This post is to share my Gratitude for many of the strategic partners and colleagues that I collaborated with in 2021. I’m looking forward to working with you all again in the future!

If you’re interested in upping your game when it comes to Inclusion Diversity Equity and Accessibility (IDEA) especially if you’re interested in connecting with Indigenous peoples across the lands we call Canada, with job opportunities, bursaries, or surveys, then consider partnering with Indigenous Link – they’ve been successfully connecting with Indigenous communities and organizations since 1999.

If you’re interested in setting up a Mentoring program powered by Canadian software, consider partnering with MentorCity. The software platform was created in 2011 and is incredibly easy to use as a Mentee, Mentor, and/or Administrator for your organization.  Added bonus, the MentorCity servers are in Canada and the platform is available in English and/or French.

If you’re a First Nations, Inuit, or Metis woman or non-binary person living and/or working in Canada, and you’re interested in becoming an entrepreneur, or you’re looking to up your game when it comes to running your business, consider the programs offered by NWAC.

If you’re a woman or non-binary person living and/or working in Ontario, and you’re interested in becoming an entrepreneur, or you’re looking to up your game when it comes to running your business, then consider becoming a PARO member. PARO is a not-for-profit organization that’s been helping people find meaningful employment, start and grow businesses for 27 years (and counting). They offer a number of programs including individual meetings with a Business Growth Advisor (like me); weekly Wednesday webinars, and several business camps (BizCamps).

If you’re a woman or non-binary person living and/or working in the Greater Kingston Ontario area, and interested in learning more about running a business, you may also be interested in the WE-CAN Project at Queen’s University. They offer a number of coaching programs and webinars.  I’m honoured to be presenting a webinar with WE-CAN on January 20, 2022.

I’m grateful to Lisa Isaac, from Lisa Isaac HR Professional Services, Carrie Calder, from Nakanagis Consulting Inc, and Elizabeth Nicholas for being part of the “Dream Team” on Empowered Path Inc.’s biggest project to date. I’m also grateful to Brad Labadie and the CFWD team for choosing our bid for their project.

There are so many more to list: Girls Inc. Limestone and District, Build Marketing, The National Research Council of Canada, Assist in Time, The Computer Store, Signable Vi5ion, CCS Inc., Thinkific, Zoom, and the list goes on.

I’m also grateful to my family and friends for supporting me as I leaned into my business and expanded both my offerings and partnerships. You know who you are!

Lastly, but definitely not least, I’m grateful that my loved ones and I remain relatively healthy and well, in spite of the challenges that 2021 placed in our paths.

Wishing health, joy, peace and abundance for you and all your loved ones as we move into 2022.

If you enjoyed reading this post you may also enjoy:

Gratitude, the Gift that Keeps on Giving
Gratitude Plants the Seeds for Abundance
Gratitude: Noticing and Appreciating the Little Things in Life
Gratitude and the Need for a New Normal

To get a free copy of my eBook “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces” click here (note it’s easier to sign up using a laptop than a phone).

Networking is all about identifying Friendly Forces (allies and colleagues), creating trusting relationships and helping each other achieve your goals. You can do that on LinkedIn!

Did you know that LinkedIn is meant to help people connect and build professional relationships with others on the platform?  It was created to help professionals network. Did you know that over half of the adult population, close to 17 million people in Canada is on LinkedIn?

Networking on LinkedIn can help job seekers find their ideal job. It can also help professionals find people to ask for advice, and help entrepreneurs find others to collaborate with as they seek bigger contracts than they could handle on their own.

A virtual network has the advantage of having a much larger geographic reach: with LinkedIn in 200 countries, you can grow your network to a global scale or you can keep it local, it’s totally up to you. 

The fact is you’re likely to meet people on LinkedIn that you wouldn’t meet at in person networking events. You can nurture your professional relationships using messages, and by liking, commenting on, and sharing posts.

A cautionary note, there are a few people who treat LinkedIn like a dating app. Feel free to ignore them, it’s much easier to do this online than in person! There are also people who are doing the equivalent of cold-calling potential clients by asking to connect, and then immediately trying to sell you something. Feel free to message back "no thanks" or ignore them too.

