Our Blog

09 Dec

Posted at 13:47h in Mental Wellness by
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Dear Kate, With Christmas coming I find myself feeling really sad. A few weeks ago I was pregnant, and now I'm not. I don't know if you have any advice on how to get through it, but I'm finding this a lot harder than I thought it would...

07 Dec

Posted at 13:25h in Lifestyle, Mental Wellness, Self Care by
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In our current society, there is huge emphasis placed on diversity, equality, and respect for differences. I wholeheartedly believe in all of it. In fact, I have built a career where I coach leaders on how to embrace this value within their corporations. We teach our children that they should be unique, we respect those who dare to break the mold, and we encourage language that avoids labels.

03 Dec

Posted at 13:11h in Lifestyle, Mental Wellness, Self Care by
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Twins have a connection. I am witnessing it every day. Yet, looking back on these past few months I am realizing that their bond started before they were even born. When I was 26 weeks pregnant, I went for a routine ultrasound and was told that twin A had very little amniotic fluid and she was not growing. They were unsure if she would survive that week.

01 Dec

Posted at 13:19h in Blog, Mental Wellness, Self Care by
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I am one of those rare people who get excited about a renovation. I know that it’s messy. I know that life will feel displaced. I know that fighting with your spouse over things you never thought would come between you (like grout color for the mudroom floor) is inevitable. But somehow, I still look forward to it! If you don’t feel the same way that I do, know that you are not alone! Renovations can be very stressful. There are a lot of  to be made in a short time, a lot of money is being spent in a short time and if you aren’t the type of person who can visualize the end result, you’re putting a lot of faith in your professional team.  How many of my clients do you think have the same taste and decor vision as their spouses?  I can tell you that it is very few! They say that opposites attract, and I can attest to that!

20 Nov

Posted at 14:25h in Blog, Lifestyle, Mental Wellness, Self Care by
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The other night, for the first time in almost a decade and half, we watched our wedding video. Aside from the novelty of seeing what a videotape was, my kids were fascinated by seeing their mom as a real-life Cinderella. I always knew that I was a lucky guy, but when I compared the woman next to me on the sofa, to the bride on the screen, I was in awe. Aside from a different hairstyle, my wife has not changed in 17 years.

19 Nov

Posted at 14:05h in Lifestyle, Mental Wellness, Self Care by
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hockey-mom When I was pregnant with my first child I was terrified. Once I got over the shock and the excitement began to settle in, I knew I wanted to find out the sex of my new baby. As much as I had hopes and dreams of tutus and ribbons (as many women do), I knew inside that I was going to be blessed with a boy. After all signs pointed to a healthy baby, this was of course confirmed. Okay, I thought, so it won’t be pretty in pink. Maybe next time.

13 Nov

Posted at 13:23h in Self Care by
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Starting with Halloween, moving onto Thanksgiving, keeping up with Christmas, and grand finale with New Year – holiday season is upon us. There will be plenty of pumpkin spice, cinnamon, hot chocolate, turkey, cranberries, cookies and milk, but also plenty of fog, snow, and wind. With...

12 Nov

Posted at 12:18h in Mental Wellness by
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A few days ago, I had an incredible opportunity to talk to a class of McGill University social work students about living with anxiety and depression. I’ve been upfront about my struggles here on the blog, but writing about it and standing up in front...

05 Nov

Posted at 16:20h in Lifestyle by
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I’ve been very fortunate over the course of my career. For over two decades, I've been working with and consulting senior executives at some of the world’s most well known companies. I’ve spent a lot of time in the boardroom. I love it.

And almost every time I sit at a boardroom table, take off my suit jacket and roll up my sleeves, there's a slight moment of silence. Because under my shirt, I have a full sleeve (a tattoo from shoulder to wrist).

02 Nov

Posted at 13:47h in Mental Wellness by
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Like the FATHER, SON AND HOLY GHOST, we do not refer to them as the THREE WISE MEN because they talk about male only issues like jock itch and Deflategate, I have been reading WISE WOMEN CANADA for almost two years, as it is a...

30 Oct

Posted at 18:52h in Mental Wellness by
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I thought I had a wonderful childhood. It was filled with smells of warm soup, big family gatherings at every occasion and Star Trek adventures with neighborhood kids. My family was pretty “Leave it to Beaver”. I felt privileged to have been adopted into a family and not just born into it like most kids. I was chosen. I remember that my home was peaceful. My parents seemed supportive of each other, cooperative and I never did hear them raise their voices or quarrel in any way. But it is that silence that would eat us all up in the end.

