My journey into writing started on the job. I was a senior creative and brand strategist in advertising, building stories for companies that wanted to matter. I loved it. I loved mapping out human behaviour, figuring out what people cared about, and turning all of...
Some days I wake up and feel like my mind and body are running on old wiring. Frayed. Overheated. Ready to spark at the slightest touch. I keep telling myself that resilience changes you, but lately that word feels less like a badge and more like a scar I keep trying...
I’ve spent my whole life watching people. Friends, strangers, students, CEOs, lovers, neighbours. I watch how they move through the world, how they avoid themselves, how they numb, how they pretend. I watch the cracks where truth slips out. The older you get, the more...
(Inspired by Dan Pontefract’s Work-Life Bloom) Work-life balance is bullshit. There, I said it. The phrase has been shoved down our throats for decades, sold to us like some magic formula where career and personal life sit on opposite ends of a teeter-totter. As if...
(Inspired by Simon Sinek’s The Infinite Game) Most people run their life and their business like it’s a game they can win. That’s why they flame out, sell out, or disappear. Sinek calls it the difference between finite and infinite games. Finite games have winners and...
(Inspired by Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point) Everyone wants to “go viral.” That phrase alone makes my skin crawl. Viral is a buzzword people throw around when they have no clue what actually makes an idea spread. The truth is, big ideas don’t take off because...
(Inspired by Ed Catmull’s Creativity, Inc.) The myth is that creativity dies when people run out of ideas. That’s bullshit. Creativity dies when people are too afraid to share the ideas they already have. Ed Catmull built Pixar on one principle: protect creativity at...
This post is an experiment. Most people will like or share the headline without ever reading the words you’re seeing right now. If you’ve clicked through, you’re in the minority, and you’re exactly why I still write. Social media has turned us into skimmers and...
No, seriously. This isn’t an attack. It’s not a self-help prompt. It’s a question. Do you actually know who you are? And even if you think you do, are you comfortable with it? We get told constantly how important “knowing yourself” is. But what does that even mean? I...
Why Music Owns Memory The power of music. It’s not a new idea. It’s been a universal truth for centuries. But if you’ve lived even a little, you already know this: music doesn’t just fill the silence. It defines the moment. I’m writing this on a window bench at a surf...
I’ve been called immature for most of my life. Sometimes it was an accusation. Sometimes it was a compliment. Sometimes it was both, usually in the same sentence. If immaturity was a martial art, I’d be a 5th Dan black belt in Immaturity-do. And yeah, I’ve trained...
This morning I quietly judged a guy for driving a gas guzzling SUV while sipping an iced coffee made from beans grown in a deforested rainforest, out of a single-use plastic cup… that I bought. I walked by, smug in my moral superiority, shaking my head at his...
Leadership, the kind that actually works. Let’s just say it. Leadership is the most overused, underdelivered buzzword in business. Small and mid-sized companies toss it around like confetti at a mediocre office birthday party. "We value leadership! We’re building...
Because apparently just existing isn’t impressive enough anymore. I’m 53, and I still don’t have a “purpose” in the way Instagram defines it. But don’t worry, the internet’s full of 23-year-olds who do. According to TikTok, if I’m not living with radiant intention,...
You were born into a world that handed you a head start. Whether you saw it or not, whether anyone told you or not. And I need you to know that’s not a guilt trip, it’s a responsibility. I didn’t write this to lecture you. I wrote it because I love you. Because I’ve...
This letter is for every woman I’ve ever loved, respected, and learned from. But it’s also for anyone who needs to feel seen. You don’t need me to write this letter. You’ve survived worse with less. But I’m writing it anyway, because silence feels like betrayal, and...
I’m a feminist. Not because I hate men. Not because I burn bras or scream into the void. I’m a feminist because I believe, at my core, that everyone deserves the same shot at life, dignity, safety, and opportunity, no matter their gender. Let’s rewind. I’m 53. I was...
Every now and then, in the middle of a scroll or a deadline or a cold cup of coffee, I’ll get hit with this weird, overwhelming clarity. Not about life’s big questions, but about something deceptively small. Like the movement of my own hand. The way I walk. The sound...
I grew up in a world so low-fi, it might as well have been powered by duct tape and dumb ideas. Street hockey until the lights came on. BMX ramps made of questionable wood and absolute confidence. Tree forts. Paper cuts. Model glue. Weekends filled with nothing to do...
This weekend was Pride in Victoria. Flags waving, music pulsing through downtown, colours louder than the crosswalks they danced across. And as I stood there, just one man in a sea of joy, I felt it hit me again. This celebration isn’t about politics. It isn’t even...
I’m sitting here on my deck sipping coffee on a picture-perfect summer morning. My mind is casually drifting between the work projects I have on the go, the things I need to get done around the house, and the endless worry orbiting around a few of my kids (adult kids,...
Everyone’s obsessed with the why. And I get it. It’s a powerful question. It drives purpose, intention, and meaning. But here's the cold truth: knowing your why is just the beginning. Stopping there is like drawing blueprints for your dream home and never picking up a...
We weren’t built for this shit. We evolved to chase food and firelight. To read faces, not timelines. To survive the winter, not the comments section. But somewhere along the way, we got duped. Sold a glossy version of connection that tastes like junk food for the...
Somewhere along the line, we decided that “creativity” meant painting sunsets or sculpting something tragic out of stone. We shoved it in a little box labelled “arts,” wrapped it in stereotypes, and started handing out labels like candy. “You’re creative.” “You’re...
Let’s get something straight: We talk a lot about confidence, self-love, and “just being yourself”… But if you’ve ever stared in a mirror and wanted to look away, you know it’s not that simple. This one’s personal. Like…punch-you-in-the-gut personal. Self-esteem is a...
(And the one thing the world desperately needs more of) Let’s start here: Empathy isn’t soft. It’s not passive. It’s not some HR seminar buzzword or something reserved for greeting card copy. Empathy is a fucking superpower. Especially for creatives. In a world that’s...
Being in a relationship with a creative is… well, it’s an experience. Ask my wife. Actually, don’t—she might still be recovering from this week’s emotional rollercoaster and endless kitchen chest bumps (she hates those). We’ve been together 15 years. That’s 15 years...
My wife and I just got back from a 20-day trip to Italy and Spain. Sounds romantic, right? Wine, sunsets, pasta, all that jazz. But it wasn’t a vacation—it was a homecoming. Not for us, technically, but for the international students who lived with us over the past 7...