If you have ever met Sandra Kahale, even if only for a moment, there is a good chance you left feeling seen, heard, and probably very much at home.
That is because Sandra is a natural hostess, and communication really is at the core of everything she does.
The president of OnWord Consulting and founder of the newly created 11 Rooms, Sandra is a writer, coach, facilitator, strategist, trainer, and a damn good party planner. From content and communications strategy to bumpin’ networking events for entrepreneurs, everything Sandra does is centred around helping people connect, communicate and collaborate.
“Magical connections, amazing creative work, problem solving… connection. These are the things I want to facilitate,” said Sandra.
Remarkably, Sandra is also a political theorist by training, and spent the early years of her career working for the government.
After graduating from the University of Victoria with a masters degree in contemporary and social political thought, Sandra got her start in the privacy commissioner’s office. A job with the federal government brought her to Ottawa shortly after, but a distaste for the city eventually led her to the provincial government in Toronto. Over the years, she worked for the management board, in democratic renewal, and at one point served as the executive assistant to the Deputy of Communications. She was also one of four people who sat in a room for months on end writing Canada’s privacy legislation, which is still the legislation that applies today.
Sandra spent those early years working on privacy and democracy because they were the things that motivated her to get up in the morning.
“I was in the public service because I am all about protecting the public good,” said Sandra.
However, a discouraging experience on the T.T.C., left her questioning the “public good” she was serving, so she took a leave from work and went to Qatar on a management consulting gig. When she came back, she quit her job and returned to the Middle East full-time.
“You do not leave the government… It was something nobody ever did at the time,” she said. “But I couldn't see myself spending my whole life in government.”
Quite the reverse, living in the Middle East was exciting, and Sandra ended up staying in Qatar for about a year. She lived in a Marriott Hotel all the while, and got to learn day in and day out how a hotel operates — a lesson that would come in handy years later. She spent a stint in Saudi Arabia and was on her way to Dubai when the global economy tanked in 2008. She shifted gears, packed a bag, and moved to Egypt for six months to learn Arabic, and eventually settled in Lebanon.
“It was a beautiful moment in Lebanon at that time,” Sandra smiled. “I had amazing friends, delightful lovers, gorgeous days and beautiful beaches… I loved it. So I decided I was going to stay.”
She came back to Toronto to tie up loose ends and pack her life up more permanently. While home, in pure Sandra fashion, she threw a party. Around 10 p.m. she was taking something out of the oven and as she turned around, platter in hand, bumped straight into her high school boyfriend, Peter. They had dinner later that week, and before they had even finished their first glass of wine, the two agreed to spend eight weeks in Honduras together.
The night before they were to leave, Sandra cried to her mother. “What am I doing?!” she said. “I am basically going to Honduras with a stranger I broke up with 25 years ago.” Her mother just laughed and told her it would be fine.
And sure enough, it was more than just fine.
“Basically, in spite of myself, we fell madly in love,” laughed Sandra.
She never went back to Lebanon.
Sandra and Peter returned to Toronto together and spent a year in the city, heading up to Collingwood on weekends, and Sandra quickly started to feel like something was backwards.
“I said to Peter, we should be living in Collingwood and spending weekends in the city. He was thrilled to hear it. So we moved here full time.”
Sandra never intended to start a business, but there were no suitable jobs in Collingwood, so she decided to create one. She began OnWord Consulting just like that, 11 years ago, and began to serve other small businesses, online experts, not-for-profits, colleges, universities, government, and other service-minded organizations — anyone who needed clarity in their communication.
The business has morphed over the years, and has most recently served as a container for Sandra’s facilitation and training business.
“Communication has always been the core of what I do,” said Sandra. “Whether I am doing the writing, whether I am teaching people to do the writing, whether I am using techniques to effect change in particular ways with communication, or facilitating other people communicating amongst themselves.”
The facilitation piece really started simply because Sandra really is a natural hostess.
