Amy Chan
Amy Chan is the Founder of Renew Breakup Bootcamp, a retreat that takes a scientific and spiritual approach to heal the heart. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of Heart Hackers Club - an online magazine that focuses on the psychology behind love, lust, and desire. The Observer calls her "A relationship expert whose work is like that of a scientific Carrie Bradshaw" and her company has been featured across national media including Good Morning America, Vogue, Glamour, Nightline, and the front page of The New York Times. Her book, Breakup Bootcamp - The Science of Rewiring Your Heart, published by Harper Collins is available now.
3 words to describe Nature?
Peace. Love. Beauty
3 things Nature taught you?
Presence
Curiosity
Everything is connected
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Lynn Valley hiking trail
Clayoquot Sound
Dunton Hot Springs
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Small, yet expansive
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Grateful to be visiting
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Amazed
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Reborn. Hopeful.
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Scared
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Cautious
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
7
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
The forest was my playground. I would make forts, play in the dirt, dig holes, collect branches, and didn't have a worry in the world. The forest was vast, so it scared me, yet excited me, and sometimes when I dared, I'd go deeper inside. But as I grew up, I started to worry about dirtying my clothes and focused on getting good grades and working. I started to lose touch with nature. I'm still on a journey of connecting back to that girl that once played in the forest, not afraid to get dirt on her hands, and adventure into the great unknown.
Bonnie Hillman
Originally from NY, Bonnie moved to Toronto, Canada in 1989 because she met and fell in love with a Canadian, and was ready to leave NYC. Having worked in communications and sponsorship, both in the for-profit and non-profit sectors, Bonnie bought A&C from its founder in 2004. A pioneering cultural sponsorship agency at the time, Bonnie bet that its results-driven ethos could translate to the entire communications offering. (She won that bet and then some.) Bonnie is sought out by clients for counsel both professional and personal, and speaks at sponsorship and communications conferences in North America. She's a leading authority on sponsorship strategy and negotiation, with three decades in communications, strategic planning and corporate partnerships in New York and Toronto. Her current focus is city-building, and finding ways unprecedented public-private partnerships can work to help fund innovative spaces in cities.
Having offices in Toronto and Seattle, and a small but mighty team who punches well above their weight, A&C is Bonnie’s full time job, vocation and passion. Bonnie’s volunteer life has included stints on the Board of Directors of the Sponsorship Marketing Council Canada, the Stratford Chefs School, Evergreen Foundation, and the Loran Scholars Foundation. Bonnie has a great family – two exceptional adult sons, a wonderful husband, and an extremely cute French Bulldog. She is lucky enough to have the best of both the city and nature, so when she’s not walking to work in downtown Toronto, she’s on the dock at Lake of Bays in Muskoka, Ontario. Or traveling. Or doing yoga. Or traveling to a yoga retreat. Or any number of other things that make her happy, usually involving beautiful places and interesting people. And great food and wine.
3 words to describe Nature?
Real. Gorgeous. Dramatic
3 things Nature taught you?
How to be resourceful
How insignificant I and my worries are
How to listen
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The lake my house is on
A specific campsite in Algonquin Park, Canada
A small cove in Greece
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Invigorated and young
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Curious
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
I’ve only ever seen on in the distance, so it hasn’t felt real
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Lucky
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Happy
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Safe
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Ocean and Mountain
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
15
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
A very early memory is being on a beach with my family, hearing the ocean and feeling the sticky, hot feeling of the sand, cooling off in the ocean, jumping the waves, and getting sticky and sandy again. And how when I closed my eyes at night, I’d only see waves.