Making winter 'chic': How this St. John's business is helping people tackle winter loneliness

It's easy to start avoiding social interaction during the winter months. Especially in St. John's where cold temperatures and lots of snowfall can make getting out difficult.

That's why Mia Francis is encouraging people to get out of the house and meet new people with Chic Socials. 

Francis is the owner of Chic Celebrations, a professional event planning and decorating service in St. John's. She gained experience decorating working for luxury events in the aviation industry. 

Last spring her extravagantly decorated wedding proposals attracted a lot of attention on Tik Tok. Now, she does everything from parties to weddings. 

Francis immigrated to Labrador from the United Kingdom when she was young, and said she always enjoyed organizing gatherings with friends and family. She says getting people together through events has always been one of her passions

Last January, she opened up her event space on Water Street in St. John's.  Even though it used to be an office, Francis chose the space for it's location and natural light, making it good for warm and welcoming events. 

"It's really great vibes," she said.

Francis wanted to do something else to start helping people. 

Her business is attached to the Well Room, a space managed by the Natural Vibe. Francis is now also the in-house decorator for events in that space, helping organize monthly yoga classes for charity.

Beat the winter blues

Chic Socials are events and workshops for anyone to get out of the house to meet other people. 

Francis said it's for "people that are looking to meet friends and be social, [and] kind of beat those winter blues."

When she was new to the city, Francis found her self looking for ways to make friends, which inspired her to start Chic Socials.

"It can be super hard to meet people in an organic way, and that's kind of what we wanted to create here is wellness-based events every month," she said. "You can come be social, and kind of the goal here is to help with seasonal depression."

Francis focuses on wellness based events, and so far she's done vision board, terrariums, water colour painting and crafting workshops. 

Her first event in the new space was making vision boards, which are poster collages of images that represent someone's goals. 

"So we were focused on setting intentions for the year, goal setting, and that's kind of how that workshop came about," said Francis. "We had a great turnout."

It's also important to her to support other Black-owned businesses. 

"Whether it's purchasing their products, giving them a shout out, especially in places like Newfoundland where it's not as diverse," she said. 

Next, her goal is to host events that bring together the Black community in St. John's. 

"So that's kind of my next milestone is to put on these community events that bring people together to showcase Black excellence."

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Sign up for our daily headlines newsletter here. Click here to visit our landing page.