Moms in the media

It was so nice to attend Momcafe last Friday without having to worry how my little guy was settling in with the child care. After two experiences of him having to sit with me through the presentations, I made other child care arrangements (convenient that Grandma was in town that day). So I was able to network with other moms and enjoy the presentations without distractions.

Today’s speakers were Moms behind the Headlines: Andrea Vance, Publisher of WestCoast Families; and Tamara Taggart, CTV Weathercaster.

Andrea talked about her path to becoming an entrepreneur and publisher. Tamara talked more about how she makes it work today.

It was interesting to hear Andrea talk about her late days and nights working at EA. How that lead to a late night life discussion over Rum and Cokes, with her now husband. And how that led to her quitting her high paying job with nothing to go to and no plan.

The biggest transitions for her were:

• Learning to work from home. How to get out of bed and out of your PJs everyday. She realized she had to think about it as ‘work’ and to prepare herself for each day, as she was going to the office. And some days that might mean staying in her sweats for the day.
• Thought she could plan her transition to being a parent. She had 9 months to get organized. She isn’t a big planner, but feels that her work plan went well. The home plan did not go to plan, and the anticipated labour distribution plan had to be adjusted after the baby was born.

For her balance is about dealing with whatever has to get done and that she goes to bed feeling like she (and her child) ate and that things got done that needed to be done.

For her the question should not be what is next? But what is next next? What is the passion or ultimate goal?

It was interesting listening to Tamara and really relating to a number of the things she said about her life. She works in the ‘soul sucking business of TV’ (I used to work in the soul sucking business of advertising). And she waited until she was older to have kids, only because she didn’t meet the right person until she was older (same story for me). She is a worry wart and had challenges realizing that when you have kids you have to give up some of the control (amen sister).

She believes she can have it all. You just have to prioritize differently.

It was interesting listening to her story about her oldest child Beckett who was diagnosed with Downs Syndrome 5 days after he was born. Her pregnancy had been easy, and all the tests had been good. So she and her husband were completely unprepared and knew nothing about downs syndrome.  She had to learn fast. The difference in her situation is that she had to go through it in front of the public.

She addressed why she went back to work after 4 months after both children - “because they needed the money”. It is the most expensive time of your life and you only qualify for EI. So she went back to work. I appreciated that while not everyone in the room would agree with her, she was unapologetic. It was her choice for her family. She doesn’t judge others decisions and she doesn’t expect anyone should judge hers. (note to those who want to express their opinion to her in the grocery store – make sure she isn’t holding a jug of milk).

She talked about the Regis show as a ‘big show with a small town mentality’. They really made her feel comfortable and she was surprised by how laid back they were. And that helped revitalize her idea of what she does. And to her it is very important to love what she does.

How does she manage with her busy schedule?

• She has a team. Her mom, a part time nanny and of course her husband.
• Being home for bedtime is mandatory. Most nights both parents are home for bedtime, but there is always at least one of them there.
• Prioritizing her time – cause frankly she’d rather shop for the kids than herself these days.
• Nothing comes before her family.  And work knows this.  "It is what it is".  Although she does have to remind herself of that every so often.

One of the questions for Tamara was how she handles privacy for her family. She is a pretty open person (says she answer anything but her weight). She doesn’t want to hide her children, nor make Beckett a poster child for downs syndrome. But he is fantastic and wants other people to see that. Of course being in the public she does have to consider safety issues, and has had stalkers. 

Like all parents she doesn’t seem to have a concrete answer to all the questions. She notes that she replaced her Us magazines with mommy blogs and loves to learn from them. On the flip side she doesn’t have the answers, but if someone can learn from her then great.

 Both Tamara and Andrea seem, like most parents, to take it day by day and try to make the best decisions for their families and themselves.   Doing something you are patient about is key no matter what you do.

