What do you do and why do you do it?
I support folks in creating and sharing their stories through words and visuals to help them tell new stories that have been gatekept for a long time, to honour their experience and their communities’ experience. I do this because I have witnessed in society where your story doesn't feel like it exists or that it is allowed to take up space. It is important that we get to experience these reflections of ourselves.
Tell us about a time that life handed you lemons. Did you make lemonade?
Before the pandemic the first year I took my business full time and decided to dedicate myself to being a business owner. In that year I really navigated financial insecurity and barely made any money. It was a huge lemon of what was going to happen next. How can I find a community to support me? I felt alone and isolated as a business owner— so I made a solid effort in three months to share about my work, what lit me up and what I wanted to be doing and really engage in a community. I developed a community that took a chance on me.
What's the best piece of business advice you were given?
The advice was given by my best friend, "Let the main thing, be the main thing." As a multi-passionate human and creative, it is really easy for me to be distracted. Letting the main thing be the main thing, doesn't mean I cannot have multiple passions and doesn't mean I can't do other things, it means and gives me space to focus.
What does success look like, feel like, taste like, and mean to you? How do YOU measure success?
Success looks like a lot of things—it looks like being able to build something that is sustainable for the next generation of people. It also feels like being able to have the time and space to rest and to enjoy living in a space outside of work and find that balance. It also looks like being able to give back to the foundation that my parents created for me.
Do you ever have moments of self-doubt? What do you do to overcome it?
I absolutely have self-doubt moments and don't think there is anyone who doesn't, but one thing that helps me overcome self debt is really knowing and understanding my very, very long list of accomplishments that I get to have by simply showing up to the truest form of who I am. When I get there, I remind myself I know what I am talking about, I know what I am doing, I am an expert in my field and I can do this.
What's on your bucket list?
I have so many things on my bucket and have accomplished a lot on my bucket list. I think one of my top items is, at least for a period of time, to have location freedom. It is not as if I do not want to have a home or be settled, but to truly be able to be financially sustainable and able to work if I so choose, location independent would be really awesome!
What do you love most about yourself?
My ability to find hope and optimism in every space— It is not to say that things are not sometimes hard, that I do not feel sadness or lemons and hardship, but there is something about the person that I am: an eternal optimist. Because of that, it is really easy for me to visualize futures in which things work out and that ability is something I really deeply value. Because I understand that for some folks it can be a struggle to access.
How does community play a role in your success?
Community is everything. My biggest successes are a direct result of the community I have in my space. When you spend time in your community your community shows up for you!
