‘You have to persevere’
Businesswoman focused on making rural communities a success
Candice Phibbs isn’t letting a small-town locale stop her from bringing exciting events to her community.
A food and nutrition specialist for Yarmouth Regional Hospital by trade, Phibbs and her husband Rick Allwright are also the founders of an events production company called Mile East Productions.
“We saw a need in our area for high-quality events that would not only attract more people to the area, but also make locals proud,” explains Phibbs of the business’s start in 2015.
Originally from Waterford, Ont., Phibbs had never been farther east than Montreal before moving to the Maritimes.
“Numerous people asked me if I knew where I was going, because it’s a little like the end of the world out there,” she says with a laugh.
“But I moved here by myself in 2015 – it let me go out on my own. I fell in love with the province and the community. It took a lot for me to get used to how laid back the region is compared to the hurried (atmosphere) of Ontario.”
Though she was embraced by her community from the onset, Phibbs was often called a ‘come from away’.
“I always spin it as a ‘here by choice’,” she says.
It was that mindset that Phibbs and her husband brought to their first major production in 2016 – the Spring Living Show.
“We heard a lot of rumblings like, ‘why are you trying to put this on and do something that has already been done?’ But we knew if we wanted to try something and put a new spin on it, we had to be determined,” she says.
“You have to persevere. If you believe in your idea, you have to try it. There’s no guarantee you’ll succeed, but there’s also no guarantee you’ll fail.”
For Mile East, Phibbs says letting the rural location be a barrier wasn’t an option.
“People have a misconception of how rural, rural communities are. There are events happening in rural communities across Canada, so that can’t be something that limits it,” she says.
“We just put on an event in conjunction with Communities in Bloom. We had brought guests from the Halifax Airport (located more than three hours away) and set them up with accommodations. People were skeptical when they chose the community, but we were able to blow them away with what we were able to offer them. Transportation and remoteness shouldn’t be a barrier to opportunities.”
If she could give one piece of advice, it’s to not give up.
“Really persevere. No matter what. As tiring as it is and as much uncertainty as there is, it’s worth it if you have a vision.”