Margaret is the second of four children. Her mother is from Charleswood and her father is originally from Ireland. Her dad is 87 and her mom is 75 and legally blind. They live in a senior complex. Margaret looks after her parents as well as another senior she has close ties to. Margaret had a close friend that she called a ‘sister of choice’. They had an agreement that if anything happened to either one of them, the surviving sister would look after the parents. Her ‘sister friend’ was murdered in Mexico, so Margaret looks after her mom as well as her own parents.
With the Irish connection, March 17 is always a big celebration. They play ‘Lucky Bingo’ and have Leprechaun tea (apple juice with green coloring) and lots of green food. Margaret loves to bake. She will bake for pretty much every special holiday event that comes along.
Margaret grew up in the Crestview area of Winnipeg. She stays in touch with about 75% of her classmates -great buddies - dating all the way back to Kindergarten. Her group of G.P. (Grant Park) Girls attend and support many charity events. They made 1,500 Jell-O
shots and sold them to raise money for children’s organizations. She has a special interest in supporting the Alzheimer’s Society. There was a fantastic book she read back in Kindergarten, grade one or grade two that she thinks of routinely.
The Little Red Hen offers a moralistic tale of the importance of hard work and the shame, as well as consequences, of laziness. It was a farmyard setting with a hen that wanted help to bake some bread…. none of the other animals in the yard would help…Not me, not me, not me…then when the bread was baked they all wanted some. This story comes to mind when she is asked to help in some way, her head says she just can’t fit it into her schedule, but her mouth opens and the word “sure” comes out!
Fact from Margaret – She has never been married. She has no children. She has never changed a diaper.
Margaret’s employment history…She has been on her own since age of 16. She finished high School while on her own. She had a dream of being an architect but could not afford that road. Margaret started working in a restaurant. She then wanted a change and decided that selling clothing would be great! She applied over and over to both Maraposa and Warehouse One. She was declined over and over until one day she was offered a position at BOTH stores on the same day! She then wanted to upgrade to Fairweather Clothing. There were three people offered to try for the position. Margaret won this position. At this point, after years of selling clothing, she wanted a change. Selling Life Insurance was next. She actually held down 5 part-time jobs all at the same time! The next move was into planning weddings. She got a job at the Southwood Supper Club arranging weddings, every detail of them. She wrote a 590-page book on Wedding Planning in Manitoba. She was selling them as a home-based business. There was then another move to work at ‘The Brick’ furniture store. For 5 years she would organize events at The Brick store for other vendors/charities to rent space for $500 in the store. Margaret organized a ‘Battle of the Charities’ event in The Brick that had the most successful group being given a furniture set as a prize that they could then use as they please or sell it for further cash for the charity.
Margaret’s last employment, prior to BVM, was working in marketing for the Free Press. She held that position for 9 years. She left 4 years ago for Best Version Media.
There are 10 BVM magazines in and near Winnipeg (Neighbours of Bridgwater, Charleswood, Tuxedo, Linden Woods, Island Lakes, East St. Paul, West St. Paul, St. Andrews, West of Winnipeg Living) and one in Brandon. Margaret is responsible for 4 of the magazines (Neighbours of Bridgwater, Charleswood, West of Winnipeg Living and working on North River Heights). She has a staff of photographers, writers, assistants, salesperson. She is looking for another writer…do YOU know anyone interested??
Margaret is a huge animal lover. She is currently involved in trying to change the legal status of animals in society. They are currently considered ‘property’. She is also working to get rid of the term ‘put down an animal’. She would like the terminology to be ‘compassionate euthanization’.
Margaret’s current employment is a publisher with Best Version Media (BVM). They have 11 magazines in Manitoba. She is also the President of Connexxion Matrixx – marketing & advertising – as a sideline to her publisher position with BVM. Best Version Media started with 10 owners, there are now 35. She recently stepped down from her position as a ‘Power Team Builder’. She is very busy, meaning up early and always a late bedtime.
Q/A
1.-Why did you join Rotary?
A.-She came out to Rotary with the launch of Neighbours of Charleswood. The right kind of people. Feels she will be Mayor of Winnipeg one day…may not know what she is doing though!
2.- Mike Dudar asked how they source material for the magazines?
A.-They want local stories, so they have to search and look for connected stories and expand on them for a magazine lay-out.
President Mandy thanked Margaret for her presentation. It is obvious that Margaret is a dedicated hard worker, also known as a ‘grinder’!
Margaret replied that she is doing something that she absolutely loves.
