Westshore Women in Business: Meet Tanya of Shears Hair Design (CONTEST)

Ahead of International Women’s Day, we’re highlighting seven strong, influential women that not only head their businesses, they do so locally – right in our very own Westshore Town Centre.

On March 8th, the world collectively comes together to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women – the day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.

IWD has occurred for well over a century, with the first IWD gathering in 1911 supported by over a million people. Today, IWD belongs to all groups collectively everywhere. IWD is not country, group or organization specific – it’s everywhere.

We’re also doing a special giveaway from each of the seven businesses we highlight this week – read below to find out what you can win!

Today, we meet Tanya of Shears Hair Design and chat with her about what it means to be a woman in business in the Westshore:

Tell us a little about your store / business: Shears has been in the heart of Westshore since 1984. We are family owned and operated, and my parents, Carol and Gary Talbot, both grew up in the Westshore and still live locally here today. We have 6 amazing stylists here at Shears they are all very lovely people, and we carry Milkshake, loma Organic, AG and Joico products to name a few. We do hairstyles for everyone!

What (or who) inspired you to open your store? I’ve worked at Shears for the previous two owners. I believe 17 years now I’ve been a stylist here. The last owner gave me the opportunity to buy the salon from her, so I went into business with my parents. It’s always felt like home for me here at Shears, so I couldn’t pass up the chance to see what we could do with the challenge of a owning business. It was a great family learning experience.

What do you love the most about having a business in the Westshore? I love the fact I grew up here, it’s home. I get to run into people that either I grew up with or my parents did, I like the small home town feel, where everyone knew everyone.. it’s fun when you get to hear about back in the day!

What do you love about being a woman in business? I love being from a country where we have the same opportunities of a man. There is nothing holding us women back from owning business and making our dreams come true. We are very blessed to live where we do.

What are some challenges about being a woman in business? I’d say I can be a little softer hearted with staff; I find men have a easier time putting their foot down. But really, there are challenges for every business and every business owner. Especially with COVID it has made being a small business owner very hard on all of us. Small business being affected doesn’t just affect the business owner, it affects the employees and their families as well people who have lost their jobs. The fact that women own over 50% of businesses in Canada shows how far we truly have come in not taking a back seat because of gender. Women are being just as involved in creating jobs for people in our communities.

On International Women’s Day, what is the most important message you want to send out to women thinking about starting their own business?  Go for it! If your really want it you will make it happen, it’s a great feeling seeing a healthy work environment that you created. I’m actually in my beginning stages of building my second business in the clothing industry! I just want to see what I can do in this life and nothing is stopping me but me, so I’m going for it I want to see how big I can take this.