Featured Canadians

The past 10 years have been the most challenging for myself, artistically speaking. I’ve dabbled in different mediums from graffiti, photography, drawing and also graphic design. While I did gain some positive exposure from all of these forms of art, I also lost myself in it. I tried to become great at all of these things, all at the same time. I didn’t really concentrate on what I loved, which was drawing. I probably spent thousands of dollars on photography equipment, software thinking that these materials would make me a better “artist”. I quickly became restless and un-inspired once money got into the subject. “How much should I charge that client?” “How much for a new laptop?” “That last client lowballed me”. All of these questions and not one time do I remember asking myself “What can I do to make myself better at this?" I’ve seen and personally experienced how artists get exploited or cheated out of making a name for themselves. So I stopped everything altogether. I stopped doing photography, I gave up on trying to be a graphic designer, and worst off all I stopped drawing. I kept making excuses to why I stopped, I was disappointed in myself, and felt like my prime years were behind me. It was 2009, I was 23. November 2013. I was on the internet admiring pieces of Typography, which coming from a graffiti background has always been my favourite subject. The first thing I noticed was that all the pieces were digitally made, enhanced, nothing drawn. I thought to myself “I can draw this stuff by hand”. So I got some paper, a Bic pen and started drawing…and I didn’t stop. My pen was to paper for the next 5 hours and that one piece took me 5 days to complete (which was later purchased by an admirer). I’ve been inspired to write all over again and it hit me like a ton of bricks. My sister once said that my “art is words and words are powerful”. Typography, quotes, lettering, script, calligraphy. That’s what I do, that’s all I do, this is what I want to define me. It’s influential, honest, harsh, vulgar all at the same time. Since I’ve posted my work on Instagram, the response has been overwhelming and positive. In the year of 2014, I successfully completed my #project365 which was exclusively dedicated to my lettering and progress. This was more than just posting a picture a day, this was a level of commitment to my passion and a year long step in the right direction. Surprisingly enough, I’ve had people message me and tell me that I’ve inspired them to do a Project365 for 2016 - last I checked they’re still going strong. Now I’m learning how to perfect my lettering through design and Illustrator. Lettering and Typography is not how I pay my rent or my bills. I get odd ball commissions but it is not my source of income. I simply do it because I love it. It is my outlet, my “wind down” and my classroom. I have sleepless nights where papers and markers are all over my bedroom, but I never regret it the next morning. So to me, the concept of chasing your passion means to LOVE what you do and always remember that you really don’t have it all figured out. Give yourself the discipline to keep learning and that every lesson we learn in art is not any way limited to art. That pretty much covers it. It turned out to be lengthier than I thought, but since I haven’t told this whole story before I figured I might as well go big or go home. Thank you so much. Look forward to our future endeavours together.

Hi, my name is Angela Switzer and this is #MyCanada I am originally from Southern Ontario: born in Orillia, but we moved around a bit before relocating to the United States. I was in Georgia for 21 years before recently moving to Florida, like all good Canadians. I love to read, travel, cook, spend time with my family and friends, and my dog and my cat. Like many Canadians, I'm incredibly passionate about hockey in general and the Maple Leafs in particular. For the last 3 years, my friends and I have done a fantasy hockey league. I have adopted the Tampa Bay Lightning as my secondary team and I am thrilled to be living in a city with an NHL franchise. I went to my first Leafs game in March since Atlanta lost the Thrashers and immediately felt at peace with all of my fellow Canadians in the stands. I also like to do yoga, when I can find the motivation. I was actually introduced to The Peace Collective through Lululemon. I saw your partnership with them on their Instagram page. I saw the "Home is Here" tanktop on their Instagram and decided that I must have it. As an expatriate, that wasn't exactly the easiest task to accomplish. I ended up calling the location at Yorkdale, buying the shirt over the phone, having them ship it to my aunt in Aurora, who was coming to Florida to visit my father. My father mailed the shirt to me in Georgia, along with some boxes of Smarties. I love the tank top and what it represents: Canadian pride, even though I don't get to go home as often as I like, and the mission of providing meals for children who are food-insecure. I get so many comments on it when I wear the shirt and I love telling the story of how I got it and about the Peace Collective's mission. I could probably do another 500 words on the snack, fast, and junk foods that I miss. I make everyone bring me Jos Louis under threat of physical pain because they are my favourite thing in the world to eat. My mother smuggles Miss Vickie's Malt Vinegar chips across the border for me every time she has a trip across the border. Any time I actually go back myself, I threaten a mutiny if we don't immediately stop at a Harvey's so I can get a cheeseburger. Pretty much anything President's Choice haunts my dreams. So that's my rambling explanation of what  #mycanada means to me. It's everything that I love and miss about my life there and what keeps me feeling connected when I'm away for so long. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

I’m originally from upstate New York. I left home to study at McGill and went back to US after University. But then met a lovely Canadian fellow in Colorado and ended up moving to Toronto in 2004. So I wasn’t born Canadian and I like to think I married in. I became a permanent resident in 2005 and just applied for Canadian Citizenship last month! So fingers crossed it goes well and I will get approved. I went to McGill to study Biology and worked in research for about 8 years (in the US and Canada). But it wasn’t for me, so in 2010 I went back to school to study Textiles at Sheridan College! Since graduating I started my own small business producing small batch accessories for men and women. Its a tough life being an entrepreneur and a little lonely too but I am love making my own patterns, printing them on fabrics and producing a finishing product. One of more recent patterns is a street view map of Queen West, Toronto that I abstracted and turned into a pattern for a little hometown pride. So there you have it! For me, Home in Toronto!

