Career Crossroads

[careercrossroads]

Every so often I get to make one of these and when I do I reflect on everything I've learned from the people I've interviewed. To everyone above, thank you all for your contributions and for helping others realize that making a change is possible. No one needs to feel like they are stuck in their career if they are willing to put in the work to pivot to something else! Artwork by @ardi__25 #thankyou #passionproject #creativeenergy #motivational #contentcreator #vectorart #branding #brandidentity #careercrossroads #findyourpassion #findyourcalling #careersuccess #needachange #changeforthebetter #selfimprovement #liveyourbestlife https://www.instagram.com/career_crossroads/p/CXEa539Flen/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Politics runs in Brooke Crewson’s blood. From the age of five, she was helping her dad go door-to-door in his political campaigns, and at 15 she made the conscious decision to start volunteering to support campaigns she believed in. Despite that, she wasn’t 100% convinced of her future and pursued the parallel path of history and politics while studying at Wilfrid Laurier University. When she received job offers in both fields after graduating, Brooke had a tough decision to make. Should she pursue the potentially more stable job at a museum, or keep working towards a job she’d been dreaming about since she was 15? Brooke chose an internship at the Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and immediately was hooked. Not long after, however, a change of government left Brooke without a job – an experience she’s had more than once in her career. Brooke isn’t a quitter, and she’s bounced back each time. As she’s advanced her career, gaining new experiences in new offices, Brooke has developed a passion for creating and influencing positive public policies. With the instability of working for a government that can be voted out of office, Brooke has learned to take her extensive skill set and apply it to other areas, which has led her to work with Ryerson University’s Diversity Institute, and more recently as a Government Relations Consultant at Crestview Strategy. What can we learn from Brooke’s career journey? Listen to her interview to find out. #politics #government #governmentjob #election #instability #diversityinstitute #laurier #ryerson #careercrossroads #careerpodcast #careerpivot #transferableskills https://www.instagram.com/p/CViU4NggXiR/?utm_medium=tumblr

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This week's guest was just featured in a @blogto video yesterday and her business is booming! The first thing Lauren ever thought she wanted to do for a career was be an interior designer. At the time it was the only job she knew of where she could be creative and while that career never came to pass, the thought process gives us a good indication of the direction she would head in. With stops in retail, music, and e-commerce both in Canada and the United States, Lauren’s story is full of twists and turns. She left opportunities that didn’t feel right and went after new opportunities without fear of failure. This, tied with her ability as a quick learner, led Lauren to be given increasing levels of responsibility and in early 2020 she was working as the E-commerce Coordinator for a Toronto-based jeweler. While she learned a lot in that role, the company placed outlandish expectations on her. When she was asked to add weekends to her already busy work schedule, it was an easy decision to move on to the next thing. This clean break provided Lauren with the time to work more fully on a concept she had been thinking about: mobile flower shops. There are plenty in Europe, but why aren’t there any in Canada? A week of research was all she needed to commit to the idea and her business, Sunday Love Mobile Flower Shop was born.  Listen to Lauren tell me about how she started her business and how every decision on her career path has led her to this point in time. A time where she gets to do a job that she loves every single day. #flowershop #floristsofinstagram #ecommercebusiness #popupshop #startabusiness #rvrenovation #torontobusiness #blogto #toronto #torontoontario #torontocanada #shoplocal #shoptoronto https://www.instagram.com/p/CUsWzpBAZ-d/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Cayla Schafer has had to pivot her career more than once due to her health. Misdiagnosed celiac disease wreaked havoc on her life while she made her way through university and her illness ultimately forced her stop the pursuit of a career as an actress.   As she began to recover, she picked up a job serving at a restaurant in Toronto and was immediately hooked. But years later, after a 5 week trip to Calgary where she trained the staff of a new restaurant while working 16+ hour days, her adrenal glands were shot. After a few days off in Toronto where she just couldn’t sleep, she was headed back to her first shift at her serving job but collapsed on the sidewalk. By this point in time, fitness had become an important part of Cayla’s life outside of her job. She had trained as a trauma-sensitive yoga instructor and had an experience at a Soul Cycle in New York City that showed her how valuable that could be to her life. As Soul Cycle had expanded to Toronto, she was able to get a job as an instructor and suddenly her path became more clear: work as an instructor there while teaching trauma-sensitive yoga on the side. While all this was happening, Cayla had also started a blog, The Move to Heal Project. As the blog grew, so did Cayla’s ambition and she began to plan a future as an entrepreneur. She has all these skills to help others heal – why not do that while working for herself? In February 2020 she left Soul Cycle and has been working on The Move to Heal Project full time ever since. #serverlife #hospitality #hospitalityindustry #soulcycle #yoga #traumasensitiveyoga #yogainstructor #movetoheal #traumasurvivor #traumahealing #mentalhealthawareness #traumarecovery #mentalhealthadvocate https://www.instagram.com/p/CUaR0xAAARv/?utm_medium=tumblr

