You probably already know that every Tweetheart is an amazing woman, but you may want to know a bit more. Here you’ll learn about what makes us tick, how we earn money to buy our dinner and drinks each month, and other random, interesting facts about us.
April Ennis
PEI Ambassador, aka “Best Job in the World”
@aprilennis
After getting to know April, one word you may use to describe her is selfless. There are more, of course, like giving, thoughtful, and fun, but selfless is most accurate. April has been a vocal autism advocate working to raise awareness of the condition in PEI since both of her sons were diagnosed in 2006. While a large percentage of her energy is focused on caring for her beautiful boys, April is busy finishing her Bachelor of Business in Tourism and Hospitality at UPEI.
As if that wasn’t enough to keep her busy, April’s just about ready to launch a new online magazine called the Island Insider about the people, places, and food of Prince Edward Island. The magazine will serve as a solid resource for both locals and travellers that includes first-hand information April adds to the site, obtained from her travels around the Island finding fun things to do (and good things to eat). It’s about time April took her role as PEI Ambassador more seriously—being a Gold Cup and Saucer Girl once-upon-a-time just wasn’t enough.
Christine Gordon Manley
Owner CGM Editing & Founder Edwards Magazine
Partner, Manley Mann Media
@cgmanley, @cgmediting, @edwardsmagazine
If you were to follow Christine around for a day, there’s no guarantee you’d make it out alive and if you did, you’d be quite tired. Between working a full time job, operating a thriving freelance editing business, and maintaining her online magazine and online book club, there isn’t much time left in the average 24-hour day. But Christine also exerts a great deal of energy on her precious little girl—a precocious toddler.
Tired yet? Well, wait until you hear that Christine runs 5km several times each week and maintains a blog called Share the Run which is gaining much popularity.
Christine is a real life enthusiast and is focused on being the best “me” she can be . . . a philosophy that trickles into her career as an editor where she brings out the clients’ best “them” while keeping their voice in tact.
Lori MacDonald
Mortgage Professional with The Mortgage Group
@mortgagespei
Lori has been helping people secure mortgages for fifteen years. Working for her clients under the TMG umbrella (The Mortgage Group Atlantic) as opposed to one “big bank,” Lori works to find the bet mortgage product to suit a home buyer’s unique needs.
This mother of two firmly believes in putting health and family first and believes that by doing so, success in business simply follows. When she’s not spending time with her children or curled up with a good book in her Cornwall home, Lori can be found enjoying the outdoors—on the beach during the summer or with a ski pole in each hand in the winter.
Kerry Anne MacDougall
Owner, Insight Marketing
@insightpei
In downtown Pisquid West, serious business is being done by Kerry Anne MacDougall, owner of Insight Marketing. Her time is spent between her home office and a desk in Charlottetown, but no matter where she is, this marketing buff is teaching Island business owners affordable, practical, and effective ways to promote their businesses.
This lover of reading, eating, giggling, and shopping (not necessarily in that order) also delivers personalized workshops for entrepreneurs and can write a mean (and realistic) marketing plan which she can then be hired to implement. Kerry Anne’s favorite aspect of her work is helping people gain confidence in themselves and their businesses while rediscovering the passion they thought they’d lost along the way.
Speaking of passion, this proud mother of two loves nothing more than spending time with her husband and their “million dollar family.”
Julie MacIsaac
Owner/operator Rita’s Style (soon to be J.C. Styling)
For 18 years while raising her children (now 16 and 11), Julie worked out of her own home as a hair dresser. She has recently purchased Rita’s Style which is about to suffer an identity crisis as it’s being re-branded as J.C. Styling.
Julie is working towards her Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in psychology and English. When Julie isn’t studying, making people look fabulous, or spending time with her family, she’s probably dancing, reading, or out for a run.
Jennifer MacKinnon
Business Development Manager
@JenMacKinnon
Jen has been accepted by the Tweethearts even though she is a “CFA” (Come From Away). Jen works in the business development department of a local IT firm, promoting software and specialized services to companies across Canada.
Smarty pants Jen holds a political science and English degree from Acadia, a diploma in marketing management from Holland College, and is currently enrolled part-time in computer information systems. An eternal optimist, Jen finds inspiration and motivation in the simple things: the sun peeking out on a gray day, a photo of her niece, or an elderly couple walking down the street arm-in-arm in love.
