Since launching A.M Vital Soles in late 2025, Ashlee Mansour, a registered practical nurse (RPN), has aimed to help her clients in the community by offering a variety of foot care and health services.
Mansour, who hails from Brantford, said she was looking at starting her own business and focused on foot care services.
“I took the nursing course….as a second career [which was a] little bit later on in my life. It was the MoMAC program through Six Nations Polytechnic, which was also connected to McMaster. I graduated in 2010. After that, I was at John Noble Home for 13 years…in geriatrics, which is the municipally run long-term care home here in Brantford. I very much enjoyed working there, but of course, COVID and other things made it a high-stress and high-pressure environment as well. Palliative care is a huge part of that job….so end of life and also dementia care,” she noted. “[While I] very much enjoyed that career….I was looking for something where I could control my own hours…and do a different kind of specialty. I have a lot of experience with geriatrics…[and working with the elderly] on diabetes education is very important, and palliative care also becomes a part of that as well. So, I have enjoyed a long career in geriatrics, and then after that…I also worked at a few doctors’ offices as well, I did that on and off for close to three years…I decided to pivot to more of a specialty service and work for myself.”
However, as Mansour started to look into starting her own business, she suspected there was a big need for mobile foot services.
“I knew that advanced foot care in long-term care homes was needed [for example]…there are companies that would come in with several nurses and do foot care for our elderly population in long-term care homes. I decided to then take a multi-step program in order to specialize in advanced foot care around October 2025…and then started my own business. I quickly made connections….realizing that it is something that was really needed…I found that there is a huge demand, and with our government in general trying to keep people home for longer…mobile services seemed to be much more in demand as well,” she noted.
Education also was a cornerstone to starting a successful business, as Mansour realized.
“A hurdle is getting the education out there…I know most family physicians tell people, especially individuals with diabetes…that foot care is extremely important, and that they need to take care of their feet for help in their longevity….and lead healthy lifestyles…because their feet tend to become impaired faster than a person without diabetes. Education usually starts with the diagnosis by a family physician or practitioner, but there is a bit of a gap there…where people, not realizing that services are available in the community for advanced foot care, and where a nurse like me…will actually come to their homes and help them. So, the mobile side of what I do, is very surprising to a lot of people,” she said. “I have reached out to a few organizations like the Grand River Council on Aging, letting them know these kinds of services are available and that I can go out to them. It’s very important to let them know that I am mobile because many elderly citizens in our community can’t go out for a variety of reasons…so that provides them with a service that is personal, safe and private.”
Nevertheless, when Mansour visits people, especially for the first time, she will do an assessment to get a good idea of what their unique health needs are.
“My first time meeting a person is usually an initial assessment…looking at their health history and going over the medications they are taking. I then do a full foot assessment that includes everything from checking their nails, and discussing any issues they might have like thickened nails, ingrown nails, calluses, and corns or that there is a potential that it might be starting. I will also go over how to maintain, and eventually prevent these things from happening to their feet. And for anyone who has a history of diabetes…I talk about all the preventative measures they can take…proper foot care and using the right foot ware or inserts,” Mansour stated. “Also, for the initial meet I clip toenails as well as do filing [and] I use a Dremel to shape and thin or thicken nails as needed. Another service that I provide is nail correction, and it’s a bracing system for ingrain and involuted toenails. I take this time to discuss the individual’s specific needs and during the course of the assessment, if I find that there is something that is beyond my scope of practice, I refer the person to a podiatrist or other qualified specialists.”
Although A.M Vital Soles has been around since October 2025, Mansour has already made a positive impact on people in the community with her services.
“I have a younger gentleman that has cerebral palsy. He’s had a lot of foot issues when it came to calluses build-up. So now with regular visits and care, he’s been able to put more pressure on his feet and walk a bit better…as opposed to having to walk on thick calluses which can drastically limit his mobility. There are also quite a few people that I have visited who haven’t been able to get into the community because they having a lot of foot issues due to diabetes and poor circulation [and] others that have suffered with involuted nails or ingrown toenails….(involution is when the nail is very curved and it digs into the skin on the side of a person’s toes)…and I have helped them, doing nail bracing for example. And with the services I have offered, it has improved the involution to their nail and eased a lot of their pain…and they can move around a bit more because their nails don’t dig into their feet when wearing their shoes.”
However, Mansour has also made it a point to reach out into the community and provide much-needed education and resources.
“I was able to do a whole presentation on Zoom for the seniors’ resources in Brantford….and it was just doing some education on something as simple as checking your feet daily for corns, calluses, nicks, bruising, or bleeding. And then, of course, providing full education on diabetic health care…how to take proper care of your feet in general, increasing your mobility as you age and making sure you’re picking the proper footwear…and I’ve also done a few pop-up clinics for the County of Brant in Paris [and] I’ve done one in Brantford, which was just like a senior’s resource fair [where] I’ve handed out educational booklets and resources [while] speaking with people…and getting the message out there on the importance of foot health,” she noted.
As well, Mansour stresses the importance of foot care each and every day for everyone.
“The main thing is being aware of your feet in general and checking them daily. It seems like such a minor thing, but it’s so important to look after your feet [as we tend to] focus on our hair, our faces, and our physique more. But maintaining our feet is just as important, and checking them daily is something that I tell people to do. [For example] when we take a shower, we wash ourselves and the soap gets down to our feet. I have spoken to people about this, and they said they just wipe off, but don’t fully dry their feet after the shower which seems minor, yet could turn into a yeast issue, or athlete’s foot,” she explained. “I have also educated people on the importance of keeping their nails clipped. And the best way is to cut them straight across…but people seem to cut into the sides, and then they start having issues with ingrown nails or their nails won’t grow back properly. So, I think just the number one thing is just being very aware of what your feet look like on a daily basis, and if you are having any problems, to reach out to someone in the medical field that can help you fix the issue before it becomes chronic.”
After being a registered practical nurse for 16 years, Mansour has gained a great deal, including the importance of learning and educating others.
“Honestly, being a nurse has been very humbling…and it has been a very rewarding career. I’m a huge believer in education in general, for myself, and of course, for the people that I work with, or that I help daily. Education is so important for understanding us as human beings and for providing the right information to be preventive and lead better lives. For me it’s definitely education, and the opportunity to help others that can’t always speak for themselves or can’t always advocate for themselves as well,” she noted.
Currently, Mansour is enjoying visiting clients, however, with a desire to grow the business as the demand is there.
“I’m still doing this on a part-time basis, but I know the demand is there…and I feel in the next few years, it might become full-time, where I might also have someone else join me. At this point, I want to continue being mobile…I enjoy being able to directly go into my community and visit people in their homes. I find that there’s more of a holistic approach that way, and that I’m able to provide those services in this way [rather than] having someone come to me in a clinic setting. I’ve had a few offers to bring my experience and services into a clinic, but I’ve declined…because I am enjoying the mobile side of what I do…and being able to provide these services to people in the comfort of their own homes,” she stated.
