Skye Sauchelli is the founder of Thriving and Inspiring a personal development blog. Skye’s mission in life is to serve others. She is passionate about assisting others so they feel valued and worthy. Skye offers encouragement and inspiration through her blog and believes that inner health and wellness can position people to inspire positive change in the world. Her passion for encouraging positive mental health has led her to co-create a group called Jump into Joy, a self-discovery and empowerment curriculum for young girls. Skye co-facilitates sessions for girls in the community that focus on topics relevant to the real-world challenges they face.

Skye considers herself to be a beach girl who loves Jesus, tea, chocolate, and cats.  Wife and proud mama of two kitties and a rescue pup.

Skye and I are part of a few blogger groups and I have always admired her giving and encouraging spirit.

In this interview, Skye talks about focusing on life, gratitude, self-care, mental health, preventing burn out and the advantages of being authentic.

Skye, you say There is beauty in the unfinished because your direction has yet to be determined. Please comment.

Being unfinished, whether a project or simply the spot you’re at in life, can be beautiful, and even fun. What…? Yes, the lack of “perfectness” can be good.

Your life, or whatever you’re working on, will never come together perfectly and exactly as planned. In fact, you’ll waste a lot of manpower trying to make everything just right.

Lately, I’ve been learning that it’s okay to give something rest and allow space for a little clarity. It’s okay and allowed to get back to things later. The pressure you put on yourself to find perfection and completeness can eat up your creativity and ability to flex and adjust.

Your life is not in shambles or “a mess” because it’s not coming together the way you wanted, or if you’re not where you think you “should be.” You’re actually doing it right, you’re living in the midst of and despite all the unforeseen obstacles.

If you can come to accept that the changing and editing that comes along with unexpected surprises in life is all a part of the process, you’ll find a heck of a lot more fulfillment along the way!

What you can really celebrate is the fact that you have the power to create the life you want to live! That’s why the middle, the midst, the unfinished, the messy, is so beautiful! Because you have options and choices ahead of you that allow you to change course in the direction you want to go!

I love the fact that you talk about self-care and burnout. Talk to me about some of the ways we can prevent burnout.

Burnout is REAL and you’re not immune to it, unfortunately.

The goal is for you to employ preventative measures BEFORE you get to a place of burnout, not after.

If you can recognize when you’re close to entering burnout, you can use strategies to combat it.

How do you know you’re close to burnout? You have a lack of desire for that thing, you think about the source of stress even when you’re not around it, you have less motivation than you used to, or you feel like you’re just going through the motions.

My favorite way to prevent burnout, and what’s worked wonders for me, is what I call a “relax night.” Pick one day out of the week when you commit to a few hours of nothing.

For me, Thursday evenings are full of nothing but sitting my butt on the couch and watching my favorite show with my husband, eating my favorite snack, and sipping tea. I don’t allow myself to do ANY chores on Thursday nights. I don’t make any plans on Thursday nights. I always leave them open just for me.

So pick a chunk of hours each week, ideally the same time every week, but that may not work for some. Be as consistent as you can. Pick a day and time you can really commit to. And an amount of time that’s realistic.

Maybe you can only give yourself 30 minutes. That’s totally fine, and better than 0 minutes!

Hold that time sacred. Treat it like an important meeting and don’t schedule anything over that time block.

What if you can’t spare 30 minutes or an hour, or a whole evening?

That brings me to my next tip to prevent burnout.

Do something small for yourself every single day. Yes, every single day.

Block out 5-10, or maybe 15 minutes, to do something that brings you joy!

Some examples from my life include: taking a bike ride around the neighborhood, setting a timer and reading for 15 minutes, doing an eye or face mask, a 10-minute yoga flow, walking my dog, sipping tea in the sunroom, mediating by listening to a quick Youtube video.

By engaging in one quick activity daily that brings you joy, you’re telling yourself that you are worth feeling joy and worth paying attention to each day!

I am a big fan of focusing on gratitude. Walk me through what gratitude is.

I stinking love gratitude! It’s like living in a perpetual state of Thanksgiving!  It’s simply focusing on and bringing notice to things you’re grateful for! When we pay attention to the things in our life that we are thankful for, we’re better able to recognize more and more things!