Inspirational Women

So yesterday I did a fun yet superficial blog about shoes at the Women in Leadership Foundation SuperWomen & Friends Gala.  I had not planned on blogging about the event, as I was volunteering and figured I'd be too busy.  But the keynote speaker was so awesome and so funny I found myself taking out my notebook and writing some things down. 

The keynote speaker was Andrea Holmes, a 2010 Paralympic Alpine hopeful.  I instantly liked her as we sat in the mini touch up bar (how fabulous was it to have a mini hair and make-up bar before the 'red carpet' photos).  She and my friend were having their hair done and we all easily laughed and joked about how 'only women' would think of such a thing. 

Andrea's quick wit and sense of humour makes it clear she often uses humour to make other people comfortalbe with her disability.   She easily jokes about herself refering to wearing 3" heels with her prosthetic leg; her leg & ski dropping off a ski lift; beating the girl in Grade 6 at track after she and her mom dismissed her because of her disability; and how going through an airport security with her can be a disaster. 

She spoke of her immense pride of representing Canada in games around the world; walking into the arena for the Paralympic opening ceremonies in Athens; and being 1 of 10 Canadians to carry the paralympic torch in Beijing. 

It is clear that Andrea is a very determined focused woman. She sets unattainable goals for herself and goes for them.  She decided she was going to compete in Athens Paralympic games just 2 years before the games, and had no coach at the time.  And she decided to switch to winter sports when Vancouver was awarded the 2010 games.  She knows it will take a lot of work to make the 2010 alpine team, but she is determined to make it. 

She noted a favourite quote...  " When you wake up in the morning, you have two choices - go back to sleep and dream your dreams, or wake up and chase those dreams!"  -- Author Unknown ---

Andrea's choice is obvious.  As I wake up tomorrow I hope I'm awake enough to chase mine.     

Shoes, shoes everywhere

Last night was the big Women in Leadership Foundation gala I've been working on for months.   And the dress that I hand tailored Friday night didn't come up to snuff, so a bunch of other dresses got reviewed and finally one chosen. A pretty (if bit boring) black dress was chosen in the end.  And all because it went with the all important red shoes!  So it was the winner. 

And while a lot of other women were dressed in black, there was a great array of lovely dresses at the event last night.   But top of mind for me was checking out all the fantastic shoes.  So this is a picture blog of the gala in shoes.  Early in the evening all the shoes are women I know... but after a drink from the martini luge I started asking strangers to take pictures of their feet.  The biggest trends seemed to be the pointy toed black, followed by red shoes with a black dress. 

Couldn't figure out how to get the flickr album to show up inside the blog, so just click below to find the album.   Flickr Shoe Set

What was I thinking?

Today I met with two of my Women in Leadership volunteers. They are helping me with the PR and marketing for the upcoming SuperWomen & Friends Gala - NEXT Saturday.  What was I thinking deciding to blog everyday AND do final planning for a gala.  So my blogging may have a distinct Women in Leadership/Gala slant for the next 2 weeks. 

What is left to do?  Everything it seems.  Media pitches for pre-event interviews. Media invitations to attend the event.  Design and assemble media kits.  Finalize signage.  Finalize program.   Confirm guest blogger (done @lovesocial is confirmed).  Tweet.  Twitter contest.  Facebook updates......  Thankfully I have two passionate and energetic volunteers who take direction well and work well on their own. 

The last few weeks is always a rush of adrenaline.... then event night... then the post event let down. 

The event is shaping up to be a really fun night of washed hair, adult shoes, a pretty dress,  inspirational speaker (Andrea Holmes of the 2010 paralympic alpine team), celebration of SuperWoman of the year award winner, fashion show, drinks, dinner... and oh yeah celebrating the SuperWoman in each of us!!! 

Get together some girlfriends and buy some tickets.  4 or more tickets are $145.  Okay so I switched from blog to sell mode.  Sue me - I have a lot to do.  http://www.womeninleadership.ca/.

