Alicia Bhimji was born on Salt Spring Island and spent the first few years of her life as an island child of two hippy parents. Sometimes she even finds it hard to believe but when she looks back at their photo albums and sees pictures of herself swimming at Vesuvius Bay or at a Beaver Point Hall party with long hair and guitars. Back then, it was not easy to make a living here so her parents moved the family to a farm in South Surrey where she lived until after high school.
After graduating high school, she decided to set off and see the world. It took her almost a year of saving. Her first trip was 10 months in Europe. After getting a taste of what else was out there, there was no turning back. She came back to go to BCIT and received a Diploma in Financial Management mostly because she is good with numbers and detail orientated. She would work for a year and then go abroad for another 6 months. She did this for quite a few years working with large property management companies in Vancouver and then taking off to go on another adventure.
About 7 years ago, her parents bought a little waterfront home here. The first time she saw it, she thought they were crazy because they wanted to renovate this decrepit building. At the time, she didn’t get the magic of Salt Spring. She couldn’t see why so many people wanted to live here. After all those years of living on the mainland, it was like she had no connection to the island anymore. She had only been here a few times since leaving the island. In Sept of 2005, her contract in Vancouver finished and she had a ticket to go to Central America in November so she decided to spend the time in between here on the island. Everyone thought she would last a day and then be home. There was no electricity, heat or furniture in the house. There wasn’t even door handles on the door. She had to cook off a coleman stove. It really was camping.
But as they say, the rest is history. Even though she had traveled around the world, seen and done some amazing things, nowhere she had been made her feel as at peace. When she got back from traveling, she packed up her car with as much as she could fit and moved here. She started working right away as an accountant at Salt Spring Coffee before getting her real estate license. While she was doing the real estate course, she wasn’t sure where she was going to work, here or back in Vancouver. But with One Percent growing at such a fast rate it was a perfect fit. The One Percent team concept gives her the flexibility to work really hard and then have days off to travel or spend time hiking on Salt Spring or Vancouver Island.
Alicia Bhimji looks forward to helping you find your new Salt Spring or Gulf Islands home.
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