Prior to 2022, Karen Parr and Bert Floyd were living in London, ON, working corporate jobs, and living daily life. Eventually they pictured themselves moving out to the country and living on a farm - a quiet property with tall trees, lots of nature, and space to relax. Then one evening during a sleepless night, Bert stumbled upon a listing for a stunning lavender farm property in Sparta, ON, and an unexpected adventure began. "It's Bert's fault," Karen said with a laugh. "He wanted to move to the country. We wanted some trees and a barn and a tractor - we weren't expecting 10,000 lavender plants!" But after seeing the property, Karen and Bert quickly fell in love with it, and in just days they were the new owners of a lavender farm. "We found it, put an offer in, and owned it within four days," Karen explained. "So that was like, holy moly!" The sale was finalized, and on July 30, 2022 after only owning the property for 12 days, Sparta Lavender Farm officially opened its doors. 

In 1958, Sikko and Aultje Oegema and their seven children made the long journey to immigrate to Elgin County from the Netherlands. They purchased a farm just outside of present day St. Thomas in Talbotville, and together they began their farming venture in Canada. They started off by raising some hogs and growing tomato and sugar beet crops, and in 1959 they began raising turkeys, and over the years their sons Heiko and Tom grew the turkey and cropping aspect of the farm. On December 5, 1992, the Oegema family officially opened The Turkey Shoppe, an on-farm store where they could offer customers fresh turkey products direct from the farm. In 2004, Heiko's sons Mike and Wayne took over the turkey operation. 

​While living and working in Burlington, ON, Keith Small of TKS Woodworks decided to make a planter for his wife in his downtime during COVID. “He had woodworking experience from working in wood framing and doing odd jobs around the house,” his wife and business partner Tina explained. “So, he made me a planter. It wasn’t a big one, just a smaller one.” But later in the year during a barbeque at their house, a lot of people began to compliment the piece and mentioned it would be something they would buy. Tina and Keith decided to give it a shot and made a few more planters before listing them for sale on Facebook Marketplace. “We were both working our other jobs full time, Keith was framing, and I was working as a PSW, but once I posted them, that was that,” Tina said with a laugh. “Now we’ve run TKS Woodworks full time for two years as of February 2026.” 

After moving to Canada, Bella Kim quickly found herself missing her families Korean home cooking, especially her grandmother's kimchi. A staple side dish in Korean households going back over two thousand years, kimchi is a traditional fermented vegetable dish, typically made with napa cabbage or radish, seasoned with chili, garlic, ginger, and other spices. "Kimchi is an important part of Korean culture, but for me, it also carries personal memories and family history," Bella explained. "To me, it is more than just food - it holds tradition, love, and connection." So when Bella decided to start making her family kimchi recipe, she figured that other people in her community might enjoy the dish as well, so she started Bella's Ferment Co. (previously known as Bella's Acacia Catering) in 2019. 

After becoming a Canadian citizen and graduating with her diploma in Jewelry and Metals from Georgian College, artisan Loren Harrison started her business, QuArtzy by Loren, in 2022. Born in the Philippines, Loren's first career was in business administration - working in the Philippines and in Abu Dhabi after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce. "I've always had a passion for jewelry," Loren said with a smile. "And I have always been good at crafts. My husband suggested that since I love jewelry, I should become a professional artisan." With his encouragement, along with her schooling and passion, Loren decided to take the leap and start working from her home studio to bring unique designs to life.