For some people, making a difference comes second nature. These are the individuals who build businesses, who give to those who need it, who foster the arts. Who bring others together and inspire them to do more. Who do what they say they will and then leave things better than they found them.
In Calgary, Monique Barrie is such an individual.
Though she arrived in this city some 29 years ago with just a few hundred dollars and no connections, she managed during this time to make big differences here. She built three businesses in vastly different industries (dental hygiene, early childhood education and film), has given much time and money to several philanthropic endeavours, and has become recognized as a true leader in the city.
Currently pioneering a new industry – philanthropy and film – which started with her production of a film for #NotInMyCity, an organization championed by Paul Brandt that is raising awareness and collective action to prevent and end human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
In recognition of Barrie’s many impacts on Calgary, in particular her community and philanthropic work, she was White Hatted by Tourism Calgary on March 13, in a ceremony with 100 of her closest friends.
“I was very humbled and tried to thank every single person in the room,” Barrie recalls. “The challenge for me is because I love elevating others and seeing them rise, it was weird to be recognized myself.”
Typical of Barrie, she used the experience to encourage others to get involved: “The thing that excited me the most was when people would ask me: ‘What can I do?’ And I always say, what you can do, whether you have money or not, is with your two hands. Find a charity alignment and use your two hands – volunteer.”
Barrie speaks from experience. Born and raised in Spanish, Ontario (a small town on the northern shores of Georgian Bay), Barrie grew up learning about farming, agriculture, hunting and fishing.
Her father owned a logging business and was a mechanic and welder. “We didn’t have much,” she reminisces. “It was a simple, small town. My father loved to hunt and fish and that often fed us for the winters. I learned survival skills from him and my grandfather.”
Those lessons remain with Barrie to this day. “I know how to take care of myself,” she says. “I live on a farm and grow a lot of my own food. I’ve had chickens for 11 years now. It keeps me in the mindset of being younger and grateful for everything I have.”
It was in Spanish that Barrie began her entrepreneurial journey. At eight years old, she started a paper route. “You were supposed to be 12,” she recalls, “and my father had to sign for me. He said: ‘Listen, she balances by check book, you have to let her do this.’ I had that paper route for years and I really got to know all my clients. I loved talking to the elderly people because they had so much wisdom. A lot of kids weren’t doing what I was doing, but I understood the value. It wasn’t even about the money, it was about the connections.”
Though Barrie wanted to help her father in his business, he had bigger dreams for her. “He said: ‘You’re too smart to do this, Monique. I want you to get out of this town.’”
By 17, she was working as a dental assistant in Sudbury and a few years later she moved to Calgary (after reading a McLean’s magazine article listing Calgary as one of the top five cities for dental career). She landed a dental assistant job on her second day here. She recalls reading issues of Business in Calgary magazine in the dental office foyer, never imagining she would one day grace the publication’s cover!
Eventually she went to dental hygiene school. “I became a contractor immediately after graduating, and eventually set up my own practice in 2009, a year after my daughter was born,” she says. “It made sense to me. I built my first practice in my home in Discovery Ridge.”
She took out bus bench signs all over southwest Calgary and her phone didn’t stop ringing. Somewhat overwhelmed – she was a single mom on maternity leave with a dental practice in her home – she persevered: “I just said, ‘I have to do this.’ It was very challenging for a few years but very successful. Eventually we moved into a commercial building and I had a couple of other hygienists working with me.”
“I loved dental hygiene for the discipline it taught me,” she reflects. “That client connection, interaction, discussion of health and having them trust you. It taught me organization. And the compensation was quite good. I was able to invest in real estate and buy my first Montessori school.”
In need of childcare, Barrie was presented with an opportunity to purchase a small nursery from a dental client. Not one to say no, she accepted the opportunity: “I realized that I really loved that business, watching my daughter and all the children learn. It was a beautiful community opportunity and also allowed me to be at my dental practice three days a week.”
Over time, Barrie’s Montessori school expanded. Today, she has three campuses throughout Christie Park and Strathcona, with almost 200 students and 60 staff.