The point in a way is to shift our perspective to one of gratitude. I find that focusing on gratitude is most helpful because it allows me to take any day, however bad or frustrating it was, and frame it in a better light.

Every night, I write in my gratitude journal. It’s nothing fancy, just a simple planner with lines for each date. I jot down a handful of things that I’m grateful for specifically from that day.

This nightly practice has allowed me to move beyond being grateful for the basics (like food, a home, and my family and friends- which is great, don’t get me wrong) and pulling out specific things from each day.

Even if I’ve had the worst day, ending it by pulling small pieces of gratitude allows me to end the day realizing it was a good one!

You talk a lot about prayer. I want to know more.

Prayer plays a significant role in my life. And if you’re new to it, I have a whole blog post on the basics!

I pray because my faith is a huge part of my life. When I was new to my faith I wasn’t quite sure how or what to pray.

But as I’ve grown, I’ve realized there’s no wrong way to talk to God. It’s just about talking openly to Him. He knows your struggles already but wants you to come to Him and lean on Him for the support!

I’ve learned recently that it’s even okay to be angry and frustrated with God and let Him know! (You don’t hear that much, huh?!) But truly, those feelings are legitimate and it’s good to be truly raw with God.

The beautiful thing is He meets you where you’re at.

I’ve been using my morning commute as my prayer time, and sure I go through peaks and valleys in my faith and prayer life, but I find that having a dedicated time to pray is super helpful! And I just pray what’s on my mind. I thank and praise him, I ask for things, and I repent of things I’ve done that don’t honor Him.

It’s just talking to him, and there’s no need to get caught up in any “rules” or think it’s intimidating. It’s really freeing to open your heart each day to Him.

So often we have limiting beliefs. I face that myself. How can we overcome this?

Limiting beliefs are the bane of our existence, aren’t they?

They can really take root in our minds and we can begin to think they’re facts.

My absolute favorite way to overcome limiting beliefs is to challenge them instantly. Now, this takes effort and intention.

Every time you have a limiting belief (like I’ll never be able to start my own small business or I’ll never be able to stick to this whole healthy lifestyle thing and workout a few days a week), you immediately challenge it by questioning if it’s really TRUE or not.

It’s almost never true. Our limiting beliefs are just fears and worries and insecurities we have that seep into our headspace.

If you can get in the habit of asking yourself: “Is that ACTUALLY true?” after each limiting belief pops into your head, you’ll be able to slowly but surely weed them out.

It’s definitely an ongoing process, but a worthwhile pursuit for sure!

I love authenticity in people. What is it about being authentic that is so attractive?

Ahhh, authenticity! Think about a person in your life who you really just click with. Why do you think you get along so well with them? It’s likely because they’re just REAL. They’re absolutely, unapologetically authentic. They know who they are and they don’t try to be anyone else.

That’s what makes authenticity so special. Authentic people are sure of themselves, confident in who they are, and most importantly, love who they are!

Isn’t that the goal? To be confident in our own skin and to love the person we are? What we want then, is to be authentic!

To be comfortable with YOU, you have to work on lots of things like confidence building, self-talk, body image, and self-worth. These things are honestly my passion. I love helping women become empowered to be their full and best and authentic selves.

Because when we are our best selves, we live a life full of joy, contentment, gratitude, and fulfillment!

Individualism is destroying us. I believe in a strong and vibrant community. We are made to be in healthy relationships. How can we find this community?

We are absolutely made for the community! That’s what I strive to create on my blog- a community of women who are seeking growth within themselves, looking for support and to support others, and creating relationships that are deep and meaningful!

It’s a lot harder in this post-Covid, very virtual world to make and maintain connections! Yes, the virtualness of our world does provide opportunities for connections you may have never had otherwise, but I think a balance of virtual and in-person connections and community is key.

I’ll say, I found a lot of support in Facebook groups (for me blogging groups, but for you it could be crocheting groups or whatever else you’re into!). I felt very lonely on my journey until I joined a few groups with genuinely supportive members.

Virtually, I also joined a bible study that allowed me to find community with fellow Christian women! Then I branched out even more and took a 4-week training that allowed me to sit with and story-tell with others all around the country! How fun!

It’s all about going out on a limb and joining things virtually that may be out of your comfort zone at first. That’s where I’ve found the most rewarding and fruitful connections online!

