Rachel Greenfeld was born to connect people. She just has a gift. Throughout her adult life, Ms. Greenfeld has lived in 12 different countries, where she honed her craft of bringing people together, and made a huge impact on the lives of the people she connected. “I had a going away party in every place I lived…. I always had [at least] 500 people at my going away parties!,” says Greenfeld with a laugh. Rachel Greenfeld was born to connect people. She just has a gift. Throughout her adult life, Ms. Greenfeld has lived in 12 different countries, where she honed her craft of bringing people together, and made a huge impact on the lives of the people she connected. “I had a going away party in every place I lived…. I always had [at least] 500 people at my going away parties!,” says Greenfeld with a laugh.

Braving A New World

In 2002, at the age of 30, Greenfeld decided to leave her latest adopted homeland, London, England, and move back to her native Vancouver. When Greenfeld arrived in Vancouver, she felt alone in a city full of individualistic and disconnected people; the Vancouver norm was to be suspicious of strangers who struck up conversations out of the blue. “I wanted to integrate with my own community,” says Greenfeld.

Having lived in Europe for so many years, she had seen how communities were created in Irish pubs, English gentlemen’s clubs, and Spanish tapas bars. Greenfeld wanted people in Vancouver to experience this sense of community for themselves, to have a place where they could connect, have a drink, eat, dance, listen to music, chat, relax, or do whatever, and just feel comfortable being themselves. She wanted to create a space with a European feel, but a friendly atmosphere, a distinctly Canadian attribute. The first seeds of The Campoverde Social Club were planted.

Yes, I Can

“When I created the concept [of Campoverde] it did not even exist; I could not [even] explain it to anybody,” admits Greenfeld. Greenfeld was not eligible for any bank loans for her venture, given that she did not have a credit history as she had never worked in Canada as an adult. “My father said, “honey, I love you, I believe in you, but I do not understand why anybody would want to go to this,” says Greenfeld with a laugh.

But Greenfeld did understand, and she would not give up. Campoverde would fulfill Maslow’s third basic human need. “Humans have a need for community, to belong,” says Greenfeld. She adds: “It [Campoverde] was not ever not going to happen…[and] when I got the idea, everything fell into place.”

A Whole New World

Greenfeld had a great idea just waiting to come to life, but was short $50,000 to see it through. Then, one day out of the blue, an old friend from elementary school named Kimberley McFarland walked infront of Greenfeld’s house. Greenfeld had not seen her friend in years, and as they were catching up, Greenfeld said she wanted to start a social club in Vancouver, and McFarland mentioned that she had a business in Mexico, but was looking to invest in a business in Vancouver for six months of the year. McFarland had exactly $50,000, the precise amount Greenfeld was missing. Greenfeld and McFarland were business partners from that moment. After finding her ideal home for Campoverde, Greenfeld and McFarland took courses on how to build and paint. “We did not have enough capital to build it properly, so we took courses [to learn how to do those things],” says Greenfeld.

When Greenfeld found all the paints she needed in a paint shop, which would enable her to paint Campoverde as she wanted it to look, she was told it would cost thousands of dollars, that it would be impossible to do. Greenfeld would not give up on her dream paint scheme, and was referred to a Feng Shui master who told her “yes, it can be done, get everyone you know together, it can be done in twenty-four hours. And it was. Greenfeld called all her relatives from all across the country, and they all came to help.

Says Greenfeld: “Failure was not an option, that is why I got what I wanted.”

Here Comes The Sun

“What I love most [about being President of Campoverde], is what happens to peoples lives when making contact in a natural way with people that they would not normally speak to,” says Greenfeld. Greenfeld proceeds to proudly speak of a Mormon woman who joined Campoverde, met a concert pianist and became a singer, and a Russian immigrant who felt isolated and alone in her new country, and who came to Campoverde, and was embraced into a community.

Greenfeld credits her staff and members for making Campoverde the success and “magical space to help people blossom,” it has come to be. Greenfeld offers some advice to female entrepreneurs: “Do something because you believe in it so strongly that you cannot live unless you do it. Greenfeld also strongly believes that a business should add value; to a community, to a business owner’s family, and to humanity. “Don’t do it [have a business] if you don’t think it does,” says Greenfeld. As for herself, “I do this because there is nothing else I would rather do.”

About Campoverde

Rachel Greenfeld is the Co-Founder and President of The Campoverde Social Club. Campoverde is a highly successful social club in Vancouver, which boasts over 500 members from around the world, is responsible for creating romantic unions that have resulted in almost 40 marriages, and helped successfully rebuild a village in Sri Lanka. For more information about Campoverde, please check out the website at http://www.campoverde.ca.