The majority of the people on LinkedIn are genuinely seeking connections for professional networking purposes. 

In the last 24 hours, I’ve recommended people I know IRL and on LinkedIn to others who were looking for someone specific to take on part time gigs in their organization. And I’ve introduced people to each other who may be the right fit for collaborating on a big contract. Early this morning I shared a job posting that one of the people in my network posted for her growing HR company.

Solo-preneurs like me, can find the people we’d like to work with on LinkedIn. This is particularly effective when someone you know and trust introduces you to someone else who could be the strategic partner you’re looking for.

LinkedIn may also be used as a place to learn about companies and what their corporate culture is actually like. For example, when I present sessions to organizations with a LinkedIn presence, I’ll go and lurk, scrolling through their LinkedIn company posts to learn what they share, and if their employees self-identify as working for that employer. 

If you’re still feeling like you’re stuck at home, or if you’re feeling like it’s safer to stay away from large gatherings and IRL networking opportunities, then consider scrolling through LinkedIn and making connections there! Even when things open up and there are more IRL networking opportunities, you can add the people you meet face to face to your LinkedIn network, helping you stay connected to your growing network. (For digital immigrants, IRL is the acronym for in real life)

Pro Tip: Always add a personal note when you invite someone to join your LinkedIn network.  Sharing how you found or met that person, and why you’d like to connect with them will help them choose to accept your invitation.

If you’re interested in learning how to really leverage LinkedIn as an entrepreneur, follow Petra Fisher on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

If you enjoyed reading this post you may also enjoy:

Six Degrees of Networking
Social Media and Networking

To get a free copy of my eBook “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces” click here (note it’s easier to sign up using a laptop than a phone).

Today’s blog was inspired by a LinkedIn post from Hannah Gzik, showcasing one of the Build a Kick Ass Company’s free downloadable posters. The poster is in the image I’ve used to illustrate this blog.

Part of my comment on the LinkedIn post reads “In our neighbourhood there are lots of squirrels, rabbits, and the occasional owl and coyote keeping the other critters on high alert. Both literally and figuratively speaking.”

And it’s true.

Many people think that being an entrepreneur is all about getting processes in place and being able to accurately predict your cashflows, in other words, getting all of your ducks in a row. While it’s true that processes can help you save time and be more efficient, and that understanding your businesses cashflow is critical for long term success, there is a LOT about running your own business that is more like a wild rave of squirrels than a nice row of ducks.

When you’re a solo-preneur like me, there are many things competing for your attention, from replying to client emails and phone calls, to creating content, writing proposals, providing services and completing more mundane, yet necessary tasks such as sending invoices and engaging in outreach with current and potential clients.

Some of these tasks are like squirrels; they grab your attention, and you feel like you have to attend to them immediately. Answering clients’ emails and phone calls for example. Then a new squirrel will pop up, such as a recurring client requesting a proposal for a new training series, or strategic partners requesting a meeting to brainstorm a new long-term venture. Some tasks are like rabbits, they nibble away at your time, like creating content and posting it on social media.

And sometimes, an owl silently swoops in, causing you to completely change your plan for the day.  For example, a family member needs to visit your local hospital’s emergency room. Even if all you have to do is drop them off and then pick them up to drive them home again, it can completely disrupt your plans for the day. Worrying about a family member’s health makes it difficult to concentrate on writing a proposal for new training!

Sometimes the unexpected is more like a coyote, and the disruption caused is because, like a trickster, a new client’s potential project morphs into something completely unexpected. Requiring either a complete overhaul of the planned services, or a graceful exit from the project.

I’m grateful that I literally live in a rural neighbourhood, with mature trees, brush, and a variety of plants and wildlife. I’m also grateful that I enjoy the benefits of working with a diverse network of skilled and knowledgeable strategic partners, coaches, mentors, and colleagues. They help me figure out how to pivot when things don’t go as expected, and regularly point out opportunities that I may not have recognized on my own.

So, what can you learn from this post?

As an entrepreneur, it’s a great idea to try and get at least some ducks in a row (business processes and cash flow), however, it’s also necessary to expect the rave of squirrels (competing demands), set aside time and resources for rabbits (necessary tasks like social media and sending invoices) and a good idea to expect the occasional owl and coyote (unexpected occurrences and project scope creep) while being prepared to pivot and adjust your plans.

