Welcome to Week 4 of #BuyFromHer, an initiative to showcase women-owned businesses you can support with your holiday shopping!  Today we’re highlighting the incredible professional and creative services offered by women in BC. From bespoke photography to beautiful fine art. From films that tell YOUR story for posterity to learning to play the guitar and then promoting yourself. These talented women provide services that can elevate your business and enrich your personal life.

Join us as we celebrate their creativity, professionalism, and dedication, and discover how you can support these inspiring entrepreneurs this holiday season!

Follow WeBC on Instagram to discover other women-owned businesses you can support from all over BC and enter to win weekly prize packs.  

MEET THE FEATURED BUSINESSES

Linda Mackie Creative

Location: Victoria

Linda Mackie is an award-winning personal brand and commercial photographer based in Victoria. She serves both Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland and loves working with entrepreneurs, creatives and changemakers like YOU to help bring your vision to life through timeless, fashion-inspired photography and visual branding that connects, inspires and makes a lasting impression. Together you collaborate to transform your brand, elevate your presence and impact and best tell your story through stunning photography.

Linda’s unique creative process helps ensure that your truest self shines through in your work together so that you can connect authentically with your ideal clients and communicate your brand message with integrity, style and professionalism.

Services include photography and video, makeup and hairstyling, brand and website design, and creative business mentoring.

Learn more and connect with Linda Mackie Creative

Website: Linda Mackie Creative              

Instagram: @lindamckiecreative            

Facebook: @lindamackiecreative             

LinkedIn: @lindamackiecreative               

Donna Rodman Studio

Location: Nelson

Donna Rodman discovered a gift that she did not know she possessed; approaching retirement, and rethinking her possibilities of continuing to be a Landscape Architect, Donna decided to explore how far she could go as a fine art painter.

Having both a love of detail and courage when working in colour, these attributes led her to conclude she could be a late bloomer, just budding. The artist believes her potential had been hidden under the professional career building she spent 30 years cultivating in Landscape Architecture. Today, Donna has decided to build a fresh dream that will fulfill her desire for unrestricted creativity.

When you meet her, you will find Donna quiet, unassuming, and embracing the new chapter to enhance her rich life. She is always willing to share lessons learned.

“The variety of [my] work allows a collector to select what they think is unique and what speaks to their heart. I do provide a story to each painting,” says Donna M. Rodman, owner. “To fall in love with an art piece is subjective to the collector. Perhaps uniqueness comes from variety, international perspectives, and an environmental message that is typically part of my fine art painting.”

Learn more and connect with Donna Rodman Studio

Website: Donna Rodman Studio  

Facebook: @donna.rodman.437              

LinkedIn: @donnarodmanbcsla                

Olive Chan Art

Location: Port Coquitlam

Olive Chan Art offers 2025 calendars featuring 12 original paintings of landscapes and skies to bring beauty and calm throughout the year. Her calendars are available with or without Bible scripture verses. She also has packs of ‘Northern Lights’ greeting cards, inspired by her experience of seeing them earlier this year.

“The paintings featured in my calendars and cards are one-of-a-kind and many of the scenes are based in BC and Canada,” explains Olive Chan, artist.  “Many folks have commented on how it’s difficult to find calendars with quality artwork, particularly paired with inspirational scripture verses. I’m also proud of the fact that all my products are printed in Canada.

“Shopping local means that money goes to small business owners. This has a larger impact on individuals and families. The relationships built from shopping local is what helps build community. Shopping local also is better for the environment because it takes less energy to ship things. Also, when you shop local, you make a small business owner very happy.”

Learn more and connect with Olive Chan Art

Website: Olive Chan Art              

Instagram: @olivechanart           

Facebook: @olivechanart            

Oceanview Guitar Studio

Location: Nanaimo

Oceanview Guitar Studio & Creative Services, led by Kerilie McDowall, is an ethics-focused organization welcoming all genders, abilities, and cultures. Kerilie offers 15% discounts on lessons and workshops for the persons with a disability and seniors, with a sliding scale for vulnerable families. The studio provides both online and in-person guitar instruction with media/press coaching for businesses, non-profits, indie recording artists, and film directors.

