Business Memoirs

25 Years After Starting a First-Aid Business With a 6-Month-Old Baby, We’re Still Thriving

Consider turning your passion into a business. Here’s how I did it.

“911-do you need police, fire or ambulance?”

“Ambulance!”

“What’s your emergency?”

“My son is choking — he can’t breathe!”

This phone call marked the most frightening and stressful few minutes of my life. Five years earlier, I’d started a first-aid training business, but I never thought I’d have to use my skills to save my own child’s life. Nearly losing my son renewed my passion for teaching people to save lives.

Thinking About First Aid Training

While expecting my first child, three friends told me horrifying stories of how their babies had choked and nearly died. I realized the importance for all parents and caregivers to learn lifesaving skills.

When my son was a few months old, I arranged for a Red Cross first aid instructor to come to my home and conduct a Baby & Child CPR course.

After the class, my friends and I felt more confident and prepared to deal with a choking incident or other emergency. And that’s when the idea of starting a first-aid training business hatched.

Starting My Business and Learning the Basics

Having decided to take the plunge into self-employment, I completed the Canadian Red Cross First Aid & CPR Instructor training.

Following this, I embarked on the self-employment program at Douglas College in Coquitlam. The government provided a $1000.00/month sponsorship for the next year to start my business — Safe + Sound First Aid Training.

The program taught me everything I needed to know about starting and running a business. I was the only student with a baby, and it was challenging. My son was only six months old, and I was still breastfeeding. My hormones were all over the place, and sleep was scarce.

I had to put my son in daycare while attending business school classes, and it was hard to leave my little one with someone else. I will forever be grateful for the incredible support and mentorship of the instructors and my fellow classmates.

First call on the business line

In 1999, I incorporated my company and got a business phone line. I’ll always remember the first call on that line. My husband and I looked at each other excitedly, and I hesitated before answering.

“Safe & Sound. How can I help you?”

The call was from a friend of a friend who was expecting her first baby. She asked me to come to her home and teach a Baby/Child CPR class. A few weeks later, my husband dropped me off at the woman’s home with my CPR manikins and other equipment. Though well prepared, I felt my legs wobble as I got out of the car.

The participants were lovely and friendly, and the course went smoothly. The host served Red Cross cupcakes during the coffee break, and I was touched by her thoughtful gesture.

At the end of the class, I thanked everyone, and they smiled and clapped. They said they couldn’t believe it was my first class, and I left the house glowing. I knew I’d found my passion and was on the right path.

Marketing with a baby in tow

In the early days, before social media, most of my marketing involved dropping off printed flyers and brochures at libraries, community centres and shopping malls. We didn’t have a second car, so I pushed my son in his stroller all over our community.

We visited the local bulletin boards and pinned flyers and brochures advertising my first-aid training services. As well as running the business, I set up and taught the classes, cleaned the equipment, and did all the administration.

I started teaching private classes for small groups in people’s homes. Later, I began to offer public courses and onsite training in local businesses as word of mouth spread.

Life’s rollercoaster — Losing Mum

One awful day in March 2000, my sister called from England with an update on our mother, who was in the last stages of pancreatic cancer.

“Gill, Mum’s fading fast. You need to get on the next plane.”

I booked a flight for that evening, then spent the day canceling six first aid classes I had scheduled for the coming weeks and tying up loose ends. It was hard saying goodbye to my three-year-old son at the airport.

I arrived in England in time to hug my mum and tell her how much I loved her. Four hours later, she died in my arms with our family around her.

Back in Canada, I remember days when I would hold my son in my arms for comfort, exhausted and wracked with grief for my mum, not knowing how I could go on. But the world kept turning.

I worked hard at being the best mother I could be and taught my first aid classes with a new empathy and sensitivity for my students. We never know what others have been through or what pain they may be dealing with.

Business Award Boosting My Confidence

In October 2000, after my first year in business, I received the Self Employment Program “Visions of Excellence” Home Based Business, Entrepreneur of the Year award — a huge confidence boost.

The first five years

We had no family members living nearby, and as new community members, we had a limited network of friends. It’s amazing the energy you can find when you need it, and somehow, we all kept going.

With the help of a local business centre, I created a website. We were one of the first agencies with a website in our area, which helped enormously to advertise my services.

The first five years of my business were a rollercoaster of challenges, heartbreak and joy. During that time, I lost both parents and my beautiful daughter, Chris, was born. The workload was huge between caring for two children and a home, running a business, and teaching classes.

“Hello First Aid Lady!”

For a few years, I taught a Red Cross program called PeopleSavers. Each year, I’d go around the corner to my local elementary school and teach basic first aid to 150 grade 4 and 5 students. Often, while walking around my neighbourhood, a child would smile at me and call out, “Hello, first aid lady,” or “Mom — that’s our first aid teacher!”

Choking Incident

When my son was five years old, he choked on a candy, stopped breathing, and nearly died. With a fully obstructed airway, his face turned blue, and he was drooling.

While calling 911, I used abdominal thrusts to clear his airway and save him. Seeing my son choking was the most frightening moment of my life.

The day after that incident, a friend told me a five-year-old girl in her neighbourhood had died the same day after choking on a piece of apple. Sadly, the little girl’s parents were unable to save her. My husband and I were heartbroken for the family. We sat in shock, thinking this could have been us.

Two similar incidents — two very different outcomes.

