© Star Phoenix Courtesy Lynn Brochu (left) and her mother, Maggie Brochu, launched Little Garden Wellness Virtual Store in October 2022 to provide an online space for people to find health services and wellness in Saskatchewan.Businesses and non-profit organizations are frequently opening and relocating to Saskatoon. Today, StarPhoenix talks to Lynn Brochu and her mother, Maggie Brochu, who are fine-tuning The Lit Garden: Virtual Wellness Shop, a new online directory in Saskatchewan where people can find health care professionals. They initially started working online just for Moose Jaw, but realized their goal was too small, so they spent a lot of time creating their catalog for Saskatchewan.
Maggie Brochu (left) and her daughter Lynn Brochu launched the Little Garden Wellness Virtual Store in October 2022 to provide an online space for people to find health and wellness services in Saskatchewan. (photo provided)Q: What is the lighted garden?
Lynn Brochu: The Lit Garden: The Virtual Wellness Shop is basically a 24/7/365 online program for all of Saskatchewan. Think of us as a high-quality online catalog, only better. We offer a virtual mall filled with great local health and wellness partners.
Q: Why did you create this health store for Saskatchewan?
Maggie Brochu: When I was a receptionist at a wellness center, people would come up to me and ask, "Do you know anyone who does massage, do you know anyone who does reflexology, etc., and I didn't know. If you then googling you find a way to find someone in ontario or elsewhere and there is nothing around so it was necessary.
LB: As someone who wanted to buy health products in the provinces, we created problems for Google. There were a lot of old guides or websites for things that just weren't maintained, were too old, didn't have videos or social links, or needed information. We were very frustrated navigating on our own and really focused on fixing any problems we found.
We wanted to help health and wellness entrepreneurs like us. It's very difficult to have an online presence to let people know what you do and what your services are, so we really wanted to help them promote and spread, make sure they have a marketing and online presence where it is needed so that everything can succeed today.
Q: What kind of experience can a user expect?
LB: We really want to be a tool to help consumers navigate their way to a healthy lifestyle. Some important things we pay attention to are user experience. We wanted to organize everything for them in one place. In a few clicks you know what you want to know.
We focused on improving the search experience within the guide itself. You can search by keywords like "online". If you enter it, all our partners offering online services will be displayed, you can search by city if you are interested. If you are interested in a person, you can find them. In addition to the search bar, we have several different categories. For example, if you are interested in meditation, you can also search in this category.
Q: How did you choose the name The Lit Garden?
LB: This lamp came to mind a few years ago. I've been at a turning point in my life since leaving the store and was able to quickly move it to the internet. It was so difficult and it took so long that it was hard to tell if we got our message across or if it all worked. And then, to be honest, I had a small breakthrough in meditation. Today I saw our logo for The Lit Garden for the first time and thought how we can work together and solve many of these problems. Anyone (work) in the wellness industry in Saskatchewan, anyone interested in it, we are all very light or "light" workers. We bring light and strive to create a bright Saskatchewan, a community of good people.
MB: If I could add a word about the garden aspect, you grow in the garden. And what I also want Saskatchewan to thrive. Most of us don't feel well and we want to feel well.
Q: What are each of your wellness experiences?
MB: I was a teacher. It was getting me down and I had some health issues so I wanted a healing touch to feel better. This is where I started Reiki and completed all my classes so I could teach it as an Usui Reiki Master Teacher . I am for health. In addition to my Reiki business I also have Bach flowers that help with the emotions.
LB: After high school I studied Kinesiology and Physical Therapy at the University of Saskatchewan for six years and graduated in 2006 with my Bachelor of Science in Physical Therapy. I worked as a physiotherapist until 2020, just when the pandemic hit, then I very quickly switched to a more holistic physiotherapy model as an online wellness coach and energy healer. I also teach meditation classes and am still very active in helping people heal using various techniques as a physiotherapist.
Maggie and I have been in the Saskatchewan wellness industry for nearly 35 years, so we know exactly what it's all about, and that's a big part of why we created The Lit Garden as well as a province of wellness. contractors.
Q: How do you choose a wellness partner for your website?
LB: I would say we are very open and inclusive. In fact, all we want is for you to be a responsible, honest and trustworthy owner of a business that offers a wellness product or service. Now we want to attract as many partners as possible. We try to fill our trade shows, so to speak, so that when buyers browse through all our partners' booths online, they have plenty of choice. We will also ask buyers to name partners with whom they have had an exceptional customer experience and we would love to have them on board.
This interview has been edited and condensed
Bright Garden: Virtual Wellness Store
Owners : Lynn Brochu and Maggie Brochu.
Email: hello@thelitgarden.ca
website: thelitgarden.ca
Facebook: Facebook.com/TheLitGarden
Instagram: instagram.com/the.lit.garden
YouTube: youtube.com/@thelitgarden
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