Sweet Talk - a sweet, stylish networking event

I was invited to do a guest blog for Women in Leadership Foundation for their recent Sweet Talk networking event. http://www.womeninleadership.ca/sweet-talk-a-sweet-stylish-networking-event/

I met Erica Ehm

So yes the title is a bit sensationalist. But it sounded much more interesting than A Feminist Self Analysis. And meeting Erica Ehm is what started it all.

So the story begins the evening I met with various other Moms from the Yummy Mummy club. The occasion was the founder of the Yummy Mummy Club Erica Ehm was in town. We had a lovely dinner, mostly with women who I had met on twitter but never met in person before. Dinner, like the yummy mummy club, had interesting and varied conversation. We were empathetic, supportive and cheerleaders for each other. We were women, who happened to be Moms, having nice adult conversation.

The night got me thinking though (stewing for several weeks actually). I consider myself a feminist that respects and supports the decisions of other women. I spent volunteer time supporting and mentoring young women and an organization committed to promoting women in leadership (Women in Leadership Foundation). But when I think back to the time when Erica was breaking ground at Much Music I certainly wasn’t supportive - nor were many other young women I knew. My teenage friends and I gave Erica a pretty hard time (not directly of course). Instead of realizing how great it was to have a girl playing with the boys at Much Music. We gossiped about everything she wore, said, did or didn’t do. I don’t know how I would have held up under such tough scrutiny when I was in my early 20s. But Erica excelled and grew in her career. She paved the way for other women to follow their dreams. Today she continues to support other women through her Yummy Mummy Club. (and NO I didn’t have the balls to admit this to Erica or ask her about those early days in her career)

Of course it is easy to look back and say that was over 20 years ago and times have changed. But have they?

Think about when Katie Couric took over the anchor desk at CBS Evening News. The news and media were skeptical. She was scrutinized for everything she wore, said, dated, did and didn’t do. I’ve never seen such a critical analysis of a male anchor before. But Katie must be doing something right because another major network has decided to take the “risk” on a woman at the anchor desk. Diane Sawyer, one of the most respected women in journalism, has finally been offered the ABC anchor desk. That is now 2/3 of nightly network news anchored by women.

And look at Hilary Clinton in the news this summer about her trip to Africa. She is the US Secretary of State and was asked what her husband thought about a specific policy. The media focused on that one incident for weeks. The reason behind for the trip lost while they raked her over the coals – she was even accused of having a bad hair day.

I guess the short note is that women continue to break ground, paving the way for the future. And while we have come a long way, we have a long way yet to go. And we need to start with ourselves. Do we support the women in our lives? Do we support the ones breaking ground in your community? Society? Country? We need to stop judging each other. And like the yummy mummy club start listening, supporting and cheerleading each others dreams and choices. It is that sort of positive support that will only make it easier for us to realize our individual dreams. And lay an even stronger foundation for ourselves and the next generation of women.

I laughed, I cried, I danced like a wolf.

On Friday I attended the Women In Leadership Foundation's (WIL) 5th Annual BC Aboriginal Women in Leadership Forum: Seeds of Success. We encouraged women from all backgrounds to attend the event. But to be honest, until I was there, I wasn't really sure as a non-Aboriginal woman what I would take away from it. But at the end of the day I felt so empowered as a woman that next year I will bring ALL my girlfriends.


Within moments of sitting down in the theatre next to my friend Marlis (who did all the graphic design for the event) I realized I had made a clear mistake. I hadn't thought to bring Kleenex. We knew we were going to experience something different when Maya Kanigan (WIL) and Sheryl Fisher (Squamish Nation) opened the day talking about how this event was about "Honouring the women warrior in us all". And then Sheryl's mother Audrey Rivers took us through a traditional opening prayer and a women's warrior song to open the day.