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If you need a new fridge and have $3000 to spend, you can get a Samsung with the TuneIn app so you can listen to Career Crossroads! Glad I ventured into Home Depot today! #podcastersofhomedepot #outofmypricerange #samsung #tunein #honedepot https://www.instagram.com/p/CUAssLmFSQ1/?utm_medium=tumblr

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I am thrilled to announce that this week marks one year since the launch of Career Crossroads!🎉😁🎊 Its time to celebrate and reflect so in this special 23 minute anniversary episode, I talk about the following: How I've improved as a podcaster over the last year🎙️🎧 Whether I've achieved the goals laid out in my first episode a year ago🥇 I share some stats about who is listening to Career Crossroads 🌎 I thank the people who have helped me get this far🧒🧑🏽👱 I discuss the future of Career Crossroads🏆 I really can't express how happy I am with how this episode turned out and I hope you enjoy it! Special shout outs in this episode to @meetronakpatel, @playalattecafe, @ardiyodam, @helenhanison and the wonder @natashacollaton #anniversary #specialoccasion #timetocelebrate #imadeit #oneyearanniversary #oneyear #happybirthday #happytimes #goodday #achievement #personalachievement #passionproject #sidehustlesv#careerpodcast #podcastersofinstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/CTkROCHgQPd/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Sometimes you need a little push to make a change. For Nick, it was his partner who gave him the push he needed to make sure that 5 years from now he'd be happier than if he had stayed the course and not switched careers. #changecourse #rerouting #newpath #newcareer #backtoschool #tvandfilm #filmproduction #producer #careercrossroads #careerinsights #careerchange #careeradvice #careerpodcast #careergrowth #careertransition #careerpivot #findingyourcalling #dowhatyoulove #dreamcareer #createyourlife #decisionmaking https://www.instagram.com/p/CThvnFeAsJb/?utm_medium=tumblr

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As a child, Nicholas loved to tell stories and would make home movies and short films with his siblings and neighborhood kids. However, when he reached high school, he excelled in business classes and decided to pursue a business degree at Wilfrid Laurier University without really knowing what he wanted for his future career. At Laurier, he specialized in marketing but it was his volunteer experiences where he truly thrived. With summer jobs at the campus Student Leadership Centre, Nicholas began to consider a career in Student Affairs and even worked as a Laurier recruiter briefly after graduating. It was during his time on the road where he reflected on what he should do with his business degree and decided that he needed to put it to work in the film and television industry. Luckily, Bell Canada, one of Canada’s largest telecommunications companies has a Graduate Development Program where he could switch jobs every 7 months to get a better sense of the company before landing a more permanent career. He enthusiastically applied and was accepted with the hope of getting a job in Bell Media. Despite the many mentors he had at Bell, and despite him excelling in all of his roles, he was unable to find a role at Bell Media. He had to get his storytelling fix another way and joined a group that made short films on the weekends. Life went on like this for a while until one day Nicholas found a lump on his testicle that was quickly diagnosed as testicular cancer. The good news is that he caught it early and is now cancer-free, but this health scare prompted him to really consider if he would be happy doing the same thing day to day in five years. When the answer was no, he knew he needed to make a change. Three years later, Nicholas is entering his final year of Film School at Columbia University and working on his thesis film, Elegy for a Glacier. Listen to his interview to hear his entire career journey and how many people influenced him along the way #businessdegree #storytelling #shortfilms #wlualumni #goldenhawks #filmschool #columbiauniversity #columbiafilm #filmindustry #tvandfilm #findhappiness #careercrossroads #careerpivot #cancersurvivor https://www.instagram.com/p/CTSR0WcAvcF/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Growing up in the west end of Toronto, Ben Spurr’s favourite thing to do was get together for jam sessions with his friends. What started as a way for them to hang out became something more when they realized they had the talent to make something of themselves. That’s how Ben’s band, The Coast, got their start. Despite the possibilities of making music for a living, Ben also had an interest in furthering his education. He enrolled at the University of Toronto to study History, English, and African Studies and had to strike a delicate balance of academics with the band’s schedule. This balance was somewhat disrupted as Ben took an interest in journalism while working at The Varsity, UofT’s school newspaper, and he reduced his course load to make his schedule work. At the same time, the band was also experiencing some significant success. With a manager and a record label, The Coast was able to book tours across Canada, the USA, and Europe and even had the distinction (I can’t convey how sarcastic I'm being) of having one of their songs in a Canadian broadcast of Jersey Shore. As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and after touring to support their second album, the band decided it was time to move onto other ventures. This was a turn of events that Ben was prepared for as he had kept his toe in the journalism pond while the band was touring and making music. He had stints writing for BlogTO and The Mark before settling in at NOW Magazine as their city hall reporter just in time to get a front-row seat to Toronto’s Rob Ford debacle that made international headlines. He was able to parlay that ‘trial by fire’ experience into a contract with The Toronto Star and five years later Ben is Toronto’s go-to source for transit reporting. Listen to his interview to hear the full story of how Ben pivoted from indie rock musician to reporter for the biggest newspaper in Canada. #indierock #guitarhero #torontoband #universityoftoronto #uoft #blogto #nowmagazine #torontostar #robford #journalism #journalist #reporting #reporter #transit #ttc #torontotransit https://www.instagram.com/p/CTAKK8gLFUF/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Have you ever stumbled into a career by starting a job that ended up being a better fit than you thought? Mathieu has. Check out his interview to find out what it was! #stumbledupon #accidentalcareer #whoknew #lucky #careercrossroads #careerinsights #careerchange #careeradvice #careerpodcast #careergrowth #careertransition #careerpivot #findingyourcalling #dowhatyoulove #dreamcareer #createyourlife #decisionmaking https://www.instagram.com/p/CS7t_OHLZZR/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Mathieu Arsenault's story is one of many pivots. His early ideas of having a career in acting led to a university drama program, but he quickly realized that acting was not what he wanted for his future. While there, a faculty member led him towards an exchange program in Russia and that trip stoked the flames of his burgeoning interest in international development.  After a number of years working to help villages in Tajikistan with their food security, Mathieu returned home to Prince Edward Island with the mindset "think globally, act locally." He first worked in business and community development, but soon came up with a plan to have a larger impact on both the residents of PEI as well as the rest of the world. That plan almost led him to bankruptcy and Mathieu began to rebuild and consider where his career might take him next. Taking the first job that would pay the bills, Mathieu was able to find some stability as a consultant, but eventually, his entrepreneurial side took over once again. This time his interests led him towards software development and he and a business partner spent a number of years developing applications. Now, after having achieved both highs and lows in his career, Mathieu is trying to figure out what he should do next. Where will he end up? Listen in to find out. #acadian #pei #acting #internationaldevelopment #russia #tajikistan #businessdevelopment #consulting #entrepreneur #softwaredevelopment #freeagent https://www.instagram.com/p/CSua0oOl9r-/?utm_medium=tumblr

