I was born in France and lived in Paris for the first 19 years of my life surrounded by diversity, culture and historical baroque architecture. While many people would have envied me to live in such a beautiful city, my dream was to experience the world. At 19 years old, I left Paris to travel to beautiful countries across Asia, which opened my eyes to the world. I witnessed poverty, learned about other cultures and languages, and discovered new passions including Scuba Diving and Travel, which became a way of life for me for many years.

From one continent to the next, my thirst for exploring and experiencing new places never ended. The more I was learning about people, their culture and their traditions, the more I wanted to immerse myself. I have been inspired by so many people, in so many different ways, but one thing that impacted me the most was how people in poverty could live in such harmony. While volunteering for different organizations, I was able to visit local hospitals and caring facilities. There was a tremendous amount of collaboration amongst nurses and professional practitioners. Maybe, because of the lack of equipment and poor facilities, the medical community felt it was a necessity to work together to provide the best outcome for their patients?

“A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”– Oliver Wendell Holmes.

In 2009, I decided to move to Canada and begin a new exploration. From a European viewpoint, Canada is the Switzerland of Europe, but on a much larger scale. Untouched nature, beautiful wildlife and a quality of life that most European’s could only dream of. While Canada has so much to offer, I realized some challenges. One of those being the healthcare system. I noticed that there were many skilled health professions spanning many areas of expertise, but many of them worked independently. Based on my experience within the current care structure, there are very limited clinics, which embody true integrated healthcare programs. In my opinion, collaboration and communication amongst health providers is key to maximizing health and streamlining treatments and reducing redundancy of care.

In the last couple of years, Lori and I started to talk about opening a state of the art integrated care facility where we could use both of our passions to help others maximize their health in our community. Finally, our dream came true… with Pillars of Wellness.

“The best way to lose yourself is in the service of others.” – Mahatma Gandhi