What really made this event different for me was the truly open, honest, authentic and sometimes raw stories told about how each of these women have been successful in their lives. Yes each had attained professional success, but their stories were really a testament to their personal success. The panel included a banker, chief, artist, entrepreneur and a business woman. Three of them were moms (and many at some point single moms). All had overcome significant obstacles to success such as: teenage parents, residential schools, being surrounded by addiction, foster care, poverty, suicide, divorce, single parenthood, loss of cultural identity and being a marginalized minority in the country of their birth. Each learnt from the stories told by their elders (Grandmothers were a significant theme). And while all of them faced adversity all their stories focused on the positive, the attainable, the future generation of Aboriginal women. The warrior in us all.


The session was moderated by Michele Baptiste, National Manager of Aboriginal Relations for Scotiabank. All the stories were fantastic. And I would love to tell them all here. But they seem too personal for an unknown 3rd party to try and give them their due. But I will summarize some of the great nuggets of truth that I took from their speeches.


Jessie Williams - Special Projects Officer, Four Host First Nations


Jessie provided a strong start to the day, with some relevant lessons for all of us:

• We are responsible for who you are today and who you will be tomorrow. You need to know and believe in yourself = this gives you the power to make it happen.
• Listen to your dreams NOT logic - as children we don't put limits on our dreams, we should be the same as adults.
• Don't be afraid to make mistakes. For her fear was the idea of NOT accomplishing her goals and that motivated her.

Some of her inspiration came from:

• her parents - who no matter how many problems they had always encouraged her to be/have more
• her grandfather - who taught her to never let anyone tell you that you are less than you are
• her grandmother - who taught her how to be a woman & a mother and how to be loved
• mentors - you can't achieve anything on your own you MUST surround yourself with supportive people and seek guidance from others. By seeking their guidance you are honouring that person
• herself - most inspiration comes from within

Chief Lisa Shaver, Chief of the Penelakut Tribe


Lisa is a fantastic story teller. She had us moving from tears to laughter again and again as she spoke. Her stories were laced with the theme of stubbornness that seems to have followed her throughout her life (and is likely one of her success tools). Her tips for success included:

• Have to live your own life.
• Cultural identity is a key to your strength - for her this came from the stories of her grandmother. You need to find your own path, but know and learn from cultural teachings.
• Have to become the change you want. She has to be an example to her children, life and community. We are the answer to our children's future.

Denise Brillon Hill - Entrepreneur & Designer of Artifaax.com


Denise clearly has a strong sense of self and her values. Denise believes it is never too late or too early to fulfill your dreams. To her the foundation is a strong set of values, these values create passion and that passion will lead to your success. Values are what give your life direction, and hers include:

• Show honour
• Never too young or too small to have a voice
• Speak your truth
• Speak for those who have no voice
• Value originality and don't be afraid to step outside the box
• Be yourself
• Value of friends and family should NEVER be compromised for success.

Business to her is about relationships with people and NOT just exchanging money. We can show our community, business and government where our values lie when we make our own purchasing decisions. Is it really good value to drive to a big store to buy big bags of things that clutter our lives? Why not support the local family run vegetable store instead?

She also has a vision for Aboriginal goods and that is to move them beyond being just tourist items. Her company Artifaax is well on its way of helping Aboriginal products become part of the mainstream.

Renae Morriseau - filmmaker, actress and writer


Renae began and finished her talk with a quote (which I hope I got right): To create story you must be physically energized, emotionally attuned, mentally focused and spiritually aligned.


Her story was somewhat different from the others as she grew up in Urban Winnipeg amongst a variety of cultures. She even danced in a Ukranian dance troupe at one point.


Her role as a full time artist is to tell stories. The different stages of her life and career taught her the critical thinking of storytelling and to see the Aboriginal perspective. Something in her compels her to keep asking questions and telling those stories. She is looking for ways to continue to tell the Aboriginal story whether through comedy, drama or documentary. She also continually asks herself who do you attract? Who are the people around you that motivate you?

