The Carnarvon-based Voima Group has purchased social community platform Haliburton Life. Owners Amanda Virtanen, a former County of Haliburton director of tourism, and her partner, Geoff Schultz, announced the acquisition Nov. 14.
Jen and Pasi Posti launched Haliburton Life in 2014. Virtanen and Schultz said it was originally created for the Postis to share their love of Haliburton.
“The social community quickly grew with user-generated content from across the Haliburton Highlands. The social platform showcases a true taste of the Haliburton life,” Voima’s co-owners said. In 2020, the Postis sold to Jessica Lawrence, owner of Haliburton Lake Wear.
Jessica has managed the community since, however, Virtanen said she is busy with her own work so decided to pass it on to the Voima Group.
“It seemed a natural progression for us to take on Haliburton Life, as it’s an incredible community of people who share the same passion for Haliburton as we do,” Schultz said. “Our love for the Haliburton Highlands is at the core to everything we do, at work and in life.”
Virtanen added, “when the opportunity to acquire Haliburton Life came up, it seemed a natural fit for us personally, professionally and with my past experience as Haliburton County’s tourism director.” Lawrence said she was also pleased with how things turned out.
“I’m excited that Haliburton Life will carry on and I know it’s in good hands with Geoff and Amanda. I look forward to working with them on some projects in 2023.”
The Voima Group said Haliburton Life will remain community-driven and, “continue to showcase all that the Haliburton Highlands region has to offer to the audience of nearly 10,000 followers.”
They said it is early days and did not want to elaborate on some of their ideas going forward, other than to say they have some, “exciting plans to expand the lifestyle brand into 2023.” The platform can be found on Instagram @ HaliburtonLife.