Upon purchasing and subsequently spending more time at their cottage in Uxbridge, Sandra started to feel isolated from her entrepreneurial peers. So she decided to facilitate an open space at the cottage and invited like-minded entrepreneurs to come and connect in a supportive, peer-to-peer environment.
“It went on all day and most of the night,” said Sandra. “No one wanted to leave.”
So Confab was born.
Over the years, Sandra continued to host the invite-only networking parties and organically built out the amazing community of colleagues she'd been longing for.
A serial entrepreneur, it’s only fitting that Sandra would eventually take all of these bits and pieces of her passions and blend them into one beautifully unique business: 11 Rooms.
Located on St. Paul Street, 11 Rooms is Collingwood’s newest boutique hotel and retreat space designed specifically for creators, connectors and collaborators.
While the space is finally ready to officially open its doors, the process has been a rollercoaster in itself — one that began about the time the pandemic hit. Sandra, Peter and a third partner purchased the historic rooming house at the beginning of 2020. They didn’t actually see the space until it closed that March, and even then, they were unsure of what it would turn out to be.
“It was a huge leap of faith, but that’s the kind of thing we do,” said Sandra. “It’s going to be fine, or it isn’t going to be fine, and that’s fine too.”
Over the past year and a half they built a team and together, transformed 11 Rooms into exactly what Sandra always dreamed. In recent weeks, 11 Rooms has participated in community events and collaborated with other local businesses, and Sandra is overwhelmed by the support of the community so far, the Foundry included.
“The Foundry is like an ongoing confab, and it has been a real beacon,” said Sandra. “In a way, it is a parallel of what we’re doing. It’s all of the community-minded people coming together.”
With the finishing touches in place and many more collaborations in the works, Sandra is eager to continue facilitating these magical connections — and in Collingwood, no less.
“I love this town. I’ve lived in a lot of places, but I have never loved a place as much as I love this place,” Sandra said.
She ultimately realized this is exactly the kind of public service she always wanted to do.
That is because Sandra is a natural hostess, and communication really is at the core of everything she does.
The president of OnWord Consulting and founder of the newly created 11 Rooms, Sandra is a writer, coach, facilitator, strategist, trainer, and a damn good party planner. From content and communications strategy to bumpin’ networking events for entrepreneurs, everything Sandra does is centred around helping people connect, communicate and collaborate.
“Magical connections, amazing creative work, problem solving… connection. These are the things I want to facilitate,” said Sandra.
“I said to Peter, we should be living in Collingwood and spending weekends in the city. He was thrilled to hear it. So we moved here full time.”
Remarkably, Sandra is also a political theorist by training, and spent the early years of her career working for the government.
After graduating from the University of Victoria with a masters degree in contemporary and social political thought, Sandra got her start in the privacy commissioner’s office. A job with the federal government brought her to Ottawa shortly after, but a distaste for the city eventually led her to the provincial government in Toronto. Over the years, she worked for the management board, in democratic renewal, and at one point served as the executive assistant to the Deputy of Communications. She was also one of four people who sat in a room for months on end writing Canada’s privacy legislation, which is still the legislation that applies today.
Sandra spent those early years working on privacy and democracy because they were the things that motivated her to get up in the morning.
“I was in the public service because I am all about protecting the public good,” said Sandra.
However, a discouraging experience on the T.T.C., left her questioning the “public good” she was serving, so she took a leave from work and went to Qatar on a management consulting gig. When she came back, she quit her job and returned to the Middle East full-time.
“You do not leave the government… It was something nobody ever did at the time,” she said. “But I couldn't see myself spending my whole life in government.”
“Communication has always been the core of what I do,” said Sandra. “Whether I am doing the writing, whether I am teaching people to do the writing, whether I am using techniques to effect change in particular ways with communication, or facilitating other people communicating amongst themselves.”
Quite the reverse, living in the Middle East was exciting, and Sandra ended up staying in Qatar for about a year. She lived in a Marriott Hotel all the while, and got to learn day in and day out how a hotel operates — a lesson that would come in handy years later. She spent a stint in Saudi Arabia and was on her way to Dubai when the global economy tanked in 2008. She shifted gears, packed a bag, and moved to Egypt for six months to learn Arabic, and eventually settled in Lebanon.
