Speaker Profile

Maddy Purves-Smith grew up in the rural Carstairs, Alberta area where her family owns and operates Custom Woolen Mills, a full service woolen mill using machines dating back to the late 1800’s. As with many small businesses, everyone in the family participated, and Maddy’s upbringing was steeped in a deep appreciation for hard work, rural community, and fibre arts and craft.

Maddy studied muscle physiology, obtaining a Bachelors and M.Sc. in Kinesiology from the University of Calgary, and pursuing a Ph.D. at McGill University, where her research focused on the natural and disease processes of human aging. In 2013, Maddy returned to the Mill, having developed an increasingly reinforced belief that happy and healthy aging is founded in lifelong physical activity, a strong sense of community, and opportunity for individual expression - a lifestyle serendipitously nurtured through the Mill and the pursuit of craft. She now enjoys the daily practice of running the Mill with her mother, Fen, and husband, Josh.