STATUS

Fall Winter 2015

TheStatusMagazine.com

2015 Volume 8 $4.99

Persona Extraordinaire

Rima Aristocrat

FashionFood TalkWellbeingTravel

STATUS Magazine 3

Living16Cover Story: The Rima Aristocrat Story

24Creating a media room

20See the Magic!

22The 9 Belts to Sales Mastery

32Use Lemon to brighten your world

34Top 10 Books for 2015

33Hyleys Sleep/Slim Teas

33Four steps to whiter teeth

Fashion11What they’re wearing!

FOOD

36Add colour to your table

36Moroccan Chicken Pastilla

40How to maintain an Acid/AlkalineBalance

42Creamy Cauliflower Soup withHerbed Goat Cheese Recipe

43Blueberry-Poppyseed, Honey Banana Bread Recipe

52Numerology by Laura Young

54Lifestyle Advice by Ask John

55Astrology by Richard Ravenhawke

IN THIS ISSUE

16STATUS sits down withPersona Extraordinaire

Rima Aristocrat

COVER STORY

IN EVERY ISSUE

16 thestatusmagazine.com

The first funeral Rima attended was that of Rahontsiio Cross,an aboriginal from the Kahnawake, a model student whowanted to be “the next Bill Gates”. He died one morning of amassive heart attack while waiting for the bus to take him toschool. The police phoned Rima as the only identification theycould find was the Willis College ID card in his back pocket. Rima promised Rahontsiio’s mother that she would take care

of him. His mother accompanied her son when he had first in-terviewed with Rima. As a one-time immigrant and newcomerto Canada, Rima fully understood this family’s closeness andneed for assurance. Her own family had provided the samecloseness, love and protection when she was growing up inGeorgia. Rima buried a son who was not her own but was family: Rima feels every student at the College is “a part of her family”. I can’t help but think how generous for a womanwhose four daughters, five grandchildren and life partner forthe last 21 years are her life. To this day she has Rahontsiio’sbag in her possession having been told it continues to protecther. In the bag is his boomerang.

BY KITA SZPAKARima ristocrat?

PHOTO: ©MICHELLEARISTOCRAT

I am sitting down with RIMA ARISTOCRAT, President and CEOof Willis College, a 120-year old Canadian private career col-lege headquartered in downtown Ottawa with campuses inArnprior and Smiths Falls. The College offers a career-focusedapproach to skills training and education, enabling graduates totransition into careers in business, healthcare, and technology.At the top of our interview Rima leans over to me and in a lowvoice says, “You know, I was deathly afraid of funerals. I didnot attend any funerals whatsoever until this one. I had to.”Of course this statement begs the obvious question and I

listen as we sit in her office adorned with awards, mementosand photos from decades past, gifts from appreciative students,and a remarkable collection of exquisite aboriginal pieces asculpted eagle, crafted moose antlers, an animal-fashionedcane and glorious artwork that looms over us from the high-ceilinged room. Yet, Rima is not aboriginal; she is Georgian –from the former Soviet Union.

Have you met

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taking, outstanding educator andcorporate executive who, as sheputs it, “has a big mouth”. A successful businessman,

Rima’s father owned a Harrods-type high-end department store.The family wanted for nothing.Rima was surrounded by maids,and all the material comforts thatone could ask for. As she readilyconfesses, “I had no idea peoplehad to work to make money.” Off-setting this amazing naiveté wasthe responsibility that Rima tookfor being the oldest of three sisters– by six and nine years respec-tively. The responsibility extended

to the interest Rima had in her Papiko’s (father’s) business affairs.Theirs was a close relationshipwhere Papiko shared his entrepre-neurial wisdom with the daughterhe adored. And there was justifica-tion in paying attention to Rima:she was a musical prodigy – a con-cert pianist who graced the stage atfive years of age. Talk about being“born under a special star…” You’d think that with the world

literally at her feet, Rima wouldstay put and enjoy the life that wasbountifully unfolding before her.Indeed, family would affectionatelylet her know, “What Rima wants,

Rima’s aboriginal connectiongoes back further and initially res-onated with her when she becamethe first immigrant to lead Willisin 1989. An encounter of a dis-criminatory nature with MichaelB. Davies, led her to read his bookwhere she found out he was a SixNations aboriginal. From thispoint on, Rima ‘s interest in theFirst Nations grew, underscored by Chief Elders telling her that herpurpose in “walking with the spir-its” was to help the aboriginal peo-ple in Canada. Subsequent visits tonative communities, the establish-ment of a full aboriginal studentscholarship, and the founding of theinitiative TeKnoWave Inc. – Canada’sfirst National Aboriginal IT training– speak to Rima’s resolute dedica-tion to provide support and oppor-tunity for First Nations people.More often than not, an immense

caring nature does not happen byaccident. Studies show that achild’s formative years imprintthem for life forming the adultsthey will grow into. It’s not surprising then to hear that herparents and grandparents, whoshared the same house, told Rimathat she was “born under a specialstar,”was “special and can do nowrong” and was “the best with thebest mission in life”. Literallyblessed daily by her grandmother,Rima was continually praised, sup-ported and loved as a young girl. Already at an advantage, the

powerful nurturing together withother familial circumstances con-tributed to who Rima is today – notonly the loving mother and grand-mother but also the confident, risk-

“What Rima Wants, Rima Gets in an Amazingly Good Way for Others!”

