My mantra for 2008 is good to great. So many things have the potential for greatness in this New Year. I’m excited and at the same time a little nervous. Can I do it all? Can I handle it all? I have a really full life, almost full to overflowing. But I can’t complain because it’s the life I’ve created and God has brought me to this place in my life and I know it is part of a plan. Ultimately I think we’re all on a journey of faith. It’s not always a story of our faith in God, but of God’s faith in us. I just hope that I can live up to my potential and carry out the exciting responsibilities I’ve been blessed with. I’ll be writing more to let you know what some of those things are for 2008.
Stay tuned!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Monday, December 24, 2007
Happy Holidays
My next trip will be to Winnipeg for Christmas to visit my family. My sisters will be joining us and it will be a great family Christmas with my mum who can no longer travel. Then in 2008 there will be lots of exciting things happening. I’ll keep you posted! In the mean time, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukah and God bless.
Linda
Linda
A little bit about Paris
In Paris we had a journalist, Irene Seiberling, Lifestyles editor for the Regina Leader-Post, who came along with us. She is a wonderful observer and she wrote several stories in the Leader-Post that were picked up all over the country.
Parisian women are so elegant in a very uncontrived nonchalant kind of way. They look like they have not put allot of effort into their appearance but in fact it is probably a very well thought out look that includes casual wash and wear hairstyles and clothes which are sexy without revealing too much. The women tend to be quite covered up by comparison to some of the young women in Canada but they still have a look that is totally compelling and attractive. The men and women wear scarves as accessories with everything. Paris is a place where there’s lots of choice of shoes, which do not have killer stiletto heels, but rather they have a great selection for women, like the Parisian women who walk everywhere. When we are in Paris we literally cover miles every day, on foot and I can sure feel it when I get home, the positive affects of so much walking. Parisians also treat food quite religiously and seem to spend a great deal of their focus on eating fabulous French food and yet they all look fit and terrific (I think it must be all the walking.)
Parisian women are so elegant in a very uncontrived nonchalant kind of way. They look like they have not put allot of effort into their appearance but in fact it is probably a very well thought out look that includes casual wash and wear hairstyles and clothes which are sexy without revealing too much. The women tend to be quite covered up by comparison to some of the young women in Canada but they still have a look that is totally compelling and attractive. The men and women wear scarves as accessories with everything. Paris is a place where there’s lots of choice of shoes, which do not have killer stiletto heels, but rather they have a great selection for women, like the Parisian women who walk everywhere. When we are in Paris we literally cover miles every day, on foot and I can sure feel it when I get home, the positive affects of so much walking. Parisians also treat food quite religiously and seem to spend a great deal of their focus on eating fabulous French food and yet they all look fit and terrific (I think it must be all the walking.)
Friday, November 30, 2007
TRAVELS & SPEECHES
September, October and November have been extremely busy for me. Beginning with a speech in Edmonton, Alberta for the Women of Valour Awards Gala Fundraiser on September 9th, then off to Milan and Paris at the end of September to purchase fabric for my Fall 2008 collection. 22 guests joined me in Paris where I was thrilled to share with them, the city I’ve grown to love. We had picnics, shopping, wine tasting and fabulous food. In between I would show the people who joined me the fabrics that I had purchased. After returning to Toronto on September 23rd, I proceeded to St. John’s, Newfoundland to speak at the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Annual Conference, then back to Toronto, Ontario for the National Quality Institute Performance Excellence Summit and then to Guelph, Ontario for the Moving Business Forward Conference. (Check my website for where I'll be speaking next)
My career as a public speaker came quite by accident and now I find myself being asked to address audiences all over the country 2 to 3 times a month. Believe it or not, in my teens and twenties and even into my thirties I was really quite shy. I mean, I wasn’t tongue tied or anything, I could carry on a conversation one-on one or with a group of friends, but getting up in front of a group of people was nerve-racking and I wasn’t that good at it. The first few times people asked me to speak, I didn’t do a very good job at it and I thought I would never be asked again. But I guess the word wasn’t out how bad I was (ha ha) so I kept being asked. So I decided I better get better at it… and so I got some training from a presentation coach and I began to improve. However I really found my voice when I began to speak on things about which I felt passionate. Things like advocating for First Nations people and their rights, their culture… and relating stories of life lessons that I’ve learned along the way in my business. Now I love getting up in front of an audience, the bigger, the better and I speak from my heart about what I believe in.
