Have you ever wondered what outsiders see when they make the move to Collingwood?
For this week’s edition of People of Collingwood we sat down with Ann Stewart, 59, marketing expert, retiree, volunteer and recent transplant from the big city of Toronto.
Q: What is your background?
A: I was born in Italy on the beautiful Amalfi Coast. I’m not sure why my parents moved here. I go back quite a bit.
They moved us to Toronto, and I lived there, probably, all my life.
Moving from Toronto (to Collingwood) was a big thing. I never thought I’d move to a small town, but priorities change.
Q: What did you go to school for, or do as a career?
A: I was in marketing. I went to Humber College for a marketing degree. I worked in advertising.
I had a Grade 9 teacher who was really my mentor and taught me all about Marshall McLuhan – the medium is the message – I just loved that. So I was in it for 35, almost 40 years.
I ran a media agency. I launched media companies. I’ve seen the transition of going from television, radio and newspaper to digital and social.
Q: What is your perspective on that transition?
A: It’s unbelievable, and it’s interesting. Conceptually, it’s just another form of reaching consumers. However, the speed at which you’re getting things, and the way you can change things and the way the consumer intercepts it, is completely different.
I think it is for the better. I look at my kids, and they get it and they’re not afraid of it because they’ve lived and grown up with it. My husband fears it. (laughs) Because, it’s so different. The speed of it is exciting.
Q: What drew you and your husband to make the decision to move to Collingwood?
A: I have a group of girlfriends – there are six of us – we met late in life after our children had all grown up and we were all in the same industry.
One of them moved up here, and we came to visit quite a bit.
Three of us of the six now live in condos up here. It’s great.
Q: What is it about the town that appealed to you?
A: It’s kind of like a miniature Toronto. It’s got the atmosphere, the arts, the culture, the restaurants. It’s got all kinds of activities.
I never considered myself an outdoorsy person, but I have certainly become an outdoorsy person. (laughs)
The spirit of it all... it’s just a nice feeling.
We also have a cottage in the Peterborough area. I could never see myself moving there. It’s not the same lifestyle. It doesn’t have the cultural feel that Collingwood does.
Q: When did you move to Collingwood?
A: We bought our condo about two years ago, but we renovated, so we probably moved up here about a year ago now in October. I still have a place in Toronto too.
Q: When you moved here, you opted to get involved in the community right away through the Collingwood Youth Centre. What made you want to get involved in that way?
A: I came from a fast-paced agency where I oversaw 200 employees, to doing nothing. (laughs)
I retired here.
I was enjoying the hiking, biking and such, but I felt I needed to do something more.
I kept driving by the youth centre and I love being around young people. Young people keep me young.
I thought the youth centre was more a place for troubled children where I could help and maybe mentor some of them.
What I found out was, it was nothing like that.
They’re doing so many things. I just walked in and asked how I could volunteer.
I got involved with the youth homelessness movie. That was an amazing experience. I just helped them more with the marketing and getting it out there.
I made sure they had budgets and (knew how to) manage dollars. They taught me a lot.
Q: Like what?
A: They’re fearless. These kids were so engaged and so understanding of my world. That side of it was great. What I brought to the table was just some discipline to the process.
Q: Are you still working with the youth centre?
A: Yes, I’m on their board now. I’ve also got involved in food rescue through Second Harvest.
I basically call grocery stores like Loblaws or Sobeys and sign them up so that all the food that is, say, a week away from expiry they would normally throw out, they can donate to organizations that are in need of it.
I’ve been working with organizations setting them up. So Giant Tiger is on-board, for example. I just call them up and force them. (laughs)
It helps the companies too because they can re-use the food. It saves the food from going to landfill and decreases their costs because they have to pay to dump a lot of this food.
Q: Do you have any future goals or anything you want to do?
A: I look around Collingwood and I’ve met so many powerful, amazing, smart people. It’s amazing to have so many in one area. I really do feel like we could change the world – there’s so much talent here.
It’s unbelievable to me.
For our feature People of Collingwood, we’ll be speaking with interesting people who are either from or are contributing to the Collingwood community in some way. This feature will run on CollingwoodToday every Saturday. If you’d like to nominate or suggest someone to be featured in People of Collingwood, email [email protected].
