That Was Mom’s First Office!

In 2009, I signed a lease for my very first office.

It was a tiny space in The Financial Building, rented from the kind and generous Don Pickard. He gave me a great deal but even then, committing to that expense felt huge.
I was in my twenties, had two little kids, a heart full of excitement… and uncertainty.

My dad came with me that first weekend.
We took down a wall. We painted it.
And just like that, it started to feel like mine.

A Space to Grow

Two years later, in 2011, Dawn Binns joined me as my business partner.
Together, we hit another milestone; we knocked down another wall and added a small boardroom.
It felt big and it was.

We were growing.
We had momentum.
And we were building something we believed in.

I still remember the day a sales rep from a business magazine stopped by for a chat.
A few months later, we were stunned to see our humble little office listed as one of the coolest workspaces in Atlantic Canada.

It wasn’t flashy.
But it had heart.
We made it our own.

A Space That Held So Much

That office held more than desks and client meetings.
It held the early days of a dream.
Late nights.
Big ideas.
Tough lessons.
And so many great memories.

A new project is taking shape in that space now, and I’m wishing them every success.

And yes every single time we drive by, I still point it out to my kids and say,
“That was Mom’s first office.” ❤️

Final Reflection

When I signed that lease, I didn’t know where it would lead.
What I did know was that I had something worth building and I was willing to take a risk to give it room to grow.

That’s the thing about risk.
It’s rarely comfortable.
But it creates momentum.
It opens doors.
It makes room for opportunity, learning, and transformation.

If you’re standing on the edge of something right now, a decision, a leap, a first step, I hope this reminds you that the safest thing you can do for a dream…
is to bet on it.

The magic lives on the other side of the risk.