Persona Extraordinaire Rima Aristocrat

PHOTO: ©MICHELLEARISTOCRAT

18 thestatusmagazine.com

was a better bet – one could makemore money there – but Rimaopted for Canada because it hadthe “peaceful passport”. She hadobserved how easy it was to crossthe border with a Canadian iden-tity. Once again, Rima chose thevalues of open communication, ac-ceptance and personal freedomover the appeal of wealth and lux-ury. In the process, the family’sGeorgian last name was translatedinto English making it easier topronounce, and Rima becameRima Aristocrat.For someone who didn’t know

you had to work for a living, Rimahad to learn pretty quickly. Thefamily, now settled in Toronto withtwo more daughters, was pressedto increase its income. With husband, Rima decided to open a restaurant. Neither had any experience but this did not stopthem from starting up in a base-ment and ending up with 35 suchbasement restaurants or “cafete-rias” where they catered to dozensof immigrant professionals work-ing at menial jobs. It was in thisenvironment that Rima recognizedthe huge potential and need theseprofessionals had to learn employ-ability skills to secure better jobsfor themselves. She also saw manywomen on social assistance, whowould benefit from skills training.These observations would becomepart of her vision to teach new-comers practical skills to put themon an equal playing field withestablished workers. Rima proceeded to set up the

Canadian Association of Immi-grants professionals for these pro-

PHOTO: ©MICHELLEARISTOCRAT

Rima gets”. But the unthinkable happened, and nothing was ever thesame when Rima got what she wanted, and ran off to get married at agefifteen “eloping for the adventure”.Two kids later at age nineteen, Rima – ever the pioneer - had the vision

that she truly needed to discover the world, and left her safe homelandwith her doctor husband to live in Munich for two years before finally im-migrating to Canada. Many tried to convince her that the United States

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fessionals. With mentor partnerRose Baptista, she learned the insand outs of running a teaching in-stitution while studying technol-ogy at Longview College. At thetime her husband was running for office in Toronto, a move to Ottawa became necessary andRima found herself at Willis College teaching computers. Shewouldn’t be doing this for long…With her entrepreneurial acu-

men in full bloom thanks to thesuccess of her cafeteria businesscoupled with the burning desireto help immigrants, Rima took it upon herself to approach Monsieur Rousseau, the reveredand “unapproachable” head ofWillis College. He seldom visitedand when he did, the staff walkedon egg shells to accommodatehim. He intimidated everyone except Rima. Audacious and brave,she invited him to lunch at Hy’sand explained how he could “in-crease business” at the College.She also paid for his lunch.The College’s executive director

was not at all pleased with this dis-play of chutzpah and within daysfired Rima – ostensibly becauseher English was not good enoughfor classroom teaching. One canimagine the executive diector’s astonishment when MonsieurRousseau made an unexpected return visit to the school and announced to the director, “I just sold the business to Rima Aristocrat.” Making a hasty exit, she left with this telling remark: “An immigrant will destroy this noble college.” Howwrong she would be.

Having just gone through thechallenge of being misunderstoodand under-valued for who she was,in her role as president and CEO ofWillis College is focused on makingthe way easier for others, and shehas never looked back. In twenty-eight years at the helm, much goodhas happened. In addition to the National

Aboriginal IT Training initiative,Rima has forged significant na-tional and international initiatives:first Canadian Academic Develop-ment Institute (CADI); first inter-provincial partnership between a

university (Winnipeg) and WillisCollege; two sister-city partner-ships with Hubei Province, China;partnership with ICTC to bridgethe ICT skills gap in Canada; theonly private career college in theworld to offer complete Renew-able/Clean Energy Project AnalysisCertification; the only Canadianeducation institute chosen fromover 1,300 universities and collegesin North America to be a memberof the Microsoft Education Na-tional Advisory Council; and thelist of stellar “firsts” goes on. Perhaps most significant amongRima’s accomplishments, is her exclusive partnership with Fortinetand Sophos, whereby Willis College is the only private careercollege in Canada to benefit froman employer-led, employer in-vested skills training model that

offers lucrative careers through anexclusive partnership with theAmerican and UK multinationalcorporations.What Rima has achieved in her

tenure at Willis College is nothingshort of spectacular. She is indeed“the best with the best mission inlife.” Yet, this heady mix of acco-lades is tempered by a womanwhose daughters and grandchil-dren figure prominently – shewants more time to spend withthem. They pull at her emotionallybecause she loves them so much,and Rima wants them to know

“what grandma does.” Thoughgrandma is the successful educatorand corporate executive, grandmais also the woman who has chosento share the special star she wasborn under with everyone she’smet throughout her life. And thisgenerous sharing of her special staris the legacy Rima will leave to allher family – at home, at the Collegeand beyond. Rima’s humilitytouches me as she closes our con-versation with these wise words:“We as human beings are merelytravellers between birth and death;marks we choose to leave along thejourney are up to us.”

MAKEUP ARTIST | Natalie PeachyHAIRSTYLIST | Kirsty MacdonaldPHOTOGRAPHY & CREATIVE DIRECTOR |Michelle Aristocrat

We as human beings are merely travelersbetween birth and death, marks we chooseto leave along the journey, are up to us.

– Rima Aristocrat “ ”

COVER + EDITORIAL