Renae is a strong, attainable role model who works in a field she is very passionate about, and through that work is also honouring her culture. Renae's most recent documentary "The Trail to Moose Lake" about the elders Fort McKay will launch next month.

Q&A

Some of the best candid moments came during the Q&A. Daycare was resoundingly named an issue for becoming successful as a woman. And all women tend to take care of everyone else before ourselves. When the panel was asked how do you take care of yourself and your health, the answers ranged from:

• Be your own best friend and not an enemy
• laugh, love drink women
• think health and happy
• breathe
• connect to your inner child... what gives you joy?
• self awareness
• shopping
• Important not to focus on competing with the men, but to ensure you look after yourself first

The session finished with another song and a dance. We were all included and yes, my part of the audience danced like wolves - including howling. The session was followed by scholarships given to 2 talented young Aboriginal women to contrute to their education. And finally a sharing circle.

So what did this day mean to me? Well I'll quote Maya Kanigan, as she spoke about what WIL means to her...

"Every women in this room will be a role model to another women in her life. WIL is about bringing these individuals together to learn from, inspire and encourage each other to make a positive difference to the future of women's leadership in Canada. Each of us has the power to make a difference - WIL is about working together to get there. "

An event such as this brings women from ALL backgrounds together to work on our collective future.

Managing Change to Survive & Thrive

I attended the Women In Leadership Foundation's (WIL) Annual BC Women In Business Luncheon last week.

Four women, from different industries with very different career paths gave us their perspective on overcoming change. Overally a very insightful afternoon with a lot of common themes to success in managing change. There were certainly a number of 'light bulb' moments that had personal relevance for me. But I expect that each woman in the sold out Hycroft ballroom took home something different.


Below are some of the key insights into each woman's success.


Rita Rogers, Senior Manager Events, Canucks Sports & Entertainment


The always charming Rita, acted as moderator for the event. She opened with a story relevant to me when she received some great advice just as she was about to have her first child.... "It will pass". It is often hard to imagine that things will change or that "it will pass", especially when you are up at all hours, with no sleep and are staring at the shopping channel for hours on end. But when you look back you realize that this advice is true. For all aspects of our lives.


Andrea Scott, Co-owner Skoah & Chikki Munki


Andrea has had an interesting career path from teacher on the lower eastside to fashion sales to owning her own business as well as being a marketing consultant at the same time and also being a Mom (she was very pregnant with child #2 while giving the speech). The big theme for Andrea is that you need to have a vision of your career vs a master plan. Now given, Andrea is the type of woman who LOVES change. But it is true that with an overarching vision of your career you are able to adjust and take advantage of new opportunities, while never losing sight of your vision. It also helped Andrea to have an attitude that "very little in life isn't completely irreversible". She felt that if a new opportunity didn't work she could always go back.

Now I have to ask myself what is my vision? Being a strategic marketer I really should know the answer to that question. I tell clients and peers everyday that you can't go forward and be successful without a vision. This certainly gave me something to think about.



Silvia Livingston, District VP, TD Canada Trust


I'll be honest I wasn't expecting to learn a lot from Silvia's talk. She has worked in banking (and at TD) for her entire career. I'm a marketer, who has spent much of her career in advertising agencies, and I didn't think there would be a lot of parallels for me to draw from. I was wrong.


Silvia spoke about 3 key themes to success in her career.

Knowledge is key - you build credibility through knowledge - both top down and bottom up. For Silvia this was particularly important when she had a staff with more years and more experience than her. She felt strong knowledge and leading by example helped her build the necessary credibility with her team.

Check your ego at the door - No job is too small and we all succeed if we get their together. This is true in group dynamics but also in your individual career path. Getting the career you want is not always a straight line. Silvia took 2 different lateral moves or demotions in her career in order to achieve the position and success she has today. These positions were challenging, but they allowed her to broaden her experience. She credits these moves as a key part of her success.

