Being Headstrong

Josh Welz

Who is Josh Welz? It’s a question he asks himself quite often, and like most things in life, there really isn’t a straight answer. First and foremost Josh would say that he's a family man, a loving husband to a beautiful and intelligent wife, and a proud father of a ferocious, funny, and fiery 2-year-old. He is a supporter of the arts and humanities, an entrepreneur and investor, and a lover of all things business. In Josh's spare time he loves cooking, reading (mostly fiction), playing video games, and enjoying sports of all varieties – although his focus is mostly on the Winnipeg Jets.

In Josh's full-time employment capacity, he has the pleasure of working for the Town of Okotoks as an Economic Development Specialist. It is through this conduit that he is able to fulfill his passion for helping businesses. Josh's key focus for the Town is on relationship development, but his background is in marketing and sales, along with education in business (MBA ’11) and psychology (BA’ 07), which allows him to provide support across a myriad of business topics. Ultimately Josh's main priority is to help our local businesses succeed!

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Pamela Morgan embodies Revolution Culture. Taking her 30+ years of executive business experience and her down-to-earth “we are better together” attitude, Pamela founded Key Instincts, a multi-dimensional, value-heavy Human Resources firm based in her hometown. Pamela supports entrepreneurs in a multitude of faucets, from people and culture to business coaching and strategies.

Embracing her Power of  One Philosophy, she has made it a lifelong ambition to help others find their power within and with the hope of creating an impact that will far exceed her lifetime.

In 2021, Pamela took her already well-established charity Baby it’s Cold Outside and co-founded the HeadStrong program, an initiative to provide mental health supports and resources to entrepreneurs in southern Alberta.

Born and raised in rural Alberta, RJ Sigurdson believes that our families and communities must always be the top priority. They are the building blocks of any healthy society. Leanne and RJ have been married for 15 years and have raised three boys aged 11 to 23 and walk the daily journey like so many in our province. Before becoming MLA for the Highwood region, RJ was a shareholder of a mid-sized construction company based out of Rockyview. RJ understands the unique strain of being a private business owner and the responsibility of operating a business that supports not just employees but also their families. He is committed to building support in the community and recognizes the increasing impact Covid and an economic recession has had on mental health and wellness in the province. He is passionate about supporting those committed to changing the stigma around mental health and wellness and building support systems for those struggling.

RJ Sigurdson, MLA Highwood

Tricia Arsenault

Tricia grew up on a farm in a very small town in northern Manitoba.  After graduating with a Commerce degree from the University of Manitoba she moved to Australia for a year, then settled down in Calgary when she moved back to Canada.

She started her career as a travel agent, then a financial advisory, and now she is the owner of Guns N Hoses Roofing, Exteriors & Insulation, which she and her husband started 15 years ago.  Tricia is a director for the Okotoks & District Chamber of Commerce, Alberta Allied Roofing Association, Okotoks Female Hockey Development, Foothills Fury Fastpitch Association, and Co-founder of the Okotoks Youth Entrepreneurs in Action (OYEA), so she wears a lot of hats in the community.  She is also very active in sports herself.

Tricia and her husband Keith have three daughters, and they reside in the MD of Foothills.

Tricia has experienced her fair share of grief, as her father was killed in a tragic farm accident when he was in his 40’s, and she has also lost a lot of other family members that she was very close to.  This past year has been very challenging for them in a different way because on top of everything going on, they have not been allowed to see their family who they are extremely close to.  Tricia’s family lives in Manitoba and Keith’s family lives in PEI.  Another huge challenge has been trying to keep their kids motivated when everything they are passionate about keeps getting taken away from them.  Also very terrifying was reaching out to a good friend recovering from an attempted suicide during the pandemic.

Entrepreneurs often don’t have benefits that support and cover mental health, therefore, Tricia and her team at Guns N Hoses thought it was extremely important to help support the Headstrong program.

John Barlow was elected as a Member of Parliament to represent the federal riding of Macleod on June 30, 2014, and was re-elected in 2015 and 2019 to the newly formed riding of Foothills. He currently sits as a Member of the Standing Committee on Health and was elected Chair for the Canada-Scotland Parliamentary Friendship group for the 43rd Parliament.

John is also the co-Chair of the Conservative Opioid Addiction Working Group studying the impacts of opioid use on the Canadian public and researching methods to reduce its harmful usage in Canada.

John has served as Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Agri-Food, Interprovincial Trade and Employment, Workforce Development and Labour.  He has often spoken about the mental health crisis in agriculture advocating for better mental health access for our farmers and ranchers and is committed to improving mental health supports in Canada.

John grew up in rural Saskatchewan and raised his family in southern Alberta. Before being elected to office in 2014, John had a 20-year career as an award-winning journalist with the Calgary Sun, High River Times and served as the Associate Publisher and Editor for the Okotoks Western Wheel. John and his wife Louise have three children, Graeden, Kinley, and McKenna, and they live in Okotoks.

Born in Calgary in 1970, the family moved to Black Diamond in his elementary school years, and he now calls the Foothills home again for the last 5 years living in High River.

He's currently the Morning Show host on 99.7 Sun Country and is also the Program Director at 99.7 Sun Country, AM 1140 and High River Online.

His 31-year career in Radio started in Calgary and has taken him to Red Deer, Wetaskiwin, Airdrie, High River and Winnipeg and Steinbach in Manitoba.

He sits on the advisory boards for SAIT and Mount Royal University's communications programs.

He's also a big proponent of education especially regarding mental health.

Growing up with a mother that attempted suicide twice and was finally diagnosed with bi-polar disorder later in life he understands the challenges that poses and how through support and understanding it's important to break down stereotypes and open up the conversations around mental health.