Earlier this week it occurred to me that I hadn’t published a blog lately. I wondered if I was suffering from writer’s block, or if it was something else. Then I set aside the thought, because I had a full week.

This morning when I woke up after an excellent night’s sleep, I realized why it’s been a month since my last blog. Time flies when you’re having fun!

Because my summer had been much busier work wise than I’m used to, I took a bit of a break from work near the end of August. I read several novels, rereading a few old favourites, enjoying a few new ones, and even thought about reading a few work-related books.

I also completed a 1000-piece puzzle, on my own. I’d meant to give my creativity a kick start by doing something out of the norm. I got so engrossed in the puzzle, I started and finished it in one (long) sitting. I kept thinking, just one more photo, then I’ll take a break. This is hyper focus in action! I had to stretch when I was done! I’d lost track of time because I was having so much fun doing the puzzle. I’ve included a picture of the completed puzzle below.
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Facilitating Learning

For the last three weeks I’ve been hyper focusing on getting ready for sessions for clients, creating 4 new sessions, ones that I haven’t delivered before, in response to collaborations with clients who were looking for specific learning experiences.

I have a tendency to dive right in and do a LOT of research before creating a new session. I prefer to have so much information that I have to edit down what I’m going to say, to stay within the time frame allocated for a session. Last week I delivered a customized session that I’ve given many times before, and one of the new sessions. Both were well received!

Next week, I’m delivering one new session, and participating as a panelist in a session I’ve done several times before. Which makes it a slightly lighter week, and means that this weekend I have time to blog!

The following week, I’ll be delivering 3 new sessions. One is a collaboration with Elizabeth Nicholas. We drafted “Networking: Expanding Your Circle of Influence” last spring and refined it in August. This is a pro-bono online session that we offer on behalf of our HRPA Chapter.

Last year we co-facilitated a similar event called “Speed Networking – Pandemic Survivor HR Style.”  HRPA members from across Ontario participated, and gave such great reviews that we’re back again this year. With so many events still being held virtually, many people appreciate an event that encourages them to interact with and learn in small groups. You’ve got to love the Breakout room feature in Zoom!

Life as an Entrepreneur

I logged onto to LinkedIn this afternoon, because I received a notice that a few people had messaged me. Thank you to Shahina Suleman, Lisa Hallsworth, and Stephanie Anaka for being the first people to congratulate me on my 9th anniversary as an entrepreneur!

Time does indeed fly when I’m having fun. I can still remember my initial model for my business. I planned to do more of what I loved best while in the military - speaking and training. It took me some time to get to the place I’m at now, providing training sessions on behalf of two strategic partners: Indigenous Link and MentorCity; and providing custom training sessions for other clients, including the occasional pro-bono sessions for my professional associations and for military and veteran families.

This summer I delivered the beta version of a new accessible online program called “Navigating your Career Route Map: Designing Courses of Action to help you Achieve your Definition of Success.” The participants have all given me fabulous feedback, helping me refine the content and get it ready for delivery this Fall, as an asynchronous offering. Getting ready for the launch near the end of October is also keeping me busy!

I also joined PARO, as a Business Growth Advisor, which offers me more opportunities to do something else I love, helping others start and/or grow their own businesses. I’m meeting so many fascinating people through PARO!

All this to say, I’ve been having so much fun, I forgot to Blog!

What sort of fun activities help you lose track of time?

If you enjoyed reading this post you may also enjoy:

​Digital Bread Crumbs
Micro-blogging, does it work?
The Power of Teamwork

To get a free copy of my eBook “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces” click here

To learn more about individual Thought Partner services click here

In early June 2021, I joined the BFLF Women Veterans Program A.T.H.E.N.A. funded by the Quebec Veterans Foundation. Completing the participants’ survey today made me think I should give you an update on my progress to date.

I’ve been a veteran for almost 9 years, and I’m not ashamed to admit that I weigh more and am less fit that I was when I served in uniform. My priorities have not been on maintaining a militarily fit body, and it shows. That being said, I’m healthy, and I’m grateful for my body, which enables me to do pretty much anything I aspire to do.

I joined the A.T.H.E.N.A. program, because I knew that having a group of accountability partners, between the staff and my sister veterans, would help motivate me to be more physically active. And it has!

Dave Morrow and Audrée Dufresne both welcomed me to the program, explaining how it worked and keeping in touch throughout. Audrée is our trainer. She starts us off with an assessment of our overall fitness and flexibility during a Zoom meeting. Then she creates custom workout plans, including the warm up and cool down sessions. She’s been great about changing things up, like removing the Yoga child pose from my routines, because, quite frankly my belly gets in the way!

As part of the program, we have access to the Dave Morrow Personal Trainer Fitness Training App, which includes all kinds of fun features that I don’t take advantage of. I do like the video explanations of each exercise in my workout routines, the voice telling me what exercise is coming up next and how much time I have left. I also love that the App tracks my progress.

Audrée also runs our weekly group session, sharing fun facts and personal updates as we get ready to meet the challenges she’s prepared for us that week. One of the best features of the group workouts is that Audrée demonstrates the exercises, including more than one way to perform most of them, so that we can select the level of difficulty that works best for us. I’ll admit, my sister veterans in the program all look like they’re in much better shape than I am! Some of them even shared that they run 5 and 10 kms, regularly!

