FE AT URES
Jennifer COMMINS’93 once turned to Branksome for help with depression. Now she’s found joy running her fast-growing business Pluck.
TEA LADY BY BERTON WOODWARD / PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF KIRK
t’s an odd word, pluck. We often associate it with bold young girls and boys in times past, who overcame difficult odds through sheer grit. Or more prosaically, of course, it can mean to pick something that grows — notably tea. So it seems natural that, as she embarked on a pretty scary new venture and new career, Jennifer Commins named her Toronto-based company Pluck Tea. Because she has plenty of both. Her four-year-old tea business is thriving — she showed it off to Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, last summer — but more to the point, she has overcome some dark days to get where she is. In fact, all those years ago, Branksome was a big help. That time is now well (continued on page 20)
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The READ Winter 2017–18