Values are superpowers

Being the youngest of 7 siblings, I believe myself to have come from a childhood full of love and connection—much of which I attribute to my mother, the great listener, and my father, the adored and trusted. My mother’s ability to connect with others coupled with my father’s way of finding the good in everyone has made me who I am today. They gave us everything we needed to have a good life and taught us that family and giving back to our community is very important. Watching my parents care for kids from orphanages in addition to the 7 of their own and being witness to my mother pursue teaching as a career at a time when women weren’t necessarily provided the opportunities to do so, has allowed me to live a life of privilege. A privilege of having two examples of what humanity and consideration could be. Although they are no longer with us, they have left a legacy behind that continues to live through us. It is through them I came to understand my passion—people.

If I had to speak of my journey pursuing that passion, it takes me back to how my definition of success changed. When I look at what I wrote in my ‘’livre de finissant’’ at university, success was defined as progress and achievement. Today I see things differently. Success equates to the time I spend with others and the impact I can have on their life for the better. Professionally my 30 years in I.T with 20 at Microsoft, has put me on a path of supporting customers with projects and business decisions, while learning how to connect, build and maintain trust with everyone I meet along the way. A lot of this aligned to what I learned from my upbringing and my core beliefs. You see, careers can be measured in many different ways—for me it meant being able to bring my core values as a strength to my role and being able to thrive in an organization that appreciated me for it.