don’t expect to run a business with your type of injury and that sort of thing.”
Because Schmidt and her family chose to ignore that advice and “power through” her prognosis, Galloping Cows is in the midst of its 23rd year in business.
For this and other reasons, she was named entrepreneur of the year last week by the Entrepreneurs with Disabilities Network.
“We had a friend who had an injury who said ‘this is your bread and butter, how you make a living, you don’t really have a choice.’ That was exactly right, so we just decided to try to keep going somehow and if it fails, it fails, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”
Admittedly, there were some “rough years” immediately after the injury. Family stepped up, though.
“I’m not able to cook in the kitchen on a daily basis anymore because of the sound of the food processor and normal kitchen sounds, so it changed completely what I was doing in the business before.”
For many reasons, she was happy to win the entrepreneur of the year award at a ceremony in Halifax last week. One of them is because it gives her the chance to talk about her injuries and misconceptions people may have about them.
“I never really wanted to speak about it before or tell people I had a brain injury because there’s really a stigma attached to a disability or a brain injury,” she said.
“I really want to speak out about it because times are changing and it’s important that people understand that people with disabilities or a brain injury have good days and bad days. They are very capable of having a business.”
Though some may have some misconceptions, she said her customers have remained loyal through the years. She’s thankful for that.
“Without their support it fails. They keep us in business.”
Because of that support, she said Galloping Cows is having a banner year that includes massive growth in their pepper spread category in the grocery segment.
There’s also been a large number of annual visits to the shop’s retail outlet and gift shop in Port Hood.