#lightimaging

"I love what I do because it provides me with an artistic outlet. By being a jewelry designer, I am able to create something that not only means something special to me but also to the person who is wearing it. In a way, it allows me to live forever. There is a piece of me that will always be out there. The interesting thing though, is that it's not only a piece of me, it's a piece of the jewelry owner as well. I help people to represent their own uniqueness."

Name: Shannon Kennedy 

Occupation: Jewelry Designer 

Her Journey:

Walking into Cynosure Studio in downtown Kitchener and being greeted by the beauty and warmth that is Shannon Kennedy was not only a pleasant surprise but an uplifting experience for the entire crew at Light Imaging. Shannon is exactly what you would envision a jewelry designer to be: a modern meets classic, Old-Hollywood beauty, with an acknowledgement of her talent, yet, an incredibly modest approach to her trade. 

Being raised in an artistic family with a mother who painted and a father who was a draftsmen, Shannon was always expressing herself artistically. She says, "my dad was constantly buying me pencils, pens and paints and when I was younger, I was always experimenting with the arts. When I got to high school, I knew that the Ontario College of Art and Design is where I would eventually end up going." With a passion for jewelry design looming, she applied to OCAD, was immediately accepted and graduated with a jewelry major. It was clear she was on the right path when in 1995 while at OCAD, she was presented the prestigious Studio Award.   

With a need to pursue even more education and craving further technical skill, Shannon applied and was accepted into the 2nd year of the 3 year Jewelry Design program at George Brown. While she was there in 1997, she was honoured with the Bob Wille Award.  Immediately after graduation, she began working in the heart of the fashion district in downtown Toronto as an in-house jeweller. "I loved working there. People would come in and we would make commissions. I also had a studio in my apartment at the time so I had the opportunity to take on my own projects. I had the stable job, which gave me the experience, but I had the freedom to experiment in my own time as well", she says. 

While working downtown, Shannon met and fell in love with Kitchener-based jewelry designer Juan Bohorquez and eventually decided to move to the KW Region to be with him. In 2004, they became business partners and opened up their company entitled Cynosure Jewelry. 

Shannon and Juan have continued to win a number of prestigious awards including: Finalist for the Saul Bell Design Award/Gold & Platinum Category in Albuquerque,  Best in Scultpure for the Hand & Spirit Juried Exhibition in Elliot Lake, Best of Show 'Quotation' National Jewelry Competition at Zilberschmuck Gallery, Best Artist at the Blue Mountain Artist's Walk, and the list goes on! 

Although still designing full-time, Shannon has now begun to focus on the educational aspects. She teaches regular programs from her studio, at Mohawk and George Brown College and at the Haliburton School of Arts. On top of that, she runs a jewelry club in local high schools where she brings in materials and lets the teenagers explore this trade. Furthermore, she is often hired by provincial governments to come in and teach people in need a new way to make money. "I get to expose people to a new trade that has the opportunity to invigorate the economy. I have worked in partnership with the Aboriginal Woman's Association as well", Shannon says. 

To learn more, take a class, or get a custom piece of jewelry made, please visit their website at www.cynosure-jewelry.com.

“Some chefs are really attuned to their right-brain; they are incredibly creative but they don’t know how to manage a business. Some chefs are really attuned to their left-brain; they can manage a business but they have no creativity. I try to be as balanced as I can be and that is why I was able to get to where I am today.”

Name: Michael Hodgson

Occupation: Executive Chef

Location: Waterloo Ontario

His Journey:

Michael Hodgson’s success story is not the archetypal narrative describing a child’s undying love for a passion and its progression through adolescence and adulthood. Michael does not have stories of himself as a five year-old whipping up a duck confit with roasted mini potatoes, squash and parsnips in a dark chicken jus and plum orange compote (as appears deliciously on the Bauer Kitchen menu!). Instead, Hodgson says it was something of an accident: “I was always creative. I didn’t set out to be a chef necessarily. I fell into the environment and then I began to embrace it because it provided me with a creative outlet.” His journey was certainly not typical but it did prove to become exceptionally successful.

