Every small business has its own reason for wanting to help out its community.
For Liz Ellwood, co-owner of a small batch of delicious donut shops, her motivation comes from simply being alive. Years ago, she beat cervical cancer; some of the women treated alongside her for the same disease at the same stage did not.
“I could name at least six women who I got very close to who are not here — moms, daughters, kindergarten teachers, university professors,” said the 42-year-old businesswoman. “Brilliant women who were kind and good.”
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That she survived when others didn’t has left her with a sense of responsibility to make an impact, as if to prove she deserved her fortunate outcome.
“That’s how I cope with my survivor’s guilt. I always look at my life this way: if I was diagnosed with my cancer 15 years earlier or my cancer treatment didn’t work, I wouldn’t be here. I’m here on borrowed time.”
Ellwood and her life partner Jon Martin co-own the Maverick’s Donuts store in Stittsville, as well as a kiosk in Kanata, and are part-owners of the shops in Barrhaven and Carleton Place. The couple regularly donates donuts to support local causes big and small, rarely saying no to requests.
“This community has been so good to us,” said Ellwood, who famously launched a weekend-long fundraiser back in June with Maverick’s brand ambassador Stu Schwartz. Other local franchise locations joined in as well.
Some $12,000 was collected over the course of a single weekend to help Schwartz’s former radio colleague, Angie Poirier, cover the costs incurred while her young son Nash underwent cancer treatment in Boston. Funds were raised through the sale of a special Nash’s Ninjas sprinkle donut.
Ottawa police officers bought Nash’s Ninjas by the dozens and handed them out to strangers in the streets. “It was beautiful,” recalled Ellwood.
She didn’t mind that she and Martin practically worked around the clock to prepare the donuts. It’s just one of many experiences that have drawn Ellwood closer to her community.
“The business has helped me to meet so many people,” she continued. “My quality of life has improved because I feel like I have developed so many valuable relationships. It’s been such an incredible ride.”
Ellwood also runs her own business development and marketing firm, LE Strategies, often serving clients in the health-care sector. She is particularly passionate about women’s health care and remains a strong advocate for HPV vaccination, a virus that affects about three out of four sexually active Canadians at least once in their lifetime.
Long before donuts rose into her life, Ellwood ran her own surrogacy and egg donation agency, Fertility Match Canada. She also founded a national charity, Fertile Future. It has provided financial assistance to close to 900 young cancer patients to preserve their fertility before cancer treatment. Her accomplishments earned her a Forty Under 40 award in 2018.
Both organizations were inspired by the challenges Ellwood faced in becoming a mom after she was treated for cervical cancer at age 24. She’d been diagnosed early in her career, shortly after she finished university and returned to her hometown of Kemptville.
Ellwood was at her loneliest point while undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. She found unexpected comfort from her dog, a schnoodle named Stuart. He remained a fixture in her life until his passing five years ago, at age 13.
As for her dream of becoming a mother, it was made possible “because one woman was willing to give her eggs and another was willing to carry my child,” said Ellwood. “It takes an incredibly special woman to do either of those two things.”
Ellwood’s daughter Anna is now 12 years old and “pretty damn perfect.” She and her family live in Stittsville.
The leap from miracle babies to donuts is hardly a typical career move, but the pandemic was hard on Ellwood’s fertility business due to lockdowns and, at the time, Martin was in franchise talks with Ottawa-based Maverick’s Donuts. Martin had successfully franchised Retire At Home Services years earlier. The local company had been started by his mom, Irene Martin.
Ellwood and Martin opened the first Maverick’s Donuts franchise on Stittsville Main Street in October 2020.
Ellwood thinks of Maverick’s Donuts as a fun brand, using words like “posh” and “edgy” to describe the made-from-scratch treats that can be produced at high volumes. Maverick’s is the exclusive donut of TD Place and is carried in some Costco stores.
Ottawa is home to an assortment of good donut shops, Ellwood readily acknowledged. “I almost feel like our city could become a donut capital. We have so many great options, it’s crazy.”
Maverick’s distinguishes itself from the others by being a community-based brand that can be anything to anyone, offering custom decorations, matching colours, and logos, said Ellwood. “The potential is limitless.”
Maverick’s appetizing arrangements and display walls have been featured at many fundraisers and events, from BGC Ottawa’s Glamping Gala to The Honest Talk’s The Women’s Summit, the latter of which fit with Ellwood’s core value of lifting and supporting other women.
“When I feel like I’ve helped someone, it fills my bucket, it makes me so happy,” said Ellwood of the community contributions through Maverick’s. “At the end of the day, we’re not here for a long time; life is temporary. While we’re here, I do believe we should leave the world a better place, in some small way, than when we came into it.”
