Carve the Path that Fuels You

Recently, I had the opportunity to share my story at the PEIBWA Symposium. 

Many don’t know that I was a corporate climber for many years…

After finishing my MBA from the University of Calgary I worked at a national insurance company and was there for 7 years. I was working my way up the ladder and really enjoyed the work that I was doing. 

And then I found myself being pulled to move back home and making the difficult decision to leave that career behind. 

It’s been an interesting journey to find myself now as a commercial lobster fisher and tourism operator. And it was a lot of fun reflecting on how it has all unfolded. 

Having the opportunity to share this story had me digging through old journals and reconnecting with my past self. Some things were hard to read and some were great reminders of joyful times. It’s amazing how many ups and downs life has and I’m grateful that I’m somewhat consistent at writing in my journals so that I can always look back on what I’ve been through.

When I started pulling the presentation together I didn’t really have a specific vision. I let my intuition lead the way and I am very pleased with how it all came together.

To get started, I sat on the floor one morning with a pile of sticky notes and my journals from the last two years. I flipped through the pages making note of specific situations that I felt were pivotal to my journey. I didn’t overthink it, I just kept going until I felt complete

Once I had a pile of sticky notes in front of me I needed to make some sense of them. I was able to categorize them into a few sections: Mindset Shifts, Boundaries and Routines. This helped shape the presentation a little better but it still needed some structure. 

I let it sit for a day. And, lucky me, I had a date with my besties at Mysa Spa so I was able to really relax and let the work I’d done soak in and stew a little bit. One thing I’m learning for myself is that I don’t need to rush things. In fact, I do a much better job if I can sleep on it and give myself some space to really feel into it so that I know I’m on the right track. 

After having that wonderfully relaxing day I was ready to dive in again. This time I took my sticky notes to the wall. And I added even more sticky notes! I started to lay them out in a somewhat chronological order to build out the story. The best part of doing it this way is that I can move them around as much as I need to in order to get the right flow. 

Once I felt like I had a good story line I decided to talk it out. 

I opened a blank document and turned on the dictation and then I gave my presentation to myself. You just don’t know how it’s going to sound or flow until you say it out loud. This really helped me see where things didn’t quite work together and it helped me think of other things I hadn’t put on sticky notes that would fit great. 

Next, it was time to build out my slides. 

Above the sticky note trail of my outline I added another layer of sticky notes. I’m so glad I always have a good stash of different colors and sizes on hand! This time it was ideas of what I would share on each slide to help tell the story visually. 

So, finally it was time to sit down and build the slides on my computer. It was another fun experience to go through photos from the past to pull my story together in pictures. It was challenging at times to stay focused on looking for specific photos to fit the slides because I had so many great memories flood back to me as I browsed. 

I also had some hard times pop up for me. There are some photos where I was in the thick of my burnout and I barely recognize myself in them. I am learning to love all versions of myself. They are what brought me to where I am today and they also are all a part of the story I am sharing. 

Once I built out the slides I let the whole thing sit again. When I came back to it I was able to jot down some notes to help prompt what I wanted to say as I went. And then it was ready for a real run through. I turned on presenter mode and started talking. 

It felt great to run through the whole thing. I was confident yet nervous. From this run through, I was able to make a few changes to the notes and I changed the order of a few slides to make it flow better. Then I had to resist the temptation to keep reviewing and tweaking it and simply trust that it was going to work out. 

Then came the big day. We were spending it at the beautiful Rodd Brudenell and the agenda was jam packed with incredible women. I felt so grateful to be among them and was feeling a little nervous leading up to it. I wondered if I was going to meet their expectations. I wondered if they were going to like what I had to say. I wondered if I was going to be enough.

But when they called me up to the microphone I had to let that all go and trust that I was going to deliver exactly what was needed. And did it ever feel great. Every time I am in the front of a group I feel a spark. An energy and a knowing that I’m meant to share things with the world. 

Going through this presentation felt so amazing. While I was up there, I got nods of encouragement and understanding, I even got some laughs! I felt like the room of women was really connected and, when I teared up, I felt their compassion and support so strongly. 

I am so grateful that I got to be part of an all day women in business event that wasn’t focused on maximizing profits and growing at intense rates. Instead, it was focused on us as humans and the complexities that come with being a woman in business (and being a woman in general!). We got to show up as our true selves and know that each and every one of us can carve whatever path best suits us. 

We all have a story and we all have a passion (or two, or three - where are my fellow Mani Gen’s? 😜) and we need to learn to truly listen to ourselves and make choices that are aligned with who we are and what matters to us. Because when we do that, there is no stopping us!