Raffaella Tassone - 2021 Woman of the Year

My name is Raffaella Tassone.  I was born at Orillia Soldiers Memorial Hospital on January 19th, 1972, and raised in Orillia, Ontario as a first generation Italian Canadian.   I am the second child of three children, with an older sister, Rosanna and a younger brother, Bruno.
 
My parents came to Canada from Europe in the mid 1960's, but first met one another in Orillia.  Ironically, they are both from the same hometown in Southern Italy, called Serra San Bruno, a small community in the region of Calabria.   Within a couple of years of my parents meeting one another, they were married, had children and made Orillia our home.
 
My Mother, Biagia, traveled from Italy to Canada to visit her Aunt & her Uncle who both relocated to Orillia in the 1960’s.   My Father, Bonaventura, moved to Orillia from Petite-Rosselle, a small mining town in Northeastern France, which borders Germany, although he was born in Italy and spent the first 13 years of his there before his family moved to France.   My Father’s parents and six of his eight siblings immigrated to Canada seventeen years after moving to France, while two of his brothers stayed in France, indefinitely.
 
I spent my childhood growing up in the South end of Orillia, an area of town full of character and wonderful memories. I went to St. Bernard's Catholic School from 1977 to 1986.  I couldn't speak English when I first started school, but over time, I acquired the English language.   After graduating from St. Bernard's, I attended Orillia District Collegiate & Vocational Institute for Grade 9.  Most of my St. Bernard's class, except a small handful of us, went to Patrick Fogarty Catholic Secondary School.  I tend to follow the road less travelled, so I did not mind going to a non-Catholic high school.  However, after my first year at ODCVI, I transferred to Patrick Fogarty and spent the first semester of Grade 10 there.  I enjoyed being with my St. Bernard’s family again, but I returned to ODCVI to finish my secondary school education.
 
While in high school, I worked many after school and weekend jobs.  I mostly worked in the Orillia Square Mall, for an array of retail businesses.  I loved retail and distinctively felt at home in that specific industry.  When I was not with my family, at work or school, I would hang out with my friends at Couchiching Beach Park, or you would find me in one of the video arcades in Downtown Orillia such as 501 Video or Top Hat.  Mariposa Market was also a hot spot for the local kids in town in the 80’s.  I also frequented local teen clubs, like Club 404.  There was a lot for teenagers to do in Orillia back in the 80's and the early 90’s. We undoubtedly lucked out that way.
 
One day, in the Spring of 1990, I walked into a little boutique on Mississaga Street, called "Forget-Me-Not".  While in the store shopping for a birthday card, I started speaking with the owner of the business, Carol, who was profoundly welcoming.  After chatting with Carol, she randomly offered me a job.  I was not applying for a job that day, but the opportunity presented itself.  I was flattered that Carol wanted me to work for her, but I was going to spend the Summer in Italy with my Mother, so I told Carol that I could not accept her offer.  Carol was adamant about hiring me, so she told me that she would hold the position until I returned from Italy, and in fact, she did.   Once I started working for her, it all came so naturally, and “Forget-Me-Not” became my second home.  This is exactly where my entrepreneurship vibe came to fruition. While working for Carol, I thought that perhaps one day I would operate my own small business in Downtown Orillia as I enjoyed the independence with the job and the ability to apply myself in a personal creative manner. Carol let me be myself; a gift of experience at an early age, which would later become an asset to my future endeavours.
 
After a couple of years of working full time, I decided that I wanted to go to college.  I enrolled in the Travel & Tourism course at Algonquin College in Niagara Falls, Ontario with the intention of getting on track to becoming a stewardess.  It felt like a good decision as it complimented my personality and my ambitious manner.  I left Orillia at the end of the Summer of 1992 and moved to Niagara Falls to start my first year of college.  I had a fun time in Niagara Falls, nonetheless, after my initial year at Algonquin, I decided not to return. It was not he right time for me to be in college as I was not as devoted to my gameplan as intended. 
 
In 1995, I enrolled in an Electrology course at Marvel Beauty School in Yorkville, Toronto.  My sister joined me on this journey as we mutually decided that we were going to open a small home-based business, which provided Electrology services.  After completing the certification course, my sister and I opened a small business called “Nu You Studio of Electrology”.   We did very well with this small business for many years, but I wanted to do something different. I needed to be in a retail environment of some sort.  It was more my pace.
 
