Charting Her Own Course
“When a great adventure is offered, you don’t refuse it”. ~ Amelia Earhart.
Anne Marie Fortner has always navigated her life following the winds of her passions.
Fortner has often traded the predictable path for one where the outcome was unknown, but the adventure was assured. Fortner has always looked to push the boundaries of her experiences.
Today Fortner channels this wealth of knowledge into advising and helping aspiring entrepreneurs to navigate their own path towards success.
After graduating from high school, Fortner set out on her first major adventure by hiking the entire Apppalachian Trail (3,400 km) over the course of six and a half months.
Northern Ontario holds a special place in her heart. She attended Lakehead University in Thunder Bay graduating with a BA in Geography. She spent her summers guiding, canoeing trips, forest fire-fighting and clearing hiking trails.
After graduation, she moved to Pelee Island, where she worked for an environmental non-profit organization doing wildlife research, outdoor restoration work for two summers and spent the winters travelling.
Along the way she travelled to South/Central America, working construction with her twin brother and enrolled in an intensive course in expressive art therapy.
At the age of twenty-seven, Fortner faced a personal tragedy when her mother passed away after a short battle with ALS. Up until then, given the pace of her busy life, she had never really stayed in one place longer than six to nine months. The time had come to chill.
Her decision to return to Pelee Island, offered her a community she had fallen in love with, to be on the water and a sanctuary. Initially she stayed on the island for three years, year-round, always managing to live frugally, keeping her possessions to a minimum, renting a cottage or looking after homes for those who lived elsewhere.
During this time, one of her mentors suggested that she start a business that would afford her the luxury of lliving on Pelee Island in the summer months in a field that more closely aligned with her education. The plan would be to spend summer months on the island, and winters in Cedar Island in Kingsville.
Explore Pelee was Fortner’s first business venture which she successfully built from the ground up.
During the summer months, the population of the island could swell from 120 to 1000 to 2000, sometimes 3,000 on weekends. The business was a tourism company, with island biking tours, outdoor adventure and cycling tours for children and hosting eco adventure weekends. This business thrived from May 1st through the summer months to Thanksgiving weekend.
Residents and property owners, started to trust her. To augment her income Fortner started a taxi business and assumed the property management of twelve to fifteen vacation properties which required hiring staff to coordinate the rentals, clean rental units and operate as eco tour guides. Each April Fortner was tasked with finding accommodations not only for herself, but for her staff.
To extend her season and build her business portfolio Fortner bought and remarketed, a women’s retreat business called “Total Recall Retreat”. The women’s retreat was an annual gathering on Pelee Island. In order to keep momentum and continue to grow the annual retreat she began hosting monthly inspirational networking events in Windsor/Essex county at local wineries and breweries during the winter months. Her target market was primarily women, with some co-ed events. These events were known as the LIFT series, which stands for Ladies Inspiration for Transformation. They quickly grew a following and became a community of like-minded entrepreneurs and locals who all wanted to connect and support each other.
Her seasonal schedule continued for nearly twelve years when Fortner’s life took another dramatic turn.
In 2019, she was hired for the Tourism Department at the Municipality of Chatham-Kent, sold both her businesses and got engaged to her future husband Nick. The couple soon bought a home, welcomed their daughter Isla the following spring, and two years later, their son Kai. Their blended family also included Nick’s four daughters.
In June 2024, she accepted the job of Economic Development Officer, with the Municipality working with the Small Business Centre.
In this role, Fortner, is a member of a three person team, for the Small Business Centre. Their mandate is to encourage business and connect with entrepreneurs and small business owners to provide support and refer them to professional agencies or counsel as needed.
They host networking events, and coordinate and deliver Starter Company Plus a programme that provides free training, consultation and advice from a team of experts. Prospective business owners can apply for Starter Company Plus if they are starting, expanding or buying an existing business. Along with the free training and mentorship there is an opportunity to apply for a business grant up to $5,000.
Fortner oversees Wards 3, 4 and 5 (Wallaceburg, Dresden, Mitchell’s Bay, Ridgetown, Bothwell and Thamesville). She offers services in French and Spanish.
When asked what excites her most about her job, and working with potential small business owners, Fortner says, “I like seeing their vision come to life and making sure they have the right foundation for that business vision”.
Fortner brings an honest insight to her clients. “I don’t want to fizzle anyone’s fire, but I want to be realistic with people”, she says “I don’t want to see someone fail so I try to give constructive suggestions”.
Fortner is grateful for the support she received from like-minded inspirational, ambitious people during her years as a business owner. She recognizes the value of this kind of assistance which is offered in the spirit of comradeship, not in competition with each other.
When asked to share her greatest desire, Fortner’s voice softens. Her wish is to impart to her children, her love of being on the water and for living a self-sustaining lifestyle. Fortner aims to live by her word. She arrived for our interview with flowers from her garden, freshly picked kale and a bag full of cherry tomatoes. Her homemade granola is delicious, and we have a shared love of thrifting for recycled items at second hand stores, often admiring each other’s “new” clothes.
Fortner’s own road has been a circuitous one, from her sailboat hitchhiking, to developing an eco tourism business in the summer months and a women’s retreat business in the winter months, to her roles with the Municipality of Chatham-Kent.
All of which has been a testament to her willingness to embrace challenge and uncertainty in pursuit of personal growth and discovery.
“Use your fear…it can take you to the place where you store your courage.” ~Amelia Earhart
