“We think of The Sentinel as a custodian. A wise presence that watches over the land and cares for the people that live and spend time on this beautiful property.”
– Richard and Gillian, Founders of The Sentinel
Profound Experiences that Transform the World from the Inside, Out
OUR STORY
The Sentinel started with a single question:
What are we collectively capable of achieving and becoming when we explore beyond the boundaries of convention to access a mindful state of peace and compassion?
Founded by a husband and wife duo, Gillian and Richard are developing The Sentinel with a beautiful vision in mind; to realize the full potential of humanity.
OUR APPROACH
Facilitated by highly specialised thought leaders in the community, The Sentinel offers you transformative experiences that mindfully explore revolutionary modalities.
We believe that the path to self-discovery looks different for everyone. Whether you build resilient leadership through the lense of jazz, or find love, joy and pleasure in your physical body through conscious movement, we look forward to being a part of your journey.
Pursue mind, body and spiritual wellness within our open-minded, full-hearted and supportive community.
MEET OUR TEAM
Richard was born in 1959 in New Zealand and started his entrepreneurial career at age 7 with a paper route. He started working in restaurants and training to be a chef at age 15, graduating at 17 from the City and Guilds Culinary Arts Program with honours. He started his first business, a bistro in Sydney at age 19, and purchased his first property on the Gold Coast of Australia on his 21st birthday.
His considerable cooking skills supported his sense of adventure and travel, and in 1987 he was the Chef for the Great Peace March. He ran a successful catering business while living in Marin County, and reaped the rewards of real estate investment on Lucas Valley Road, as he studied art. His artistic talent and design flair have created a beautiful aesthetic in all of his renovation, construction, and hospitality ventures.
Richard has lived in Canada since 1990, and became a citizen in 2014. He has turned his own real estate investments into substantial income earners, including several houses in Kaslo, Vancouver, and Zihutanejo in Mexico, plus purchasing a 30 unit low-income/student housing building in 2002. He increased the annual income from $110,000 to $240,000 over 14 years. During this time he purchased a real estate management company in 2006, which provides executive furnished rentals in downtown Vancouver. He increased the annual income of Dunowen Properties from $640,000 to currently $3 million.
It seems there is nothing Richard cannot achieve once he puts his heart into a project. He designed Casa Espiritu, the beautiful house in which he loves to relax in Mexico, which generates a healthy income when he and his family are not there. He has catered an annual Christmas Party for between 150-200 friends, which is now approaching its 19th year, and has raised approximately $240,000 for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. Richard is able to manifest ideas into realities by bringing teams of skilled people together to fulfill on his vision.
Richard is a graduate of Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Business Management Program, and Landmark’s senior graduate course, the Team Management and Leadership Program. Over the years, Richard has devoted his considerable energies, time, skills and resources to skillfully engaging groups, individuals and particularly young people, in becoming leaders in the world. He is a stand for their greatness. He has over 20 years of personal experience working with plant medicines, and tailors his coaching so that people experience their unique gifts in the world.
Richard has been married to Gillian Maxwell for 23 years, and has two adult children. He considers his corporate accommodation and vacation rental companies in Canada and Mexico to be “his engines”, allowing him and Gillian to do their life’s work together in creating The Sentinel, and realizing the full potential of humanity.
Gillian Maxwell has often found herself to be ahead of her time. Talking about things that have not happened yet, but appear obvious to her as what needs to take place to fulfill her purpose of realizing the full potential of humanity. This propensity to speak to the future has led her to be a leader in promoting harm reduction, and in fact in 2012 she received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medalfor community service in introducing harm reduction to Vancouver and successfully advocating for INSITE, North America’s first supervised injection site, that opened there in 2003.
She is a leader in the global movement for drug policy reform. She co-founded the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC), and has spoken at conferences nationally and internationally.
Born in England, Gillian moved to Vancouver when she was 22, and became a successful realtor for over a decade. Her own journey has been one of personal growth, accelerated by loss and grief. She found solace in the Dharma, as taught by the Buddha and continues to find inspiration from Buddhist Psychology, which motivated her to be in action to fulfill her purpose, and to continue to search for ways to untether her soul. It was a natural progression for her to explore inner dimensions with plant medicines, and she has extensive experience over a decade of being in ceremonial circles. Currently she is a member of the Board of Directors for MAPS Canada (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) where she continues her advocacy for making entheogens available for humans to level up their presence on the planet.
As a graduate of the Justice Institute’s Program for Conflict Resolution and Negotiation, Gillian honed her skills in moving from positions to interests, a practice to disarm seemingly intractable situations, which put her in good stead during her three year term as a member of the Vancouver Police Board. She is highly trained with Landmark, having graduated from a two-year Team Management and Leadership program that gave her the impetus to manifest a mindful world beyond convention by envisioning The Sentinel, and it’s potential to hold the space for a gigantic jump in collective human consciousness.
These days she finds herself fully engaged in Act III of her life, and is honoured to bring her depth of knowledge, humour, generosity, innate intuition and wisdom to her work as a Transformational Coach. The Sentinel is the culmination of her life experience, and she is grateful for the opportunity to be in service. She is very happily married to Richard Kay and has two adult step-children, and a vast network of friends and acquaintances, who have all contributed to her journey thus far.
Native to the West Coast, Florence Cosulich’s experience living outside of convention started at a young age, growing up on a small island near Vancouver, BC. She has always had a passion for helping people realize their ideas and dreams, a drive which began with her work in theatre, as a stage manager. Her career and passion has led her to her place as the program coordinator at The Sentinel. Florence has worked and trained as a leader and coordinator both locally and internationally in the areas of public art, youth leadership, student travel, health and fitness and experiential education.
Florence has a keen interest in family systems, particularly the relationship between adult children and their parents. She enjoys coaching families through the transition from an adult-child relationship to an adult-adult relationship.She is eager to utilize both her creativity and organizational inclinations while inviting the world to experience the expansive and progressive offerings of The Sentinel.
Dustin is a connector and a passionate community leader in the West Kootenays. Since committing himself to Kaslo, Dustin has found himself promoting healthy rural living and bringing back the young people. Dustin has hosted numerous economic development and agricultural events and has been part of the many community projects helping Kaslo thrive.
Dustin practices Rebalancing massage and is a dedicated Vipassana meditator. He considers the key to happiness daily meditation, cultivating healthy habits and having fun. Dustin is a life long learner and is continually studying the latest in neuroscience to help transform lives so we can all realize our fullest potential.
When not organising logistics, creating events, or working on community projects, Dustin is found developing a large sub alpine property he owns with his family. There, he is passionate about creating sacred spaces, designing off-grid systems and developing buildings for the ultimate backcountry experience. Dustin is an active community member and values his time most making music, dancing, backcountry skiing and being with family.
TESTIMONIALS
A MINDFUL WORLD
BEYOND CONVENTIONS
The Sentinel exists to realize the full potential of humanity, creating a mindful world through cutting edge transformative programs.
5278 Amundsen Road
PO Box 1028
Kaslo, BC Canada
info@sentinelbc.ca
1.250.353.2246
© 2017 The Sentinel