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We're approaching one year of Career Crossroads and these 9 represent some of the 44 people I've spoken to over the last 12 months. That's 44 people with 44 different career stories and hopefully you've found one that you can relate to, or one that inspired you to try something different. If you don't know yet what might be next for you, welcome to the club. Follow along on my journey to figure out my next career step. #careercrossroads #createsuccess #passionproject #creativeenerguy #brandidentity #vectorart #feelinggood #futurecareer #motivational #contentcreator #contentcreators #canadiancontent https://www.instagram.com/p/CSrPYe_gqO8/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Being LeBron James’ first intern is a pretty cool way to start your career, and that’s exactly the job Ashlee Ammons was recommended for while attending university. All her involvement in university paid off as others were noticing her talents, work ethic, and how she was able to balance her extracurriculars with her Broadcasting, Mass Communications, and Public Relations degree at Baldwin Wallace University just outside of Cleveland, Ohio. In her role as LeBron’s intern at LRMR Ventures in Cleveland, Ashlee took on every opportunity she was offered from answering phones to sorting mail and cleaning the office. Again, Ashlee was noticed, and her hustle allowed her to be exposed to the event management side of the business. That experience was what she needed to live her dream and move to New York City when she was hired as an Executive Assistant for the CEO of a luxury hospitality company. Over a number of years, she worked her way up in the company until she became an Events Manager and was working on events for brands like Monet-Hennessy and Coca-Cola. With all her success also came the burnout that many people experience and Ashlee realized she needed to make a change. As she was exploring her options, she attended a conference to try and network but came home frustrated with the lack of good opportunities to make connections with other attendees. As she explained this issue to her mother, they began brainstorming and a question was asked – why don’t we create a better way for people to network and meet others at events? They got to work immediately and Miztroz was born. Hear Ashlee tell me how she and her mother built a product that can best be summed up by their tagline - “We Connect Humans”. Along the way, they became the 37th and 38th Black women in American to raise $1 million for a start-up. #pocintech #blackownedbusiness #mixtroz #networkingevent #businessleader #icebreakers #eventplanner #eventprofs #eventpros #meetingplanners #smallbusiness #womeninbusiness #womanownedtech #evententrepreneur #conferenceplanner #eventtech https://www.instagram.com/p/CSbw1z2gbsD/?utm_medium=tumblr

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Have you ever realized that you've gotten what you wanted out of a career and it was time to move on to something else? That was Zach's experience with being a paramedic 🚑. Hear him explain why on his episode of Career Crossroads https://www.careercrossroadspodcast.com/zach-politics-to-paramedic-to-policy-analyst/

[careercrossroads]

Career Crossroads

Getting to where you want to be in your career is not always as linear as we might think. On Career Crossroads, host Jonathan Collaton talks to one guest…

Check out the Career Crossroads website! Find out more about the show, and listen to past episodes to hear the stories of those who have had “pivots” in their career paths. 

[careercrossroads]

Getting to where you want to be in your career is not always as linear as we might think. On Career Crossroads, host Jonathan Collaton talks to one guest each week about the expected and unexpected choices they have made to get where they are in their career today. Starting with the question of 'what did you want to be when you grew up?", they discuss all the jobs they have had, the people that influenced them, and the decisions that led them to their present career. They reflect on how sometimes we have these 'crossroads' moments where we have to pick one thing over another. The episodes are about the guests and their stories.

https://www.careercrossroadspodcast.com/