In-person, I’d say we can find community by doing what we love!

If you love walking in nature, I’d be willing to bet some other local people do too. Take yourself to the local park or trail and walk! You’re bound to see the same friendly faces over and over, and maybe that’s how you meet your new walking buddy!

Maybe you love Pilates so you start going to a weekly class. Guess what?! There are other women there who also love Pilates, and are maybe looking for a workout partner.

Whatever it is, birdwatching, painting, baking, engaging in activities you love and connections will follow!

My last tip for in-person connections is to join a group of some sort. Maybe it’s a church or a specific bible study group. Maybe it’s a mommy and me club or a hiking group. Put yourself out there and you’d be shocked how many others are seeking and desiring the same connections you are!

Boundaries are important for mental health, self-care, and preventing burnout. Give me some examples of how we can create boundaries.

Creating boundaries is one of the trickier parts of working on ourselves.

I find the best way to create boundaries is to clearly define the boundaries to those around you as they come up.

There’s no need to spew off our newfound boundaries to anyone and everyone at any random time. This doesn’t have the same power as when we are mindful and thoughtful about how and when we bring new boundaries to light.

If a circumstance arises that calls on you to implement and employ a new boundary you set, my best advice is to communicate it kindly and clearly to the people involved.

If you’ve created a new boundary for yourself that involves putting your phone away at 9 PM every night, but your boss or your bestie gets upset with you for not answering their late-night request right away, that’s the time to communicate your boundary.

You may say something like, “I’ve actually decided to stop using my phone at a certain point at night to create some much-needed space in my life. Moving forward, I’ll happily answer you the next morning, but no earlier. Thank you for respecting my space.”

Communicating boundaries can be the most uncomfortable part, but the more open we are about them, the more people will recognize and respect them.

Lastly, you have to respect your own boundaries before others respect them, so do your best to stick to them!

What does women’s empowerment mean to you?

Empowerment is a big word with a lot of meaning (especially to me)! I feel so strongly about it, I created a community girls’ group to teach it!

Women empowerment is about confidently embracing you and working toward becoming your best self. Empowerment is about building up all the versions of yourself and working toward unapologetic confidence in who you are.

I’ve seen many women seek empowerment in the areas of body image, self-esteem, career, and overall confidence. To me, women’s empowerment means accepting where we’re at in all of these areas, while also desiring and working toward growth.

Talk to me about the city you live in and the food scene.

I live in a quaint little town that has tons of history. It was founded in the late 1600s, believe it or not! It’s situated near tons of water, and there are a handful of sweet little bay beaches in seemingly every direction.

It’s full of festivals in the warmer months, and the traditions run deep. We have a yearly festival where people come from all over, we do a huge fireworks display, parades, and more.

My favorite part of our small town is the old-fashioned Stewart’s Root Beer Restaurant directly across from the town lake. It feels small and quiet, even when the summer crowds flock in since we’re just 20 minutes from the Atlantic Ocean and stunning beaches.

What I like about the food scene is that it’s minimal. There are plenty of mom-and-pop places and very few chains. There are restaurants overlooking the water, ones tucked away in the forest, and everything in between. There’s fancy and uber casual.

And the whole town basically goes to sleep around 10 PM. Things aren’t open super late. I actually love when I come home late and I’m the only car in sight waiting for the light to change.

I live in a small town, but one that’s incredibly alive and fun. Many of us know each other, but there are still roads I haven’t been down yet.

The post Skye Sauchelli: Serve Others appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8. It gives us an opportunity to reflect on progress made, to ask for change, and to hold up women and celebrate their acts of courage and conviction by ordinary women who continue to play an important role in the history of their countries and communities.

Jillian Brown works for Royal Bank of Canada. I talk to her about her life in the corporate world and her passion about giving back.

Jillian, it is a pleasure to have you on my blog. Please tell my audience a little about you?

My name is Jill. I am 23 years old. I have recently graduated from the University of Guelph, where I majored in Accounting and minored in Marketing and Leadership. Currently, I am a Product Analyst in Premium and Everyday Credit Cards at RBC. I really enjoy what I do.

