It’s hard to believe the year that has been 2020, is almost over. It’s a year that we will never forget, for so many reasons.

For some time, when we didn’t quite understand what was happening, the world told us to use the time to be productive and do things we never got around to doing. We saw posts about trying to thrive during the shut-down, while the outside world was trying to sort itself out.

But, how could we thrive when the world was trying to sort itself out?

Much the rest of the world, I was worried and going through the motions of what was going to happen next; what I should or shouldn’t be doing. But I didn’t end up thriving in the way we perceive the term, I ended up growing and gaining.

I Donated $4,000 to a Shelter.

Amidst all of the uncertainty of not knowing how to protect ourselves, I wanted to help. I’m a person that likes to keep busy, with multiple projects at once, and when everything was put on hold, I didn’t know what to do with my time and I wanted to help in some way.

So, myself and two of my close friends decided to start a fundraising campaign in which we made face masks in exchange for donations to a Toronto women’s shelter. The demand was something we were not expecting; we were expecting our effort to reach a donation of $200 over the course of two weeks. We ended up keeping our campaign for three months, raising thousands of dollars with hundreds of orders. We didn’t promote, it was all word of mouth and we reached families across the GTA and Canada with orders coming in from across the country.

Our mission was to help organizations who weren’t getting much attention or help from the government. We weren’t expecting how fulfilling it would be, with our days being taken up with sewing, logistics, sourcing materials, social media and website creation, customer service. You name it. We created a business by accident.

It was tough, but I’m so glad we did it. We were successful and we turned the negativity that became those few months, into a positive. It’s something we will never forget.

I Graduated from Parsons School of Design

I fell in love with Fashion and Retail over a decade ago, and I’ve always been the type of person who loves school and wants to learn and know as much as I possibly can. My purpose in my decade long pursuit, is to pursue different ways fashion is brought to us and how it’s changing. I’ve been fortunate to become alumni from many well-known fashion institutes, and I added another one to the list.

My program was online through the famous Parsons School of Design under the guidance and direction of Vogue America with amazing professors. The topics I learned, I’ve studied before, but it was the approach and the perspective that gave it new light. I gained new insights into fashion media, portfolios, production and PR among many other topics.

If you’re like me and are continually hungry for learning new skills and improving yourself in your industry, look into taking an online course. Many schools we once thought were inaccessible because of distance, aren’t anymore; after graduating from Parsons I’m now pursuing Yale University (a la coffee obsessed Rory Gilmore).

I Turned 30

I even got a shout out from the flirty, thirty and thriving girl herself, Jenna Rink a.k.a Christa B. Allen!

I had different plans for the big 3-0, but I wouldn’t of had it any other way. I spent the day with two of my closest friends in a park, being socially distant of course. The strangest part of the day was the Zoom call I had with my family, as my home province currently has its borders closed I can’t travel there.

I Earned a New Position

I became the Communications Coordinator for the Ontario Secondary School Dance Fest! If you don’t know, my background is in marketing and communications and I’ve been a dancer for 26 years. During the shut-downs, my dance studio and productions were closed as well and I wanted another outlet to be part of the dance community.

I run all of their social media, PR and many other things! We run a supportive competition for Secondary students in Ontario, and we have news coming out soon for our upcoming 2020-2021 season; check us out on Instagram and Facebook for more details!

These were my highlights, but honestly I did so much more. I wanted to use the time to be productive in my own way, but to also slow down and understand what was going on.

What did you do during quarantine? Even though the world seems to be coming back to life, please remember to wear a mask.

With love and coffee,