I spoke with Afton Brazzoni from Scribe National about her blog series on how local entrepreneurs are adapting to the current business environment.

 

Rob: You’re really trying to highlight a lot of these local stories and what businesses are doing. Can you talk a little bit about that?

Afton: Storytelling is really what I consider my passion and my craft. I’ve been writing since I was a child and I’ve been doing it professionally for over 10 years now. So in this particular interview series I’m focusing on talking to marketers, communicators, and business owners who are moving their companies forward in exciting ways. It’s a series of both videos and blogs which you can find on my website. The interview series highlights ways that people are getting creative to continue making their businesses viable while staying focused on what their customers need.

Rob: Do you think there’s some learnings in these interviews for people who are looking for ways to innovate right now?

Afton: I do. There are a lot of interesting people that I’ve spoken with and that are still lined up to be released. For example, there’s Trish Tutton who’s a mindfulness expert based in Banff, and she’s moved a lot of her meditation and yoga teachings online right now. I think that’s something that’s applicable to everybody. Just really taking the time to take a step back, focus on yourself, focus on your well-being, and then really kind of reorient yourself to how you can go forward. That’s similar to Kelly Wood.  She’s a life coach and facilitator and she focuses on teaching individuals and businesses solutions-focused strategies to help them map a vision for the future and live into what their greatest potential is.

I’ve also spoken with owners of traditionally brick and mortar stores, so on main street in Canmore, Laura Bodell, who is the owner of Alberta’s Own, and Jade the owner of PROJECT A. So much of their business revolved around getting customers in their store, seeing the products, touching the products. We spoke about how they really transitioned that online and how they actually still managed to have a fantastic connection with customers through doing that.

Rob: What’s one of the biggest personal takeaways for you from this interview series so far?

Afton: It’s just been really enjoyable to connect with others and I think that that’s something he is looking for right now. How do we stay connected in times when we have to physically distance ourselves from people? I think it reminded me that everybody is experiencing some kind of disruption to one degree or another, and that if we get out of our head and if we actually speak to others about what the time has been like for them and what they’re doing to move through it, it brings renewed motivation and just a sense that we all are in this together. Everyone really is trying to work through it in their own way.

Filed under: Banff, Canmore, covid-19