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The French way of life is about taking time to appreciate your food and the people around you – and for shopkeep Larissa Webster it is key to running a successful business.

Since Melanie Bernadsky of Freshcut Downtown taught her first Beer and Botany class in 2015, the concept has really taken root.

Optometrist Dr. Luke Small once spent three days scrubbing tiny flecks of paint from a parking lot full of cars at Speedy Muffler, the business formerly located next door to Armstrong and Small Eye Care Centre at 1140 Portage Avenue.

Suzanne Gessler went from career burnout to sweeping soot out of a brick oven – and she couldn’t be happier.

When you first enter Hollow Reed Holistic, the scent of frankincense envelopes you first, before you take in the warm wood grain furnishings with accents of black, and the tidy apothecary shelves filled with vials of essential oils and packages of dried herbs.

Talia Syrie learned to cook for a crowd in a tree-planting camp.