That being said, I feel welcomed and encouraged by my sister veterans, Audrée and Dave. Dave taught one of our group classes when Audree wasn’t available – she was on military training – and couldn’t join us that week. Dave did a great job of explaining different levels of difficulty too.

I haven’t lost weight since I joined the A.T.H.E.N.A. program, and I’m OK with that. What has changed is my overall fitness. In just 10 weeks, I’ve gone from walking once or twice a week, for 30 to 45 minutes, to regularly completing 50 to 60 minute workouts, and doing other physical activities like walks and gardening.

I’ve completed 30 cardio sessions and several other workouts. I’ve gone from not being able to do more than a couple of half knee push-ups, to regularly pumping off 20 or more half knee push-ups.

What’s a half knee push-up you ask? It’s doing push-ups from the knees and only going halfway down before going back up again. Why am I doing them that way instead of going all the way down to the ground and back up? For the same reason that I avoid the yoga position called the child pose. My belly gets in the way! And that’s OK. I can feel my body becoming more toned and I have more energy.

It’s unlikely that I’ll drop all of the weight I’ve put on since I became a veteran. And I’m OK with that too. I’m grateful that I’m becoming more fit, and that I’m healthy. I feel like I’ve got lots of energy, and I’m getting most of the things on my to do list done. I’d probably do even better, if I wasn’t interested in doing so many things!

Happily, I’m following my own advice and getting help from others to do some of the things I don’t like to do, or that I’m not great at doing. Now, the question is, do I sign up for the paid program with Dave and Audrée when my 3 months on the A.T.H.E.N.A. program are over? Or do I pick a fitness program closer to home, so I can attend in person, assuming pandemic conditions allow for that?

I’ve learned that I’m more likely to be fit with accountability partners, so I do plan on investing in some sort of workout program moving into the Fall.

As an aside, if you’re a woman veteran in Canada (you don’t have to be in Quebec) consider signing up for the A.T.H.E.N.A. program, funded by the Quebec Veterans Foundation, it’s a lot of fun and it works!

PS: After publishing this post, I received fabulous news! I'm able to stick with the program for the full 6 months originally envisioned for participants. Even though I joined late. I also learned a couple of spots have opened up for new participants!

If you enjoyed reading this post you may also enjoy:

Women Veterans, Helping Each Other Thrive
​Daffodils and New Beginnings 
Respecting "I Can't"

To get a free copy of my eBook “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces” click here

To learn more about individual Thought Partner services click here

When I served in the military, shortly after I arrived at a new posting, I met one on one with all my direct reports and invested the time to learn what their career goals were. When new people joined my team, I would hold a meeting to welcome and learn about them too.

I asked my team what training and resources they wanted to help them achieve their goals. I also learned their aptitudes, strengths and interests (also known as gifts). Then for the duration of the time that we worked together, I strove to help them achieve their goals by assigning them tasks they would excel at, loading them on the training they wanted, and getting them the resources they needed to do their job. I valued each member of my team for the different gifts they shared.

Embracing Inclusion has been a way of life for me, for as long as I can remember. I’m not perfect, because after all I’m only human. That being said I strive to better understand people with different lived experiences than mine to help me be a better leader. This post explains how IDEA (Inclusion Diversity Equity Accessibility) is an effective leadership strategy.

Note, you don’t need to be in a leadership position to lead, and it is possible for everyone on the team to be a leader, each taking the lead when their gifts are those that the team needs.

Inclusion

Each of us is unique, we have different capacities to do different things. We all have different gifts.

To me inclusion means appreciating everyone for the gifts they bring to the team and finding ways to help each other thrive. When we support and encourage each other as we work towards common goals, we can achieve what many would consider impossible. I’ve found this to be true time and again throughout my career in the military, as a community volunteer and now as an entrepreneur.

An example of this is a project I’m part of with the Business and Professional Women of Ontario. Our organization is more than 100 years old, and many of our original policies and practices are still in place today. 

In January 2021, a Mentoring Task Force was created to explore Mentoring program options to cover the province. A group of 3 women were interested in the project and volunteered for the Task Force. We still haven’t named a formal chair or produced any minutes.

In 5 months, we went from a glimmer of an idea to presenting a Mentoring program and having a budget approved to carry it out. We did this by investing the time and energy to get to know each other and what we were good at, by exploring other mentoring programs being run across Canada and the International Federation of Business and Professional Women, and then coming up with two options and costing them out. We presented our findings to BPW Ontario members at the June 2021 Conference and our recommended plan and budget were approved.

We’re all good at researching topics that interest us, we split up the different BPW mentoring programs and reached out to learn more. I researched the BPW Montreal program, as the only French speaking member of our team. Carrie Andrews who is mostly retired, reached out to different clubs around the world. A representative from BPW Calgary joined us for a meeting to share their resources and answer our questions. Shahina Suleman runs a mentoring program for new Canadians and shared her mentoring experiences.

We chose to meet every week, for about an hour, to touch base, compare notes, and agree on next steps. We kept our meetings on task without using formal agendas, as this was mostly a brainstorming process.

We decided not to keep formal minutes, because that would slow us down. Instead, we shared our understanding of what we’d accomplished and what our next steps were as we closed each meeting.
We didn’t worry about achieving perfection we concentrated on getting the big things right; progress over perfection.

When life threw us curve balls, we were flexible and adjusted our plan to keep moving forward. For example, at the outset we chose to meet weekly. A few times one of us would have something come up and let the others know she couldn’t make the meeting. Depending on what was going on for the others, we would decide to meet, or to completely skip a meeting.

