Living My Passion, Everyday

Connector. Change maker. These are the words that I now use to describe my work, but this articulation of who I am and what drives me and my work hasn’t always been this clear.

When I look back at my journey, it really wasn’t until two (short) years ago that I started to truly dive into understanding who I am. The journey started with the identification of my personal values – what makes me, me. Simply put, I am driven by knowledge, authenticity and resiliency. When I am faced with a decision, big or small, I always ask myself whether it aligns to my values. If it doesn’t, the answer is simple, no. But guess what, it took me thirty-four years to discover the power of meaningful “no”. 

This journey continued after aligning my work to my values, and I worked hard to understand what truly makes me tick. It was during a leadership course that my professor challenge the room to find their burning platform – what is the one thing that drives you? And once you find it, to start to tie your work to that passion. After some deep thinking and understanding where my energy was always focused, I knew my passion (and life’s work) was seeing more women in leadership roles and positions of power. To that end, I want to challenge the status quo and break down barriers when it comes to women in leadership. 

Many more doorways have opened since I started this journey, or truthfully, because aware of my life's work. It has shown up with the creation of Works for Women, a community to connect and active change, building the Confidence Retreat, a gathering of ambitious women talking about career strategy and redefining success on their own terms, and a new role focused on building a culture of inclusion in a large organization. 

I share this with you to highlight the word journey - it hasn't been a single moment, or "ah-ha" that got me to this place. It has been hard work. And there are days that I still think about what will come next. But despite those feelings, I take comfort in knowing that I continue to work on my journey will always continue. I know this now.

I feel privileged to know this will be my life’s work as I challenge myself every day to learn something new, evolve who I am, and ask how I can give back and build an even better world. I hope that this might inspire you, and others, to follow their passions and also work towards building a more inspired world.