SIMPLY THE BEST
SOUND OF SUCCESS! Celebrating diversity in its true essence! What could be better than honoring men and women from different countries for their various contributions through their different fields? RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrants 2015 are made up of world-renowned talents who followed their passion and made their dreams come true. I am proud to be a past winner myself in 2013 along with avid Filipino volunteer Leticia La Rosa from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Also, not to forget past winners of Filipino heritage like Toronto’s immigration lawyer Rafael Fabregas (2010), Vancouver multi-awardee realtor & community leader Narima Dela Cruz (2012), Winnipeg’s first Filipino MP Dr. Rey Pagtakhan, Vancouver’s family physician & UBC clinical instructor Dr. Anna Wolak (2014), Ontario community worker Alberto Rodil (2014).
This year, there are two more Filipino-Canadians who received this prestigious award, Toronto’s immigrant trainer & educator Ver Cruz and Vancouver’s very own businesswoman Maria Nieves Santos-Greaves, president of Surrey Hearing Care Inc..
Maria Nieves Santos-Greaves accepting her award. Photos courtesy of Simply the Best TV Show
During the June 25, 2015 awards ceremony in Vancouver, Santos-Greaves was so proud and delighted to accept her award at the Bill Reid Gallery. “I am so proud to be a Canadian because Canada now is my home. In the beginning, I wasn’t expecting that Canada will be my home. Everybody knows that I was a single mom, when I got separated I thought of going back to the Philippines. But I thought of my son and it’s not fair for him, taking away his home.”
Santos-Greaves is very passionate about her calling in hearing. “I just strived hard and worked hard and go for my dreams. And this is what happens with all determinations and hard work.”
She would go an extra mile to service others picking up and giving rides to patients who do not have easy access to her clinics. Her company’s mobile hearing clinic van gives complimentary hearing screenings and provides information lectures.
When Maria Nieves Santos-Greaves first came to Canada from the Philippines, she worked at a dollar store, then sold registered education savings plans and worked at a call center. With persistence and hard work, she became an audiometric technician at Fraser Health that started her business.
“Don’t be afraid to dream, if you dream, dream big,” Greave advices new immigrants.