For the majority of my childhood, I was a competitive dancer, living the life you see on the hit reality show “Dance Moms”, when I was 13 eventually, I lost my passion and was looking for a new hobby to fuel my competitive nature. As I entered high school, I found a passion in a sport, a little less graceful – hockey. Being a highly competitive individual, I wasn’t ok with just playing house league. I played for one year and made a rep team every year following and played into rep into university. With my competitive nature, in University, I became very involved with student clubs. I was President of the Accounting Society of Guelph, taught 2 first year business classes as an Undergraduate Teaching Assistant and I competed and was Co-Captain of our intercollegiate case competition team JDC Central.

All of my experiences really shaped me to be the competitive, reliable, dedicated and empathetic person I am today.

Talk to me about your passions in life?

My biggest passion is giving back and helping others. If you are able, I truly believe it is important to give back and help others, no matter if you know the person or do not. This passion of mine is twofold however, this relates to both volunteerism and giving back to others as others gave to you.

I have always had a passion about volunteerism, which only grew bigger as I went to university. When I started university, I realized I had so much more time in my day and wanted to help as much as I could. I volunteered at the food bank, Run for the Cure and United Way and many other organizations over my 5 years in Guelph. In my 3rd and 4th year, my passion for volunteerism grew even more after doing two co-op terms at United Way Guelph Wellington Dufferin. I learnt so much about charitable giving, the importance of volunteers and the need that is in so many communities. The impact charities like United Way make in communities is incredible. These individuals work tirelessly to raise money for other people, striving for the strongest communities possible.

Within the second fold of my passion, I really believe in giving back to others as others have to you. In your daily personal growth and development, someone has taken the time to help you. Whether it’s with a course, an activity/hobby, future career or simply lending a hand when you needed it. I think both current and future generations need to focus on helping each other be successful. Even though I have only been graduated for one year, I plan on going back to my alma matter regularly to help students and give them the advice I once received.

Walk me through your life experience, what did you learn from these experiences and how has it changed you?

Just after I was born, I was diagnosed with epilepsy, which hindered some of my development growing up. I got tired very easily and at times had difficulty remembering things. My parents always hoped I would grow out of it as I got older and very luckily, I did. Around the age of 10 – right when we used to do multiplication tables competitions in grade school – my doctor told me that I wouldn’t have to take my medication anymore and I had grown out of epilepsy. Even though I grew out of it, for quite some time after, I had trouble remembering things and always had to study a little bit harder and for longer periods of time. Although it didn’t affect my memory as much when I grew up, I always gave myself a little extra time to do things.

In high school and university, these habits continued and I always made sure to give myself a little more time than I thought I needed for my studies. Although I outgrew it, there is always a chance it could come back. So, it taught me to really understand myself, great prioritization skills and understanding of how to utilize my time the most effectively.

When something happens to you or you have a medical condition that is out of your control, you really try to push through it. Even though I am fortunate enough to have outgrown epilepsy and it doesn’t affect me much in my daily life anymore, it taught me to constantly keep pushing through things that happen, to be kind to myself and others, and to be more aware of what is happening around me.

Who are the Millennials, what do they want, what do they want to change in present day society?

In this day and age, I think many people generalize Millennials and say “they have everything given to them” and “they do not know the value of hard work”. But – I disagree. As technology and innovation progresses, cultural and societal norms have changed, Millennials still understand the value of hard work, but a lot of things that were once difficult for other generations have become more accessible for us. Although we have these tools and it seems like a lot has been given to us, issues today have become so much more complex and Millennials have so many larger problems to solve in their lifetime.

For Millennials, I think our generation just wants to be happy, which is defined differently for everyone.

I also think simplification is the one thing that many things that my peers and I are focused on. Many things in the past were complicated, time-consuming and at times difficult. Millennials are constantly trying to make things simpler and better for everyone.

What should employers know about you and how to treat you at work?

For many people in my generation or any generation, people (including myself) do not like to be micromanaged. I am a true believer in giving feedback, but I truly believe that when you micro-manage someone, you don’t allow someone to put in their best work forward. Micromanagement is different than when you’re training someone and providing them with guidance/feedback. I think not being micromanaged and being given freedom is something someone looks for in an employer and a manager and really makes employers successful at the end of the day.

What are some of the social and other causes that you are passionate about which the past generations missed out on?

With my passion for volunteerism, I am passionate about youth development, poverty, and focusing on helping the senior population thrive. But one of my passion that I think past generations missed out on understanding what you are putting in and on your body.

