Heather Habgood – Creative Bug
Heather is best known as the dynamic owner of Creative Bug (established in 2006) in Beamsville.
She is a Dalhousie MBA Grad with a broad scope of experience in corporate, nonprofit and small business environments. She loves being immersed in her community and building diverse and interactive programs for people of all ages and abilities.
Heather thrives on new opportunities to learn and develop skills and abilities while firmly being committed to meeting her goals.
Heather’s passion for her work brings joy, skills, confidence, opportunities to grow and have fun to all who participate in her unique programs. This same passion has been shared with many organizations through her volunteer work including Heart & Stroke, YWCA and Girl Guides of Canada.
For me, community leadership is all about bringing a group of people together. Finding ways to include those who are hesitant and and work together to highlight each individual’s strengths. True community is achieved after a group has worked and celebrated together.
“True community is achieved after a group has worked and celebrated together.”
Learning more about community leadership in Niagara is important to me as it is my community that holds me up and supports my work and our family. I would like to be a part of helping others see the awesome potential we hold as human beings while creating community.
I believe that there is a significant opportunity to help our community be more aware of the importance of being a community. Slowing down and seeing those around us, even just a moment can make a difference in our day. What if we could demonstrate how easy it is to be kind, to be relevant to one another simply by holding open a door, leaving behind a message or sharing a coffee.
With our focus on our e-communities and e-lives we have lost track of those standing right in front of us. I am overwhelmed by the opportunities however, I would like to explore the idea of working to bring people together. Wouldn’t it be something if we took the opportunity to be plugged into the people who surround us, rather than our electronic lives? My favourite part of living on a main street in a small town is how community can just happen. Recently a couple of NRP Officers on bicycles stopped by and took the time to chat with participants in a program that I was running. It was such a thrill for everyone because we connected and we learned from one another.
The most important attribute of a leader is take on the role of a learner. I believe that the most effective way to lead is not by promoting my own ideas but by drawing ideas out of the group and facilitating the group such that they will realize their goals as a community.
While I am an experienced facilitator, I sometimes find myself withdrawing when I am participating rather than facilitating. I am working on balancing my experience as a participator and as a facilitator as there is an opportunity to learn more about being part of a community by holding multiple roles.