Hi, my name is Jill Sader and this is #MyCanada I live in beautiful British Columbia and at the age of seventeen I’m lucky enough to have found my passion. My passion is people. Though most Canadian stereotypes are farfetched… I believe it’s true that Canadians are some of the friendliest. And none more friendly than Special Olympics Athletes. I have had the opportunity to coach with the Special Olympics X-C ski team in my community for the past four years. These athletes have changed the way I look at the world, and the way I look at others. I have learned that success can be small. It can be finishing a race with a smile on your face, or even just giving it your best try at practice. Success is cheering as loud as you can. Success is making new friends. I consider myself so blessed to live in a country that not only accepts differences, but celebrates them! Now that’s success. That is #MyCanada. Just another fun fact about Special Olympics.. Team BC swept the podium at Nations this year in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland. Two of the athletes from the team in my community qualified and will be competing at the 2017 World Winter Games in Austria. And I happen to have the opportunity to cheer them on as a spectator. (Woohoo!)

Hi, my name is Deanna Lentini and this is #MyCanada I am 21 years old, and I am the Founding Director of Fix the 6ix. Fix the 6ix is a Toronto-focused poverty alleviation project, but it is really a movement that was born from the day dreams of a Toronto girl who loves her city. Fix the 6ix is my vision to inspire Toronto to love the city back. From the time I was small, the homeless in Toronto stood out to me. I didn’t understand that someone in the same city as me didn’t have a place to sleep at night, or didn’t know where their next meal was coming from. Fix the 6ix was born from the same place that my personal concerns for the homeless and disadvantaged comes from. I was driven to start an organization to address homelessness in Toronto because I am so deeply moved by the issue. The mission of Fix the 6ix is to support Toronto's most vulnerable residents in hopes of making our city a better place. Fix the 6ix was launched February 21st 2016 by a group of student volunteers at York University. Our feature project is called The ReGiftcard Program. This project collects donations of new and partly-used gift cards to purchase food, clothing, and household items for homeless shelters and community outreach programs. We have had incredible support, collecting over $2400 in gift cards in our first 4 week campaign. My dream for Fix the 6ix is to show Toronto that our City is more than a skyline - that it is a home, and that there is work to be done. Fix the 6ix takes the time to learn the stories of the homeless community that we help, and we feature their stories on our website. Our intention is that by sharing these stories, we can humanize homelessness to inspire an understanding that this city is home to many who need our help, and that we have the power to make a real difference. I see #MyCanada through my home in Toronto. My home is a place that has inspires me, and has given me everything I have ever known. Toronto, Canada is where I have laughed, learned, and lived every day of my life. I have spent every classroom hour of my education, every working hour as a student, and every waking hour calling Toronto my home. My home is unique, vibrant, diverse, and welcoming. The City has given me so much, which is why it is my passion to take care of it through Fix the 6ix. #MyCanada inspires me. #MyCanada is my Toronto. Chasing your passion takes courage. It takes courage to give up a plan that can offer you security and comfort for an idea that you think could change your world. I have just completed my undergraduate, and have post-poned my post-graduate education so that I can give my time to what I have started with Fix the 6ix. It's not easy to give up a plan that others may have in mind for you - but chasing your passion means that you do it anyway.

Hi, my name is Courtney Rich and this is #MyCanada My Canada is still fairly new. I've been living in Ontario since January 2014, and have been an official Permanent Resident since November 2014. I was born and raised in the States, near Philadelphia. In March 2013 I met a boy who lived in New York, slowly fell in love and came to find he was from Canada. He moved back, and a year later I followed. I came to Canada to follow my heart and haven't been more sure and proud of a decision like this in my life. As each day passes I grow more and more in love with my (now) husband and I also fall more in love with this country. I am working towards becoming a citizen of Canada and I know it will be an amazing feeling when that day comes. I will always have a connection to the States and I will always be American, but I feel so lucky and fortunate to be able to expand my feelings of pride to America's neighbouring country and to be able to one day call myself a Canadian too. #mycanada is only just beginning. I have so much to explore in this amazingly beautiful country and can't wait to see all that it has to offer. My husband was born in Vancouver and all I ever hear about it is how gorgeous it is and I keep bugging my husband to take me there. #mycanada is exploring for a lifetime with my husband and our future family. Chasing my passions of love and family has brought me to Canada, so it is something I believe in wholeheartedly. I also had just finished my first year working as a Speech-Language Pathologist before moving here. Before that, I was committed to Graduate School for 3 years, chasing my passion for helping others. Although I've had to take a break from working in my career, I wouldn't trade any of what I've gone through to get here and be living in Canada with the love of my life.

Hi my name is Nicole Gould and this is #MyCanada story When somebody hears the words "mental illness" or "mentally unstable" they can often come to very untrue conclusions. There is a perception that people with a mental illness are crazy or they are dangerous..the list can go on and on. The reality is...we are not crazy and we are not dangerous. We just need someone to listen, someone to care and someone to reach out their hand and grab a hold of ours. I have suffered from mental illness since I was around the age of 14. I have struggled with anxiety and depression to the point where it crippled me. I was also diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder at 16 years old. The high school years for me were the most difficult. Just to get out of bed every day and go to school was like trying to run through mud. There were many days where I stayed home from school because I couldn't bring myself to go. I secluded myself from people and had no friends. At lunch time I would either sit in the cafeteria at a table by myself while I was surrounded by tables of people laughing and talking with friends...or I would go home and sit in an empty house. I often would not return to school and would just sleep. I tried to end my life on multiple occasions because the internal pain and loneliness and suffering I had was too much to handle. I felt like my life was going nowhere. I didn't really have a plan for my future. I wasn't excited about any thing. The internal dialogue I had with myself was painful. The fight inside my brain whether to live or end my life was so overwhelming, exhausting and frightening. I didn't love myself. I hated myself. