Careers Aren’t Ladders: A Career Built on Curiosity

A psychologist once asked me: “When you first started dancing, did you think you’d achieve everything you did?” That question stuck with me. It was a powerful reminder that most things in life don’t begin with certainty. You don’t know how your plan will unfold until you take the leap.

Two personal philosophies have guided my career ever since:

1. Go where you want to grow; careers are lattices, not ladders.
2. Say yes, even if you haven’t done it before; it’s always someone’s first time.

Early on, I was determined to be “successful” before 30 because that’s what every blog tells you. But life, as it does, brought some plot twists.

My story began with dreams of being a professional dancer. My parents wisely insisted I earn a degree, so I enrolled in business school. I danced in another city two days a week and studied the other three. Then a car accident ended my dance ambitions and forced me to refocus.

That led to another turn: I took a social psychology course and was instantly hooked. I switched my major to sociology, not the most practical choice, but it sparked curiosity. I became a straight-A student, not because it was easy, but because I was finally aligned with what interested me.

After graduating, I moved to a new city to dance again and took a job as an executive assistant at an engineering company. I got the role not because of my experience, but because I told my future boss I had shown up the day before just to find the office. He liked the initiative and took a chance on me.

I pitched him on letting me build a communications strategy (pre-ChatGPT!), and he said yes. That moment launched my communications career.

From there, I joined a large organization where I’d spend over a decade. I started as a communications coordinator, supporting a leader who would become the CEO. Over the years, I worked across the business — from call centers to digital payments to innovation — learning how communications drives clarity, engagement, and strategic value.

At one point, a maternity leave opportunity came up, and I said yes, even though there was no guarantee of a role afterward. That leap led to my first exposure to marketing, where I helped launch campaigns like Apple Pay and the GRAMMYs red carpet experience in Canada.

Then came entrepreneurship. I co-founded a boutique social media firm, danced in the evenings, and consulted during the day. I also helped my mom — entrepreneurial by heart — turn her passion into a top-selling Etsy business. I worked with her on design, marketing, customer support, and operations. It remains one of the most rewarding chapters of my career.

Later, I returned to consulting full-time for the same organization, which was in the middle of a major technology transformation. It was there I saw firsthand how tough it is to lead change across a workforce of 5,000 people.

Then came another twist: A foot injury ended my dance career for good. I faced a choice — continue down the entrepreneurial path or return to corporate life. I chose corporate.

I became director of communications, once again working with the leader who had given me my first communications job. I supported finance, risk, and people and culture, and helped build the organization’s Indigenous relations strategy. I also launched the CEO’s mental health platform and co-led the internal change practice.

During the pandemic, I developed the return-to-office strategy — which earned an IABC Gold Quill Award — and led several enterprise-wide initiatives, including centralizing the communications team, building a project management office, and implementing a new intranet to support C-suite-led transformation.

I then moved into corporate strategy, a lateral shift, but a pivotal one. I developed the hybrid work model, shaped the workforce planning approach, and helped design new operating models. I said yes to projects well outside my job description, and that’s where I experienced the most growth.

That work led to a promotion to chief of staff and managing director of strategic integration and change. In that role, I unified a new executive team, built a division wide project management office, developed talent strategies, and led organization wide change and digital transformation efforts.

Then I went on maternity leave, and, for the first time in a while, gave myself permission to slow down. I didn’t return immediately. Instead, I made space for something new.

That space led me here, though not in the way you’d expect. Curious what else was out there, I Googled “tech and innovation conferences,” showed up to one the following week, and struck up a conversation with someone I later learned was the board chair. That led to a consulting opportunity as chief of staff and eventually to a permanent leadership role.

Today, I’m vice president of stakeholder relations and communications. In my first year, I led a full program review, redesigned the strategic plan, guided major organizational change, navigated crisis, and said yes to organizing the very event that brought me in the door, by far the biggest challenge and growth opportunity yet, but that’s for another day.

If I look back, here’s what I’ve learned:

• Your career won’t always make sense while you’re in it. Every zigzag builds range, resilience, and perspective. Every experience and skill will serve you in the future, even if you don’t see it right now. This is especially true in the communications, where understanding the whole business is part of the job.
• You don’t have to figure it all out. One “yes” can change everything.
• Your path doesn’t have to be linear or specialized to be valuable. Generalists who are curious, adaptable, and willing to learn are more needed than ever.
• Nothing is permanent. You can always change your mind.
• Even if you step away from a profession, it can welcome you back, sometimes in bigger ways than you imagined.

The answer to the question from my psychologist, did I think I’d get to where I did with dance? No.
Did I think I’d be here? Also no, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.