By Monica Mutale

There is no age requirement for living your dream, and Monique Fares (BScK’09) is proof of this. At 29, she is the chief executive officer of Signature Health, a corporate wellness clinic serving Atlantic Canada.

At Signature Health, Fares combines her life-long passions: health and business.

She originally planned to study medicine, but took kinesiology at the recommendation of her high school volleyball coach.

“I think that was the best degree someone could take if they’re interested in health, because it opens the doors for many different jobs in the health-care sector,” she says.

Family footsteps

Dal was a natural fit; her immediate family includes local business mogul Wadih Fares (BEng’80), mother Catherine (BA’80, BED’81), sister Zana (BEng’06) and twin brother Maurice (BComm’09).

Fares still planned to pursue medicine after completing her undergrad, and even wrote the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) in preparation.

However, while taking time off to gain work experience, she worked as a surgical consultant selling orthopaedic medical devices to hospitals and clinics.

“When they were using them in the operating room, I was in there,” she says. “So I was seeing real anatomy and physiology.”

This also gave Fares a taste of business, and set her on a different path.

“I said, ‘It’s not really a doctor I want to be. It’s that I want to run a clinic one day.’”

Fares was just 28 when Signature Health opened its doors in January 2016.

She heads the company in partnership with two prominent physicians – Dr. John Gillis and Dr. Howard Conter. Together, they provide corporate companies with one-stop medical treatment.

“A lot of companies were sending their executives and employees outside the region to Toronto, out West and to the United States,” she explains. “So there was quite a local need.”

A day in the life

For Fares, each day at work brings excitement.

“My days can range from having sales meetings all day, to meeting with business leaders, trying to get them as potential clients. Some days I act similar to a coordinator of the clinic and make sure everything runs very smoothly with the staff.”

“Every day is really different for me, which makes it a lot of fun.”

Outside of the office, Fares is connected to the community, especially as a long-time Special Olympics volunteer.

She also stays connected to her roots; Fares co-founded and taught traditional dance for several years at the Diman Lebanese School of Dance.

Fares ultimately hopes to turn the clinic into a larger centre. But, for now, she is taking things one step at a time.

“We’re helping companies be healthy,” she says, “And that’s what I love about it. I’ve always loved helping people, and I feel like I’m doing that through Signature Health.”