All of the honouraria that I receive for these speaking engagements go to the Kiishik Fund, which I established to support initiatives in my hometown of Red Lake, Ontario to pay tribute to the First Nations people whose families have inhabited the area for hundreds if not thousands of years. The Kiishik Fund is administered by Kaaren Dannenmann; a First Nations trapper and leader who has guided me to the best way to make a difference in people’s lives. (check out http://www.kiishik.com/ for more information)
My career as a public speaker came quite by accident and now I find myself being asked to address audiences all over the country 2 to 3 times a month. Believe it or not, in my teens and twenties and even into my thirties I was really quite shy. I mean, I wasn’t tongue tied or anything, I could carry on a conversation one-on one or with a group of friends, but getting up in front of a group of people was nerve-racking and I wasn’t that good at it. The first few times people asked me to speak, I didn’t do a very good job at it and I thought I would never be asked again. But I guess the word wasn’t out how bad I was (ha ha) so I kept being asked. So I decided I better get better at it… and so I got some training from a presentation coach and I began to improve. However I really found my voice when I began to speak on things about which I felt passionate. Things like advocating for First Nations people and their rights, their culture… and relating stories of life lessons that I’ve learned along the way in my business. Now I love getting up in front of an audience, the bigger, the better and I speak from my heart about what I believe in.
All of the honouraria that I receive for these speaking engagements go to the Kiishik Fund, which I established to support initiatives in my hometown of Red Lake, Ontario to pay tribute to the First Nations people whose families have inhabited the area for hundreds if not thousands of years. The Kiishik Fund is administered by Kaaren Dannenmann; a First Nations trapper and leader who has guided me to the best way to make a difference in people’s lives. (check out http://www.kiishik.com/ for more information)
Thursday, November 22, 2007
LAPARKA STORIES
Since announcing that I was retiring LAPARKA, I’ve received a couple of letters and questions from people who quite frankly are dismayed and surprised that I’ve made this decision. My 17-year-old daughter came to me the other night and said “Mom, I read that you’re not making LAPARKA anymore and it made me sad.” A letter that I received was also full of nostalgia, written by a woman who owns many, many LAPARKAS and she proceeded to tell me when each one was bought, what colour it was, the native motif on each one. Another woman wrote to me who said she had 8 LAPARKAS and is going to be donating some of them to the National Museum of The American Indian.
Over the years I’ve received many letters from LAPARKA owners. Some of them have told me stories of getting married in their LAPARKAS, meeting the man who they would marry while wearing their LAPARKA, some even told of stories of how LAPARKAS had saved their lives. One in particular that I remember was a woman who was driving alone in her car on a desolate stretch of road late at night and went off the road and was not discovered until the following morning in her car in a ditch in 20 below zero weather and she said that the LAPARKA kept her warm the whole night. It’s really quite amazing the role that LAPARKA has played in people’s lives and in my own.
So I’m inviting everyone who owns a LAPARKA or might know someone who owns one, to tell me some more stories because I would love to hear them. And who knows, maybe I'll do something with them. Maybe they’ll go into a book that will be published and I don't know... the proceeds could go to a worthy cause like Aboriginal Women’s Health Inactivates for example.
So if you have any LAPARKA stories please send them in. I’d love to hear them.
Over the years I’ve received many letters from LAPARKA owners. Some of them have told me stories of getting married in their LAPARKAS, meeting the man who they would marry while wearing their LAPARKA, some even told of stories of how LAPARKAS had saved their lives. One in particular that I remember was a woman who was driving alone in her car on a desolate stretch of road late at night and went off the road and was not discovered until the following morning in her car in a ditch in 20 below zero weather and she said that the LAPARKA kept her warm the whole night. It’s really quite amazing the role that LAPARKA has played in people’s lives and in my own.
So I’m inviting everyone who owns a LAPARKA or might know someone who owns one, to tell me some more stories because I would love to hear them. And who knows, maybe I'll do something with them. Maybe they’ll go into a book that will be published and I don't know... the proceeds could go to a worthy cause like Aboriginal Women’s Health Inactivates for example.
So if you have any LAPARKA stories please send them in. I’d love to hear them.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
THE FUTURE OF LAPARKA
In June 1986 the very first LAPARKAS were delivered to a handful of Canadian retailers. Winters were cold and women responded to this romantic, classic and incredibly warm “closet full of coats in one”. But it was more than just a product. LAPARKA had a magical mystical quality that created an emotional response, especially in those beautiful unusual colours. Remember….champagne ice, opal ice, lake, lavender, palomino, dawn pink, ultra violet, birch, maple, wood smoke, Icelandic blue and then there was black forest green, Pultava plum, aubergine and autumn leaves. More recently granite, glacier, lynx, stormy blue and burnt pecan….Around 150 unique colours have graced LAPARKAS in the past 21 years. Colours formulated so the fur, shell and duffle all matched.
