School of Health and Wellness

I think because I had such a strong vision of what I wanted to create that, soon as we acquired the property, we started construction, and about two months later, we were ready to be open. My name is Gina Faubert, and I went to George Brown College and studied Fitness and Lifestyle Management. I began the program in 1996 and I graduated in 1998. Thought about going to university and taking Rec and Leisure, and then I, um, did a little bit of research in the industry and found out that a lot of the employers, um, hands-down preferred George Brown. Based on my experience, I think that's absolutely true. There are some places I didn't even need to do an interview. It was just based on the fact that I completed the Fitness and Lifestyle Management Program. Typical day  -  we would start off, um, in the morning, and we might do some fitness testing where we're hooked up to the ECGs and blood pressure cuff and doing some stress tests. And then we would move on to a class where we talk about cardiovascular or physiology and we'd be in a lecture sort of setting. And the next class would be the aerobics class and we'd be learning how to teach a fitness class. One of the great things about George Brown is that it gave us a really firm foundation of anatomy, um, and physiology. So, I was able to take that and apply it to Pilates and to yoga. Because of our diverse education and knowledge, we were able to pick and choose what kind of environment in terms of physical education, or fitness, or health that, that really appealed to us most. I had the opportunity to work in corporate fitness, work with elite athletes, and even Olympic athletes. We really did learn an amazing amount of stuff to, to walk into an environment like that and feel confident.  By the time we were graduated I was already well on my way to having a well established business. I started off just with myself and, um, doing my personal training in my classes, and I continue to expand, and based on the needs of people, and hire another couple of instructors, a massage therapist, a nutritionist, and we just continue to expand and offer more wellness services to the clients that come to Serenity Valley. I know I wouldn't hesitate to hire a George Brown grad just knowing the level of skill and education that they have behind them. What's really great is that I get to see the evolution of people. I have a number of clients that have been coming since Serenity Valley opened. Seeing how they shift and change and how they grow as a person has been a really amazing process.