Mike Lavallee's Classification
Posted by Bill Molesworth
Jamie Tripp introduced Mike Lavalle as a new member who is active in the community, dedicated to the principles of Rotary, expert in his profession and a great companion.
Mike said he lives in Victoria Harbour with his wife and two boys, but he was born into the military and has lived in a variety of places. As far as he can figure out, though, the posting his father was enjoying in Germany when Mike was born, the youngest of 4, was the nicest. Unfortunately for Mike his father was subsequently posted to Cold Lake, Alberta, which is not named that for nothing, somewhere in northern Quebec on the Dew Line where the black flies were unbearable and finally to Valcartier, where his father retired. But Mike had been living in English and going to school there was a language and culture shock.
He took up water polo and was invited to attend trials and events with the national team when he was only 16, so he got a lot more travelling in, while learning a lot of dirty songs, which he neglected to share.
He decided he liked the small town life and attended Bishop's, concentrating on economics, business and athletics. He worked, on graduation, in marketing, distribution, startups and helping companies turn themselves around.
He worked on the development, as VP for marketing, on an Internet based business that would help students of English as a second language. He travelled to Japan, China, and Malaysia doing research and making contacts. They had a letter of intent from a venture capitalist for $10 million signed on September 7, 2001 and on September 11 everything changed. He seems to bear a grudge.
His wife is an accountant for Jarlette Enterpisese and he started working there as a consultant. He took over the supervision of a nursing home in Orillia which was under renovation, then moved to the head office for marketing and planning responsibilities. He opened a new private career college in 2003 to train candidates for the industry and took on the management of the facility on Yonge Street as well in August of last year.
Nursing Homes are under the strict supervision of the Provincial Administration but Seniors' Residences are not and are lifestyle choices, which means marketing, developing brand strength and encouraging referrals. He said the boomer bubble is on the verge of retiring and that will make the industry more competitive. The boomers are well off, used to getting what they want and living comfortably. So success will be built on service and staff, which is why the company started its own school - to train candidates the way the company wanted them trained and to develop a pool of strong staffers.
He enjoys the job, saying that he has dozens of grandparents, though their interest in his activities can have a negative effect on his productivity. The connection to his residents and their families is of real value.
Duncan thanked Mike for his classification, saying that it had resonated with his sense of values, which he appreciated and which Rotary will benefit from.
He took up water polo and was invited to attend trials and events with the national team when he was only 16, so he got a lot more travelling in, while learning a lot of dirty songs, which he neglected to share.
He decided he liked the small town life and attended Bishop's, concentrating on economics, business and athletics. He worked, on graduation, in marketing, distribution, startups and helping companies turn themselves around.
He worked on the development, as VP for marketing, on an Internet based business that would help students of English as a second language. He travelled to Japan, China, and Malaysia doing research and making contacts. They had a letter of intent from a venture capitalist for $10 million signed on September 7, 2001 and on September 11 everything changed. He seems to bear a grudge.
His wife is an accountant for Jarlette Enterpisese and he started working there as a consultant. He took over the supervision of a nursing home in Orillia which was under renovation, then moved to the head office for marketing and planning responsibilities. He opened a new private career college in 2003 to train candidates for the industry and took on the management of the facility on Yonge Street as well in August of last year.
Nursing Homes are under the strict supervision of the Provincial Administration but Seniors' Residences are not and are lifestyle choices, which means marketing, developing brand strength and encouraging referrals. He said the boomer bubble is on the verge of retiring and that will make the industry more competitive. The boomers are well off, used to getting what they want and living comfortably. So success will be built on service and staff, which is why the company started its own school - to train candidates the way the company wanted them trained and to develop a pool of strong staffers.
He enjoys the job, saying that he has dozens of grandparents, though their interest in his activities can have a negative effect on his productivity. The connection to his residents and their families is of real value.
Duncan thanked Mike for his classification, saying that it had resonated with his sense of values, which he appreciated and which Rotary will benefit from.