By John Allaire H iggs’ music career had taken her to Toronto in search of opportunities in the vibrant big-city music scene. Once in Canada’s largest metropolis, the recording artist gave birth to a daughter, and eventually became a single mother by age 31. Along the way, Higgs had picked up some work here and there with friends in the film industry, foreshadowing greater things to come down the road. “I was involved in art directing, set decorating, wardrobe, hair and make-up, things like that. I’ve always had a flair for visual elements, design and styling. Even when I was younger in college, my friends used to call me the ‘trailer park Martha Stewart’ because I would take sheets and turn them into a pair of curtains… always trying to make spaces beautiful.” The strains and constraints of the big-city life, including high rents and competition for work, had Higgs thinking of a better life back in the familiar surroundings of her East Coast home. Putting out feelers in Nova Scotia, she landed an associate producer role at the now-defunct Egg Films, where her interest in advertising, film and television was fuelled. “I was working for Egg when they decided to close their doors. This forced all of their employees to get creative, including me. I had been renovating this small house that
We all know the stereotype. Around the house, there are “blue” jobs and “pink” jobs. And the job jar gets divided up into these archaic colour-coded tasks, ne’er the line to be crossed. But what if there is no longer a “blue” figure in the picture? Does “pink” merely hang out on the sidelines, waiting in limbo until another blue comes along? Rebekah Higgs doesn’t think so. And she’s taking a sledgehammer to those stereotypes and throwing the pieces into the dumpster. As her website explains, Higgs has completed 10 episodes of her Bell TV and web series DIY Mom — a series that takes viewers through the step-by- step process of tackling the daunting task of renovating her 1938 colonial style home in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The former singer- songwriter has reinvented herself as a producer and host of the inspirational, educational and entertaining home improvement series with the hopes of proving that taking the circular saw by the handle beats waiting on the sidelines any day. Spotlight on Business spoke with Rebekah Higgs about leaving Toronto, returning back home to the East Coast with her infant daughter, and pushing forward to create an engaging DIY series and a successful production company.
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APRIL 2018 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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