My Journey

Our beliefs dictate our experiences and our experiences confirm our beliefs, own your beliefs and you will own your life experiences.

Emigrating to Canada from Europe as a teenager with my parents was a challenging time, one that was not easy to adapt. With no language skills, no friends, starting everything new called for a shift in mindset and outlook. In high school, not speaking English and being isolated as “one that does not belong” challenged me to find ways to learn, adapt, and build new friendships. A new place to live without the familiarity of home, extended family, and friends was scary. Support from my family and sense of belief that I am here for a better future kept me going with a mindset of survival, trying harder, working harder, and making a positive impact with my renowned opportunity. 

While in high school, I was accepted to work as an associate part-time at one of the Iconic fashion department stores. I was thrilled and felt my dream had come true. I loved my role and quickly was inspired by retail, fashion, and all the excitement of the change of season new trends brought. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would one day work in New York for a fashion retailer as a senior executive. I grew up with the company, and I was fortunate to have leaders that provided many opportunities and many different roles that I was exposed to grow as a leader.

I felt fortunate to be a part of an organization that believed in succession planning, developing, and promoting from within, which provided me with many opportunities to grow throughout my career, for that I will always be grateful.

I held many different roles moving across Canada from Vancouver to Toronto and the pinnacle of my career as a Senior Vice President in New York. I loved my various roles, and I traveled, met amazing people, and was able to make a difference in people’s careers through coaching, mentoring, and consulting. I chose the fashion industry because I Loved it. Fashion made people feel good about themselves in the way they looked, the brand that they decided to represent themselves, and the confidence that exuded in the individuals when they wore them.

As I moved through my journey with the senior leadership demands, fast-paced changes, long hours, and increased stress, I realized that the lifestyle did not have longevity. Mental health, agility, stress management are the new standard, but how and what did leaders do knowing that the stress is constant and ever-present?

Taking some time to reflect, moving to Miami to take some time off, and asking my self (What part of this did I own) was the best thing I did for myself to understand and appreciate how I got here. I summoned all my learnings and my life experiences as an executive by asking myself, “How do I feel inside?”

Had I taken better care of myself, where would the journey take me? What consequences did stress, lifestyle choices, and behaviors that took energy away from me, have on my leadership? As I looked within, I was inspired to shift my journey and help leaders and teams to put themselves first, invest in themselves, and take care of themselves before others to be best that you can be.  Focusing on self-management, and not stress-management became an evident need to thrive in one’s personal and professional life and thrive in today’s world of Uber Change.

Leadership presence, confidence, and performance start’s with the inside and how we treat ourselves in the choices that we make in todays rapid change, the habits and paradigms that we developed over time, how we deal with rapid change, and information overload. What we wear and how we present ourselves is just the icing on the cake.

I work with leaders and teams, leveraging cross-functional approach, focusing on Coaching, Consulting, and Mentoring. I believe through my experience as an executive, coach, consultant, and mentor are all vital approaches to leadership growth, professional development, and change sustainability.