Charlene Carr's Blog, page 8
January 31, 2017
A little stubborn goes a long way.
If you were to meet Michelle Marsh—soft-spoken, petite, works with kids, a friendly and inviting smile—you may not guess ‘stubborn’ as one of the main traits that’s defined her life.
But as she talks about important, life altering decisions—the ones that made her grow, that determined her character, that gave her the life she’s living today—her stubbornness, paired with a desire to focus on feeling happy and fulfilled, consistently shines through.
Michelle, the owner and founder of French for Life, an afterschool French immersion program, never wanted to be a teacher. In fact, with two parents who taught, Michelle adamantly refused that teaching would be her life, even though it was the path people expected of her. Stubborn.
As a young girl, Michelle struggled with an eating disorder. Her treatment involved hospital visits and therapists. However, at the age of twelve, she told her parents she didn’t want to keep going. Although she acknowledges therapy may be the correct choice for some, for her, it wasn’t the right fit.
“They kept telling me I was sick,” says Michelle. “I knew I wasn’t going to get better if people kept telling me I was sick.”
The disorder, she realized, was holding her back, defining how people saw her and taking away her power to define herself. So, rather than focus on treatment, or reaching a particular weight, Michelle resolved to move past any reminders that something was wrong. She focused instead on what she wanted to achieve in life and set a vision for her future. Her stubbornness helped her find healing.
As mentioned earlier, Michelle’s vision for her life didn’t include teaching. In university, she majored in Kinesiology, following, she says with a laugh, in her brother’s footsteps rather than her parents’.
However, when the opportunity arose to work as a French monitor in the school system she fell in love—both with teaching French and working with kids. She dropped kinesiology and started studying French and education.
After several years teaching in the school system, where she had to give number grades to five year olds—a system that didn’t make sense to her— and where the confines of a 9-5 job coupled with the rigid rules of the school system were stealing her joy, Michelle realized her first instincts were correct. Being a school teacher was not for her.
She craved the freedom and flexibility to pursue her passions, both within and outside of work, and wanted her life to focus on a pursuit that would let her set and realize her own goals.
But she did love to teach.
Michelle let that stubborn streak direct her path once more.
While in university, Michelle worked part-time as a French tutor. The demand was so great that she ended up hiring other university students to work out of her parents’ basement.
After realizing teaching wasn’t for her, she quit to put her all into the tutoring business, which, in 2012, had expanded into the first French immersion after school program in Newfoundland.
Owning and running a business presented new constraints. Michelle was only twenty-three when she incorporated. She had no capital, no business degree, and a hard time figuring things out. Where would/could/should the program run? How would she afford busses that may not even get used? Would anyone grant her a mortgage?
Without all the answers, and without proper market research, she jumped in anyway.
“I was totally green to the business world,” says Michelle. “It could have been a total flop.”
But she believes the reason it worked is because she was doing what she was meant to do, something that lit her up and got her excited every day. It ended up being the right community, and the right time.
In a few short years the program has grown from eight initial signups to fifty nine children at their original location in Paradise, Newfoundland. In addition, they have eighteen students in private tutoring, and an additional fifteen children at the new location they’ve recently opened.
Michelle’s parents have been a huge help, guiding her on programming and planning. Her husband, brother, and sister (who are also entrepreneurs) are her ‘go-to’s’ when she can’t figure something out or needs someone to bounce ideas off of. And the gym is where she goes to clear her head, enabling her to refocus and figure out whatever problem or issue is coming next.
Linked to her stubbornness, another thing you probably wouldn’t guess about Michelle is that she’s been a competitive powerlifter. In her own words, she’s a ‘very little person,’ and powerlifting has been a huge part in shaping who she is.
“It gave me a crazy sense of empowerment,” says Michelle, “changing the way I viewed myself.”
She tells the story of qualifying for nationals ‘by the skin of her teeth’. She had to squat, deadlift, and bench. She messed up, missing two squats she shouldn’t have. So to qualify, she needed to lift a weight she’d never attempted. She hit a moment, got in the zone, and even before lifting, knew she could do it, through tapping into an inner strength she’d never realized.