And then there were the Native motifs done in collaboration with talented First Nations artists like Abe Kakepetum, Stephania Bitti, Wade Tsun, Tim Mohan, Natalie Rostad, Archie Beaulieu and Maxine Noel. Each one had meaning and a story. River Woman, the Water Carriers, Grandmother Moon, Windspirit Woman, the Offering, Spring Song, Sister Wind and Shawl Dancer. All carefully appliquéd by talented seamstresses who knew the stories and their meaning and who put tender loving care into each piece.
Over the years we have received letters and stories from the LAPARKA sisterhood. Several were tales of how the LAPARKA had saved their lives after being hit by a car or skidding off an icy road late at night and surviving till dawn in –25º Celsius temperatures. Then there were the photos of the bride at her December wedding in an ivory LAPARKA or 3 generations all in LAPARKA. There were at least 2 women who asked to be buried in theirs, and others just wrote to say “thank you”. If anyone unfamiliar with LAPARKA asked me where they could go to see them I directed them to any schoolyard on a cold winter day to see teachers on yard duty at recess, cozy and warm and beautiful in their LAPARKAS. What a gift LAPARKA has been to all of us who have enjoyed winter wrapped in LAPARKA, “the Canadian Shield.”
Today, the world has changed. Winters are not that cold anymore, as a result of these factors, I have decided to retire LAPARKA. New LAPARKAS will not be shown in our Fall 2008 Collection in February. Instead, we are creating a whole new group of fabulous outerwear products designed to be convertible, multi-functional and unique as well as environmentally friendly. Since our changing climate is one of the contributors to this decision, I feel it is only right to commit to being the most environmentally responsible company possible by offering a minimum of 50% of fabrics that qualify for our Green Notes ™ Program.
The vision of LAPARKA came to me 23 years ago and set my company and me on a magical journey. It has been a huge gift that we will all always appreciate.
Thank you for being part of the LAPARKA story.
Linda Lundström
P.S. Some LAPARKAS are still available for the Fall 2007 season. If you’re interested, check the Where To Buy section of my website.
And then there were the Native motifs done in collaboration with talented First Nations artists like Abe Kakepetum, Stephania Bitti, Wade Tsun, Tim Mohan, Natalie Rostad, Archie Beaulieu and Maxine Noel. Each one had meaning and a story. River Woman, the Water Carriers, Grandmother Moon, Windspirit Woman, the Offering, Spring Song, Sister Wind and Shawl Dancer. All carefully appliquéd by talented seamstresses who knew the stories and their meaning and who put tender loving care into each piece.
Over the years we have received letters and stories from the LAPARKA sisterhood. Several were tales of how the LAPARKA had saved their lives after being hit by a car or skidding off an icy road late at night and surviving till dawn in –25º Celsius temperatures. Then there were the photos of the bride at her December wedding in an ivory LAPARKA or 3 generations all in LAPARKA. There were at least 2 women who asked to be buried in theirs, and others just wrote to say “thank you”. If anyone unfamiliar with LAPARKA asked me where they could go to see them I directed them to any schoolyard on a cold winter day to see teachers on yard duty at recess, cozy and warm and beautiful in their LAPARKAS. What a gift LAPARKA has been to all of us who have enjoyed winter wrapped in LAPARKA, “the Canadian Shield.”
Today, the world has changed. Winters are not that cold anymore, as a result of these factors, I have decided to retire LAPARKA. New LAPARKAS will not be shown in our Fall 2008 Collection in February. Instead, we are creating a whole new group of fabulous outerwear products designed to be convertible, multi-functional and unique as well as environmentally friendly. Since our changing climate is one of the contributors to this decision, I feel it is only right to commit to being the most environmentally responsible company possible by offering a minimum of 50% of fabrics that qualify for our Green Notes ™ Program.
The vision of LAPARKA came to me 23 years ago and set my company and me on a magical journey. It has been a huge gift that we will all always appreciate.
Thank you for being part of the LAPARKA story.
Linda Lundström
P.S. Some LAPARKAS are still available for the Fall 2007 season. If you’re interested, check the Where To Buy section of my website.
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