In 1998, I was hired by Canadian Tire to merchandise their new store on Brodie Drive. My job was supposed to be short term, but the company kept me on full time to work in their logistics department. I accepted the position and enjoyed my job.  Unfortunately, one day while working, I injured my left shoulder extensively and had to seize working immediately.  I was put on Workers Compensation for close to two years, during which time I received substantial rehabilitation to regain full use of my left shoulder and arm.  In hindsight, this set back changed my entire course of action.
 
One day, during my rehabilitation period, I was expressing my frustration to our then Mayor, Ken McCann, who was friends with my parents, about my future of employment due to the physical limitations because of my work-related injury.  In conversation, Ken suggested that I consider working for myself, this way, I could work at my own pace.  Coincidentally, this idea had already been planted in my mind from working for Carol.  At that time, he and his wife Dellsi, owned a commercial building on Mississaga Street, which had a lingerie business in it that was for sale.  Instantly my mind shifted into a different gear, and I thought this could be my future.  It felt like it was meant to happen.  I spoke to my parents about helping me with a potential business venture, as I did not have the finances to purchase a business, especially while being on Workers Compensation. After some discussion and thought, and with their sincerest blessing and unconditional love, my parents agreed to assist me with this leap of faith.   They also told me that although they would initially finance the business, that I would be fully responsible for everything that was entailed with operating a business, from start to finish. I agreed and this is where the ball really started to roll for me. 
 
I proceeded to negotiate a buying price with the owner of the lingerie store, and after some back and forth, we came to a mutual agreement which concluded keeping the existing business name and simply purchase the business, turnkey.  This agreement would not be fulfilled until the business owner returned from an extended holiday. During the period that she was away, I did emphatic research on the lingerie industry, as I suddenly needed to acquire knowledge in the field that I was diving headfirst into.  
 
Upon her return, the business owner unexpectedly increased the purchase price of her business. I was not in accordance with the new asking price, but my parents were willing to pay the extra money to purchase the business.  I recognized how hard my parents worked to support our family, so I would not watch them hand over this extra money to someone who changed their mind mid purchase, so I seized the agreement in October 2000 and concluded that it was not meant to be, although my parents still wanted to see me fulfill this goal.  They suggested that I try this business venture as my own entity, with absolutely no association with any pre-existing business.  To start from scratch and to apply myself in the manner in which they trusted and believed that I could.  I was initially hesitant but with their encouragement and confidence in me, I concurred.
 
Within six weeks of the demise of our original plan, I had my own small business.  I found the perfect location on the corner of Mississaga Street East and Front Street South to lease. I sourced out lingerie suppliers to order product from to sell in my store. I fine tuned a branding strategy and of course, a business name.  Between my parents, myself and Ken, we came up with, "Tassone & Tassone" ~ better known in Orillia as "tnt".   In the blink of an eye, I was standing in my own store in Downtown Orillia. It was profoundly surreal.  I was very unfamiliar with running a business yet determined to make it work.   So I basically just winged it!
 
I spent the first 14 years in Downtown Orillia before relocating my store in October 2014 to West Ridge Place, on Monarch Drive, just two weeks after my dear Father unexpectedly passed away.  That was an exceedingly difficult for me personally, because my Father never had the opportunity to see that chapter unfold.
 
During the first ten years of running my business, my health started to become profoundly compromised.  In 2006, I became mysteriously ill.  It was very uncanny for me. My sickness started with debilitating fatigue, which I recognized was not normal in the least. It was an intense fatigue day in, day out.   Most people who knew me or saw me concluded that it was due to me operating a business full time, spending endless hours in the gym to keep fit, and being a social butterfly but I knew that it had nothing at all to do with any of that.  I was an extremely healthy woman at that time in my life, very dedicated to taking care of my health, so it did not make any sense to me why I was so unwell suddenly.   Other symptoms that inexplicably developed included poor memory, insomnia, chronic cough, chronic flu/colds, chronic sore throat, skin discolouration, predominant dark circles under my eyes, red itchy sore eyes, severe migraines, sensitivity to sunlight, sound and certain fragrances, unexplainable pronounced body pain and all of this with no forewarning or explanation. It was so bizarre. Somehow though, I learned to live with it, I tried to reason with it (but really couldn’t, at all) and I pushed through it, but most days, I honestly did not know how I would or if I could. No one at all would be able to tell or comprehend just how unwell I genuinely was because I was always happy, positive, and ambitious but I immeasurably suffered silently and felt completely misunderstood. I felt like I was fading away and in factuality, I was.  People who have never experienced what I have experienced, would not be able to relate to the severity of how debilitated I was.  It was tough!  Yet, no matter how arduous things were for me, I still carried on because I was not going to settle for less than being the best version of myself that I could be.  Being sick everyday with these puzzling ailments made it profoundly difficult to run my business, socialize, maintain my gym schedule, contribute to business events and to live a normal life. I did not have the energy to do it all anymore, my body was not following suit to my mental ambition, no matter how hard I tried or how young I was at that time and that was a difficult reality for me to accept and contend with.  I may have felt defeated, but I would not allow defeat to govern. 
 