Sometimes we wouldn’t achieve everything we meant to between meetings. We accepted that as OK, and adjusted our next steps accordingly. Through it all, the weekly meetings, generally at 4 pm on Friday became something we all look forward to and enjoy.

As I’m writing this, our Mentoring Task Force is in the process of standing up a BPW Ontario Mentoring Committee to bring the Mentoring program to life. So far, four other women have volunteered to participate.

Diversity

Part of inclusion is celebrating diversity. The BPW Ontario Mentoring Task Force is three women with different ancestries, spiritual beliefs, cultures, and lived experiences. We have different ways of tackling research and problem solving.

We have a common goal of taking action to help women (and others) thrive.

We each play to our strengths, for example I find writing easy, and I give presentations for a living, so during our meetings I draft documents such as our presentation that won the support of BPW Ontario members and approval of our proposed budget.

We each had a speaking role during the presentation, Shahina our liaison and spokesperson with the BPW Ontario Board, took the first part of the presentation, outlining our mandate and accomplishments to date.

Carrie spoke passionately about the positive impact a formal mentoring program could create for our members and our organization.

I outlined the next steps and introduced Shawn Mintz, CEO of MentorCity who presented and demonstrated the platform.

Canada, like many countries, has a number of acts and laws intended to protect people living and working here. While the Acts and Laws are important, diversity goes much further than anything that can be captured on paper.

When we celebrate our differences and gifts, we can accomplish more than when we dwell on “the other.”

Equity

Equity is about everyone being recognized for their gifts, and being given the support they need to perform their duties to the best of their abilities.

This can include something as simple as giving people their own collection of stamps so they don’t have to cross a large room to stamp official documents (read “Mercenary” Partnerships and Trust for the rest of the story) or as complex as subsidizing post secondary education for a high potential employee with limited financial means.

As an experienced facilitator and someone who types pretty quickly, I find it easy to capture ideas on a document during a video meeting. When the BPW Mentoring Task Force realized that this was one of my gifts, I became our note keeper, drafting our documents, in real time. The other two are also quite capable of typing and taking notes, however, I can do it more quickly, which saves us all time in the long run. Together we refine the message.

Shahina is a skilled speaker and influencer, and is our liaison with the BPW Ontario Board. She anticipates questions, and draws the answers from our Task Force before the questions are asked, so that she is fully prepared whenever she speaks on our behalf. She inspires us to think deeper.

Carrie is a systems thinker, she’s also a gifted influencer, and eloquently addresses people’s emotions turning fear into hope. She has a gift for identifying the heart of a problem and the levers that can be activated to create positive change.

Accessibility

In 2020, I realized that Disabled people are often left out of discussion on Inclusion and Diversity.

I learned about IDEA which stands for Inclusion Diversity Equity and Access or Accessibility in early 2021 from Ainsley Latour, who in turn credits one of her mentors for teaching her the acronym.

When Accessibility laws are interpreted as constraints people get frustrated and resist accommodating others as “too expensive” or “impractical.”

The reality is when we strive to create and adopt more accessible workplaces everyone wins.

I know that when my children were young, I was really happy to encounter automatic doors while pushing a stroller and holding the hand of a toddler.

Choosing to invest in making your online content accessible helps people with communications disabilities AND it helps people who are speaking English as a second language.

You can choose to create a more accessible workplace. For example, if you’re holding meetings using a video platform, encourage people to interact in the way that is most comfortable for them. Writing in the chat is just as valid as speaking out loud. There are many readily available closed captioning services and lots of ASL and LSQ translators that can be hired to help Deaf and hearing-impaired people participate fully.

IDEA something to celebrate and an effective leadership strategy

The main idea of this blog is that celebrating and embracing Inclusion Diversity Equity and Accessibility is an effective leadership strategy. For those of you who scoff at this, consider the return on investment of creating a team where everyone can perform to the best of their abilities, where everyone feels included, and wants to do their best work to help their team mates and you succeed.

The reality is, if you embrace inclusion and celebrate the different gifts your team has to share, then you can find ways to accomplish the seemingly impossible.

Consider shifting your focus from IDEA being something that must be mandated, to something that when embraced significantly and markedly increases the overall productivity and engagement of your teams.  It’s more than the right thing to do, it’s a great investment in your team and your organization.

If you enjoyed reading this post you may also enjoy:

"Mercenary" Partnerships and Trust 
Invisible Disabilities and Accessibility 
​Investing in Accessible Online Learning

​To get a free copy of my eBook “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces” click here

To learn more about Career Coaching services click here

This blog shares why “So what?” stories are so important in your resume and cover letter.

"So what?" stories help employers understand why they should care about your accomplishment. A well-crafted story detail what the issue was, how you dealt with it, and what you accomplished. Some people call this using the “SMART” method. I can never wrap my head around all 5 components of the SMART acronym. I prefer to illustrate important concepts and information using stories.

A “So what?” story that includes numbers (also known as metrics) and descriptive words (which can include adjectives) helps put your accomplishments into perspective.

Another way of describing this concept is that “So what?” stories share qualitative and quantitative evidence that what you accomplished is worth noting.

