Stay Positive. Work Hard. Make it Happen. Featuring Great Life Mentor Jessica Chan
Jessica Chan is the owner of Night Market Vancouver, a family-friendly, monthly marketplace that celebrates local businesses, highlights regional talent and brings the people of our community together. Every month, she affects thousands of people through the market, but there is one person in particular that she is influencing in a much deeper and profound way - Jessica is a Great Life mentor.Five years ago, Jessica volunteered to be a mentor to one girl through Great Life Mentoring. When her one-year commitment came around, she wanted to continue. Jessica told us, “From past, personal experience, I understand the impact a single, positive role-model can make on a child’s life.” She wanted to give back and help one child grow in confidence.Being driven and adventurous, Jessica is a highly motivating person to be around. In the past few years, we have witnessed her bring her first product, WINKPENS, to market, create and run Night Market Vancouver and work to launch a new mobile app, cactuscard.co. She did all of this while being a Great Life mentor and serving on the board of directors as well.Yes, Jessica is driven in her goals and in life. As a mentor, she is also deeply compassionate, gentle and understanding. She sustains a belief that her friend is of great value just as she is, but she can also attain anything she wants for herself. Jessica inspires others to realize what they can be capable of. Her favorite part of the mentoring experience has been witnessing the growth of her friend. She tells us she feels “beyond proud” when experiencing her friend’s moments of accomplishment like earning good grades in school, gaining courage to do her first talent show, standing up for her peers and expressing creativity and courage.At Jessica’s wedding this summer, her friend volunteered to take the microphone and speak to the crowd. This was a bold move for a girl that was quite shy just a few years earlier. She told everyone that Jessica was her mentor and Jessica says it brought tears to her eyes “to see how far she has come over the last five years; her self-awareness, self-confidence, her courage and creativity, the list goes on; She is simply amazing, and I’m honored to be a part of her life.”Although Jessica became a mentor to help her friend, she says her experience with Great Life Mentoring has been “incredible,” and she is grateful for the program because it has helped her as well.Jessica’s own motto is: Stay positive - work hard - make it happen. She lives by this, and both her community, and individuals therein, are greatly impacted.