“It was a beautiful moment in Lebanon at that time,” Sandra smiled. “I had amazing friends, delightful lovers, gorgeous days and beautiful beaches… I loved it. So I decided I was going to stay.”
She came back to Toronto to tie up loose ends and pack her life up more permanently. While home, in pure Sandra fashion, she threw a party. Around 10 p.m. she was taking something out of the oven and as she turned around, platter in hand, bumped straight into her high school boyfriend, Peter. They had dinner later that week, and before they had even finished their first glass of wine, the two agreed to spend eight weeks in Honduras together.
The night before they were to leave, Sandra cried to her mother. “What am I doing?!” she said. “I am basically going to Honduras with a stranger I broke up with 25 years ago.” Her mother just laughed and told her it would be fine.
And sure enough, it was more than just fine.
“Basically, in spite of myself, we fell madly in love,” laughed Sandra.
She never went back to Lebanon.
Sandra and Peter returned to Toronto together and spent a year in the city, heading up to Collingwood on weekends, and Sandra quickly started to feel like something was backwards.
“I said to Peter, we should be living in Collingwood and spending weekends in the city. He was thrilled to hear it. So we moved here full time.”
Sandra never intended to start a business, but there were no suitable jobs in Collingwood, so she decided to create one. She began OnWord Consulting just like that, 11 years ago, and began to serve other small businesses, online experts, not-for-profits, colleges, universities, government, and other service-minded organizations — anyone who needed clarity in their communication.
The business has morphed over the years, and has most recently served as a container for Sandra’s facilitation and training business.
“Communication has always been the core of what I do,” said Sandra. “Whether I am doing the writing, whether I am teaching people to do the writing, whether I am using techniques to effect change in particular ways with communication, or facilitating other people communicating amongst themselves.”
The facilitation piece really started simply because Sandra really is a natural hostess.
Upon purchasing and subsequently spending more time at their cottage in Uxbridge, Sandra started to feel isolated from her entrepreneurial peers. So she decided to facilitate an open space at the cottage and invited like-minded entrepreneurs to come and connect in a supportive, peer-to-peer environment.
“It went on all day and most of the night,” said Sandra. “No one wanted to leave.”
So Confab was born.
Over the years, Sandra continued to host the invite-only networking parties and organically built out the amazing community of colleagues she'd been longing for.
A serial entrepreneur, it’s only fitting that Sandra would eventually take all of these bits and pieces of her passions and blend them into one beautifully unique business: 11 Rooms.
Located on St. Paul Street, 11 Rooms is Collingwood’s newest boutique hotel and retreat space designed specifically for creators, connectors and collaborators.
“I love this town. I’ve lived in a lot of places, but I have never loved a place as much as I love this place,”
While the space is finally ready to officially open its doors, the process has been a rollercoaster in itself — one that began about the time the pandemic hit. Sandra, Peter and a third partner purchased the historic rooming house at the beginning of 2020. They didn’t actually see the space until it closed that March, and even then, they were unsure of what it would turn out to be.
“It was a huge leap of faith, but that’s the kind of thing we do,” said Sandra. “It’s going to be fine, or it isn’t going to be fine, and that’s fine too.”
Over the past year and a half they built a team and together, transformed 11 Rooms into exactly what Sandra always dreamed. In recent weeks, 11 Rooms has participated in community events and collaborated with other local businesses, and Sandra is overwhelmed by the support of the community so far, the Foundry included.
“The Foundry is like an ongoing confab, and it has been a real beacon,” said Sandra. “In a way, it is a parallel of what we’re doing. It’s all of the community-minded people coming together.”
With the finishing touches in place and many more collaborations in the works, Sandra is eager to continue facilitating these magical connections — and in Collingwood, no less.
“I love this town. I’ve lived in a lot of places, but I have never loved a place as much as I love this place,” Sandra said.
She ultimately realized this is exactly the kind of public service she always wanted to do.
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