S hauna Austin was born and raised on Isle Madame, Nova Scotia. She is a mother of two and a passionate entrepreneur who went back to her roots after living in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia for twenty years. “I felt a pull to come back home to the island. I wanted that quieter lifestyle, and the community spirit I grew up with,” Austin explained. Being close to her family became a priority for Austin. She ran her own cake-decorating business for many years, but when she moved back to the island, she took a risk as she set her sights on a beautiful motel. Knowing the motel needed a fresh beginning as well, she made an offer in September 2017 and purchased it in February 2018. The move was smooth for her children because they stayed with family on Isle Madame every summer while they were growing up. Both of Austin’s kids are on their own paths now, attending two different universities, but she is grateful for their help. “Both kids have been involved in this business ever since we stepped foot in here,” Austin says. “They’re wonderful and the guests like them.” “I felt a pull to come back home to the island. I wanted that quieter lifestyle, and the community spirit I grew up with,”
The motel originally opened in the 1960s containing just eight bedrooms. Under new ownership in the 1980s, there were significant renovations done including the addition of nine more rooms and a three-bedroom apartment. “It was beautifully decorated as an authentic Acadian Inn for that time period,” Austin said. However, between the 1980s and Austin’s ownership in 2018, the motel stayed the same. She had big plans to renovate the motel. She wanted to keep the authenticity the travellers loved but create more modern and comfortable updates. But the first big change was the business name. After recently losing her mother, Austin wanted to honour her name. “My mother’s name was Claire, and she was the rock of the family. So, this became The Clairestone,” she said. Claire was born and raised on Isle Madame and was a well-respected teacher in the community for thirty-five years. “I got such a good response from the community when we announced the name. It was very heartwarming.”
Austin explains the biggest challenges over the past few years, starting with the renovations. “We started renovations in 2018, and we just wrapped them up last winter,” she said. Due to being in a rural area, she faced challenges with getting some of the supplies she wanted. She had a vision in mind and would occasionally slow down the renovations by searching for particular items. Another challenge she faced was sourcing tradespeople for various projects. Austin and her family took on a lot of the renovations by themselves but at times they had to wait for the professionals. “We found wonderful people to do the work that I’m not qualified to do… Even with a YouTube tutorial,” she chuckled. Reflecting on the obstacles she faced with the renovations, Austin says if she could do it all again, she wouldn’t let it consume her as much as it did. “I was just trying to do it all at once” she explained.
Then came the challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. “It was stressful for anyone in the hospitality
“My mother’s name was Claire, and she was the rock of the family. So, this became The Clairestone,”
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