THE UNIVERSE MUST HAVE DECREED

BY LISA HAGEN

that it was time for a show on parenting at Rogers TV in Kitchener. Independently, and nearly simultaneously, Vanessa Rempel and Melissa Shadd pitched their ideas to the station. Rogers’ executives introduced the two women and the show Diapers & Lipgloss was born.

Before the fortuitous meeting, Melissa was firmly planted in Waterloo Region, first attending Bluevale Collegiate and then Wilfrid Laurier University to study communications. She was a popular speaker as Miss Oktoberfest 2003 and started the KW Oktoberfest Natural Classic, which she continues to co-ordinate.

Eventually, her career path took her to Research In Motion in the marketing field. The mother of two — Zion, 6, and Soul, 2 — had never hosted a TV show until the Diapers & Lipgloss première and never even imagined herself having children.

“It was a one-eighty on my world to get married and have a child. I went from not knowing a thing about children to being obsessed with everything to do with pregnancy and kids,” Melissa reflects.

Her counterpart Vanessa Rempel was born in Toronto and moved to the region when her husband Steve suggested raising their children in his hometown of Waterloo might be beneficial.

“It is the best area ever to raise kids,” says Vanessa, whose daughter Charlotte is five and son Nash is three. “I entrenched myself in every kids’ program I could find. My Toronto friends are jealous (of) how accessible everything is.”

Vanessa’s background is in film and theatre, honing her craft at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. She was a sales manager in the film