A strength that’s served her well.
Michelle sees these defining moments as all interconnected—overcoming the eating disorder, powerlifting, starting her own business—all representative of a stubborn desire to do the best she can do, creating a vision of her life and future that’s full of passion.
Working with kids, she says, is something you can’t fake. And she doesn’t have to.
Daily, Michelle gets to help children with the problems their teachers can’t address—because class sizes are too big or curriculum demands focus on specific areas, such as grammar, or there isn’t enough time in the day.
She searches out answers to problems, uses her creative energy, and then stands back to see whether these new ideas soar or flop. “With kids,” she says, “you never know how things will go. The suspense is part of the fun.”
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To learn more about French for Life, visit frenchforlife.com or check them out on Facebook.
Have any thoughts on Michelle’s story? See some parallels to your own life? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
Know a woman whose story in life and/or business should be told? Send me a message.
January 30, 2017
Forgetting the ‘supposed to’s’ and going for your dream
Ten years ago, Katelyn Bourgoin dreamed of being an actress, an artist, a designer. She wasn’t sure which, but felt no matter what path she chose, it would be creative, freeing and fuelled by passion.
This dream felt certain, clear and deliberate. Equally certain, was the type of person she would have beside her along this journey.
Today, both her career and her ever-present partner in life are entirely different from what she ever imagined.
As the founder of a tech startup that has clients throughout the world and comes with a host of challenges to tackle, Katelyn’s not the ‘creative professional’ she thought she would be. Yet, in a way she would never have predicted, she’s stayed true to the core of her dreams.
Her job as an entrepreneur and marketing maven is creative, freeing, and fuelled by passion. And her husband, though not the type of partner she thought she’d have, is her biggest supporter and a huge part of why she never gave up.
If you were to ask Katelyn her thoughts on how different her life is from the one she planned, she’d tell you that sometimes we get this idea in our head about what life is supposed to look like, and those words ‘supposed to’ are the problem.
She’d probably also tell you (and her pre-university self) to stop obsessing about what life’s supposed to look like and start enjoying what’s happening now. Listen to your heart.
When Katelyn’s heart started sending messages about a completely different life path than the one she envisioned, she perked up her ears and listened.
Like many students in their first years of university, Katelyn was uncertain of her major. She wanted success but also wanted to be sure she was doing something she enjoyed.
Her idea of success has shifted since those university days. She’s sees now that we often accept a definition of success without defining it for ourselves, basing it on what we’ve been shown success should look like, rather than what we really want.
She realized hints of this early on, stepping away from Journalism, then Law, and finally deciding to major in English with the hope that it would be a good stepping stone to something she was not only good at, but would love.
After graduation, feeling like she had no marketable skills, Katelyn waitressed, made good money, and enjoyed her early twenties without thinking too much about her future.
And then fate stepped in.
When the owner of the restaurant encouraged Katelyn to look into Public Relations, saying she was amazing with customers, a good writer, and had business savvy, Katelyn couldn’t really see it.
But she respected her boss, and seeing as she lived in a city of less than half a million people, four large universities, two big community colleges and one of the most educated underemployed populations in Canada, she decided she’d give it a go.
It was love at first course.
Katelyn, who’d never considered herself a business person, fell in love with the business side of things: marketing, positioning, branding.
It was as if the stars aligned and everything clicked.
In a field like mathematics or engineering, says Katelyn, people solve problems but are bound by physics or rational; in marketing, they’re bound by nothing but their vision and the challenge to creatively bring that vision to life.
Fast forward through the years and Katelyn got offered a temp position at her ‘dream job’ marketing firm. Yet, when they offered her a full-time position, she turned it down for an opportunity few people get—stepping into freelancing with twenty-five hours a week of secure client work already in place. Amazing!
Next, she started her own marketing firm, which scored big name clients such as Holiday Inn and Target and landed Katelyn as a Forbes “Style Influencer” while getting coverage on national news.
After that? She walked away from it all to start a high-risk tech startup.