It was early in his life when he was indirectly introduced to his true calling. Throughout his youth, he focused on the arts and particularly music. His love for music inspired him to buy his own guitar at age 15 and in turn, led him to get his first part-time job at a small pizzeria. “I was responsible for the salad bar, bussing tables and washing dishes,” Hodgson says. “What’s funny is that this became a pivotal point in my life. I was surrounded by restaurant culture and I loved the environment.”

From there, Hodgson continued to work in several restaurants each year throughout high school and beyond and moved up the ladder gaining supervisory and leadership positions. By the time he turned 21, Hodgson was employed by the Charcoal Group and began to work under some extremely talented chefs. In three years Hodgson was promoted to sous chef based on this natural talent. “There was a big difference between then and now. The music back then was my priority and the reason that I took this path. After five years with Charcoal, I felt like I needed to pursue this dream and try to make a real career out of it.”

Hodgson left the business to pursue music for a short time but at the end of the day, he really missed being in the kitchen. The break that he took from it only reaffirmed his love for restaurant culture and it was within no time at all that he was back as a sous chef for the Charcoal Group. His passion flared up once again and within a short time, Michael was promoted to chef. From there he continued to work and hone his craft as a chef and eventually decided to quit music and focus on a culinary career. Within a year of that difficult decision, he was promoted to executive chef.

Hodgson has not stopped working since and is now the executive chef at Wildcraft and The Bauer Kitchen. “This job fulfills all of my needs. I continue to push myself from a creative standpoint and a business standpoint. I love being a mentor and being the one to help develop talent” Hodgson says.  

The Charcoal Group is now focusing on creating a supply chain within the company. They plan to buy from local suppliers, expand on the bread program and bakery, and create an “ecosystem” within the group. Hodgson is an integral part of that growth and is now focusing more on the bigger picture than on a particular restaurant.

“This is just the beginning."

To learn more about The Charcoal Group and their family of restaurants, please visit www.charcoalgroup.ca.

Name: Andre Versnick

Occupation: Tobacco Farmer

Location: Aylmer Ontario

His Journey: 

Contrary to what most would believe when thinking about a successful tobacco farmer, Andre Versnick did not grow up on the beautiful property that he now owns in Aylmer Ontario. He did not have everything handed to him on a silver platter and he was not able to easily ride the comforts and stability that so often come with family businesses.

Born in Simcoe Ontario from Belgium parents, Andre started helping his family as share croppers in the fields in 1934. It was in 1938 when his parents were able to finally buy their very own farm by the shores of Lake Erie. He grew up in the fields. He grew up in the greenhouse. He grew up planting, hoeing and helping his parents. It’s the only thing that he knew.

“My dad passed away when I was 13 years old. I had one more year of gradeschool and after that I stayed home with my mom farming. I took charge when I was 14, 15, 16 years old. I grew 20 acres of tobacco. All hand work.”

Andre married into a share cropping tobacco family. Andre, his wife and their 4 kids have worked hand in hand for decades to build up their successful business. I asked him; “what would you do if you were not a tobacco farmer” and his reply was; “I can’t imagine ever doing anything else. I would be lost. I absolutely love it.”

“When you grow up on a farm, you see things differently then most people. You do different things. You experience what others don’t experience. It’s a completely different life. You don’t understand it unless you have lived it.”

Name: John Loewen

Occupation: Technician

Location: Aylmer Ontario

His Journey:

John Loewen has been surrounded by the farming world his entire life. His dad, who was a farmer, taught him how to work in the field, how to use machinery, how to fix problems properly and quickly and how to dissect and correct faults in farming equipment. It may have been dirty, hard and physically tiring work but he fell in love with it. It was this passion that led John Loewen to become a known and respected name in the tobacco farming industry.

“I go from farm to farm as I get called. I work wherever the machines break down in the field. Two inches of mud or water, it doesn’t matter. If it needs to be repaired, I will repair it.”

John has lived his life as a businessman alongside his life as a technician and also built dehydrators to dry out tobacco products. Since he was born and raised in Mexico, he was able to sell these machines to the farmers there where they used them to dry out peppers to make jalapenos.

John has worked in Italy, France, Prince Edward Island, North and South Carolina and Mexico. He has been repairing machinery for farmers for the last 24 years.