Resumes and "So what?" stories

Here’s a couple of examples, lightly edited to protect identities, from resumes that I’ve helped people refine over the last 4 years:

Original text "Safely operate skidder and chain saws"
Transforms to "Safely operate skidder and chain saws with zero accidents for a 3-year period"

Original text “Led the day-to-day trading operations for 5 funds, alongside other Managers”
Transforms to “Managed the day-to-day trading operations for five investment funds worth more than $350 million”
 
These samples are short on purpose, they each fit on a page as a resume “bullet” point. Stories can be as short as five words.
 
When drafting your “So what?” stories use your own words, to showcase what you actually did. Add numbers where you can like "4 years" or a percentage if that's appropriate. Numbers help tell a compelling "So What?" story.
 
Cover letters and “So what?” stories

The most important thing to remember about a cover letter is that it's not about you! Frankly many employers aren’t that interested in candidates’ dreams, passions or aspirations. They want to know how you can help them.

This is where research can come in handy. Invest time researching your prospective employer (see Job Search Tips #1, for hints).

Try to identify what is important to that employer. Are they proud of their safety record? Are they actively seeking a more diverse workforce? Do they value their employees volunteering in the communities where they have offices? Has the job you’re applying for been turned over 6 times in the last 3 years? Why might that be?

Once you have a decent idea of what is important to the employer, showcase your gifts (skills, experience, knowledge) using “So what?” stories in your cover letter.
 
For example, when I applied to become a PARO Centre for Women’s Enterprise service provider as a Business Growth Advisor (BGA) my cover letter read in part:

“I love how inclusive PARO is, from your logo to programs tailored for women from all backgrounds and abilities. I strive to communicate with people in a way that works for them. For example, last week, I had a friendly and productive typed chat in Zoom with a deaf business woman, about creating inclusive online training programs. She connected me to Canadian companies that provide live closed captioning services, ASL Interpreters, and LSQ (French) Interpreters. I am also integrally bilingual, English and French.”

You’ll note, this “So what?” story doesn’t include any numbers, instead I describe that I practice inclusion, and that I strive to communicate effectively with people from many different backgrounds, something that I knew, from my research, that PARO was looking for.

When writing cover letters (and resumes) tell the truth, don't make stuff up! What you're doing in the cover letter is giving them a feel of what kind of person you'd be like to work with.

As an aside, I’m happy to report that I’m really enjoying my first month as a PARO BGA. I’ve already got a couple of new client intake conversations set up for August!

If you enjoyed reading this post you may also enjoy:

Job Search Tips #1 Research
Job Search Tips #2 Informational Interviews 

To get a free copy of my eBook “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces” click here

To learn more about Career Coaching services click here

Last week’s blog covered two money related topics: Incorporation and Business Insurance. There were also links to several free resources that you can explore at your own pace.

This week’s blog covers finding the right business bank account, and introduces the concepts of cash flow and overhead.

Finding the right Bank Account

A common pitfall for people starting a home-based business is mixing up their personal and business finances, by trying to track everything in one bank account.

I strongly recommend getting a separate bank account for your business. It helps you track how your business is doing, in other words are you actually making any money? And it makes things a lot easier come tax time!

Shop around by visiting your communities’ banks and credit unions, you can even check out online banking options if that’s within your comfort zone. Explore and find out what type of account is the best for your business. Banks and credit unions all try to offer competitive advantages, find the one that provides an affordable option for your type of business.

If you’re creating a high-volume business, with lots of transactions, it may be worth it to become a member of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB). Membership benefits include lower banking fees with partner financial institutions.
 
When I became a veteran, one of the first things I did was to shop around for a bank for my business.  In one bank, the Small Business Accounts Manager was more interested in telling me about his upcoming vacation than in telling me about the services his bank offered. In another bank, I ended up talking to the Branch manager. She asked me about my business, which at that time was a vague idea of doing what I loved best in the military, speaking, training and writing.

I planned to help others learn strategies and tactics to help them, their communities and organizations thrive. Based on what people kept asking me to talk about in my last few years in the military, I thought my target audience might be women in search of work life balance. I didn’t have a formal business plan, just a vague dream of a business idea. The Branch Manager liked what I shared, and ended up offering me a line of credit and a credit card to help me launch my business!

It’s worth shopping around for a financial institution. Tell people what you’re interested in. Sometimes, people will offer help before you even realize how useful that can be.  If you ask for what you want, you might just get it!

Bonus Tip: For some timeless advice check out Carol Ann Budd’s article “Tax Tips for Business Owners.” 
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Bonus insight: Take some time to reflect on who your ideal clients are. I was wrong in my initial thoughts on this. Over time, my ideal clients revealed themselves to me.

Cash Flow and Overhead

I have several entrepreneur models in my family. My mother-in-law ran a business selling natural products out of her home for more than 30 years, my sister-in-law is a serial entrepreneur with many creative based businesses, my dad started two engineering consulting firms, and my husband started his business 5 years before me. I also have two uncles who are entrepreneurs and an aunt who put in decades as an incredibly successful Mary Kay saleswoman.

One of the lessons my family taught me was to keep my overhead low, until my cash flow is going well. In other words, don’t rush to buy a new desk, fancy giveaways, a brand-new car, etc. They taught me to keep my initial expenses low.

My biggest expenses in my first 16 months of business were buying a laptop, getting incorporated, professional insurance and buying some business cards from a local printer.  I decided early to shop local whenever possible! Did I mention that one of my uncles runs an incredibly successful printing business in Saskatchewan?

