SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. - Sometimes, when dealing with complex emotions, it can help to focus on something positive – to have a goal.
For Mélanie Dufour that was opening her own business.
“I had this dream of opening Glow. I think the dream itself is what made it easy for me. I was able to really transform the negatives into something really good. I knew I was going to do this, so I focused all my healing on this,” said the Tignish resident.
She launched Glow Juicery P.E.I. this summer. The business makes an assortment of vegetable and fruit juices, smoothies, salads and raw food treats and snacks.
Every bottle of Glow juice contains the equivalent of between four and six pounds of vegetables.
Glow is a chain, originally founded in Alberta, but Dufour is the first to bring the brand to P.E.I.
It originally opened at Spinnakers Landing but as that space is seasonal only, it recently reopened at 115 Walker Ave.
It currently employs one person full-time and three people part-time.
Dufour herself was born and raised in Northern Ontario. She became an RCMP officer and found herself in West Prince, P.E.I., for her first posting.
She went on to serve in Northern Canada and in Haiti as a part of the U.N. peacekeeping forces there.
Those experiences took their toll on her. She developed post-traumatic stress disorder and retired from the RCMP earlier this year.
Dufour has been a proponent of raw food and juicing for a number of years and had been planning to open her own business along those lines someday.
After her retirement from policing, she put her energy into making Glow a reality and it has helped her heal.
“It was very challenging, obviously, but I knew I was strong enough to overcome it.”
“I really latched onto that,” she said.
Others have too.
Customer Jaime MacDougall has become a regular at Glow.
“I run a nutrition business out of my house and I’m pregnant, so I’m very aware of eating better for myself and how (food) makes me feel,” said MacDougall.
“I don’t have a juicer at home, I’m not going to invest in juicing myself, so I invest the money in this and it makes me feel amazing.”
She added that her favourite Glow flavour is an orange, cucumber and carrot mix that her kids like too.
“Get some secret veggies into their bodies,” she said.
Dufour is not planning to rest on her laurels with Glow in its current form.
In 2019 she intends to expand the business to offer other wellness and health services.
Customers can keep updated about that progress on their facebook page, www.facebook.com/glowjuicerypei.
It’s been an incredible journey, said Dufour, and she’s looking forward to continuing to build her business here in Summerside.