Sarah is my beautiful, smart, sassy, funny, loving, creative, baby sister. I thank her for believing in my blog concept and for contributing her career story!

None of This Was on the Map, but I brought a sense of humour and a stubborn kind of hope.

In high school, I was a bit of a contradiction, strong in science and the arts, average in English, and hopeless at math. I remember sitting in my guidance counsellor’s office hoping for direction, only to be told (not in so many words) that I didn’t really fit anywhere. Apparently, you were either good at math and science or the arts and literature, not somewhere in between.

Spoiler alert: life doesn’t work like that.

So, with no clear path, I did what many of us do when the map feels blank: I picked something that felt familiar. I enrolled in the Advanced Gymnastics Coaching Techniques program at Seneca College, graduated, and dove into the gymnastics world full-time.

After graduation, I spent a year as Head Coach of a Gymnastics Club in London, Ontario. It was a great opportunity, but it came with its own set of challenges. All my close friends were in Guelph and Toronto, so most weekends were spent on the highway trying to keep my social life alive across cities. It wore thin quickly. Eventually, I found coaching work closer to the GTA in Richmond Hill, Aurora, and Newmarket, which not only brought some balance back into my life but also reignited a bigger goal: one day, I dreamt of opening my own business or a gymnastics club.

It was during that time, living in Newmarket and working in the surrounding area, that I decided to take my skills a step further. I enrolled in the Recreation Facilities Management program at Seneca’s King Campus, which was just a short drive away. I completed my first year successfully, but when my roommate got pregnant and I could no longer afford the rent on my own, I made the difficult decision not to return for year two. Instead, I moved back home to North Bay, transferred what credits I could to Canadore College, and pivoted into Business and Human Resources Management.

After completing that program, I took a bit of an unexpected leap all the way to Banff, Alberta, where I spent a year as Head Coach of the Banff Gymnastics Club.

Getting there was an adventure in itself. My mom offered to drive out with me so we could split the journey. I had two cats, a packed car, and all the excitement in the world. We stayed the night in Sault Ste. Marie with family, and I was still riding the road-trip high the next day, driving us all the way to Wawa. That’s when my mom said she’d take over… you know, to give me a break. As she was driving into Thunder Bay, we hit some rolling hills, and suddenly she was gripping the wheel, saying, “I can’t look, I can’t look!” and asked me to take over. She promised she’d definitely drive again once we hit the flatlands.

Well, we got to the flatlands, switched seats, and just as I was dozing off… the car pulled over. It was too windy now, apparently, and she was “too scared to drive.” So that was that. I ended up driving the rest of the way to Banff myself… cats, mother, and all.

Driving to Banff — those rolling hills, terrifying turns, and stretches of flat nothingness — kind of mirrored the road I was already on in life. Some parts were exciting and full of momentum, others made me want to close my eyes and let someone else take the wheel. And then there were the long, steady stretches where not much happened at all — just a quiet kind of forward motion.

Looking back, that trip was more than just a drive across the country. It was a preview of everything ahead: the climbs, the free-falls, the flatlands, and the fact that sometimes, no matter how scared or exhausted you are, you just have to keep driving.

After a year spent in the mountains and the world felt like it was closing in I called my parents, to announce I was resigning and moving back home, my mom offered to fly out and drive back with me “to split the driving.” I laughed and said, “No thanks! I’ve got it,” and made it back in three solid days, compared to the nearly weeklong trip on the way out.

One of the most cherished moments of that year was when my mom flew out to Calgary, and the two of us flew together to Victoria to spend Easter. It was just the two of us with no distractions, no obligations and a rare chance to truly enjoy each other’s company. To this day, it’s one of my favourite trips we’ve ever shared, and it holds a special place in my heart.

Honestly, 10/10! I would fly again.

Reclined seat, snacks, and not once did the pilot ask me to take the wheel…unlike some people I know.

In hindsight, I probably should’ve taken my dad on that drive to Banff, he was the real road warrior in the family: a traveling salesman for Robin Hood and Bick’s Pickles who clocked more highway miles between Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, and Orillia than most long-haul truckers. He was calm, capable, and fully at home behind the wheel — no matter the weather, terrain, or how many jars of pickles he had in the trunk.

Honestly? I think some of that rubbed off on me, minus the pickles, but not the love for them. I still love a good pickle. It’s childhood nostalgia in a jar.

And it’s funny how, all these years later, I’ve ended up retracing some of those very same roads just in a different kind of vehicle, with a different kind of mission.

Growing up, our family spent countless weekends and summers in a motorhome. We camped across Ontario, ate questionable hot dogs, played games by flashlight, and went wherever the road took us – lying on bunk beds (seat belts were not a thing). I was even potty trained on a trip to Ottawa – sitting on the potty most of the way there. (Honestly, I feel like that deserves an award.)

Those early memories made travel and movement part of who I am. And maybe it’s no surprise that my life, to this day, has been one long road trip full of pit stops, wrong turns, scenic detours, and a few engine lights blinking along the way.

That year in Banff taught me a lot about solitude and resilience. It was beautiful, but working evenings and weekends didn’t match the rhythm of most people my age, so it was often lonely. Thankfully, cousin Brenda was nearby in Calgary, so we’d hike and explore Kicking Horse, Canmore, Banff, and Calgary – we made the most of it.