Overhead is the name that accountants and bankers use to describe recurring costs that must be paid on a regular basis, whether you have any sales or not. This can include, but is by no means limited to: rent, insurance, payroll, and software licensing fees.

I still haven’t bought any pretty branded things to give away like pens or USB sticks. I use as many free resources as I can, such as free LinkedIn. I have not spent a penny on marketing or advertising. My marketing is word of mouth (in person and on social media) and/or done by strategic partners. I even built my own website, which for several years was basically an online business card.

Last year, when I was ready to start scaling up, I began investing in getting outside help and paying for software to help me reach a larger audience for a new series of online courses. This included my website getting a professional makeover – while still using the cost effective Weebly platform that I know and love.

Cash Flow is literally the cash coming into and leaving your business. This “cash” may all be electronic, it’s anything that counts as money. For example, if you sell 100 stickers at $5 each, you’ve got incoming cash flow of $500.

You also have expenses, for all the materials used in creating those stickers, from the electricity for the machine that prints the stickers and the printer (overhead) to the paper used for printing. The bills you pay to cover those costs are cash flowing out of your business.

Continuing with the sticker example, it’s important to allocate some of your cashflow to materials, and some to overhead. Calculating what you’re going to pay yourself is also important. If you end up with zero cash after paying for the materials and other overhead, and you don’t pay yourself anything, then you’re not making money with that part of your business.

And that’s OK, as long as the stickers are a loss leader, that is a way to get the word out about your business, to attract clients to buy your higher priced products and services.

Consultants and other service providers may offer “free” services and resources, to help attract clients. For example, my free offerings are generally related to networking. It occurs to me as I edit this that my blog is also a free offering!

I’m curious, what’s the best financial advice you’ve followed so far?

If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy:

The Power of Team Work
​Digital Bread Crumbs

You’re welcome to access my free mini course “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces” at https://courses.empoweredpath.ca/

Running a business out of your home can be appealing for a number of reasons. As more people start contemplating the benefits of creating their own career by becoming entrepreneurs, it’s likely that they’ll have a few questions.

One of the things that people don’t like to talk, think or write about is money!

I’ve been an entrepreneur since the fall of 2012, the first few months were all about figuring out what I wanted to do, and setting up conditions for success. This included a few financial matters.

Over the years I’ve picked up a few more strategies and tactics shared by colleagues, family and government funded resources to help entrepreneurs thrive.

This blog covers two money related topics: Incorporation and Business Insurance. There are also links to free resources (from many sources) that you can explore at your own pace.

Incorporation: Yes, No or Maybe?

One of the first money related matters to sort out with your business, is how to structure it. Are you going to be a sole-proprietor, form a partnership, or incorporate?

There are benefits to all 3 models. I chose to incorporate my business because I started late, and wanted to protect our family’s assets, the money invested in our home, my military pension and my RRSPs.

If I had known how low risk my business actually was, I would have waited, and run it as a sole proprietor for the first few years. That way I could have written off several of my start up costs, on my personal taxes.

My accountant tried to get me to do that, but I can be pretty stubborn, I insisted on incorporating. He did persuade me to incorporate in Ontario instead of in Canada, saving a lot of paperwork especially come tax time. As my accountant explained it, unless I planned on setting up shop in other provinces, I didn’t need to incorporate outside of the province I lived and worked in.

Be very careful if you’re going to start a business partnership. Invest in getting separate legal advice. Too many friendships and families go through tough times when they realize that they made a bad decision by starting a business together. Formalize your partnership in writing, and have it witnessed.

To learn more about whether or not it’s time to incorporate your business, I recommend a one-hour video from the WE CAN Project at Queens University “Is Incorporation Right for You?” 

Business Insurance

It’s worth looking into additional insurance for your business. If something happens to your home, and all your products are damaged, will your home insurance cover that loss? If not, consider requesting a change to your home insurance, or purchasing business insurance.

If your business is in a service-related industry, check your professional association for insurance discounts and/or talk to a few Insurance brokers.

Once I started my business, I began researching insurance. My husband had a 5-year head start on me as a business owner, I’d heard him speaking about how expensive insurance was. He’s an HVAC Refrigeration mechanic by trade, and his business is classified as being part of the construction industry. 

My business is all in my head, and in my home office, it’s about knowledge, which is a very different matter when it comes to insurance.

My insurance rates are about a tenth of what my husband pays and I get a really good rate because I’m a member in good standing with the Human Resources Professional Association (HRPA). The Insurance broker I spoke to explained that my business insurance was so low because it’s almost unheard of for a Human Resources consultant to get sued!

Remember when I wrote about incorporating earlier than I needed to? I learned how low risk my business was about a month after it was incorporated. Once you’re incorporated, it’s a real pain to stop. Lots of paperwork!

Bonus Tip: Find a few trusted resource people, like a lawyer, bookkeeper, accountant and insurance broker when you start thinking about setting up your business. Paying up front for professional help can save you lots of financial heartache later on. Leverage your network to find the resource people that can help you!

Free Resources

When I started learning how to be an entrepreneur, I accessed free resources to figure out how to set conditions for success for my business.

I'm still learning new things, and I am grateful that many programs share their knowledge freely with their target audiences. Here’s a partial list of resources you may find useful, with a note about the geographic regions each covers.