• This was a light bulb moment for me. As I continue to struggle to find full time work I wonder if there aren't some great opportunities out there that could help me broaden my skill set and help me advance my career in the long term. Hopefully I will be able to check my ego at the door.

Know your own weaknesses - when dealing with mistakes & failures it is important to learn from the mistake, take ownership and then get over it. But most of all understanding your own weaknesses can potentially help avoid future mistakes. For Silvia this was about talking less and listening more - this one conveniently is also relevant for me.


Claire Smith, VP Sales & Marketing, Vancouver Convention Centre

Claire had a career epiphany in a magazine store while in Frankfurt during a business trip when she found a book called "Managing your career". She notes that the book itself wasn't necessarily that profound, but it spoke to her at the right time in her career. At that point she felt she needed a change after 17 years in the same organization. So she went out on her own and became a consultant. Not the right step for everyone, but the one that made the right sense for her at the time. Her advice:

• there is a momentum to change... taking the 1st big step forward starts the ball rolling
• take charge of your career - there are no bad decisions as everything you do adds to your tool kit
• don't be afraid to take risks professional and personally
• ask for help
• don't let self doubt take over - push through it
• 3 degree of separation - there are a lot of people who can help you or they know someone who can

For me Claire reminded me the most of me - with the exception that she has gone out and taken charge of her career. I'm still in that 1st big step stage.


Taya Hawes-Puiu, Chief Marketing Officer, Cossette West

I know Taya, we used to work together at Cossette. We never worked on any direct project together, so we know each other from those short little conversations at social functions, in the hallway, elevator, etc. I learnt a lot about Taya this day. She is a bold and brave woman who has seized opportunities when they presented themselves and on at least one occassion asked for advice from the Universe (giving them a deadline for their response). She also came to a realization of her own vision while lying in a hospital bed in Hawaii. The secrets to her success are:

• be bold and brave
• the only constant is change
• trust your instincts
• seize opportunities
• if you don't know how - make a list
• cherish your relationships

To me this last one is the most important one as a human being. Jobs are not who we are. It is the people we know and the relationships we have that we cherish most in life. Don't let them get forgotten while you are busy doing something else.

Now what?

For a lot of years I took myself out of the drivers seat of my own career. And decisions made weren't really mine, but the one that came up at the time. I've been nervous to step out there and be bold, in part because that little 'friend' self doubt crops up. I really hate asking for help. And mostly I'm afraid if I make a mistake, go the wrong direction, take a demotion that I'll never be able to climb back to where I was before. At the same time I want to be flexible for change - I just don't want it to bend me like it has in the past. Somewhere in there is a happy medium - plus time for lunch with my girlfriends.

A note about Women In Leadership Foundation (WIL)


Women like to stick together. We are there to support each other, keep each other company and help each other succeed. This is true for women at all stages of their careers. Each of the speakers mentioned a friend (in the room) who helped support or mentor them towards their current success. To me this is the key to continued development of women in leadership. WIL gets that and it is this type of event that helps bring us together to learn from, support and celebrate each other's success. I'm pretty passionate about this. And it is for this reason that I volunteer on WIL's advisory board and lead their volunteer brand/marketing team.

In honour of Mom

With Mother's Day fast approaching I've been thinking about the women in my family and their affect on me. I come from a line of strong and interesting women. And I know my vision of myself, women, and our role in society was composed by watching them. Now my Dad was a key element in who I am today, but divorce and geography meant that my Mom and Grandmother were the main influences in my day-to-day life.

My Mom was a single mom from the time I was 14. And I have to be honest we had a pretty rocky relationship through my teens. But we both made it through and have a good relationship today.

Mom has always worked hard and I never resented the time she spent at the office or travelling... in part because she worked in something that she was passionate about. I just figured that was the way it was - if you wanted something then you worked for it. My definition of feminism was working at something you loved and having the choice to do it. So yup the work-a-holic gene didn't fall far from the tree.

