Susan Brown was 50 years old when she decided to quit her nursing job and open a home health care company.
"It was really fun to start an entire new chapter," said Brown of the excitement of starting something new in middle age.
"Your energy level might vary, but your enthusiasm and passion are the same."
Brown was the keynote speaker at the Guelph Chamber of Commerce Inspiration Women's lunch at the Delta Hotel on Wednesday. The event was attended by roughly 200 people.
Brown had both when she and partner Wendy Robertson started Robertson Brown Health Services in 1996.
From struggling to get a bank loan, little capital for marketing, taking a long time to build a client base and having people not even take them seriously because of their age, it took a while to get on track.
One bank loan officer even asked her if she "had permission" to start up a home health care business because she was a nurse.
But persistence, hard work and a strong belief in what they were doing did pay off in the end, with Robertson-Brown Health Care employing 225 nurses and PSWs when they eventually sold the company in 2014.
While working and in retirement, the Guelph-born-and-raised Brown has been involved in numerous causes, including being a founding member of the AIDS Committee of Guelph, Guelph Wellington Women In Crisis, Women of Distinction and the Guelph Community Foundation.
"Now that I'm retired I feel like a kid with a good allowance," she said.
Brown, in discussion on stage with Rogers Television's Trish Stevenson, talked of how she and her partner managed to maintain their integrity throughout growing the business.
"We had an opportunity to make an impact," Brown said. "What we did was based on need, not making more money."
Even when the business was sold, Brown said she and her partner only did so with the understanding it would continue to operate a certain way.
"We could not be bought," she said.
Asked for what advice she would give others, she said to be open, embrace opportunity, have fun and "don't be impacted by the word 'no.'"
"If you want to do it, do it," said Brown, who said she experienced both ageism and sexism when she co-founded her business.
"I think that as women we still need to push who we are forward in whatever area it is.
"Stand up and be counted. If you have something to say, say it," she said.