“The Montessori method for learning is nature-based, focusing on grace and courtesy,” she explains. “Be a friend, make a friend, take care of yourself. You can teach kids anything once they have the basics of grace and courtesy. Children are the teachers, we’re just the guides. If you see how they want to learn, you can create the environment for them to learn. It’s a hands-off approach.”
In January 2023, Barrie was approached to help fund a short film called The Saint and the Bear. Again, intrigued by the opportunity and inspired by her daughter who is an actor and in the film industry, she couldn’t say no. “I love trying different industries and it was a really affordable way to try something and learn more,” she says.
The film did very well – it is currently on CBC Gem – and set Barrie on a new course. “We filmed in January and our first festival was the Calgary Underground Film Festival in April,” she says. “I started out doing this wanting to help recognize underrepresented artists – Indigenous and BIPOC artists – that may want to get a first work or extend onto their work. It’s been an exciting journey and I’ve learned a lot from those experiences, and now started to make some of my own.”
She expanded into the documentary space with her film for #NotInMyCity. “I have been involved with this charity for almost seven years, and it’s a wonderful organization,” Barrie offers. “Paul and Liz [Brandt’s wife] are wonderful. The whole team are just good, good humans.”
Barrie recognized the use a film could be for the organization, and pitched her idea to Brandt, who said yes. “It took me about eight months to write,” she says. “The fact that Paul believed in me to tell this story really compelled me to want to do my best and represent the story accurately so they can use it for that purpose.”
Barrie and her crew filmed in July of last year, and the film, which is about 14 minutes long, was ready just before Christmas. It was the first time she directed, wrote and produced a film. The film showcases the beautiful Alberta landscape, including canola fields and mountains. “People say it looks like a Travel Alberta commercial,” Barrie chuckles. “The background is beautiful and soothing, it helped us deliver a really hard message.”
“#NotInMyCity will be able to use the film when they do large keynote advocacy events,” Barrie continues. “That makes me really proud. I feel like I’m helping deliver a really important message.”
Barrie’s film company currently employs 11 people, and is working on a number of projects, including the short film The Hunter and His Apprentice, which showed at the Calgary International Film Festival last year. Another notable project is a documentary on Todd Baptiste, the chuckwagon driver whose uncle was the first Indigenous man to win the Calgary Stampede. They have also produced a pilot for television series Renegade Fever, and are starting work on a new feature film. She continues to pioneer the film and philanthropy industry.
She credits her mentor Michael Peterson (from Peterson Polaris) and his team, as well as the many industry professionals she has worked with over the years, for their guidance and mentorship in film. “Even at 53, I need to keep learning,” Barrie notes.
In testament to this, she was named the RBC Emerging Artist Award winner last year by Calgary Arts Development. “I didn’t think you could be recognized as an emerging artist at 53!” she jokes.
“I’ve made it my personal mission to try to attract as many films to Alberta as I can, so that great people stay,” she says. “That we can find innovative ways to keep people here and attract more film and television projects to keep us moving.”
In addition to her work with #NotInMyCity, Barrie is involved in many other charities, including Women in Need (WINS) and Closer to Home. “If you’re in my social circle and you want to see me, you have to come to a charity event,” she says. “All my friends are like ‘Ok, what’s happening in the city this week?’ I’m like, ‘Ok, it’s International Women’s Day, we’re going to a WINS event. Or a #NotInMyCity rooftop event or A Not So Silent Nite event. It’s great because my friends get engaged in a charity as well.”
Barrie recommends the Calgary Foundation’s website for useful information on charities for those interested in getting involved.
Unquestionably Calgarian today, Barrie is grateful for her adopted hometown: “I love Calgary. I can’t imagine not living here. When I think of Calgary, I think of opportunity. It’s created so many opportunities in my life for success, and a few for failure, but I’ve certainly learnt from those.”
“I’m an entrepreneur with my feet on the ground,” she concludes. “If I say I’m going to do something, I do it. Calgary is a great place to do that because there are so many other entrepreneurs around you. There are supportive communities, events and networks. Calgary is where it’s at.”