My Mom also always let me make my own decisions and mistakes. She tried hard not to 'tell' me what to do with my life. With a few exceptions like when I was 15 and we had that 'talk' about my blue hair and new wave wardrobe. She rarely asked the questions my girlfriends often complained about getting from their mothers..."what do you want to do when you grow up", "when are you going to get married", "when are you going to give me a grandchild"... I did not understand or appreciate this when I was young, but as an adult I'm glad she let me set my own goals and become who I wanted to be. And I also appreciate that I kept her waiting a long time for that grandchild to spoil.

My Mom was influenced in her parenting style by her Mom. My Grandmother was in many ways the opposite of my mom...always nosey about what was going on in our lives and always had an opinion about it. The good part was she always talked more than the rest of us so you could usually get away without saying much.

My Grandmother was my 2nd mother growing up. She drove me to my skating lessons, cooked me scrambled eggs for breakfast and moved with my Grandfather to live down the street from us during my teens years. But the biggest influence she had on me was marrying my Grandfather. In the late 1930's in depression era Saskatchewan my Scottish Grandmother married my Chinese Grandfather. To put this in perspective women got the right to vote in 1918 and Chinese Canadians didn't get this right until 1947. I'm sure she must have been ostracized because of it. I know she didn't speak to one of her sisters for over 30 years because of it.

So I grew up thinking a multi-cultural household was the norm. I never realized that that was different until I was older. That was just the way it was. And to me that is the greatest gift my grandmother could have given me.

When my Mom was visiting a few weeks ago we went to see Adrienne Clarkson speak. She spoke about the need for more understanding between cultures and in her opinion the need for more mixed marriages. I was proud to look at my Mom and say that the women in my family helped pioneer that concept.

Has your mother inspired you in some way? Please add your story in the comments.

mentors

I saw Adrienne Clarkson speak a few weeks ago at UBC (before all the fun with my husband's ski accident concussion). She spoke at length about an English teacher she had at Lisgar - the same high school she and I both attended although many many years apart. And this got me thinking about mentors and people who have influenced my career (coincidentally I was asked this question in an interview 2 days after the presentation).

There are 2 key career mentors that easily come to mind. They were my two first bosses at Cossette and are still friends today. I worked twice for Glenn Stanley-Paul and am currently guided in my foray into blogging by Chris Morales (his blog is http://mykalsreport.blogspot.com). Now that I'm out west I don't get to see them as much as I would like, but they are still good friends and 2 of my most trusted professional allies.

But I have to say one of my biggest breaks didn't come from them, it came from a former client. She had a profound influence on me at a key point in my career.

My first job in marketing was at Cossette in Toronto in the early 1990's (see former post for more on those Melrose Place flashbacks...). I worked on the GM account - specifically the female friend Saturn. I was one of the few women on the team. But our client was a woman named Susan Docherty. I had been in my secretarial 'start at the bottom' position for about a year. Our Account Executive Lili had recently resigned and there was an opportunity for me to take on more - really show that I was more than a great excel wiz at building complex competitive charts. But the men that I worked with were a bit anxious about moving me up too quickly on such a male dominated client such as GM. Our team lead was concerned the client may not take the former 'secretary' seriously. And Chris and Glenn seemed to be concerned that if I faltered I may not get a second chance with them. But Susan thought I could do more and she fought to get me a couple of opportunities to show my stuff. My bosses had no choice but to give me the opportunity.

And I needed Susan's help. I totally screwed up my first presentation to a small dealer co-op. She bailed me out about half way through the presentation - without my losing face with either the dealers or my bosses (who weren't at the meeting). She coached me and then pushed me forward again at the next opportunity. She knew I'd get there and I did.

I don't have a long term relationship with Susan. She and I weren't friends outside our client/agency relationship. I have no idea if she is still with GM today. But she was a strong female role model for me at a point in my career where the men around me needed a little push. Those men are still my friends and mentors today. But it is Susan I really need to thank for giving me the opportunity to fail.