Editor’s Note: “Making It” is a weekly story about how businesses, families, individuals and organizations in Summit County are making it through these rocky economic times. If you have an idea for the “Making It” series, please e-mail us at editor@summitdaily.com.

It’s not just optimism that keep Jolina Karen and Lisa Dion looking for the growth opportunities in these tough economic times. For them, staying true to their vision — no matter what — IS what matters.

The two women just created the Quantum Loving Institute, smack dab in the middle of a recession. They offer two-hour, all-day and weekend workshops, as well as free talks, teaching people to understand their human experience and embrace the totality of who they are, rather than trying to “fix” or “get rid of” parts of themselves and their lives they don’t like. The result of doing the work they teach leads to a “profound sense of acceptance for what is, and a sense of purpose,” Dion said.

“We teach a philosophy that uses principles drawn from quantum physics, mathematics and cosmology to make sense of the human experience in a way that popular thinking does not,” Karen said.

Rather than confining their teachings to Summit County, they are expanding to the Front Range, with scheduled workshops. Eventually they see the institute expanding internationally, Dion said.

“We have such a belief that this is so important, that even if the economy continued to tank, we’d keep doing it,” Dion said. “Our vision goes way beyond what’s happening right now.”

Staying committed

Karen, in particular, recently experienced a big lesson in sticking with her vision, despite obstacle after obstacle. She finally launched a community website last December, after working on it for three-and-a-half years.

“I had no idea it was going to be so challenging,” Karen said. “I really had to work hard to not give up.”

She cycled through four different website developers who dropped the ball “left and right,” she said. Finally, she found developers who could create her complex, multi-level site.

“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is: If you don’t have love for your project, there’s no way you’ll make it through tough times,” she said. “So either you have to do something you love or figure out how to love what you’re doing.”

Her true passion involves holistic healing; the website — OurGreatLife.com — was a vehicle to help her and others grow their businesses. So, she had to find a way to learn to love the process of building a web business.

“The link between this (website) and holistic healing is, it made me use all of the tools that I teach my clients to manage my emotional challenges, to stay focused and to stay grateful through the whole experience,” she said.

Her initial motivation to create the website began with her desire to find an interactive way to educate people about her holistic healing practice, which she has had in Summit County for 10 years.

“I wanted to create a community website that would allow us to communicate with one another,” she said, explaining that small, local businesses can get the word out about who they are and what they do by uploading brochures, posting photos and event information, creating coupons and adding links back to their own websites.

Her site debuted just as the economy was tanking. It was both a blessing and a challenge.

The problem: No one wanted to spend any money, especially on an unknown entity, she said. So, she had to lower her expectations and develop a longer-term plan for paying off her business loan.

The silver lining: Business owners were looking for affordable ways to connect with one another.

“Because of the economy now, I see people reaching out to one another and wanting to network with one another,” she said. “Our Great Life exists to help people do that.”

Expansion rather than contraction

Part of what the Quantum Loving Institute teaches clients is how to identify what’s truly important to them, because whatever they value will motivate them, Dion said. So, it’s only natural that Karen and Dion would expand their healing practice, despite the current economy.

“You can either choose to see all the negatives and shrivel up, or you can choose to look for the growth opportunity,” Karen said, “and I believe the economy right now is providing many opportunities for people to grow and expand and become wealthy in many ways, financially, spiritually and in their relationships.”

She suggests moving out of fear by giving yourself permission to get curious and think differently.

When Karen and Dion practiced this idea, they came up with a method to build their institute (which currently has no physical building attached to it, as part of keeping overhead low) that they might not have done, had the economy been rolling. Currently, they aren’t drawing salaries from their work through the Quantum Loving Institute. Instead, they are funneling any money into a savings plan, in which certain percentages go toward further development, rentals, printing materials, etc.

“If things were going well in the economy, we might not have been as motivated to save — we might have split the money 50-50 rather than focus on building a savings (account),” Dion said.

Both entrepreneurs believe that the timing to start their institute is actually quite good, because people are experiencing crisis and panic, which adds to a larger feeling that life isn’t OK, Dion said, and Quantum Loving exists to help heal such perceptions.

“These challenging times are definitely driving people to look for answers and find ways to develop their skills, increase their realm of influence and resources and grow in ways that they weren’t necessarily pushed to do in easier times,” Karen said. “Quantum Loving Institute exists to support them in that process.”