TNM Sponsors Olympic Champion Erica Wiebe

The first time you meet Erica Wiebe

You cannot help but be affected by her contagious smile and her down-to-earth personality. You will feel right at home when you chat with her, and that is exactly how she felt when she first connected with True North Mortgage and True North Realty.

But first, who is Erica? What is she all about?

Erica is a Canadian Olympian in the sport of freestyle wrestling, and many Canadians will remember her joyous celebration after winning gold at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. Her story begins on one fateful day in Grade 9 when she saw a sign posted at her high school advertising Co-Ed wrestling practice. She juggled several sports throughout High School, but was quickly falling in love with the sport of wrestling.

“I remember hearing later that my mother was rather upset that I had decided to start wrestling. She didn’t understand why her nice daughter would want to do a sport like wrestling, but my parents were extremely supportive all throughout my career. In grade 10, no one from my high school wrestling club was planning on attending the Canadian Wrestling Championships in St Johns, NF, so my mother took it upon herself to plan our trip and give me the opportunity to wrestle the U16 nationals. I was an athletic, young, optimistic kid who didn’t know how to wrestle, but I knew how to compete, and I went out there and won.”

For Wiebe, that was the turning point. Two years later, Erica moved across the country from Stittsville, ON and enrolled at the University of Calgary, home to one of the national training centers for women’s wrestling.

Her wrestling career started to blossom after coming to Calgary to train.

In 2014, Erica really put herself on the map internationally with a big win over the reigning 2012 Olympic Champion. From there, she continued her momentum, and nine long years after moving to Calgary to train, she won the Canadian Olympic Team Trials, earning the opportunity to compete at her first Olympic Games.

On August 18, 2016, she battled through preliminaries, quarterfinals, semi-finals, and took a triumphant win with Canada’s third ever Olympic gold medal in wrestling at the 75kg weight class. She joined a legacy of women in wrestling, following in the footsteps of Tonya Verbeek and Carol Huynh.

Her Olympic success led her to other interesting endeavours

After her 2016 Olympic success, her passion for the sport and love for adventure led to incredible opportunities to travel across Canada, speak to over 15,000 youth, become the team captain for the Mumbai Maharathi, visit the Canadian Armed Forces deployed overseas, and explore an opportunity to join the WWE. Now, fast forward to 2018.

Her passion for wrestling continues in a quest for Tokyo 2020.

Erica was still intent on staying true to her passion for excellence and representing Canada once again at the next Olympic Games: Tokyo 2020. She wanted to create a home for her and her partner and settle into the routine she needed to help pursue that dream.

That’s where we enter into her story….

“A friend of mine had used True North Mortgage, and had raved about the experience from start to finish. I began learning about the company and I felt like it was the type of company and value system that resonated with me. I reached out to a True North broker and I was very happy with each person that I met along the way.

"Getting a rebate was such a cool way to save money, and it smoothed the mortgage experience for us! What surprised me the most about working with them is how easy it all was. I got the sense that the organization understood people's experiences, whether it was buying their first or seventh home. They were supportive of the process by walking us through everything, and ultimately truly understanding our needs! They treated us like family."

Erica and her partner live in a beautiful home in the quaint little town of Bragg Creek, AB. You’ll find peace, a beautiful garden, that rustic cabin feel and even a home gym right on her property where she can get in workouts.

“The money I saved working with True North Mortgage, I used it to buy some patio furniture and some equipment for our home gym.”

We asked Erica what her secret to success is — and how she goes after such big, exciting dreams without any fear.

She laughs and says the fear is there but, “that feeling of fear, of discomfort, of not being sure that you can do it — means you are doing exactly what you need to do.” She says her secret to success is to “stare down that fear and take one step confidently into the unknown with the certainty of power within”.

At True North Mortgage, we are so happy to be part of this amazing journey and in our own way, help Erica find a space to call her own and start the next chapter.