I have met several people who have been a gift in my life, letting me know that there is life after middle age and that I can continue to reinvent myself at any age. Let me tell you about one of those people.

Her name was Wallie Laflamme from Calgary, Canada, and she was a master of the reinvention game.

Wallie met each challenge with courage and optimism. Since Wallie’s family had no money for the allowance, when she was a teenager she joined her sister and two of her brothers to form a band. They earned their own spending money playing at school dances and community halls. This was a great help to her family who survived the challenging 30’s. When the band broke up, Wallie discovered that she loved working in women’s hair and her first career was born.

That’s when she moved to Calgary and found a job babysitting two boys for room and board while taking a professional hairdressing course. After graduating, it wasn’t long before her entrepreneurial spirit took hold and she had her own salon, the Coiffure Bar. At a time when women weren’t in the mainstream of business, Wallie, from a young age , he scoffed at the prejudices of the day and began to make his dreams come true. New techniques abounded and Wallie was at the forefront teaching new hair colors and permanent waves, without the use of electricity. (That’s a scary thought!)

On weekends you would find her demonstrating these new techniques at various hotels in Calgary, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge and Red Deer. Roux, the company, brought out the first color rinse shampoo and, in fact, he loved the product so much that he named his son after Mr. Roux. (Thank goodness he wasn’t Clairol or Revlon.)

Wallie moved to Edmonton and opened a salon where he also taught cold wave and later a revolutionary technique for bleaching hair silver. This is where a John Powers model from New York asked Wallie to do the hair and makeup for all of his models. This expanded to Juilliard’s modeling school as well and Wallie ended up modeling herself.

She met a handsome young man who was the very image of movie star Don Amache, fell in love instantly and before long they were married on February 8, 1950. After the pregnancy from hell, she gave birth to her only son and was expecting wind. aft.

Again following their independent spirit, they opened a new business in Peace River, but unfortunately this was a bad investment that left them penniless and jobless.

As she proved countless times throughout her life, nothing could hold her back for long, so with the help of wonderful friends, she soon opened another salon that began her challenge of balancing career and motherhood. She eventually owned several beauty salons before becoming chronically ill. She was diagnosed with severe allergies caused by the chemical fumes and solutions she had been using.

After 25 years in a much-loved career and in early middle age, at the age of 45, he reinvented himself to launch his second career by opening LaFlamme Fine Art Galleries at the Brentwood Mall.

Wallie viewed this adventure as an opportunity to utilize the many artistic talents he had acquired along the way. To complete the gallery, Foch teamed up with Wallie and opened a custom picture frame department. Roux, after receiving his degree in Business Administration, joined the family business full time to fine-tune the accounting system, improve the organization and expand into his second gallery downtown. Wallie has said many times that this was the happiest time of her life, working side by side with her husband and her son. They made an amazing sales team and it was a joy to see them in action on one man shows.

The gallery attracted top Canadian artists and she became very involved in the Calgary art scene, which was booming along with the oil industry. She gave lectures on the “Art of Framing”, instituted the use of color and triple rugs and in the evenings you would find her hanging pictures in someone’s house.

Wallie shattered all glass ceilings by holding prestigious positions: President of the Brentwood Mall Merchants Association, President of the International Women’s Business Club of Zonta, and judge of the Calgary Stampede Western Art Auction, just to name a few.

After a stroke, two heart attacks, and triple bypass surgery, he finally retired at age 65. He continued with his volunteer work, but never sat in a rocking chair. She walked three to five miles every day, did aerobic exercise, and enjoyed having friends over for relaxing dinners. He loved watching Dr. Robert Schuler’s “Hour of Power” on television early on Sunday mornings and then attending services at his favorite Unity Church. Foch joined her in these activities when they turned her retirement into a long overdue honeymoon. She then experienced the only failure of hers in her life: she failed her retirement!

After attending a meeting where Dr. Wentz, (founder of Usana Health Science Corporation), outlined his vision of a healthy future for all using his cellular nutrition formula, he knew his third race was about to take place. to take off

Convinced that her remarkable improvement in health was a direct result of these nutritional supplements, she became a walking example of good health. Starting this new career at the age of 73, her example inspired many people to join her in her quest to “Live life to the fullest every day.” This quickly escalated to her becoming a Usana Gold Director, which was the culmination of a successful seven-decade business career.

Wallie lived a full life in every way: always striving to enrich himself spiritually and intellectually, loving his work, and adoring Foch, Roux, and Kippy.

Wallie’s kindness, authenticity and depth of character continue to shine through to reach people everywhere who remember her for her shared nature, no matter the situation. Neither her gender nor her age was a factor that hindered her desire to be better, achieve more, do the impossible, or get everything on her life’s to-do list.

Wallie made a rare and noble contribution to everyone’s evolutionary spirit. She set an amazing example of a life reinvented at any age and for those of us who knew and loved her, she graced our lives.

Wally passed away peacefully with his loving family by his side on Friday, October 24, 2008 at the age of 85.