Christine Brown - Om-Sweet-Om Inc.

Christine Brown is the owner and principle yoga instructor at om-sweet-om yoga and pilates studio, located in downtown Calgary. Originally from Toronto, Christine came out west to do a graduate degree at the University of Calgary. She started doing yoga as a means to manage chronic shoulder and neck pain from a previous whiplash injury, but got hooked on the mental escape that the classes provided.

Christine continued to practice yoga while working in the energy industry in Calgary. Despite success in her job, she found that the yoga was becoming a more important part of her life, eventually leading her to become a certified teacher. She eventually made the jump from her full-time job to consulting and teaching.

Christine opened up om-sweet-om in October 2006 to bring yoga and pilates to other corporate individuals. "I know how much it helped me in terms of managing chronic back and shoulder pain, as well as mitigating stress, and I wanted to facilitate that relief for others", says Christine. "We have built up a great community of people, who can connect with each other outside of the work environment".

Christine heard about Meet the Money from a contact she meet at a women's networking conference and decided to give it a try. She hopes to be chosen by the investors to get a financial boost to the business and use it for marketing and promotion, as well as get the benefits of the advisory panel. "I can't tell you how much this opportunity would mean to me as a small business owner struggling to ramp up the business."