Testimonials from Grateful Clients

Soon after teaching an in-home Baby CPR class, the course host called to tell me her baby, Daniel, had nearly choked to death in his crib during the night. Fortunately, her husband heard the baby struggling for breath, and Tracy was able to save her son using skills she’d learned in my class.

“I would highly recommend Infant/Child CPR training to anyone and everyone — it saved my newborn son’s life!” — Tracy Carslake.

Over the years, we’ve received many heartwarming testimonials and heard some incredible rescue stories from clients.

Year 6 — the Tipping Point

By 2005, the business had grown to the point where it was becoming too much for me to handle alone. I was teaching public classes and getting more and more frequent requests from local businesses to do onsite training. There were not enough hours in the day to run the business, teach all the classes, and care for my family.

My husband, Warren, was looking for a change in employment, so I invited him to help me out in the business for a year while he looked for another job closer to home. Eighteen years later, Warren is still working with me, and we’re a great team.

With my husband taking on much of the administration and tech support, I could focus on the people side of the business — booking classes, recruiting instructors, and teaching. Hiring other instructors to teach courses freed me up to spend more time working on the business instead of in the business. It helped take our service up a notch.

We were honoured when the Canadian Red Cross gave us the responsibility of taking care of all the Red Cross national training contracts in our area, bringing in more work.

Red Cross Award

In November 2011, the Canadian Red Cross presented us with the Partners in Humanity Citation. They gave us this award to recognize our work mentoring new instructors and assisting refugees and newcomers needing first-aid training. We were the first recipients of this prestigious award in Canada.

Clients from All Walks of life

I’ve taught many people with physical or mental challenges — from those with missing limbs to people with phobias, dyslexia, and other reading and learning challenges. Many clients are refugees and newcomers, and English is not their first language.

I greatly admire people who have the courage to take training courses in another language or overcome physical or other limitations. I’m proud to have had our City Mayor and his family members attend our mental health and first aid classes.

We’ve often provided training free of charge to members of non-profit groups, volunteers, women’s transition houses, and refugees. Many times over the years, I’ve received hugs from grateful students. Some have sobbed with relief in my arms after getting their certificates. I wrote about one memorable incident in this story.

Fast-forward to 2020 — COVID 19 Pandemic

In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down millions of businesses worldwide, including mine. The day the Canadian Red Cross instructed all first aid training agencies in Canada to stop running classes was incredibly emotional for me.

I shed tears for the business I’d worked so hard to build, not knowing if we were closing our doors temporarily or for good. The outpouring of support we received after informing clients who had registered and paid for upcoming classes was heartwarming.

After a three-month closure, the health authority allowed us to start running classes again with many health precautions in place. It was a huge responsibility to ensure we created a safe classroom environment, and many of our students were highly anxious. We did our best to reassure them and provide a friendly, welcoming environment.

Proudest Moments

One of my proudest moments occurred in 2023 when my daughter Chris became a certified Red Cross Youth Leader. She was in her final year at university and looking for extra spending money. Her Youth Leader certification enabled her to teach Red Cross Babysitting classes.

After her first solo class, she received great feedback from the students, and my heart was bursting with pride as she brought the class to a close and handed out certificates to the children.

Now, 25 Years in Business

This year, 2024, we are celebrating 25 years in business. Our services have evolved and now include virtual classes and online safety training courses.

Steven, now 25, is starting an entrepreneurial journey in the rapidly evolving field of AI. Our daughter, Chris, is enjoying a fantastic backpacking adventure in Australia.

I couldn’t be more proud of my two adult children confidently making their way in the world with courage, enthusiasm, and integrity. These are among the most essential traits for would-be entrepreneurs.

Self-employment is challenging but worth it.

There are many ups and downs on the self-employment path, but it can be extremely rewarding. Starting a business with a new baby and running a company while my children were little was tough.

But my children’s trusting faces reminded me there is nothing more precious than life, and this gave me the energy to carry on.

I want to live in a world where people look out for each other and help others without expectation of reciprocation or reward. Offering first aid and safety training is my contribution to creating that world.

Measuring success

First aid training empowers people with the knowledge and skills to prevent accidents and save lives. My community is safer because of the training we provide, and that is a success for me.

Since 1999, my team and I have trained over 50,000 people in first aid & CPR in my community — about 2000 people annually. It makes me happy when clients tell me they’ve provided first aid or saved a life using skills they learned in one of our first aid courses.

First aid training is not a lucrative profession, but money is not an important measure of success for me. Being self-employed has enabled me to work from home for 25 years. My work is flexible, and I can take time off whenever I need a break.

Conclusions and Takeaways

Though money may be hard to come by at first, self-employment has many advantages. These include being in control, having the freedom to create your work schedule, choosing your team, having creative control, determining your work environment, and many others.

Self-employment comes with a lot of stress. Work-life balance is important. So if the work gets too much, you can outsource and hire others, providing work opportunities in your community and beyond.

For me, the most valuable benefit of self-employment has been the flexibility to be available to my children throughout their lives. I’ve been fortunate to participate in almost all their milestone events and celebrations.

I wrote this story to encourage other parents considering self-employment to take the plunge and start the business of their dreams.

If you have a passion, see if you can find a way to turn it into a business. I did it and have no regrets. You can do it too.

Many classes and resources are available to help you get started. To develop your skills methodically, you might take a short business course to give you a solid foundation. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

I wish you the best of luck!

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