Faces Behind the Facades: We Thrive Wellness Centre
Author: Wendy Russell-Sheppard
Wendy is an award-winning author. Her creative non-fiction work was featured in an American publication “Tales2Inspire: the Opal Collection” edited by Lois Stern. Her most recent work is “Storied: Chronicles by the Circle of Six”, a memoir collaboration with five other local authors, available at the Bazaar Artisan Market in the Downtown District.
In this blog series, we’ll pull back the entrepreneurial curtain to meet the faces behind the façades in our Downtown District.
Let’s be honest. If there was ever a time for intentional self-care, it’s now: January—the month of reflection, resolutions, and new beginnings amidst ongoing public health challenges. Hanging by a thread? On your last nerve? This is for you.
Welcome to 161 Front Street, the original offices of distiller Henry Corby Junior, now home to We Thrive Wellness Centre. Co-Founders Sarah Hutchison and Cristol Smyth describe the centre as a “warm, inclusive community where everyone is welcome.”
These women would have never originally imagined going into business together, but a shared vision of a holistic wellness centre called them to create a unique experience in the Downtown District with a team of dedicated and diverse practitioners.
Both Sarah and Cristol were experienced entrepreneurs before opening the centre. Sarah owned an educational consulting business and then co-founded Bliss B4 Laundry, a company that hosts transformational wellness weekends for women.
Cristol has two decades of experience as a chiropodist and previously owned five multidisciplinary clinics before opening her award-winning Nourish Boutique Spa in Cobourg, Ontario.
Five years after opening, both Sarah and Cristol feel that We Thrive is a special place because of the talented and compassionate team that works there, and the kind-hearted clients who make up the We Thrive community.
We Thrive offers a wide variety of mind, body and soul services, classes, and events. The centre has been designed intentionally to put clients at ease. To best support the healing and transformation process, We Thrive has turned the typical clinical experience on its head, offering a warm, welcoming, and safe space for clients to explore all the dimensions of their health and wellness. Everyone is welcome at We Thrive. The tea is on, their door is open.
“We want the people in our care to feel as though they are understood and honoured here,” says Sarah. “We welcome them to shed the expectations of others in their lives when they walk through our doors. Here we want people to feel totally at ease to be themselves, to take the steps and make the decisions that feel best to them. We teach radical self-care at We Thrive, and truly wish that every person in our tribe learns the transformational power of taking time to nurture self – on all levels.”
The centre offers a wide variety of services to meet your needs. Some are perhaps better known than others: psychotherapy, yoga, meditation, physiotherapy, massage therapy, and spa treatments. Others are worth delving deeper into: hypnosis, reiki and energy healing, as well as spiritual teaching.
Self-love and wellness workshops sound especially appealing at this moment in time.
And, not to worry, We Thrive takes the “zoo” out of ZOOM to host transformative sessions online. In-person services are protected with strict Covid protocols outlined on the centre’s website.
If you know someone who’s aching for this type of experience, reach out with a gift card to ease their journey. Give the gift of wellness.
And if it’s you who needs support, reach out to We Thrive. Transform from surviving to thriving.
It’s happening in the Downtown District.
We Thrive Wellness Centre
161 Front St. Belleville, K8N 2Y6
[email protected]
p. 613.779.7277
