Great portraits go beyond the ink on the paper or the shiny precious metals lighting up our monitors; it’s an emotional document of a person’s heart and soul. This approach to producing headshots has awarded me the privilege of interviewing hundreds of outstanding people shaping our world. Today, I am writing about Mark Bentz, an inspiration to all.
Mark Bentz is the founder of Electra Health, a community of doctors, counsellors and RMTs
Mark Bentz is the founder of Electra Health, a community of doctors, counsellors and RMTs who provide unparalleled service and help. He is a two-time gold medalist, including a few of his accolades. But if you think this is impressive, wait until you read paragraph four.
Not only did I photograph Mark last Summer, but I was also honoured to photograph his team of about 75 outstanding doctors, practitioners and healers who work at Electra Health while benefiting from each other. They work as a team rather than in competition with each other. For example, an Electra Health massage therapist may work in combination with the Electra Health Chiropractor, and the Electra Health Chiropractor may refer the Electra Health psychologist to provide a holistic program for a car accident victim. This model works and has helped them build successful careers in their field while also helping each other grow and prosper. But nobody benefits more than the customer, client or patient by the team’s ability to find up-and-coming talent or leaders in their specialty to “one of the largest multi-disciplinary clinics.”
“I dream that one day… they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character…” Martin Luther King.
Like King, Mark Bentz also struggled to overcome; at the age of nine, he was diagnosed with cone-rod dystrophy and progressively lost his site over the next few years, and now, at the age of 54, he has 1% of vision left.
Somehow, now at fifty, he has turned his legal blindness into insightfulness where he can see things that others won’t. He was the president of the Canadian Blind Ice Hockey gold Olympic4 medalist. His dynamic team of two, Tracy and Mark, has created a prosperous environment for his team of seventy-five.
“How is it that you don’t use a dog or a cane?” I boldly asked Mark one day. “In being blind, we take the comfort of knowing our surroundings, so I have memorized the building and know where to walk and where not to walk, and my dog can stay at home with Tracy. They are both happy at home when I go to work”.
Tony Robbins and his program have helped us enormously, said Mark as one of his accolades while working towards creating a dream. Besides being a full-time CEO, a public speaker and on the board of directors of Hockey for the blind, Mark coaches a limited number of entrepreneurs wanting some of his success for their ventures. He limits it to five.
“Making money and being rich is easy” “What is hard is fulfillment… Fulfillment comes from helping people, and that is what we should all strive for…” said Mark. “What would you like people to learn from Mark Bentz’s life experience?” I asked. “DON’T GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS,” he said with passion, experience and glowing.
“My sole mission is to build a therapeutic community full of great practitioners”
Mark Benz
“Contributing makes me feel like I’m being useful to the planet.”
Anna Wong, Volunteer