When I returned to North Bay, I continued coaching locally while job hunting in HR. A volunteer role came up with the City of North Bay’s Heritage Festival and Airshow, writing job descriptions for their committees. Within months, I was hired as the Assistant Manager, and that role gave me a crash course in sponsorships, volunteer management, marketing, finance, and event planning – all things I still use today.

Life zigzagged again when I attended a friend’s wedding and reconnected with her stepbrother, someone I hadn’t seen since high school. Sparks flew, and I ended up moving to Timmins to be with him, taking on the Canadian Cancer Society’s inaugural Relay for Life event. After that wrapped, the Heritage Festival invited me back, so I returned to North Bay. Shortly after, I found out I was pregnant, with twins, just three days after my relationship ended.

There was no sugar-coating that season. But I rose. I became the best single mom I could be. Out of work wasn’t an option, so I pieced together contract work that added up to a career: roles at the North Bay General Hospital, Skate Canada, and the Alzheimer’s Society where I led fundraising events and built relationships that helped fund critical programs.

Eventually, I landed in commercial real estate as Specialty Leasing Manager at Northgate Shopping Centre in North Bay. It was a new world but the skills I’d picked up across every twist and turn made it the right fit. Over the years, my role grew. Morguard acquired New Sudbury Centre, and I took on both malls, managing them simultaneously for several years.

In 2019, I moved to Sudbury with my partner (now husband) and my sons. We bought a home and got married in July 2020. Not long after, the ownership of the New Sudbury Centre changed hands and the property was sold. I remained with Morguard and continued managing Northgate, while also taking on new projects with our head office.

When a dual-property role opened at Centerpoint Mall and East York Town Centre in Toronto, I stepped in temporarily which eventually evolved into a permanent position. Today, I am proud to be a Senior Specialty Leasing Manager for Morguard with Northgate (North Bay), Centrepoint Mall, and East York Town Centre (Toronto) as part of my portfolio. 

I now split my time strategically: I work from my home office in Sudbury for the majority of the week, spend one day per week in North Bay, and one full week each month in Toronto to tend to my two properties there. It’s a demanding schedule, but after years of juggling contracts, coaching, and chaos, it’s a rhythm that works.

And I’m still traveling those roads…quite literally.

The highways between Sudbury and North Bay, and Sudbury and Toronto, have become part of my weekly rhythm too. Some mornings it’s a tea in hand and a good book playing through my speakers as I cruise through familiar stretches; other days it’s white-knuckled in a snowstorm or dodging construction cones with every ounce of patience I can muster. But just like everything else, the road keeps moving, and so do I. The miles I’ve driven mirror the miles I’ve lived. Some smooth. Some messy. But always forward.

When I first moved to Sudbury, I joined a fitness club with my sister-in-law. I made acquaintances, but I never really fit in. That phrase “never really fit in” has followed me most of my life. Whether it was high school, college, or even the early years of motherhood and management, I often found myself straddling worlds, never quite rooted in any one place.

After COVID, that feeling intensified. I was isolated, just like my sons, living in a new city, disconnected from longtime friends and family, and trying to find my footing. One of the hardest things I’ve experienced as an adult woman was realizing how difficult it is to make real friends as an adult.

Luckily, my husband introduced me to someone through his work, and that one connection snowballed into a book club full of women who have become my people. They’re thoughtful, hilarious, supportive and yes, I’m the “old cat” in the group for once (a new experience for me), but I kind of love it. That book club has now grown into a craft club, and possibly even a gardening club. It’s amazing how the right people help bring the best parts of you back to life.

And maybe that’s one of the greatest lessons I’ve learned:

🔹 Go back to the things you loved as a kid.

🔹 Find joy in movement and creativity.

🔹 Give yourself permission to grow into someone new.

As a child, I could spend hours stretching, moving, doing cartwheels in a gym and just as easily get lost in a good book, a love passed down to me by my mom and sister. I’ve come full circle. I’m back to reading voraciously, moving my body in ways that feel good… or at least in ways that don’t make my joints scream too loud.

Because let’s be honest decades of gymnastics, parenting twins, and carrying the weight of every curveball life has thrown my way have left this “old cat” with more than just wisdom. I’ve got perimenopause, osteoarthritis, and a whole lot of creaks and cracks as proof of the road I’ve traveled.

But the road I’m on now is learning to honour a body that’s weathered a storm or two and still shows up every day. It’s slower, stiffer, and let’s just say, less bendy than it used to be… but it’s strong. And it’s mine.

And perhaps the road still stretches farther than I can see. Over the last few years, I’ve had the opportunity to train and mentor Specialty Leasing Managers across Canada, and I’ve truly loved it. I’ve always found joy in helping others grow maybe because my own journey has been filled with hairpin turns, hard-won lessons, and a lot of roadside wisdom.

So, I’m putting it out into the universe: maybe there’s another role for me at Morguard. Something that fits where I am now, in this new season of life a little older, a little wiser, and definitely in need of a better travel rewards program.

I don’t know what’s next, but I do know this: I’m still looking forward. Still chasing the next idea, the next project, the next “what if.” Always growing. Always learning And when it comes to work, I’ll keep driving the road ahead even if I’m behind the wheel solo.

But when the laptop’s closed and the weekend arrives, I’ve got a trailer, a husband, and a well-worn lawn chair with my name on it. I won’t be alone on that road, not anymore. And the bonus is he does all the driving, alhough if there’s a tricky turn or a tight spot to back into, I’ll probably be the one parking the trailer…just saying.