I was sitting at the picnic table (our “office” here at Live Life InTents is made up of a picnic table, old chairs and a hammock) yesterday when a mother and daughter came to check in for paddle boarding. It was an absolute downpour, 30-35mm coming in throughout the day, but the 12 year old daughter had her heart set on paddle boarding so the mother went along with it.

“It’s my grading day gift,” the girl said proudly.

Lee walked up and asked them if they still wanted to go out in the river with how hard it was raining, “definitely,” the girl answered.

“Do you have a rain jacket?” He asked.

They both shook their heads so he offered them a wetsuit; the river water isn’t cold at the moment but a few hours paddling in the pouring rain can get chilly. They said they were fine. Lee went into his house, pulled some of his own gore tex jackets out of his closet and came back outside. The nearly 6 feet of Lee dwarfed a 12 year old girl but he handed her his rain coat and said, “here, this will be big on you, but it will keep you dry.” She took it and zipped it up. It reached her knees, but at least she wouldn’t be as cold.

I sat here and watched one of my favourite parts of small businesses play out in front of my eyes. I thought, this, this is it. This is what everyone is talking about when it comes to small business, the exact charm that everyone loves.

When Covid first hit and the boom to support local started, small businesses got a whole lot of attention. Now, however, nearly a year and a half later as we emerge *hopefully* out of the other side, small businesses may be fading into the background a little. People are eager to travel further than their own towns, own islands, own provinces. And I get it. But as I sat and watched Lee pull a jacket out of his closet to keep a young girl dry, as I watch him invest in every way he can to reduce his carbon footprint through his business, as I watch him guide people through hikes and teach them to set up tents and build fires, I think that small businesses can never be outdone. Ever. The giant corporations that hold rat races and never get to meet their customers can’t hold a flame to the small businesses on this island.

My mom is a Cape Breton fanatic. My childhood was full of square dances and lobster boils and small craft shops and local painters and glass blowers; she constantly went on about the uniqueness of our island and celebrating our culture. Culture? I used to think, what culture? Culture is for Europeans.

Don’t ask me where I got that last part from.

I think we always talked about “foreign cultures” in school but never had much of a focus on our own. When we did talk about Canada, in general, we only touched on World War 1 and 2. But that is not the whole picture. Maybe we should have talked about Irish and Scottish settlers and what they valued in their culture and how the music and dance and love and community has trickled down through generation after generation.

Maybe we should talk about how every small business on this island today represents the heart of our culture. Yes, I think our culture is sometimes best seen through our small business owners. It’s seen when our local photographers go to square dances and fly their drones over our farmer’s fields in an attempt to capture the beauty of this place. It’s when I watch my mom bring flowers or wine to her guests because she knows it will make them smile. It’s when you walk into a local shop and they ask how you’re doing and they really, truly want to know. It’s when you go to a café and all the greens and produce are sourced from fields and farmers “just down the road.” It’s when Lee lends out his own clothes or opens up his home or hands a cup of free hot coffee into cold hands after a run down the river.

These local entrepreneurs are dreamers in an area where it would often be easier not to dream at all. They see gaps and fill them. Where we see nothing, they see the potential for a restaurant or a clothing shop or a tubing business. Where we brush by without thinking twice, they look at empty space and think: what could I create here? What’s missing? And they come up with brilliant, innovative ideas that make Cape Breton what it is today and what it is in the process of becoming. They are painters and fishermen, photographers and lawyers, dancers and carpenters.

When people come to Cape Breton they are awed by both our scenery and our warmth. We are known to be a talkative bunch, aren’t we? We go out of our way to give directions or invite people into our homes, our kitchens, no matter where they’re from. With a thick, “how’s she going b’y?” We tell all visitors traveling this way that they are family. And they are welcome.

This is our culture. It is carried today through all of us and through our small business owners who work so hard to represent our island. They often start from scratch and put all their time, money, hope, tears and skills into what they create. So as the world opens and travel becomes a bit easier, don’t forget to look around at your local businesses. Buy from farmers down the road instead of superstores. Get your new sweatshirt from somewhere like My Home Apparel instead of a multimillion dollar company. When you’re looking for adventure, come to a place where the founder and owner will look you in the eyes and give you his jacket.

These companies and businesses matter. They are what will carry on our culture, our heart no matter what comes.

Written by: Annika Phillips