All Entrepreneurs

• Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) - Canada
• Chambers of Commerce – Canada (if your current organization or your professional association is a member you can attend Chamber events at member rates) Many of the annual Small Business Week events (October) are free
• Your local business development corporation – Bay of Quinte region
• Your local small business centre - Bay of Quinte region

Women and non-binary Entrepreneurs

• NWAC #BeTheDrum Entrepreneur Program – Canada
• PARO Centre for Women Entrepreneurs – Ontario
• WE CAN Project at Queens University – Greater Kingston Ontario region

​Why did I suddenly decide to write about money and home-based businesses? Well, all the marketing mavens I follow and learn from recommend showing your value by providing useful information to potential clients for free.

And, I just joined the PARO team as a Business Growth Advisor (BGA), which means that my company will get paid for me to do something I love: helping people learn how to start and grow a business. Best part, this makes my services much more accessible to those with a small budget, because PARO client’s access BGA’s for free!

In an upcoming blog, “Home Based Business: Let's talk Money part 2.” I’ll be covering the topics of Bank Accounts, Cash Flow and Overhead.

If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy:

Making Your Virtual Meetings Work and/or
Ask for What you Want, you Might Just Get It!

You’re welcome to access my free mini course “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces” 

To sign up for my monthly newsletter and to receive advance notice of when courses are going live click here.

Many people don’t enjoy meetings at the best of times. There are entire books written on how to run effective meetings, and lots of cartoons and jokes about ineffective meetings.  Meetings are an obvious pain point for many.

Pivoting to holding meetings virtually is handy in some ways, and can be incredibly frustrating in others. All the things you didn’t like about attending meetings in person, are amplified when the meetings are held online. Some of the things that appealed to those who like attending meetings in person, seem to be missing when the meetings are taking place virtually.

How can we possibly make virtual meetings work you ask?

This article shares 25 tactics and a couple of bonus tips that can vastly improve your virtual meeting experience. I’m sharing what I learned from when I first started holding hybrid meetings (live, by phone and by video connection) more than a decade ago while serving as a senior officer in the Canadian military, and what I’ve refined over the last 8 years as an entrepreneur who works with virtual teams.

5 Tactics for Meeting Preparation:

Preparation plays a big part in holding effective meetings.  Here are a few things you could add to your virtual meeting check list:

1. Share the meeting link in advance, and then share it again the day of the meeting.
2. Share the purpose of the meeting and a draft agenda in advance (preferably with the first meeting link). 
3. Share reading materials in advance when at all possible.
4. Log in a few minutes early to address any technical issues. 
5. Make sure everyone understands how to use the technology in advance.  For important meetings, hold a dress rehearsal with key participants.

BONUS TIP:  If the agenda is more than 90 minutes long, consider including a health break.

When participants know the purpose of the meeting, and have an opportunity to look at and contribute to the Draft Agenda, they know what to expect and are able to prepare in advance. Even really creative people, who always seem to be going in a million directions at once, enjoy having an idea of what to expect at a meeting.

10 Practical Tactics for Making your Virtual Meeting Work:

1. Start the agenda with brief introductions, this helps people understand who is in the meeting, and their purpose for being there.  
2. If you’re expecting a large group, set a time limit for introductions and have a time keeper (also sometimes known as a facilitator, or the meeting Chair) gently remind people to stick to the time limit.
3. After the introductions state the purpose of the meeting to focus people’s attention.
4. Go through each item on the agenda, under the assumption that people have read the materials in advance, so that the discussion can keep moving along.
5. If you’re holding a meeting that requires motions to be approved, where possible draft motions in advance, it helps save time and keep the meeting moving.
6. Make sure that participants share the air. If someone starts monopolizing the time, which risks taking the meeting off the agenda, firmly, politely, and kindly ask them to table their thoughts for a side bar meeting on that topic, or ask them to share their thoughts in an email or phone call after the meeting is over.
7. Always leave time near the end of the meeting for a round table discussion. This is an opportunity for participants to bring up things that they’d like covered, if not today, then at the next meeting. It’s also an opportunity for participants to confirm their understanding of what took place during the meeting. Some people wait until they are asked to share their ideas before revealing the gems of knowledge and ground-breaking ideas that they’ve thought of.  Not everyone is an extrovert ready and willing to share their ideas to anyone who will remain still long enough to listen.
8. It’s very effective for the meeting Chair to list tasks and ensure that people know what’s expected of them before the meeting closes.
9. The last item on the agenda is the date and time for the next meeting, if applicable.
10. Commit to ending the meeting on time. People are busy, they appreciate knowing that they can rely on the meeting Chair to respect their time by sticking to the agenda. If at all possible, end the meeting a few minutes early!  People will enjoy attending your meetings if you respect their time.

BONUS TIP: Thank people for participating in your meeting, even if it’s a part of their regular duties. Adding a few words about their specific contribution is a nice touch. It demonstrates that they were heard and are valued.

5 Tactics for Inclusive Virtual Meetings:

1. Make sure that everyone has the opportunity to participate, and that they can do so in a manner that is comfortable for them. Some people prefer to type in the chat, rather than speaking out loud. That’s OK!
2. Allow participants to turn off their cameras and mics. Part of the virtual meeting fatigue is feeling like you always have to be “ON” and camera ready.
3. Approximately 20% of the world’s population is disabled, sometimes with invisible disabilities. This may make virtual meetings more difficult for them. Provide live closed captioning and/or sign language interpreters whenever possible. Especially if you know your meeting is going to include people with disabilities. If you have a large company, your human resources team can find out how many people require this sort of accommodation. 
4. Whenever possible include at least closed captioning for every meeting, this normalizes the practice and relieves the people who normally wish for this sort of support from the burden of having to ask for it. Closed captioning helps the deaf and hard of hearing people, those who are attending a meeting in their second or third language, and those who have difficulty processing the spoken word.
5. If you’re working with a set team, get in the habit of calling on people by name to provide their feedback in a set order, so that they know that they can chime in with their thoughts, either verbally or in the chat, when it is their turn.  This is particularly important if you’re holding a brainstorming meeting using a round table method.  

