To some people the number 13 is considered to be unlucky but for Melanie Tuck, owner of Collegiate Sports Medicine in Red Deer, the digit has proved to be positive.
The Red Deer based business which began 13 years ago was nominated by the Chamber of Commerce for one of the province-wide Business Awards of Distinction, capturing the Woman Entrepreneur category.
The nomination was a shock. The win was a surprise but both were well deserved.
“I think like most business people, I think we are just at work every day, doing our thing, kind of in the trenches and not really aware of that,” said Tuck. “It’s really cool and it’s nice to be recognized and thought of but it’s certainly nothing you go to work thinking of in the morning.”
Back in the day while working as an athletic therapist at Red Deer College she found there was not much for her to do within her craft during the summer once school was out. Necessity is the mother of invention so in order for her to be kept busy she created an environment where she would be occupied. Collegiate Sports Medicine was born.
The knowledge about her trade was there but now she needed to delve into the world of business in order to make this venture work. Hiring experts in their field is a financial hit for businesses just getting started so she looked at what she could do on her own.
“Most of us google and read and learn through the school of hard knocks,” she said. “So now you are committed professionally and financially so you don’t want to mess it up.”
Over the years Collegiate has had one common thread with regard to any measure of success it has enjoyed. The people in the building.
The level of expertise is what makes a quality product in any business and Collegiate is no different. Many of the staff members have been there for a lengthy time and they’ve set the bar high. When you are making the right moves you can afford to be picky about who works for you.
“In the past we’ve had job postings out for a therapist for a year and not hired just because we haven’t found the right person,” she said.
She says the staff push each other to do what is best for the client and it’s the client who is the centre of attention.
“We’re a researched base kind of group so we don’t go with the new fad in our industry,” she said. “We like to make sure it’s scientifically sound and so our clients can know what they’re getting isn’t the flavour of the day.”
She says this award is a reflection of her and her staff. It’s also an opportunity for her to be a mentor of sorts in the world of business for other women.
“Being a woman you sometimes don’t even realize how you influence other women and so I think that might be the beauty of it (the award). If there is another gal out there that’s looking to start her own business, to see another woman that’s done it I think it allows a little bit of fuel to get them to say yeah, this is possible.”