30 Oct

Posted at 13:49h in Mental Wellness by
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One of the privileges of being a high-profile athlete is that I have the opportunity to meet a lot of people, and more often than not, they want to talk about what it’s like training for, and competing in extreme endurance events.  For many years, I was more than happy to have this conversation, but all that changed three years ago, when my world quite literally came crashing down around me.  

29 Oct

Posted at 12:16h in Mental Wellness by
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The other day I was out for lunch with a friend who was wearing a great shade of lipstick. When she handed me the tube so I could check out the name, I couldn’t see it. I held it at arm’s length and squinted, the letters barely coming into focus. “Look at you”, she giggled. “You can’t see!”

26 Oct

Posted at 12:31h in Blog by
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With fall fully upon us, as parents, we are (hopefully) well past our child’s first-day jitters, and have eased into a smooth transition back to school after the summer holidays. Even with all the effort we put into making our child’s first few weeks back as comfortable and memorable as possible, we may have overlooked asking them a simple – yet essential – question: Are you feeling happy at school?

21 Oct

Posted at 13:56h in Self Care by
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Hello lovelies, It's that time of the year! Flip-flops are put away, coats get brought out of storage and hung up in the closet, our lattes are pumpkin spiced and the air is a little crisper! Yup, it's FALL! With the changing of the leaves comes...

15 Oct

Posted at 11:13h in Lifestyle, Mental Wellness, Self Care by
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[caption id="attachment_23002" align="alignleft" width="225"]This is actually hanging above my kids' toilet. It doesn't work. This is actually hanging above my kids' toilet. It doesn't work.[/caption] It’s my birthday today, and as a special gift to me, I asked my kids to flush their toilet.

You see, my three children (ages 15, 15 and 12) share a bathroom and it’s a rare morning when I don’t have to flush for them.

Maybe it’s the muscular exertion required to depress the flusher that stops them. Maybe it takes too much time out of their very full schedules. Maybe, and very likely, they’re trying to drive me insane. Because despite the constant nagging, yelling, threatening and even signage, they consistently fail at this one very simple task.

13 Oct

Posted at 21:00h in Lifestyle, Mental Wellness, Self Care by
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I bat my eyelids and suddenly my daughter turned 7 months old. The rate at which time is marching is really quite mind-boggling, and when people tell me, “enjoy, it goes so fast”, they weren’t kidding! As I despondently packed up all her 3-6 month summer dresses and pink frills, I found myself thinking into the future… what will she be when she grows up? What will she be passionate about? How will she impact the world?

13 Oct

Posted at 06:59h in Lifestyle, Mental Wellness by
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“Life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you react to it.” - Lou Holtz When I think about my life, I think of it as chapters of a book. Some chapters I want to read over and over again, such as getting engaged, getting married, and completing my Master’s degree, but some I want to skip over and never open again.

08 Oct

Posted at 01:30h in Self Care by
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It's 7:30 am and my husband is asking me why I am putting on makeup to go to the gym. Let me be clear, this makeup he speaks of is a light dusting of bronzer and some mascara. Either way, the answer is this "I am going to stare at myself in a mirror for one hour. If I can't stand to look at myself with no makeup on, why should everyone else have to?". I don't care what you say, I look way better with makeup and don't take this the wrong way, but you probably do too.

07 Oct

Posted at 02:15h in Mental Wellness by
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I have a lot of blessings. I know this, but at times I have forgotten to count them, forgotten to practice gratitude. It always seems easier to look at what we don’t have instead of what we do have. Well, this year it will be different. It will be the best Thanksgiving ever, and my son Michael is the big reason for this change in my mindset. He is an amazing little boy living with autism in a world that does not always understand him, or know how to help him. He gets anxious, discouraged and worries, yet he always has a small on his face, gets up from defeat, and tries again.

And this year, his Mom will do the same thing. She will look at all she has, instead of what is missing, and remember that by opening herself up and reaching out to others, she receives more in return as well.

01 Oct

Posted at 13:27h in Mental Wellness by
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I am a writer and have been all of my life. I wrote in diaries as a teenager, started writing poetry in my early twenties, and then continued with fiction short stories and later novels. My dream was to work as a journalist and freelance writer writing fiction or non-fiction articles on subjects that interested me. What happened to that dream? I was simply afraid to pursue it. I was afraid I was not good enough to write and make a living at it. I went on to University and did a BA in Sociology, as people and the way they interacted with one another fascinated me. It was also because I knew it would open up many career paths after graduation. I wanted to get out in the work world, marry my then boyfriend, and start my adult life.