Women of Influence

Alana Tollenaar is one of the Owners and Operators of Backyard Birds Nature Shop in Spruce Grove, Alberta. You can find her at the store almost every day managing their wonderful team of staff, working with talented local vendors, hosting events, and more!

Alana has a degree in Environmental & Conservation Science from the University of Alberta. Throughout her degree, she volunteered for a wide variety of organizations, including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Nature Alberta, the Campus Food Bank, Edmonton and Area Land Trust, among many others. She paid for her entire post-secondary education through scholarships recognizing her community involvement.

Alana is actively involved outside the store, as a Board Member with the City Centre Business Association and as a member of the Chamber of Commerce’s Emerging Leaders Committee. She offers her time to a variety of organizations to teach them about birds, take them on nature walks, or provide educational activities. She has also been a leader with the Spruce Grove Girl Guides for the past 7 years.

Her passion for nature and birds was inspired by her dad, Jan, who was a Zookeeper at the Edmonton Valley Zoo. She vividly remembers him bringing home two baby snowy owls to hand-raise in their home. Those first-hand experiences with birds and other wildlife fostered an appreciation and love for nature that motivate her to this day.

Her passion for community was inspired by her mom, Rose, who taught her the value of volunteering and giving back from a young age. Her first memory of volunteering is at Stony Plain Farmers Days when she was 8. This strong desire to give back to the community has stayed with her to this day, with one of her proudest accomplishments to date being the Little Free Pantry project she started in Spruce Grove to provide food and hygiene products to those who need them, 24/7.

In terms of spare time, Alana used to be a competitive athlete in the sport of target archery, where she won numerous provincial and national titles, as well as attended two world championships. Her commitments have shifted a little, so now when she isn’t working, she loves birdwatching, playing board games, trying out new restaurants, and traveling with her husband, Jordan.

Jan Gillett along with Randal, her husband of 34 years, have lived in the Spruce Grove area for over 25 years.  She has 3 grown daughters and 3 grandchildren with the 4^th arriving any day.

Becoming aware of the lack of practical resources for single mothers and low-income families, in 2014, Jan founded and is the Director of Parkland Pregnancy Support Centre, a local non-profit that provides information and supports for families with babies/toddlers. In 2016, she was recognized as a “Pillar of the Community” for her work with the Centre in providing much needed help to families in the Tri-Region Area.

Jan’s desire to help the community did not stop here; seeing a need, and with a “spark” of an idea, she mobilized the community and implemented THE LATE-NIGHT CAFÉ IN 2019, an emergency Homeless Overnight Response. In the following year, she Chaired the Winter Emergency Response Committee, a collaborative community group, which then adopted the Late-Night Café model in the area, and it has been offered ever since. She is a past Board member of Homeless Link Alberta and Pay Forward Kindness Society.

Jan is a community advocate for affordable seniors housing and is involved with Meridian Housing Foundation.

I’d like to introduce our next 2022 Woman of Influence, co-owner of RavenWolf Brewing Co., Founder and Director of Parkland Pregnancy Support Centre, Jan Gillett!

Jan is a first term city councilor and is so passionate about her community, that she ran for office 3 times till she was successful! She is proud to be the first person of Colour EVER elected to the Spruce Grove City Council and is grateful to be a role model for young Black women.

Jan is heavily involved in the community and sits on many committees, including the Inter-City Forum Social Policy, advocating on a provincial level for services, funding, and social resources for our region, the Economic Development Advisory Committee, the City Centre Business Association, a Rotarian of Spruce Grove Rotary Club, and was previously a Spruce Grove Public Library Board Trustee.

Jan is an entrepreneur and co-owner of RavenWolf Brewing Co., a microbrewery and taproom that her and her husband opened during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Needless to say, they experienced a slow start, but the community really embraced them, which necessitated expanding within their first year for both equipment and staff.

Her development and knowledge as an entrepreneur has grown over the years with her Elected Officials Education Program, Culinary Arts, Wine Studies, and 15+ years’ experience in Retail, Business Management and HR. But her education has not yet stopped as Jan is currently completing her Community Economic Development Program through the University of Calgary.