People never understood how the food they ate, the chemicals in their toiletries, or the impact of their hobbies had on their health – physically and mentally. Nitrates, sulfates, cigarettes are just a few dangerous chemicals/items that went under the radar for years.

It is important to develop an awareness of these things, which I believe is becoming more relevant. People are eating more fresh foods and purchasing shampoo and makeup products that have fewer chemicals. This will force large companies to think more and make changes too, which will be beneficial and more sustainable in the long run.

Talk to me about food, family, faith, and finances and what do these things mean to Millennials?

I am unsure what all of these things mean to all Millennials, but I do know what they mean to me.

Family is by far the most important thing in my life. I am so fortunate to have a great one and I would drop anything for them.

My family really shaped who I am today, which is why I think it is important to share a bit about them. My Dad’s family is from “the Rock” otherwise known as Newfoundland and my mom’s side is from the province where the sky is very big. If you’ve ever been there, you’ll know this is Saskatchewan. My older brother Derek attended the University of Western Ontario and studied Mechanical Engineering. My family is filled with hard-working, intelligent, and practical individuals which very much rubbed off on me.

In our family, my grandparents or parents’ generation did not go to University, they worked very hard for what they wanted and to provide for their families. I am very fortunate to have two extremely supportive parents who constantly pushed both my brother and me to be our best and also told us we would be successful no matter what we set our minds to. On the side of work ethics, my parents always taught us that things don’t come easy and you have to work for what you want. I carried their advice with me growing up, which helped me overcome a number of obstacles in both school and social aspects of my life.

In terms of food, I think myself and many people in my generation are becoming more conscious of what they are putting in their bodies and understanding more and more the impact our food has on the environment. I believe the new food guide is a big step to help Canadians live and eat more sustainably.

Being an accounting student, I am aware of my finances and focus on the value of what I am purchasing while also saving for the future. For many millennials, I believe this generation is more focused on living in the moment and spending money on what makes them happy rather than focusing on the future. This is not to say Millennials aren’t savers, but right now – I think my generation is really focused on enjoying life.

What do these words mean TL, Hangry, Cray, bae, lace, just saying WCW, MCM, ICYMI, I can’t even in millennial speak?

I have no idea what TL, Lace, and ICYMI mean.

Cray is short for crazy.

Hangry is when you’re both hungry and angry

Bae is similar to Babe which is someone you’re very fond of either as a friend or more than a friend

WCW and MCM are not acronyms I would ever use but they mean women crush Wednesday and man crush Monday. So, if you have a crush on someone you would use this acronym.

I’m can’t even is a term that is used when you don’t want to deal with something, are shocked, can’t believe something.

Tell me a good joke?

I don’t really know any good jokes. Jokes aren’t very millennial, it’s all about memes these days.

What should the generation X and baby boomers know about your generation?

To keep it simple, they should know that they can trust our generation to do good work and make things better, in our environment, politically, and in our daily lives.

The post Jillian Brown: Giving Back to the Community appeared first on Four Columns of a Balanced Life.

Volunteering is an act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. It is an act of giving yourself for the greater needs of the community.

I talk to Taras Kulish a lawyer in the charity sector about volunteering.

Taras brings over 20 years of experience to the Business Law Group at Mills & Mills LLP. Before joining the firm in 2020, Taras was for many years the chair of the Charity/Not-for-Profit and Intellectual Property groups at a well-known mid-sized firm in Toronto.

In the Charity sector, Taras has extensive hands-on experience as a director, president, Country Director, and now International Relations Volunteer for the Canadian affiliate of an international NGO, which gives him insider knowledge about the challenges facing not-for-profit organizations in today’s complex world. Taras represents numerous churches, mosques, synagogues, and other faith-based groups as well as many other foundations and service organizations in the not-for-profit sector in Ontario.

Taras is co-chair of the organizing committee and spearheads the annual Churches, Charities, Not-for-profit Knowledge Hub for Ukrainian Canadian Social Services – Toronto, Ukrainian Canadian Bar Association, and the Ukrainian Canadian Professional Business Association

Taras, please tell my audience a little about you and your volunteer work?