In December 2009, years after I started to become unwell, there was an unexpected discovery of an alarming accumulation of stachybotrys chartarum, better known as black mold, hidden in the ceiling space and behind the walls of the apartment that I was renting in Downtown Orillia since 2003.   After this health hazard was uncovered, all my symptoms made immediate sense to me.  I was breathing in airborne mycotoxins for six years, unbeknownst to me.  Who would have though that my home was making me sick?  The Building Department of the City of Orillia and R&F Construction became involved with this building issue and after their thorough inspections, I was immediately prohibited to occupy my home by the Chief Building Official of Orillia, Kelly Smith, due to elevated levels of mycotoxins in my home. The air quality was deemed hazardous and in some areas of my home, the toxicity level was 51 times higher than what was deemed safe for a human to be exposed to.  I ended up in the care of Dr. Kathleen Kerr at Woman's College Hospital, at the Environmental Health Clinic along with Dr. Allison Bested in Toronto who is a Haematological Pathologist.  These physicians specialise in Environmental health sickness, which was the culprit behind my mystery sickness for so many years. Anyone who saw me during the nucleus of my sickness, may recall an emaciated very unwell looking me.  As a result of this prolonged exposure, I became Immunocompromised and was diagnosed with Sick Building Syndrome, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Fibromyalgia and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity.  These are permanent ailments, that I continue to suffer with and am being treated for to this day by my general practitioner.
 
I have learned to live with these conditions which is very demanding of me, but I am an overwhelmingly blessed in life with many riches.  My wealth comes from being able to rise up against the odds presented in my life and to move forward, as for me, forward is the only direction that I will ever go. 
 
In 2008, while sick at home, I had an idea to start a toy drive for the vulnerable kids in Orillia, so I jotted down some thoughts and came up with "Lets Make a Kid Smile" Christmas Toy Drive.  The first year I hosted my toy drive, I collected donations at my store and gave them to The Green Haven Shelter and The Couchiching Jubilee House. After the success of my toy drive, I decided that I was going to proceed with it annually. 13 years later, my toy drive is the biggest it has ever been, currently with 16 local businesses, including mine, collecting donations. This year's donations will be distributed to Big Brothers Big Sisters Orillia, The Orillia Youth Centre, Green Haven Shelter for Woman, The Children's Aid Society & The Salvation Army.  My heart feels full helping others. And it so nice to watch my community come together to help.  It leaves me in awe.  We have an abundance of considerate loving people in Orillia.   
 
In 2014, I became a Certified Mastectomy Fitter (CMF) after completing an extensive Mastectomy course in Toronto, as I had noticed an influx for this service in my hometown shortly after relocating my business to West Ridge. It became essential for me to provide this service to women who have contended with breast cancer.  With this certification, I am qualified to fit breast prosthetics and bras for those who have had a mastectomy, a partial mastectomy, or a lumpectomy.  I am also able to acquire post surgical garments to assist my customers through their journey.  This part of my business conduction is the dearest to me as I have met the most courageous woman in Orillia through this individualized very personal service.
 
This upcoming December 1st will mark 21 years that I have been in business.  When I look back on the last 21 years of my life, I smile.  Yes, it has not always been graceful or relatable, yet, I have had the opportunity to meet thousands of local citizens from all walks of life during this time period.  I have heard an assortment of stories from people in my hometown who trust me with their words, I have been graced with a community that has undoubtedly contributed to my entire journey in life, on one level or another and I created memories that will last me a lifetime.  How can I not smile?  
 
It is said that you only live once, but I believe that we live every day.  While I am here, I will be kind and considerate of others, as this is the way my parents raised me to be. I will help those when I am able to.  I will push my limits as far as I can push them and I will never rely on anyone to make me happy, that is my responsibility. I believe we are all here for a reason and I know that I am here to seize opportunity and to be grateful for each day that I am honoured to be alive.