Kerilie also teaches beginner film shooting and film fest’ing. A 16-time award-winning jazz guitarist-composer-bandleader, radio producer/host, and TV short filmmaker, she has extensive experience in music writing, TV production/hosting, TV directing, jazz radio/podcasting, and jazz radio hosting and producing.

This talented and experienced musician has been a judge for the Juno Awards and is currently judging the Polaris Music Prize. In 2023, she launched ‘In the Zen,’ an international Canada-focused newsletter promoting national musicians, and lifestyle content.

Kerilie is dedicated to accommodating students with learning and other disabilities, and ADHD, having worked with persons with disabilities for 11 years. She has volunteered extensively in the Nanaimo community, including 17 years of jazz radio and 7 years of TV hosting and TV directing.

The studio offers lessons in guitar, music, songwriting, composing, and theory for all levels and styles, as well as publicity coaching for businesses and non-profits.

Learn more and connect with Oceanview Guitar Studio

Website: Oceanview Guitar Studio         

Instagram: @keriliemcdowall     

Facebook: @kerilie        

LinkedIn: @kerilie-mcdowall      

Myrna Stark Leader Writing and Communications

Location: Kelowna

Myrna Stark Leader is a professionally-accredited, strategic communications and writing veteran with experience and successes in strategy creation, issues management, media relations, PR, internal and external communications, and photography. In her business, she helps you share stories and information in a way that connects with people enabling them to understand and respond.  

With over 20 years of experience plus awards for her work (Myrna is a past-president and a Director of the Canadian Farm Writers’ Federation, as well as sitting on the BC Farm Writers Association board), her services/strengths include strategy, writing, photography, video and speaking (on topics like leadership, women in business, networking, etc.)

“The majority of my work comes through referrals,” says Myrna. “Local means the dollars stay in BC and will most likely be spent in BC.”

No Website:

LinkedIn: @myrna-stark-leader-abc-apr    

Stories Told on Film

Location: Nanaimo

“What sets Stories Told on Film apart is its unique approach to storytelling through the art of witnessing,” explains Kim Holl, owner. “I create an intimate and sacred space where your true essence can unfold, offering you the chance to see yourself in a new light and share your story with profound authenticity. There is no preparation, no ‘practice makes perfect.’ Your soul is brought to light, and through the editing process, all that is unnecessary fades away, revealing the golden thread and the essence of your story.”

Stories Told on Film captures the lives and essence of ordinary people in an artful way. Steeped in the art of witnessing, a tender space is created where you can feel the sanctity of your own dwelling, allowing your narrative to emerge, offering a new way to see, and be seen.

In the process, the wisdom harvesting often awakens your inner journey, along with a deeper sense of purpose. Spoken from this hallowed place is empowering, pulling you deeper into your own story while drawing the listener closer. Filmed close-up in black and white, everything unimportant falls away.

Soft natural light. An intimate setting. Just you in front of the lens. Quiet, peaceful, only the sound of your breath in and out. A stirring within gives rise to an unfaltering voice that is quiet, strong, and sure. No rush, no timeline, no agenda. Your film becomes a legacy, etched into the hearts of those whom you cherish. More than a film, it is a transformational experience celebrating the beauty of the human Soul.

Learn more and connect with Stories Told on Film

Website: Stories Told on Film    

Instagram: @storiestoldonfilm_               

Facebook: @storiestoldonfilm   

LinkedIn: @storiestoldonfilm     

The Flow Game | Doha Moghrabi Coaching

Location: Delta

Doha Moghrabi offers Coaching and Facilitation for clarity and coherence. This season, she would like to introduce the Flow Game, a tool for tapping into deeper wisdom through questions, images and play!

“Bring your most deeply held question and let’s play, cycle and flow with the forces and wisdom of nature. It is a game for one or many; play individually or as a team. The reflections will stay with you – and mature for days to come – after your experience with the game itself,” explains Doha.

“Dialogue, play, wisdom, and any medium you are comfortable with adds to the richness of the experience. It’s a unique game that helps us step into our courage, vulnerability and agency. There is also the unsaid, the negative space in the game. We show up and play with the willingness to listen deeply, beyond the initial words. You do not need to know how to do that, the game and your host (yours truly) will show you how.”

Learn more and connect with Doha Moghrabi Coaching

Website: Doha Moghrabi Coaching

LinkedIn: @dohamoghrabi