For this People of Downtown Blog, meet McKayla Rebalkin!

McKayla grew up in a small town outside of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, where she eventually graduated from high school and moved away to college in Regina, Sask to become a paramedic. She graduated from Parimedicine as a primary care paramedic in 2021 and moved here to Lethbridge, where she worked as a paramedic for about a year and a half. During that time, McKayla started experimenting with retail as a way to pass the time and started to fall in love with the fashion world. 

McKayla eventually decided that she wanted to fully dive into retail and started her own business called Tiger Bee Boutique. Tiger Bee was a sweet boutique with cute and trendy pieces, right here in Downtown Lethbridge, making McKayla a past downtown business owner! 

Even though McKayla has since closed Tiger Bee Boutique to pursue a new career path in financial advising, she still remains a strong presence in Downtown Lethbridge. "My current role is advocating, assisting, promoting, and collaborating with both business owners and the community." McKayla is now getting her life insurance license and looks forward to working with people from a financial standpoint. 

McKayla has been on the BRZ board for a little over 2 years. "What made me join the board was that I owned a business and I really wanted to be involved with the downtown community, and I thought what better opportunity than to join a board that advocated for our downtown."

In her free time, McKayla enjoys spending time with her husband and dog, Elvis, taking him for walks and slow-paced adventures. She enjoys reading and can go through multiple books each month, as well as travelling to the small mountain towns, finding new thrift stores and coffee shops. Locally, McKayla has a few favourite downtown businesses including Poppin Tags, Salty Clothing Co, Big John's Books, and Olive Branch Jewelry. 

Lastly, when asked what McKayla loves about Downtown Lethbridge, her short answer was the community. She loves the uniqueness of Lethbridge's center and how all the business owners work together and promote one another. "The downtown is just a hub for everyone in our community to come to."