5 Additional Tactics to Facilitate Hybrid Meetings:

1. Follow all of the tactics listed above, paying particular attention to calling on those who are attending virtually to share their thoughts on each agenda item.
2. Make a point of calling on the virtual attendees first when it comes time for a round table discussion. This allows them the opportunity to share their brilliant ideas, without feeling like they’re being included as an afterthought.
3. Allow people who are attending virtually to signal that they “pass” on commenting on some items. If you’re a sighted person you can see the people in your face-to-face meeting signalling that they want to pass. People participating by phone or by video should be asked. This may feel awkward at first. Don’t worry, with practice it gets easier.
4. If a virtual attendee makes a motion, or shares a key resource, ask them to include that text and/or link in the chat. This makes it easier for the person taking the minutes.
5. Make a point of thanking everyone, those who attended in person and those who attended virtually for making your meeting a success.

There you go - 25 Tactics for Making Virtual Meetings Work! Plus, a couple of Bonus Tips. May you enjoy all of your virtual and hybrid meetings moving forward.

If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy:

Investing in Accessible Online Learning
Growing your Network Online 
Leading Volunteers a Rewarding and Challenging Experience

To learn more about my new online courses click here.

To sign up for a pdf copy of a short eBook called "Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces" and my monthly newsletter click here.

On Monday June 21, 2021 I had the honour to be one of the AVA members to witness Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class (retired) Deborah Eisan being presented with her Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Honorary Captain (Navy) Scroll and Pins.

Debbie is an Ojibway Anishinabe kwe from Batchewana First Nation. She was formally appointed as an Honorary Captain (Navy) of the Royal Canadian Navy on the 19th October 2020. HCapt(N) Eisan is affiliated with the future Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Margaret Brooke scheduled to be delivered to the Royal Canadian Navy summer 2021.

I met Debbie over a decade ago, through the work she was doing with the Department of National Defence Aboriginal Advisory Group (DAAG). She was a vocal supporter of all Indigenous peoples interested in, serving with, and veterans of, the Canadian military. Debbie supported the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) programs to help Indigenous youth experience what Human Resources professionals call a Realistic Job Preview.

Debbie gently used her circles of influence to ensure that the Canadian Forces Aboriginal Entry Plan (CFAEP), the summer programs called Bold Eagle, Raven and Black Bear, and the Aboriginal Leadership Opportunity Year (ALOY) received support, helping participants learn new skills they could use in whatever future they chose.

Debbie continued to support the programs as a veteran, as she expanded her circles of influence to help even more Indigenous peoples thrive.  Debbie now plays an important role as the Community Events Planner at the Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre.

Lots of important people shared congratulatory messages during the ceremony.  I’m sure the Navy will share their names and ranks.

The parts I was most interested in were the support and words of encouragement from Raymond Sewell who started the ceremony by drumming and singing the Mi’kmaq Honour song for Debbie, the congratulations from Chief Dean Sayers, Chief of Batchewana First Nations, and Debbie’s speech.

I was also thrilled to see Petty Officer 1st Class (PO1) Katrina Stewart, a Boatswain in the RCN from the Nisga’a Nation of New Aiyansh, British Columbia, serving as the flag bearer. Katrina graduated from the CAF Indigenous Pre-Recruit Training program known as CFAEP and has served in the Navy for 19 years.

HCapt(N) Debbie Eisan spoke about the dream that led her to join the Canadian military. She also spoke about the dream she and PO2 Innis had of creating an Eagle Staff for Indigenous peoples serving in the CAF.

Debbie ended off her speech with words of wisdom, that I’ve tried to capture here “Dreams do come, not always in the way you expect, in ways only the creator can explain. If we open our eyes and watch for signals, we’ll achieve our dreams.”

As a woman veteran, what struck me as particularly appropriate is that Debbie is HCapt(N) for the HMCS Margaret Brooke an Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ship (AOPS) who’s first Commanding Officer also happens to be a woman, Commander Nicole Robichaud.

Miigwetch, Marsee, Merci, Qujannamiik, All our relations Debbie!

If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy these military themed blog posts:

Women Veterans, Helping each other Thrive
Do we have Systemic Bias/Racism in Canada published in June 2020
"Mercenary" Partnerships and Trust

Do you feel frustrated with your career, like things aren’t going the way you expected or hoped?

Do you feel like you’re stuck and running out of options?

You’re not alone!

Many people go through this phase as they try to figure out how to get the jobs they really want.
So much so that I offer an 8 week Thought Partner program to help people learn strategies and tactics so they can learn how to design courses of action to achieve their definitions of success. You can learn more about the Navigating your Career Route Map program here.

Sometimes people just need a hint, or a short conversation to give them a boost of confidence to realize that it’s OK to ask for what they want.

I was brought up on the family legend of my mother asking for what she wanted, a posting to Europe, where she met and married my father. My parents repeatedly told us to ask for what we wanted, with the follow up that the worst that could happen would be that the answer is “no.”

