Women Owned Small Business since 2020
Maxine Bennett (She/Her)
Max was raised just outside Calgary, and has made the Bow Valley her home for over a decade. She is the women behind the inception of Ghosts Walks in Canmore back in 2017. Back then she worked with her good friend Annie and Theatre Canmore to bring the idea to life. The original week-long event has since turned into a spooky small business run with the amazing Sam Welanc.
Max has loved theatre and storytelling since she was a little girl. Her orignal auidence was family and friends, performing her impressions of Queen Elizabeth II and other royals based on comedy skectches she saw on Royal Canadian Air Farce, Queen's English and all!
Max was an absolute wimp about all things spooky growing up, but eventually came to love them when she realised she could be the creepiest thing in the haunted house if she just tried. Max majored in Theatre and English at the University of Calgary. She continues to use these skills through her interative work with Parks and our tours today! When Max is not on tour you can find her out in the backcountry, camping, biking, or cross country skiing with her wife Emma.
Favourite Story: the friendly, helpful, party-loving ghost of the Mine Manager's House in Canmore.
If she were a ghost the living would need to provide chocolate and sewing supplies in order to summon her.
Samantha Welanc (She/Her)
Sam is a first-generation Canadian, with family lineage that stems from Sao Miguel, Portugal. Originally from Mississauga, Ontario, she has made Canmore her home going on 6 years. Sam joined the Ghost Walks team back in 2018, starting off as a guide for the Banff location, then moving into the role of Social Media Manager in 2019. In 2020 Sam took the leap with Max to become owners of the company, that year was their "soft" launch.
Sam brings with her a background in Marketing and love of the macabre. What she lacks in formal theatrical training, she makes up for with a loud and gregarious family. For as long as she can remember, her family gatherings were spent sharing stories of the family's past which include a lot of ghostly encounters!
Sam been a believer in the paranormal from a young age. She has watched all the Ghost Hunting shows you can think of and had a few run ins with unexplained paranormal phenomenon events of her own! When she is not on tour, you can find her in the outdoors (on a Bike or Paddle Board) with her husband Piotr and two dogs Phoebe and Storm-Lynn.
Favourite Story:
"Mr. Peterson's Cabin - I love the underlaying message that if you love something enough, you'll come back for it."
If she were a ghost the living would need to stub there toe in the middle of an investigation in order to summon her.