Let me start Jerry by thanking you for the opportunity‎ to share with your audience how I practice my faith and make a difference. This year has been a milestone year. My wife, Sandra, and I have just celebrated our 20th anniversary; and since October, I now live in a household with two teenage girls. It’s a good thing we have a boy hamster named Jack Henry! As well, this is my 25th year practicing law and since Day 1, I have been involved in the charity sector helping organizations serve their community.

As a lawyer you do a lot of work for non-profits and charities tell us little about that as a volunteer?

I was lucky to start off as a first-year lawyer with a small Christian law firm in the GTA. I started working on foundations for evangelical Christian charities – the very first one was a children’s foundation. Over the years, as I grew in my career, I kept working with community-based charities and not-for-profit sports organizations. I really started to focus on this area as my involvement as a volunteer grew with HOPE worldwide Canada, first as a director in 2000, then as the President, and later Country Director. This experience gave me a great deal of hands-on, real-world experience to understand the challenges faced by a charity. Because of my legal training, I gravitated to all the legal work in the organization especially the international agreements required when an organization runs programs overseas or assists in disaster recovery. Now, I run an annual conference that attracts over 100 attendees and growing called Knowledge Hub for churches, charities, and not for profits. ‎My father always used to say, “The community is the most important thing.” I have been privileged to work with many organizations that do good work in their communities.

What drives you to help people in Ukraine as a volunteer?

Through HOPE worldwide Canada, I started out as a volunteer in international disaster recovery in Haiti after the earthquake in 2010; in the Philippines after Hurricane Haiyan; and in Ivory Coast after the Civil War. When the war in Eastern Ukraine first exploded on the international scene in 2014, I started to think about how we could help. My mentor at HOPE worldwide, Dr. Mark Ottenweller, would tell me frequently that after a disaster, whether man-made or natural, it is always the children who are left behind, not cared for, and who need the most help. Mark impressed upon me that the niche of HOPE worldwide was in helping children with their psycho-social needs post-disaster. So, when the conflict in Ukraine had not stopped by March 2015, I woke up one day with the following thought in my mind: “It is time”. Time to put to good use my skills as a lawyer, my experience as the International Relations Officer,  and my Ukrainian heritage and volunteer. So, I got in touch with my colleague at HOPE worldwide Ukraine, Vladimir Yermakov, and we brainstormed for a month, got input from some excellent people in our organization in Canada, the Philippines, and the USA, and created a Trauma Therapy program to help children in Ukraine who were suffering from war trauma. What drives me to help is knowing that when we help children, we help their future and ours.  ‎In June 2017, I visited Ukraine for HOPE worldwide Canada and went to a children’s recovery/therapy camp outside of Kyiv, the capital. We drove from Kyiv to Lviv to meet with the director of the Trauma Centre at the Ukrainian Catholic University since they trained our lead therapists and oversee the therapy program content. On our drive, we stopped at Dubno for a few hours and got to see the town where my father grew up and lived before, he was taken by the Nazis by train to Germany with all the able-bodied people from the town to work as slave labor during the War. That’s another reason why I am compelled to help the children of Ukraine as a volunteer – the people of my father’s generation did not have the chance to receive the kind of help we are able to provide.

Walk me down your own journey to faith and how has that changed you?

Well, I come from a mixed-faith background. My father is a Ukrainian Orthodox Christian and my mother is Jewish. She converted to my father’s religion when they were married so when I was young, I attended the Ukrainian church. The problem is that my parents got divorced when I was 5 years old, so I never really learned Ukrainian. Going to a Ukrainian language church was not cutting it for me. Also, because I came from a multi-generational divorce-affected family, I somehow knew that I needed God in my life if I was to have any chance of staying married. My mother also had a strong influence on me as her Christian faith grew over her life and she impressed on me the importance of being “equally yoked”, meaning it is important to be married to a Christian spouse. So, in my early thirties, at a time when I was looking to deepen and strengthen my relationship with God, I met Stuart Carmichael. He arranged for me to have a series of bible studies that led me to come to certain convictions about ‎God that changed my life around 180 degrees. Shortly after I placed membership with the Montreal Church of Christ, I was introduced to Sandra, and the rest is history! 

Has becoming a husband and father changed you as a person?