Kayla Strom is the co-owner of Broadway & Grand restaurant as well as Parlour 1919, Spruce Grove’s local Speakeasy. Growing up, she always loved baking & cooking, learning from the women in her life. In 2014 Kayla met Devin Stewart, who taught her more about the culinary world and helped her grow her skills further. In 2017 Devin & Kayla decided to make their love for culinary creations into a business and started on the entrepreneurship adventure together as Broadway & Grand. In 2020, they had to move to a new location due to outgrowing their original kitchen. With this move came the opening of Parlour 1919 in February 2021. Having a location to host live events and a place for guests to feel comfortable and welcome was a dream come true.

The business has had many difficult times to overcome, but Kayla & Devin persevered and pushed through. As many know, Devin tragically passed away on July 1, 2022. With the tremendous support of many family, friends, staff, and community, Kayla has continued to make the dream a reality.

Kayla has worked for Alberta Health Services for 9 years as an Administrative Support. When she is not working, she loves spending time with her family, friends, dogs & parrot. She is a creative individual that loves finding new hobbies, has a joy for learning, and has a passion for helping others.

Sarah Parry was born and raised in the United Kingdom and is moving into the final year of her professional career.  December 2023 will bring the next part of her journey as she enters retirement.

In 1990, Sarah was proud to be appointed as the youngest female leader in a male dominated environment for the telecommunication company, BT (British Telecom).  Empowering women to become leaders in typically male heavy business environments was something that she cared passionately about and was proud to play a role in developing an environment to support career progression for women.

Sarah was applauded as a new kind of leader that chose to exhibit empathy, tolerance, and kindness. She has always led from a place of emotion, however, strong in decision-making and unwavering in making tough decisions.

Sarah’s leadership journey has lasted over 30 years and she has been honoured to have worked in Corporate, Government, Retail and not for profit environments.  Relationship building has been at the heart of everything I do, and I am driven to get the best out of myself and my team.

As the youngest in the family, she was raised by parents that were only separated by the passing of her Dad in 2021; Sarah’s brother is 7 years older than her so she always felt that there were three adults in her family with her. Sarah’s Dad encouraged me to always ask questions, ask questions if she didn’t understand and ask questions to further her knowledge and education and to show vulnerability and treat everyone with respect and kindness.  Sarah’s mum is a gracious, gentle and strong woman who taught Sarah to go after her dreams through confidence and determination.  Sarah’s mum inspired her as the opportunities for a woman born in the 30’s was incredibly limited and women consistently missed out on careers ad opportunities compared to men.  Sarah’s rebellious side is never far from the surface; she is a challenger and risk taker and at times can be pushy when others don’t appear to be as excited as she is with a new idea.  In her late teens, Sarah protested with Green Peace, ‘Ban the Bomb’, became politically active and decided that a two-week holiday romance on the magical island of Ibiza was far more thrilling than work or education.  Lasting six months, Sarah’s parents simply met her return with, ‘welcome home’.

Sarah appreciated very early on that Women have to stick together; being kind and understanding of each other is not a weakness.  Women are strong and nurturing by nature and we have to embrace and celebrate each other.

Sarah is proud and honoured to be recognized and in the words of Emmeline Pankhurst, British Political Activist: “Women are very slow to rouse, but once they are aroused, once they are determined, nothing on Earth and nothing in heaven will make women give way; it is impossible.”

In 1992, Tracey Bartholomew, owner of Village Fashions, had her adventure in ladies fashion began when she took over her mom’s business that she started in 1969.

Having your own business is truly an education and lesson in adaptability! There isn’t a school out there that teaches how to get through years of construction in front of your store and then COVID. Thinking “outside the box” and loyal clients helped Village Fashions weather the storm.

Being active in your community adds dimension and interest, not to mention meeting like-minded individuals. Tracey has loved her years with the Heart of Town, the Chamber, church council, as well as school and sports groups when my kids were involved.

Tracey and her husband have 3 adult children and call Stony Plain home.