Women Living Fully - Woman of the Week: Nicole Ankou

Nicole Ankou

I’m a very strong woman with a very big heart! I look at life on the positive side as there’s just too many negative sides of life. I will always have the Great Spirit in my life as he has given me everything I ever needed. The people that are in my life is because they want to be there with me.

I’m a mother, a sister, an aunt, a cousin and a wife. I’m a mother of three beautiful strong children. A mother to a son who’s a police officer, another one who’s an NFL player for the Jacksonville Jaguar and a mother to a daughter who’s graduating next year in International Communications and doing her last year of study in Hong Kong.
I work for the federal government and looking forward to retiring within the next two years.

Who inspires you in your life and why?

My mom. She was a very strong woman in every sense of the word!

What have been some of the biggest challenges you have had to overcome in your life?

Believe it or not, my weight!

What did you do to move through them? What did you learn?

I had to learn what it meant how to eat to survive and not let food eat me.

What are you most proud of?

Of the success my husband and I have accomplished with our children.

What do you want younger women to know?

That everything is reachable!

What does living fully mean to you?

That one gives totally of themselves in everything they do in life!

Favourite quote?

Not sure if it’s a quote or more of a children book from Robert N Munsch and Sheila McGraw that I’ve always loved since the first day I read it to our children.
Je t’aimerai toujours, la nuit comme le jour, et temps que je vivrai, tu seras mon bébé! (Translated: “I’ll love you forever. I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living,
my baby you’ll be.”

Pierrette Raymond

Pierrette Raymond is a multi-business owner and philanthropist. She has been running businesses since 1996, and has a background in Psychology, Education, Grief and Bereavement. She is the owner of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? Ottawa and Gatineau, and recently became a professional dog trainer with multiple certifications in dog behaviour and training. She is a four-time published author, speaker, facilitator, a community leader and also a member of the Forbes Coaches Council. She is the recipient of the Ontario Leading Women Building Communities award, given by the Government of Ontario to women in our province "who demonstrate exceptional leadership in working to improve the lives of others in their communities”. And she is a a Forty Under 40 Award Recipient.