Mandy Shintani

Urban Poling is proud to be an awarding winning and 100% women-owned and operated Canadian company. Incorporated in 2005, it was one of the first companies to bring Urban Poling (generic name is Nordic walking) to Canada! Today as an international education centre & distributor, our high performance Urban and ACTIVATOR poles are found in 700+ stores and have been adopted as a therapy & fitness tool by more than 5000 graduates of our training programs including, diverse healthcare professionals and fitness instructors. Mandy is an occupational therapist, gerontologist and the founder of Urban Poling. Her mission is to inspire all Canadians toward active living and wellness through innovative pole designs and education. As an avid proponent of life long fitness, she has experienced herself how Urban Poling fuels a healthy and fun lifestyle that includes, using poles with other exhilarating activities such as snowshoeing, hiking and adventure travel, which she is passionate about. As a therapist, her design of our patented ACTIVATOR Poles was rooted in her desire to create a tool that would revolutionize mobility and rehabilitation programs. She is an international presenter and is considered to be one of the leading experts on this activity. She was a finalist at the YWCA Women of Distinction Awards in the category of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.