Jakki Van Hemert

With her caring heart and strong devotion to her students, Jakki Van Hemert has made a difference for many via her business, Heart & Soul Tae Kwon Do in Fruitvale. She took a moment to respond to our questions about her career and life.

How did you come to choose this line of work?

Answering this question is a bit tough for me, as I don't consider this work. I am the manager of construction for AMEC Foster Wheeler, which is what I do for work. I consider the martial arts my passion, and in order to continue to make it my passion, I try not to make it feel like work.

I got involved in martial arts at the age of 15 and it quickly changed my life. Martial arts are not only about physical fitness, but (also) developing your mind, body and soul; it’s about making you the best version of yourself. I wanted to be able to share my passion (by) teaching the arts, which is why Heart & Soul was started. My previous jobs did not allow me to settle down and teach, so my employment with AMEC Foster Wheeler, along with the need for martial arts in Fruitvale, turned out to be great combination. When I say I don't do this for work, I mean I never want to compromise my teaching in order to try and make more money.

What is it about your work that has you excited to get out of bed in the morning?

What drives me to continue to work a full day at AMEC and then teach every night is seeing people overcome their own personal obstacles and succeed. When I see students learn something new or accomplish a goal they at first thought was impossible, that is what drives me. One of my favourite sayings is "I want to inspire people, I want someone to look at me and say, 'Because of you, I didn't give up.' " With both the martial arts and the Insanity Fitness, our goal is to help people.

What’s your focus for 2016?

Our focus in 2016 is to continue to grow. I have been able to train two black belts as well as a fitness instructor to help take over classes, and our goal is to continue to learn by teaching. Every day we meet new people with new challenges, so our goal is to adapt to those and make ourselves better instructors.

Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur in the Kootenays?

As stated above, this is something I always wanted to do, and everything just fell into place in Fruitvale. My husband and I were fortunate that we were able to find a piece of commercial real estate in Fruitvale and secure the loans required to build ourselves a building to operate out of. We looked at renting, but since we wanted some flexibility it worked best to build new. As it's turned out, it has been an asset to the community.