Join us for an evening of sharing, exploration and great conversation. Prepare to find inspiration from the stories of two fabulous creative women who have made, and continue to make their mark in Victoria and beyond. We are so excited to have the following women share their stories with us and inspire us all to follow our instincts. Laura Bradbury
In November 2013 Laura Bradbury self-published My Grape Escape - the first book of The Grape Series - one book for each of the properties Laura and her husband renovated in Burgundy, France. My Grape Escape hit #1 on the Amazon.com “France” chart almost immediately, as well as placing in the top 5 of the “Travel-Europe” category and in the top 100 “Memoirs.”
Laura is currently editing My Grape Village about moving back to Burgundy with her two eldest daughters in tow to renovate a dilapidated cottage just behind Franck's childhood home in the village of Villers-la-Faye.
At the moment Laura, her french husband Franck, and their three franco-Canadian daughters share their time between Victoria, Canada and Burgundy, France where they own and manage four vacation rentals in the vineyards, including a 16th century restored winemaker's cottage and a 13th century wine cellar under the streets of Beaune (www.graperentals.com).
Laura is a holder of a BA from McGill University, a "License" from the Sorbonne in medieval French literature, and a law degree from Oxford (which she never used, much to the horror of her parents). She published several articles about French wine and culture in glossy magazines before being distracted for a good decade by motherhood. Laura has no spare time, but she does neglect her children and husband on a regular basis in order to write, paint, read, and enjoy a strong espresso with a square of dark chocolate.
Laura will delight us with her humour on this Sparkfly evening, while recounting some of her journey from the law offices of London to leaving it all to follow her heart.
Author website: www.laurabradbury.com
Nicole Smith
One year ago Nicole took the leap from her 13 years working at, and consulting for Microsoft to launching her start up www.flytographer.com in a brand new, unexplored arena of the travel sector - connecting travelers with local professional photographers for short, fun candid photo shoots.
For her first 100 clients, Nicole handled each and every aspect of their experience directly, ensuring she accurately understood their requirements, needs and wants; all of which enabled her shape the company and its values into what it is today. She has since been featured in Conde Nast Traveller, Huffington Post, NBC, Today.com, The Daily Mail and The Sunday Times. Flytographer is currently operating in 85 cities worldwide across Europe, Asia, Australia, North America, Central/South America and Africa and has over 135 talented professional photographers on their roster.
On this special Sparkfly evening, Nicole will share a little about her process of starting a new company and how she has integrated her young sons into the process (hint -they do family high-fives every time a new client comes in). She will also talk about the triumphs and challenges that have come with trusting her instincts and following her dream.
Our goal at Sparkfly is to encourage community, collective creativity and stimulate collaboration. Let’s get together and have some fun, dream, share and give ourselves the space and permission to explore. The last event was sold out and tickets are limited, so secure yours now.
