Each told how they overcame daunting struggles to start businesses and make a life for themselves and their families in the Sea to Sky Corridor.
Representatives from the Squamish Welcome Centre and Settlement Service and the Howe Sound Women's Centre hosted the virtual local Immigrant Women event for International Women's Day on March 8.
Kamaljit Bains
Kamaljit Bains is the owner of Jinder Cleaning Company. She arrived in Canada from India in 2004, "with lots of dreams," she said.
But soon after arriving, she says she was forced to end an unhealthy relationship
She found love again, in Squamish. She married Daljinder Bains in 2007.
"I felt at that time, I met my true friend, as my life partner," she said. "He was so supportive."
The couple had two children, and life was good.
Her husband was running a successful business at the time.
Then he died tragically in 2018.
"I lost not only my partner but also his business," she recalled.
"At that point, I was thinking about my kids. 'How can we survive?' because we don't have enough income because I was a housewife."
Eventually, Bains decided to launch her own business, and in November of 2019, she opened her company in her husband's name.
For the first five months, she struggled to find clients and doubted her decision to start a company without a business background.
But little by little, she built a client base, and then commercial contracts came her way.
Word of mouth about the quality of her cleaning service soon brought her a hotel contract.
"I slowly learned how to balance kids and work," she said, acknowledging the transition from stay-at-home mom to entrepreneur was a difficult one for herself and her kids, who were used to having their mom around full-time.
"As my business started growing, I got some positive energy, and I am blessed with some good friends who help me a lot," she said.
Soon she was able to hire employees.
With more employees, her work shifted to more of a managing and administrative role.
"I am blessed with people at work on whom I can rely," she said, adding that through her business, she has met many people who inspire and support her.
"If you are determined and hard-working, nothing is impossible," she said."The harder you work for something, the greater you will feel when you achieve it. The fruit of your own hard work is the sweetest."
Her message for other women in similarly challenging situations is to persevere.
"From my experience, I would say, despite failures, you stand up. Despite sorrow, you cheer up. Despite pain, you keep fighting — keep dreaming to fly higher, reaching new heights," She said. "Don't exist — live."
Angie Vazquez
Many in town know Angie Vazquez as the often smiling and successful Squamish real estate agent, but her journey to success was not easy.
She came to Canada 13 years ago with her then-husband and two kids.
But even before that, from a young age, Vazquez had overcome obstacles.
Her father died when she was 10 years old.
She started to work in the family business at 11.
"Since then, I haven't stopped working," she said.
She became a computer engineer by attending school on scholarships.
"I needed to keep my grades very high in order to keep the scholarships, so it wasn't easy," she said.
The family loved Squamish, but Vazquez's marriage dissolved.
Her first challenge was morphing her $26,000 a year job into a career to support herself and her kids.
She recalled having $60 in credit to her name and a week until her paycheque.
"I needed food and fuel in order to keep going," she said. "It was very challenging when I decided to separate."
Unable to find suitable work as a computer engineer, she went back to school for her real estate licence at 40 years old.
She said she had to bridge a language barrier at first.
"I didn't know any technical language to do real estate," she said.
Her first time taking the real estate exam, the time was up before she finished it.
"I realized I couldn't read fast enough," she said.
The second time she took it, she got 81%.
When real estate became hot in the Sea to Sky in 2017, and she was doing well, her mom was diagnosed with cancer.
Vazquez went back and forth to Mexico nine times during that period.
To support her real estate career, she took in a total of nine foreign homestay students who became part of her family.
Now, with her team, she brings in about $100,000 a day in real estate sales, she said.
In 2019, she sold $33 million in real estate in the Sea to Sky.
In 2020, she hit $61 million in sales with her team.
She said none of it has been easy, and it wasn't due to luck.
"I don't believe in good luck. I don't believe I was lucky," she said, adding that people seeing her success today didn't see the behind-the-scenes struggle it took her to get to where she is.
She said she always has made an effort to surround herself with supportive and loving people.
She said Whistler real estate agent Maggi Thornhill took her under her wing and mentored her, as did other strong women in the community.
Vazquez lives by the saying that "one hour of planning saves you 10 hours of execution."
She usually works seven days a week and has a tight and detailed schedule.
"I am so grateful to be in this spot that I earned that it is kind of like a bit of an addiction to work. I love what I do, so I don't see it as work," she said.
Her success has also come from putting herself out there in the community, hitting the airwaves on Mountain FM whenever she could, supporting local charities, and marketing herself in a myriad of ways.
"Some of the efforts that you do are very successful, and some of them are failures," she said. "You have to keep trying."
Dalila Pinillos
Dalila Pinillos has owned Dalila's Massage for five years.
She came to Canada from Colombia in 2002 for love, leaving behind successful careers.
She had worked in a spa in Colombia for 17 years and was a model.
At first, she was very happy in her new life and marriage, but suddenly the marriage fell apart.
She was left a single mom without many resources and with a language barrier to overcome.
"I had to start over, so I decided to open my business," she said.
It wasn't easy, but she built a clientele quickly.
She said she bonds with her clients, who can find emotions bubble up during treatments. She said her success has come from caring about clients and focusing on them, rather than prioritizing the bottom line.
"When you start a business, do it with your heart," she said. "When you do business with your heart, the money follows you, no matter what."
She said big things are coming for her Squamish business that she can't wait to unveil for the community.
Rose Laure Agbazan
Rose Laure Agbazan, who was raised in France, opened Sugaring Beauty Boudoir in downtown Squamish three years ago.
"Everything started when I was nine years old, and I decided that I wanted to be an esthetician," she said.
She went on to complete six years of esthetician studies.
After stints working in Angola, Paris, Montreal and Vancouver, she moved to Whistler for a job.
With all her experience, though, she eventually wanted to be a manager, but "nobody gave me this opportunity," she said.
So she became her own boss, taking in clients in a room of another business in Whistler.
That was going well until the larger business closed, and the landlords where she was renting told her they were selling and she had to find somewhere else to live.
"I decided to move to Squamish, and I restarted everything," she said, adding she had a job in Whistler and was working for herself two days a week in Squamish.
"At the beginning, I didn't have any clients, and I didn't know anyone. I remember I was waiting every day, and sometimes I was happy when I had one client."
But little by little, her clientele grew.
After eight months, she could devote herself full time to working for herself.
She was still working within another business in town, but she decided to take over the lease and have her brick-and-mortar salon when that owner wanted to step away.
It was the right decision.
Everything was going well for the business, and then COVID-19 hit.
"We closed for two and a half months. It was a little bit challenging during this time because you don't know when you are going to be able to reopen, and you still have to pay all the bills, and it was a little bit difficult," she said.
Once she reopened, though, her clients came back, which made her grateful for the community's support, she said.
Currently, she has a few employees and hopes to hire more.
She offers three pieces of advice for fellow female immigrant entrepreneurs:
- Start small with something you can specialize in.
- Lead with passion. "You have to be really passionate about your business because you are going to spend a lot of time working for your business. You don't have so many days off. You really need to love your job."
- Ask for help. You can find charity or organizations to help you or a coach. "It is always good to ask for help because you don't know everything.
Anyone interested in services for newcomers can contact Squamish Welcome Centre and Settlement Service. Their office within the Hotspot Resource Centre is located at 38027 Cleveland Ave.
Howe Sound Women’s Centre also offers Multicultural Outreach Support Services for all immigrant, refugee, and non-status women who have experienced abuse.