Thanks again to Build a Kick Ass Company’s Hannah Gzik for the inspiration for this post!  You can download a free version of the poster, and many other inspiring posters, at this link.

If you enjoyed reading this post you may also enjoy:

Growing your Network Online
Home Based Business: Let's Talk Money part 1
Home Based Business: Let's Talk Money part 2

To get a free copy of my eBook “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces” click here (note it’s easier to sign up using a laptop than a phone).

To learn more about Business Coaching services click here or visit the PARO Centre for Women's Enterprise here.  I joined PARO as a subcontractor, providing Business Growth Advisor (BGA) services to women entrepreneurs from across Ontario in July 2021.

“Train hard, fight easy” is an expression that military members across Canada, and perhaps even further abroad are familiar with.

The expression means that if you train for as many likely possibilities as you can imagine, then when it comes time to put that training into action in real life, you’ll be ready. So ready, that the real life experience will seem easy by comparison.

You may have noticed this during your studies. For example, when taking math class in high school.  The more of the practice questions you complete while taking a math course, generally the easier it is to write math exams. This is because math teachers will often save themselves time and effort by selecting questions from the text book for their exams. If your practice included doing more questions than assigned as homework, chances are you’ll have completed some of the exam questions ahead of time.

Preparing for job interviews is the same thing! If you practice answering potential interview questions, then it will be easier when it comes time to answer strangers during the actual interview. 

Many interviewers, like math teachers, pull standard questions from their portfolio, when preparing for interviews.

Here are four tips to help you get the most out of your interview practices:

1. Research common questions for the types of job you aspire to have
2. Draft answers to these common questions, using “So What?” stories as much as possible
3. Practice with someone who can give you live, instant feedback
4. Repeat

Research

Researching potential questions on your own can give you insight into why these questions are being asked, and what sorts of answers the interviewers are likely looking for. Here are a few resources which can help you find practice questions.

Worktable has many fabulous articles to help, such as https://resources.workable.com/tutorial/faq-interview-process

Glassdoor Canada includes a section called Interview questions

You can also use Boolean search strings, to help narrow down you search for questions.

Sometimes employers ask questions they shouldn’t, this article gives great hints on how to respond https://globalnews.ca/news/3515774/6-job-interview-questions-potential-employers-are-not-allowed-to-ask-and-how-to-handle-them/

Draft Answers

Even though you may have read answers during your research, take the time to draft your own answers. I recommend using “So What?” stories from your lived experience, at work, in volunteer roles, and your education. This can also include your experience playing sports or enjoying your hobbies. All your experiences contribute to your ability to problem solve and bring value to your workplace.

For tips on “So What?” stories read Job Search Tips #3

Practice

Once you’ve drafted your answers, practicing them on your own will help. Practicing with someone else asking you the questions, and then responding to your answers live (phone, video, in person) is even more effective!

You can practice with a friend, a family member, a colleague, your current supervisor, or a professional career coach. The more interviewing knowledge and experience the person you practice with has, the more effective their feedback will be.

Repeat

Remember “Train hard, fight easy?” The more you practice, the easier it will be when it’s time to complete your Job Interview!

When you apply for different jobs, do additional research to find more appropriate questions, draft answers for those questions, and practice answering them with a live person, for immediate feedback.

Closing Thoughts and Gratitude

I’m grateful for the opportunity to share networking tips with military members and their families as they prepare for life after military service.

This blog was inspired by the chat during a virtual SCAN seminar held at 8 Wing Trenton on Tuesday October 5, 2021.

I offer career transition advice as a service. Later this Fall, I’ll also be launching an online accessible on demand course to help people help themselves through career transitions.

If you enjoyed reading this post you may also enjoy:

Job Search Tips #1 Research
Job Search Tips #2 Informational Interviews 
Job Search Tips #3 "So What?" Stories

To get a free copy of my eBook “Networking: Identifying and Connecting with Friendly Forces” click here (note it’s easier to sign up using a laptop than a phone).

To learn more about Career Coaching services click here

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.
​

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.” 
​
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.