WONDER WOMEN

BOSS ADVICE FROM CANADIAN VISIONARIES.

WE ARE ALL ON THE SAME SIDE. “We need to first acknowledge that women do not always support each other. We need to shift our perspective and lift each other up, advocate for each other and embrace fierce women.” – Rachel Mielke, founder of Hillberg & Berk jewellery

DON’T FORGET THE NEXT GENERATION. “Being first at something never really means much if you don’t do all you can to make sure you don’t remain the only.” – Dr. Nadine Caron, Canada’s first female First Nations general surgeon

IT’S OKAY IF YOUR CAREER IS YOUR LIFE. “I used to struggle trying to achieve work-life balance. Then Walmart Canada CEO Shelley Broader introduced me to [the concept of] work-life integration. It totally clicked. I used to feel guilty when I would come home from work and respond to emails, as if my work life should end as soon as I step out of the office. Why should it have to be that way when I love my job? Once I accepted that it’s okay for me to answer emails past 8 p.m., just as it’s okay for me to get in a workout on a workday, the pressure to have a ‘work identity’ and a ‘home identity’ subsided.” – Natasha Koifman, president of public relations agency NKPR LONGER!

DO SOMETHING NEW EVERY DAY. “Jean Augustine, the first black woman member of Parliament in Canada, advised that I should equip myself with as many experiences and skills as possible so that if a call came to serve in office, I would be ready. What I took from this is that no matter what age, I should always be looking forward and finding more ways to develop my skills.” – Mitzie Hunter, Liberal MPP and Ontario Minister of Education

FAILURE IS THE BIGGEST MOTIVATOR. “The first time I applied to medical school, I did not get in. I was hugely disappointed and was looking at other career paths. But I believe you have to truly enjoy doing what you do every single day and I really loved medicine, so I decided to apply again. The bottom line: Failures are fleeting, so continue to strive for your goals.” – Dr. Kucy Pon, dermatologist and assistant professor at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

PLEASE STOP STRESSING ABOUT EVERYTHING. “I wish I had known starting out that I would be successful and that I didn’t need to worry so much and work quite so hard—that great new clients would appear when projects ended and the only limitations out there were the ones I put on myself. And that there is some really easy accounting software.” – Kate Colley, director of public relations and communications at the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver n