It’s 9 am on a Friday morning and I am on my way to a blind date. Actually, it’s an interview with Carissa Reiniger, founder and president of the business consulting company Silver Lining – but it feels like a blind date. I am carrying a copy of Women’s Post – rather than a red rose – in my hand, to make sure we find each other in the morning frenzy of Starbucks.
Carissa Reiniger immediately strikes me as an amazingly good-natured and capable person. She greets me with a warm smile. One cup of coffee later, I discover that it doesn’t take much to get this enthusiastic entrepreneur excitedly telling me all about Silver Lining, the business consulting company she founded while still an undergraduate student at the University of Alberta.
“Silver Lining started as an umbrella for all the different things I was doing and interested in,” says Carissa. “I was working about four or five jobs at University just trying to figure out what I wanted to do.” Her attempts to pinpoint where to take her life always came back to one thing – helping others. “I really like people. I’m a social person. I’ve always been into volunteering, working in food banks and shelters.”
This desire to help people was channeled into the creation of Silver Lining, which specifically focuses on aiding the growth of small to mid-size businesses. “Smaller companies can’t really afford to have a Business Development VP, or pay a huge agency,” Carissa explains. “What we do is set up a 13-month partnership with a company. In the first month we build a one-year plan… around a goal, and then we go through with it over the next 12 months.”
While some big corporate types might scoff at the idea of investing time in smaller businesses, Carissa’s belief in helping these smaller companies has paid off for Silver Lining, as well as its clients – who range from Women Entrepreneurs of Canada, to motivational speakers, to CabAds. With offices in Toronto, Vancouver, and Edmonton (Carissa’s hometown), Silver Lining continues to expand – most recently, opening an office in Las Vegas.
One of Carissa’s favourite topics to discuss is the company’s charitable initiative, Project Aware. Smaller businesses don’t exactly have the big bucks to shell out to various organizations, so Silver Lining tries to help small businesses make charitable contributions in different and creative ways. “I started Project Aware to try and connect smaller business to charities.” Carissa says. “We want them to realize that it’s possible to help others, even if you’re a small business yourself.”
Listening to Carissa detail the many charitable endeavours she’s instituted through Project Aware I thought she’d get a little weary of constantly helping others. But her energy and passion are boundless – and, most importantly, she absolutely loves what she’s doing. “I think this is the right thing for me to be doing,” she tells me. “I don’t think I could ever go back to a ‘real job.’” When a person doesn’t consider their work a “real job,” you can be certain that they truly enjoy it. By pursuing her love of helping others, Carissa seems to be a lot happier than most people I know – maybe her mentality is one worth picking up: “You’ve got to love what you do,” she says, and then, with a shrug: “I don’t see the point of doing it if you don’t love it.”
Carissa Reiniger can be reached through: www.silverlininglimited.com
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