How’d she do it all?
By putting herself out there.
After graduating from her PR program, Katelyn got active on social media. She put together a website, did up a kickass resume, and attracted the attention of not only her dream job employer, but the person who put her on the path toward entrepreneurship.
And why the switch from something that was working – a successful business – to one that had no guarantee of success?
That passion thing and listening to her heart.
The new love she’d found, the one without limits, well, there actually were some … what her clients would allow her to do.
But Katelyn’s not one for limits. So she decided to be her own client, giving herself the freedom to put together the outlandish, personality filled campaigns and implement the styles of marketing that made her heart soar.
She was also tired of selling her and her employees time in exchange for money.
She wanted to sell something of value. Something that would help other women realize their dreams the way she’d realized hers. So she saw that vision through not one, not two, but three re-imaginings.
And how has she stayed in the game despite the highs and lows of all these visions and revisions?
Her husband. Their twelve-year relationship, just like Katelyn’s career path, has been an ebb and flow journey with an uncertain start. His own experience of entrepreneurship was one she learned from, and his belief in her has helped her believe in herself.
Her startup community in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A group of fellow entrepreneurs who’ve been there and done that and helped her through. Without them, she says, she would have given up three years ago.
Her advice to anyone thinking of taking a leap that could be full of roadblocks or an uphill battle, the way hers often was?
Do your research, but not so much you scare yourself into not going for your dreams
Straight words of wisdom?
“Surround yourself with a support system, because you’re going to need it … entrepreneurship is way too hard to do it alone … it needs to be somebody who gets what you’re going through because they have context and experience.”
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Are you a woman entrepreneur, or want to be? Interested in learning more about Katelyn and her community of women who get what you’re going through, because they are too? Check out Squads or, even better, sign up for Katelyn’s free 5 Day Hot Seat Challenge to get super clear on you niche.
Have some thoughts on Katelyn’s story you’d like to share? See some parallels to your own life? Leave your words in the comment box below.
Know a woman whose story in life and/or business you think should be featured on Real Women? Send me a message.
January 24, 2017
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris
Check out Behind Closed Doors
I found myself frustrated in the beginning, intrigued throughout the middle, and satisfied by the end.
January 16, 2017
Book Chat: All The Good Parts by Loretta Nyhan
Check out All The Good Parts
Author Website: lorettanyhan.com
Incredibly real. Sometimes I wanted to tell these characters off. Sometimes I wanted to give them a hug. Sometimes I just shook my head. Then I’d laugh. Next, I’d tear up. A moment later I’d be contemplating my own life …
January 14, 2017
Real Women. Real Stories. Real Inspiration.
From the moment I quit my job five years ago to freelance and have the flexibility to give this writing life a try, that’s been my focus – writing life.
It started out as blog by that title, where I wrote lessons and musings from my own life. It morphed into a website focused on the novels I write, each one a story driven by characters I strove to make feel as real as you and me.
And of the hundreds of reviews, emails, and general feedback those novels have received, the overarching theme from my readers is that I’ve accomplished that goal.
Some readers have said the characters felt so real they didn’t believe the stories weren’t autobiographical (they’re not), others said it felt like I had crept inside their head and was writing their lives (I promise, I wasn’t!).
Other readers were so affected by the characters they oscillated from wanting to reach in and shake some sense into these fictional women in one scene and hug them in the next – just the way you’d feel about that sister or best friend who you love like crazy but seriously needs to smarten up sometimes.
We all need to smarten up at times.And we’re all the heroines of our own life – prone to making mistakes, succumbing to the things that make us feel weak, and then rising above them, crafting ourselves into fabulous beings it’s impossible not to root for.
That’s why I write what I write.
Not simply to entertain, but to inspire, to teach, to allow my readers to pull back the curtain on a fictional world that feels familiar and, through their time spent there, either learn something about themselves and the woman they want to be or better understand a real woman they know, with a new sense of compassion and empathy found from slipping into the ‘mind’ of a character whose way of being is different from their own.
