Mersina opened Lion's Heart Family Martial Arts in Ancaster when she was 21 years old — with no business background, no financial cushion, and a school that had been open for exactly one year before COVID tried to take it all away.

She's been running it for seven years. She has a 4th degree black belt, has represented Team Canada at the World Championships, and has built a school around one principle she will not compromise: make money to do karate. Don't do karate to make money.

In this conversation, we get into what it actually cost her to stay true to herself when every school around her was pivoting. We talk about surviving COVID a year in, building radical inclusion into the DNA of the school, the parent who called expecting to be turned away because her daughter is deaf, and a solo trip to South Africa that gave the school its name.

And we close with the question we ask every guest: what do you want to be remembered for in your community?

Find Mersina at Lion's Heart Family Martial Arts on Instagram and Facebook, or in the business park in Ancaster. Listen to the Lions Den podcast with the kids.

The Loew Down drops every two weeks. Find us on Instagram @theloewdown.co — because your story matters