Sure! First, getting married was a dream come true – like heaven on earth! But of course, not without challenges over the years that we overcome through our faith and support from friends at church. I am lucky to have Sandra as my best friend and partner – she is such an accomplished person and she really keeps me and my girls on our toes! Becoming a father has also been a remarkable experience and journey. I guess these two events have changed me most as a person because you always have to think about other people, not just yourself, in particular, my wife and her thoughts and needs.  I still don’t have the winning formula for this! So, I’m fortunate that my girls and my wife are forgiving and put up with me!   

Give me some tips on how you handle your household finances?

I listen to my wife! Sandra is a very good manager of our resources and we live within our means. Sandra always looks for ways to optimize what we have. In the first few years of our marriage, we aggressively paid down debt (all mine from University and a private loan). Then we got rid of our mortgage in record time. This helped us get through some leaner years later on. My mother was also very frugal, having grown up in post-war England during food rationing. As a single mother in Canada, she used these skills and her entrepreneurial business acumen to keep our family clothed and fed. Growing up with this approach, it became easier to transition to marriage and family life and live within our means. Don’t get me wrong, it can still be a challenge to not give in to consumerism – my weakness would not be electronics or sports toys, but a nice new shirt and tie or some shoes! 

As a lawyer how do you balance faith finance family, volunteer work and good food?

Hmmm – I’m not sure whether being a lawyer makes it easier or harder to balance these different baskets! The charity work I do as a volunteer and as a legal professional probably helps me to be grounded and connected. It’s easier to connect emotionally with people about this side of my life and practice as opposed to another of my areas of specialty like trademark law. As a family, we try to find balance by living within our means so that financial pressures do not overwhelm faith, food, and family. My Granny always used to say, “Debt collectors can wait; but you must never scrimp on food to eat.” I also try to be connected with several guys in the church and have to work that into my obligations as a lawyer. Sometimes I invite friends from church to networking events to have a “wingman”. I am also mentoring a fellow from a church who wants to enter the legal profession. In addition, by working together on some volunteer projects for HOPE worldwide in Canada, I also get connected with people from church and others in the community. Volunteering is an area where the boundary between being a lawyer and Joe Christian is harder to discern. However, when I am doing something like flipping burgers at a community BBQ or giving backpacks to the kids at a Youth Academy program, Mr. Lawyer is not even in the room‎ – and I like that!

I really believe in the adage that “To whom much is given, much is expected”. So that is one reason why I have given countless volunteer hours over the years to local programs and international disaster recovery. As a lawyer, I am the black sheep of my family! My mother and sister are artists and my father was a musician. So, I have some artistic tendencies and that gets expressed mostly when I cook. I am also learning to play guitar and just started a year ago – it’s a good way to relax! The hours I work are longer, so it takes faith to be able to cut off the day and not worry about the work still left to be done -it will be there in the morning, but my family needs me in the evening.

Tell me a little about Ukrainian food and some of the dishes I should try?

Ukrainian food is simple, hearty, East European food, meant to fill you up so you can go out and do a hard day’s work. There are lots of stews, cabbage, and potatoes. Everyone knows about perogies and sausage. Try Chicken Kyiv one day! Or come over to my house and I’ll make you a traditional cabbage stew with sausages! If you want, we can break out my traditional Ukrainian cookbook and cook an entire Ukrainian-themed dinner, including beet soup (borshch) and beet salad. When I was in Ukraine, I tried “salo”, which is 100% cured pig fat, an inch thick – eat it like that with a pickle, onion, and a whole clove of raw garlic! It’s not for everyone, but I liked it and my friend Vladimir said, “now you are really Ukrainian!”

You have so much on your plate, why decide to go into politics?

Politics is something I was drawn to, probably for the same reason, I became a lawyer. I ran for Toronto City Council in 2014 and 2018. Sure, I have a lot on my plate, but I felt I could contribute to the community and bring good community programs, the same type that we learned to create in HOPE worldwide Canada, as the Youth Academy. At the same time, I saw a lot of waste and duplication in government and believed I could make a difference – after all, I was raised by a single mother who had survived the War!

Tell me a good lawyer joke.

People who know me – well they know that I can take a short joke and turn it into a 45-minute story! So, if you want to hear my best lawyer joke, you’ll have to come to my house to make that cabbage stew!

What’s the difference between God and a lawyer? God doesn’t think He’s a lawyer.

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