And with this new project, Real Women, I’m taking that goal one step further – not with the women I create, but with real flesh and blood women. Amazing women, who are all the more incredible because they’re real.
These women are your sister, your teacher, your mother, you.
And my mission is to get at the heart of them, to show the world a glimpse of who they are, what they’ve come through, and why their stories are worth being heard – basically, why they rock!
Know a woman you think is amazing or inspiring? Who’s doing something cool, or great, or just has a story you think people should know about? Send me a message and I’ll consider featuring her on Real Women!
Come back January 30th for the first Real Women story.
(As a side note, I’m fairly certain through this process my creative juices will flow and I’ll get nuggets of ideas to inspire and motivate the novel-writer inside of me for years to come … What? You can’t expect me to turn down great story fodder if it’s just sitting out there for the taking. No worries, I would never ‘steal’ anyone’s story. I’ll simply be inspired by it.
Real Women
From the moment I quit my job five years ago to freelance and have the flexibility to give this writing life a try, that’s been my focus – writing life.
It started out as blog by that title, where I wrote lessons and musings from my own life. It morphed into a website focused on the novels I write, each one a story driven by characters I strove to make feel as real as you and me.
And of the hundreds of reviews, emails, and general feedback those novels have received, the overarching theme from my readers is that I’ve accomplished that goal.
Some readers have said the characters felt so real they didn’t believe the stories weren’t autobiographical (they’re not), others said it felt like I had crept inside their head and was writing their lives (I promise, I wasn’t!).
Other readers were so affected by the characters they oscillated from wanting to reach in and shake some sense into these fictional women in one scene and hug them in the next – just the way you’d feel about that sister or best friend who you love like crazy but seriously needs to smarten up sometimes.
We all need to smarten up at times.And we’re all the heroines of our own life – prone to making mistakes, succumbing to the things that make us feel weak, and then rising above them, crafting ourselves into fabulous beings it’s impossible not to root for.
That’s why I write what I write.
Not simply to entertain, but to inspire, to teach, to allow my readers to pull back the curtain on a fictional world that feels familiar and, through their time spent there, either learn something about themselves and the woman they want to be or better understand a real woman they know, with a new sense of compassion and empathy found from slipping into the ‘mind’ of a character whose way of being is different from their own.
And with this new project, Real Women, I’m taking that goal one step further – not with the women I create, but with real flesh and blood women. Amazing women, who are all the more incredible because they’re real.
These women are your sister, your teacher, your mother, you.
And my mission is to get at the heart of them, to show the world a glimpse of who they are, what they’ve come through, and why their stories are worth being heard – basically, why they rock!
Know a woman you think is amazing or inspiring? Who’s doing something cool, or great, or just has a story you think people should know about? Send me a message and I’ll consider featuring her on Real Women!
Come back January 30th for the first Real Women story.
(As a side note, I’m fairly certain through this process my creative juices will flow and I’ll get nuggets of ideas to inspire and motivate the novel-writer inside of me for years to come … What? You can’t expect me to turn down great story fodder if it’s just sitting out there for the taking. No worries, I would never ‘steal’ anyone’s story. I’ll simply be inspired by it.
January 8, 2017
Book Chat: Then She Danced by Janice Godin
Check out Then She Danced
Author’s Website: janice.godin.com
A delightful story full of the beauty of Newfoundland’s landscape and one woman’s soul.
January 3, 2017
Book Chat: Tracks by Robyn Davidson
Check out Tracks by Robyn Davidson
This book was disturbing and honest. Inspirational and thought-provoking. The book, like her journey, had a slow start, but once the trek truly began, it was captivating.
December 21, 2016
Book Chat: Truly, Madly, Guilty by Liane Moriarty
Check out Truly, Madly, Guilty
Author’s Website: lianemoriarty.com
An exploration of family, friendship, parenthood and the complexities of sexual relationships.
December 17, 2016
SUPERFOOD Hot Cocoa
Nothing goes with reading quite like hot drinks. And a hot yummy drink that is good for you too? Yes, please! This is my new favourite drink to curl up with while reading a book on a cold winter’s night. 
