Growing up I always had big dreams. I still do. One of my favourite things to do is lay out on the dock, feel the cool breeze around me, listen to the waves crashing into the shore, and stare up at the stars. For as long as I can remember, this is when I feel most at peace.

I always said I was going to be an astronaut. And not just like how a kid says “I want to be an astronaut when I grow up” but then moves on from that dream. I was serious. Unfortunately, throughout high school I found I didn’t have a lot of support to help me pursue this dream. No one took me seriously. Instead of encouraging me, I was told that I needed to pick a real career, go to university and then work in that career for the next 40 years. My dream of becoming an astronaut started to become daunting as I had no idea the path I needed to take to get there and no one who took me seriously enough to help me figure it out. Eventually I felt so defeated that I gave up and decided that graphic design would be a good second choice. I was creative, I was imaginative, and I loved playing around on Photoshop and Corel Draw. I was pretty good too. But I’ve never been very artistically inclined and so the deeper I got into graphic design, the less capable I began to feel. I judged myself based on how I compared to others and inevitably decided I wasn’t good enough and needed to do something else.

Time was running out. Or so I was made to believe. I had to decide what I wanted to be (as opposed to who I wanted to be, which is really what I should have been asking myself). I was a very good student, and I loved school, so in fear of graduating and not having a plan for the future I decided that I would become a lawyer. I was really interested in my law class. I loved doing mock trials. So why not? I was good at it and all my life I was told I’d make a great lawyer. So law it was. I did a four year BA in law and psychology and graduated top of my class. I was so happy to be so accomplished in a field that I truly enjoyed. Yet I still didn’t feel fulfilled, I still didn’t feel like this was my life’s purpose.

During this degree I took an exchange year to England. This was a big step for me. I always knew I wanted to travel the world, but I hadn’t done much traveling before this, and certainly not alone. So moving to another country for a year all by myself was a huge step outside of my comfort zone. But you know what they say, life begins at the end of your comfort zone. And they’re right! It was the best thing I ever did. That decision changed the course of my life forever! I had never felt so free, never felt so alive. I still focused a lot on school but I allowed myself the freedom to take in this new country, this new culture and to travel as much as I could. I backpacked around Europe - England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Portugal. I was captivated by all this Earth had to offer. Portugal was by far my favourite! It was a turning point in my life. After exploring Lisbon I made my way to the small surf town of Peniche. It was there that I learned to surf, to live in the moment, to live a life of simplicity and to just let go and be free. It was here that my life changed!

Sadly, after my year abroad I had to come back to Canada and finish my degree. I struggled through my last year of university. It was important to me to keep my straight A’s so I worked hard but I didn’t have the same passion for school and for law as I had before. I started skipping a lot of classes and developed major depression. Life just wasn’t the same. I had experienced first hand what it felt like to truly live and I was no longer happy slaving away for a degree and a job that I wasn’t even sure I wanted anymore.

After I graduated, I felt I had huge expectations by myself and my friends and family to go to law school. I mean, that was the plan all along right? But I was craving a life of freedom. I decided I could maybe do both. Moving to England once had changed my life so I decided I would go back there to study my LLB. I loved being back in England. I loved all my new friends and all the activities I was doing. But when it came to school, I was bored. I had just spent the past four years studying everything there is to know about the law and now I was going to be spending the next three years re-learning the exact same things. I didn’t even finish one year before the depression became too much and I decided to drop out of law school and move back home.

I spent the next 10 years lost in a cycle of frustration, anxiety and depression. I moved around a lot, I’d try new jobs but I was never fulfilled. I’d be happy for the first two or three months and then I’d get bored of where I was living and too depressed to go to work so I’d quit, pack up and move on to the next thing. In the back of my mind I always knew I was yearning for freedom. I had got a taste of that life and it wasn’t going away.

