to open up, she was able to transition back into the healthcare industry as a nurse. However, though she fought so hard to get into the field, she wasn’t fulfilled. What she did notice, though, was that she was drawn to working on the land and working with her hands. “I grew up in a coastal town, where fishing was the predomi- nant industry, but I always loved the idea of growing things. I loved animals. I was always interested in livestock. So as time went on, I continued nursing, but I always wanted a shift. Then an opportunity pre- sented itself,” she said.
“I grew up in a coastal town, where fishing was the predominant industry, but I always loved the idea of growing things. I loved animals. I was always interest - ed in livestock.”
WILD ORCHID FARM MADE IN NOVA SCOTIA WITH LOVE
by Jordan Parker and Ryan Myson
While living in Trenton, Ont. with her husband, a Canadian Armed Forces member, and infant daughter her father-in-law was becoming increasingly ill. She and her husband decided that he should apply for a compassionate posting to Halifax to be closer to his father and it was granted. So, the family of three packed up and headed east to Halifax. Her husband a few years after, would retire from the service, and they relocated the family back to the homestead in Antigonish to look after the family farm and care for his ailing dad. The family farm was in rough shape since his father was older, and not up to the task of what is needed on a farm once he became ill. We knew that it was going to be a lot of work and a big change for the family, buts as Ashley says, “It just all felt right. It felt like where we were supposed to be there.”
P eople often say that it is not where you start your journey but where you finish it that counts. When we spoke with Ashley Armswor- thy, founder, and owner of Wild Orchid Farm, and learned of her entrepreneur- ial and personal journey, that statement could not be more relevant. Armsworthy explains how if you follow your passion and have a solid plan your path will take you where you should be, doing what you love to do.
For Wild Orchid Farm owner Ashley Armswor- thy, running the Antigonish, N.S. family business was less a career than a calling. But to get where she is now, she had to find out what she didn’t want first. Coming out of high school, she took what she calls the “expected path” and went to St. Martha Nursing School. This will come as a surprise given the demand for nurses now but when Ashley graduated there were no nursing jobs. So, what does she do, well she starts working as a lighthouse keeper of course. However, once nursing positions began
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VOL 23 ISSUE 2 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • VOL 23 ISSUE 2
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