On the other hand, the answer could be “Yes!”

Throughout my military career, I asked for what I wanted. This included courses, postings and even volunteer roles. I viewed meetings with the career manager as an opportunity to negotiate. When I was told as a newly commissioned officer, that my next posting would be to a job where the majority of my work would deal with things like requests for access to information, I cheekily asked if I could have a “real job.”

Luckily my career manager had a sense of humour and asked me to define what a “real job” was. I told him that I wanted a job where I had a staff and responsibilities, where I could use all the leadership training, I’d had during my military college experience. I also said I was willing to go anywhere for that kind of job.

That’s how I ended up at 403 Tactical Helicopter Squadron in Gagetown, New Brunswick, where I was responsible for administrative, transportation, vehicle maintenance, supply and financial services support. I led a multi-faceted team, in a very male dominated environment. It was a fabulous opportunity and I thoroughly enjoyed my job.

Now, one of the things I do as a Thought Partner is help others identify the opportunities, they have to ask for what they want.

Last week, I had a lovely phone call with a woman I hadn’t spoken to in a few years. Kris Dawson saw my post about the Navigating Your Career Route Map program and asked if I had time for a call. Between getting ready for the program launching on June 25, and projects I’m working on for clients, my weekdays are pretty much booked solid, so I suggested a weekend phone call. Here’s what Kris wrote about me on LinkedIn:

“Even though part of my background was as a career coach, it's really hard to coach yourself into your next career. So I reached out to Chantal to get some clarity around my approach to a possible job opportunity. (She made herself available right away for me - on a Sunday morning!) She gave me some straight forward simple advice (and confidence) on what to do to ensure my needs were met. And, it worked! I landed exactly what I was after. Thanks Chantal for being my trusted coach and cheerleader all in one!

More on Chantal: I first met Chantal around 7 years ago through an HR Conference, hadn't spoken to her in awhile but always had her in the back of my mind. She carries with her great knowledge and experience and a very positive mindset and is available when you need her most! I have no doubt that she can help others gain a clearer path to their next career move.”

The advice that I gave Kris can be summed up as “ask for what you want, you might just get it!”

There’s more to it than that of course, which is why there’s always work for career coaches, mentors and Thought Partners.

Here’s my small ask, if my content resonates with you, please share it with your friends, family and colleagues, so that they can learn about the services I offer.

Here’s my big ask, consider investing your time, energy and hard-earned money in the Navigating your Career Route Map: Designing Courses of Action to Help You Achieve Your Definition of Success program.

If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy:

Job Search Tips #1 
Job Search Tips #2 Informational Interviews
Volunteering, Why Bother?

To learn more about my new online courses click here.

To sign up for my monthly newsletter and to receive advance notice of when courses are going live click here.

I’m thrilled to share that the introductory offering of the Navigating your Career Route Map: Designing Courses of Action to Help You Achieve Your Definition of Success program is now available online!

The Navigating your Career Route Map program is all about helping you discover and explore practical strategies and tips that may help you navigate how you can achieve your definition of success.

This program combines facilitated discussion with elements of coaching, mentoring and Mastermind processes. The program is presented in a small group, accessible, online setting, and includes individual Thought Partner sessions with me.

I’ll be sharing my insights into how you can navigate your work life, based on my successful military career, my transition to life as a veteran and entrepreneur, and the successes my coaching clients and mentees have experienced.

You’ll be participating in an interactive online group setting, which immediately expands your Friendly Forces network, and gives you an accountability partner group.

You may be wondering what Thought Partner means. Until I sat down to write this post, I thought it was a term I made up, to describe how I prefer to work with people.
​
Then I googled “Thought Partner” and learned that the term has been around since at least June 2012, when Rania Anderson, a wildly successful Speaker, Author, and Executive Business Coach, wrote a guest post for Forbes which reads in part:

“A Thought Partner is someone who:

Challenges your thinking.

Causes you to modify or change your paradigms, assumptions or actions

Has information or a way of thinking that provokes you to innovate or otherwise leads to value creation in your business, career or life.

A Thought Partner is different from a Thought Leader. Thought Leaders are people who are clearly and widely recognized as leading experts and visionaries in their field.

Thought Partners may also be Thought Leaders, though generally, they are not. Thought Partners are usually people who possess information, knowledge, or a way of thinking that challenges and provokes divergent thinking and action for you. Your Thought Partners may arise from within any area of your life; you just have to engage with and listen to them. When you can attune yourselves, there is music to be made.”

These words resonated so powerfully that the first thing I did after reading them was to reach out through LinkedIn to invite Rania to join my network. (We're now connected!!!) Then I went back to writing.

Wondering if the Navigating your Career Route Map program might be for you?

If you:
-  want to make changes in your work life, develop your career, and/or explore other career options; and
-  are willing to do the hard work of figuring out why things aren’t going the way you expected, to face things you might rather ignore, and to communicate with radical candour;
-  then this program might be the one you’ve been searching for!

I look forward to meeting, learning about, and sharing thoughts with the 12 participants in the Navigating your Career Route Map: Designing Courses of Action to Help You Achieve Your Definition of Success program. I hope to connect with you soon!

If you enjoyed reading this you may also enjoy:

Digital Bread Crumbs
Invisible Disabilities & Accessibility

To learn more about my new online courses click here.

To sign up for my monthly newsletter and to receive advance notice of when courses are going live click here.