Local Love Blog Series – CanMore Together

Welcome back to the Local Love Blog Series! I’m so excited to share with you the amazing vision and passion Lucie Darshan has for CanMore Together!

As the founder of CanMore Together, Lucie truly believes we Can do More Together. Lucie’s vision for CanMore Together was to create a way for locals to connect, share skills, and collaborate in a more effective teaser way. In addition to creating a stronger sense of community, Lucie has plans for a complementary currency called Together$ which would allow for sharing and trading skills, expertise and so much more within the community. She also has big plans to develop more membership groups around entrepreneurship, health wellness, and more!

From here, Lucie will be able to offer classes, workshops & events in all areas of life. She also sees the space as being ideal for a co-working space, event rental, to a small retail section to support local creators. Stay tuned for more information about the Grand Opening on Tues, Feb 22, 2022 – you don’t want to miss out on this great event! Lucie also joined Rob Murray on Mountain FM to chat about the opening of the CommUnity Hub, make sure to give it a listen here.

Eventually, Lucie settled in Canmore as her home-away-from-home and fell in love with the mountain community. She loves bringing people together to collaborate in a fun and innovative way, always believing that we’re stronger, smarter, and more effective when we work together rather than separately. 

Why is community so important to Lucie?

Ever since she arrived in Canada, she was taken by the kind nature of Canadians. The willingness to accept and help others with open arms was something Lucie hadn’t come across in the same way anywhere else in the world. The Canmore community reminded her of the importance of helping others and giving without the expectation of anything in return. 

CanMore Together has introduced her to so many wonderful people in the Canmore community that she otherwise would not have had the opportunity to connect with. Not only has she created great business relationships, but she’s also found some true friendships that are destined to last a lifetime. 

The seed was planted for what would eventually become CanMore Together on one fateful day at the Banff Farmers Market.

As she walked around the market checking out the different vendors, she noticed that many of them seemed discouraged by the lack of interest in their products or offerings that they’d poured so much work and love into. Since Lucie’s massage tent was slow as well, she thought to offer a free massage to the other vendors in exchange for something of theirs. By the end of the day, Lucie had received nearly $300 worth of traded goods, and soon tons more market vendors were talking about Lucie’s trade system. 

From there, Lucie started a venture called “Share Your Gift”. 

Fueled by the belief that everyone has a special and unique gift, Lucie created an exchange system originally geared toward Bow Valley newcomers. This demographic resonated with Lucie since she’d been there in the past and faced the struggles with affordability, social disconnection, and cultural barriers among so many others. Soon enough, Lucie was managing a Facebook group that was facilitating “gift” exchanges in the form of bread baking, snow shoveling, and so much more! 

Together$’s will compensate for products, services, skills, time, and acts of kindness throughout the community. With a focus on facilitating meaningful connections within the local community, creating a collaborative, cash-free exchange through Complementary Community Currency where the value is rooted in human potential instead of a monetary price tag. 

CanMore Together truly has a little something for everyone. 

Lucie believes that everyone can find a little something that would enrich their lives through CanMore Together. Whether it’s participating in a workshop, attending a community event, or connecting with other like-minded people or entrepreneurs, CanMore Together has you covered. Lucie is especially passionate about connecting and supporting local women entrepreneurs. She’s created and led weekly networking events where aspiring and established local business owners could come together to learn and grow together in their businesses and their lives. 

Having been in the Bow Valley for nearly 10 years, Lucie has plenty of Local Love to share! 

First up, Lucie had to shout out these three amazing artisans: Maude from Drop Caramel Co., Samira from The Wick’d Candles, and Emily-Rose from The ERL Leather Company. She also loves the work being done by Kristy at Kristy Wolfe Photography, Donna at eXp Realty Canada Inc., and Yuka as The Co+Kitchen Canmore. Lastly, she couldn’t fail to mention Jennifer from Ignite Health Coaching who she regularly partners and loves working with! 

As the world keeps changing and we connect more online, we continue to become more and more disconnected in real life. With community building and human connection as pillars of CanMore Together, Lucie’s goal for a socially and environmentally sustainable social enterprise is not only attainable but inspiring. 

So, keep an eye on Lucie’s Instagram and Facebook for more information and updates about CanMore Together. And be sure to join her on Tues, Feb 22, 2022, as she unveils the new CanMore Together CommUnity Hub! 

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