This is when the idea of entrepreneurship came to mind. I was never happy working for someone else. Having to be on someone else’s schedule only made my depression worse. I wanted to create a life I could be in charge of; a life that allowed me to do what I wanted to do, a life that made me happy. I spent my days dreaming of living in a VW Westfalia along the coast, being able to travel wherever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I dreamed of being able to explore and surf and hike and camp do all the things I enjoyed doing in life without having to ask for “permission” first. I started a few businesses over the years so I could make this dream my reality. I sold Arbonne products, I created my own loose-leaf tea business, I sold my homemade bohemian-inspired jewelry, I started a travel blog and worked on creating an outdoor apparel company. I did all the things. But I never saw anything through to completion. I’d get scared of failing, so I’d inevitably fail. I always thought all the other people doing these sorts of things were better than me and that I wasn’t good enough. I had a whole host of limiting beliefs and to top it all off, I felt very alone. None of my friends or family had the same free-spirited, hippie mentality that I did. I constantly felt like no one understood me, like I was living in the wrong time period, like maybe something was wrong with me for not wanting to follow the “rules” of society.

But fast forward to today, and that has all changed!! I was tried of being stuck in a depressive cycle for over a decade, tired of knowing what I want out of life but not having the courage to go after it, tired of feeling like I wasted the past 10 years of my life and knowing that I did not want the next 10 years to feel the same. I always had an interest in self improvement books and personal development, but I decided to really dive in. And when I did, the universe rewarded me!

One day while scrolling through Instagram I came across the Breakaway Movement*. I was hooked! I started looking up some of the top leaders in this group and realized I was already following a lot of them. I had just never noticed the opportunity that BAM offered because I was too closed-minded to see it. After following more members of this community I realized that they were all like me! I had finally found my people. I no longer felt alone. I found a group of amazing men and women who are all focused on becoming the best versions of themselves, who love to travel, who are passionate about health and wellness and the sustainability of our planet. The best part, they all created their own businesses so they could live life on their own terms. Immediately I knew I needed to be apart of this community. After joining BAM because of the community aspect, I discovered Kangen Water and the company Enagic. It seemed like just the opportunity I had been waiting for. I knew this was it. I knew this was the business that was going to change my life! And I now felt confident that I would follow through with all my ideas because I had a whole network of like-minded individuals supporting me and teaching me how to succeed.

I started this business because for me it was a lifetime in the making - it was the opportunity I was meant to find when I finally allowed myself to truly step away from everything that had been holding me back and keeping me small in life. I have had so many dreams for so long and my reasoning behind starting this business is to afford me the time, location and financial freedom to pursue all those dreams and then some! Because of this business I will now get to …

• live in a van

• road trip across Canada and the USA

• spend time living in Bali and Hawaii

• travel all over the world and be able to pay for my friends and family to join me

• go on sailing adventures

• buy organic

• take pottery lessons

• live off grid in a tiny home

• stay in cool eco hotels and eat at expensive restaurants

• buy sustainable clothing instead of ‘fast fashion’

• give back to my family who has helped me so much through all the tumultuous times

• buy all the books my heart could ever desire

• give to so many amazing charities

• connect to more like-minded individuals and build up my community

• adopt a few doggos

• spend more time outdoors - camping, hiking, fishing, boating, surfing, snowboarding

• take the time to learn a new language

• dedicate more of my time to making a difference in the environment

• create a homestead with chickens, ducks, goats and all the dogs - I will grow tea, herbs and edible flowers to continue my loose-leaf tea business, there will be a little cafe / fair trade shop, a hobbit house style studio and a beautiful permaculture garden.

• to ignite change in the world by inspiring others to go after their dreams

Money was always an issue for me. It held me back from getting to do all of these things. But no longer! I now have a job where I can work online from anywhere in the world while creating the life of my dreams! I am so grateful that this opportunity presented itself to me and that because of it, Compass to Freedom was born.

If you resonate with my story, this business opportunity or are interested in creating a life of freedom for yourself, please reach out to me through the contact page and I can help you build the life of your dreams!

* Note: Breakaway Movement is no longer an active community but I’m still connected to all the individuals I met through it and who inspired me and the things I learned and the growth I achieved because of that community will always stay with me.