Celebrating IWD

When I moved to Canada, I was 17, naïve, and ready for a new life. “We’re coming here for you kids,” my dad told us as we packed our life into suitcases and cardboard boxes and moved across the world. I came to Canada and went straight to university, living on campus. From afar I experienced my parents trying to rebuild their careers, their wealth, their home, and deal with the struggles of change. It was then when I knew that to support them, I needed to support myself.

That’s where it began, my ambition. It started out of necessity, but as we know, hardship builds character. Here I was, at 17, in a new country, with fake confidence and was trying to find my way. A lesson I learned early is that no one can do it on their own. Throughout my career I’ve been lucky to have managers, peers, mentors, and friends who have made my success their own and supported me along the way. From them, here are the lesson’s I’ve learned:

Leadership can be kind, generous, and caring

My first “real” boss is an incredible woman. Her heart is full of love and she to this day spreads brightness wherever she goes. She became my blueprint of being a leader for a few simple reasons. She was always authentic, lead with vulnerability, and deeply cared about people. She made me feel valued, confident and appreciated. In a time when women were trying hide their emotion at work, she made it a point to lead with heart. Something I would apply to my own style and always try to be kind, generous and caring.

There’s a lesson in every relationship

Every relationship in your career and life has meaning if you allow it to. Each relationship can teach you about yourself, about who you want to be, and sometimes who you don’t want to be. I’ve been lucky to have had relationships that have challenged me and formed my career. Empathy, gratitude, patience, determination, and perseverance are all skills that can be taught, and must be practiced. Practicing these skills in the most challenging of relationships turned me into a better, more self-aware, version of myself.

We must all champion feminism

I am proud to be a woman. I am proud to lead with authenticity, vulnerability and empathy that is natural to my character as a woman. I am grateful for the trailblazing women before me who broke the glass ceiling to allow me to lead as a woman. This includes my amazing mom who has had a career as a teacher, as a retail associate turned district manager, a self-published author and a self-taught artist – a clear example that you can achieve whatever you want. I’ve also been incredibly fortunate to have men in my life who champion feminism. From my partners in business, men who lead with their heart and practice empathy. To my partner in life who has celebrated and motivated me in my career and has re-defined our relationship from traditional gender roles to a partnership where we both play multiple roles. I believe feminism must be championed by us all to create and deliver on equality. We still have work to do, especially for women who are black, indigenous and women of colour. We must do the work together to create the equality we all deserve.

Our responsibility is to lift others up, and climb together