Jaime Lee Mann
Owner, Mann Made Copy
Partner, Manley Mann Media
@jaimeleemann
Jaime has loved words since she was four years old and now that she’s getting paid to write as a freelance copywriter, her lifelong dream has come true. While Jaime spends lots of time writing compelling sales copy for marketing materials, she also has the unique ability to mimic a person’s voice through words which makes her an excellent ghostwriter. Much of her work day is spent writing blog posts or articles on behalf of her corporate clients all over the world. (Shh, don’t tell anyone!)
When she’s not tripping over tending to her two pre-school aged children or writing search engine optimized website content, blog posts, or press releases for her clients, Jaime’s either cooking an ambitious meal or furiously pecking away at the novel she hopes to finish one day. (It’s a cliché, but it’s true.)
Angela Marchbank
Fitness & Wellness Coordinator, UPEI
@angelamarchbank
Live. Health and wellness. Eat. Health and wellness. Sleep. Health and wellness. And that basically sums up Angela Marchbank. Oh, and we should mention shoes, laughing, and chocolate. There. Done.
Seriously, though, this free-spirited lover-of-life spends her days putting her BSc in Kinesiology from Dalhousie to good use at the Department of Athletics and Recreation at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI). Among other tasks, Angela coordinates wellness programs at UPEI for students, staff, and faculty. When she’s not helping others get healthier, she’s just simply helping others, volunteering for the Autism Society of PEI as a board member and chair of the fundraising committee. You might recognize Angela from the days she spent working as the Executive Director for Special Olympics, a ten-year stint Angela claims was the most rewarding job she’s ever had.
In her downtime (when she’s not being athletic, shopping for shoes, or watching True Blood or a hockey game—Go Leafs!), Angela spends a lot of time spoiling her nieces and nephews because that’s just the kind of person she is.
Carol O’Hanley
1/2 of a husband and wife real estate team
@peihouses
Carol started her career in the world of real estate six years ago in an administrative role. She soon got her real estate license because she really is a natural REALTOR® —Carol is a true people person, genuinely helping people whether that be finding their first home, selling their existing home, or locating that all-important dream home. Carol and Steve are not hard sales people. They let homes sell themselves while guiding the buyers through the transaction with as few glitches as possible.
Carol continues to work behind the scenes, handling the administrative details involved with being part of a successful real estate team, the online marketing, social networking, and email management. This role has allowed Carol to keep her finger on the pulse of her business while working from home during her two-year maternity leave. Carol loves being involved in real estate, but it’s a passion that doesn’t compare to the joy and fulfillment she finds in being a mother to two perfect boys.
Rachel Peters
Photography by Rachel
@iamrachelpeters
Some people are physically too small to hold all of their talent, ambitions, and dreams and that’s the case with Rachel Peters, photographer extraordinaire. A shutterbug since receiving her first camera at the tender age of 5, Rachel has been honing her craft for her entire life. She has the unique ability to put people at ease in front of her camera and her mission is to help her subjects see that they are beautiful inside and out—something she focuses on in her special Boudoir shoots.
Rachel would love to combine her passion for travel with her passions for love and photography by doing more destination weddings in the future. Speaking of passion and love, she has a slight addiction to purses.
Cheryl Wartman
Researcher and Lecturer
@cwartman
When asked to describe what she does, Cheryl Wartman will respond with,“Wife, mother, friend, researcher, lecturer, writer, crafter, and book reviewer.” We’re glad she’s simplified this because Cheryl has a background in something highly complicated that most people can’t spell (neuropsycholopharmacology).
Cheryl gets great joy and fulfillment from teaching (biology and psychology), but not as much as she gains from her own family. She is a dedicated mother of three children and enjoys as much downtime with them as she can. When she’s not relaxing with family or working in a lab or classroom, you might find Cheryl knitting, geo-caching, or playing a round of Frisbee golf.
Rachelle Wood
Holistic Nutritionist
@nutritionistPEI
Who would graduate with honors from the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition, start a nutritional consulting company and an online weight loss program, as well as a client management tool for nutritionists? Rachelle Wood! (Get it?)
When Rachelle enrolled in the CSNN, she weighed 250 pounds. It’s in part her own inspirational story of how she overcame obesity and disease by safely losing 100 pounds that has clients flocking to her. Since starting Rachelle Wood Nutrition in 2005, this blond beauty has helped Islanders lose more than 60,000 pounds. That’s no small potatoes. Actually, that’s a lot of small potatoes!
Besides nutrition, Rachelle has studied many holistic therapies including Reiki, Chios Energy Healing, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Holistic Iridology. Even though Rachelle is dedicated to helping people accomplish their health goals, it doesn’t even feel like she’s judging the Tweethearts who decide to order dessert.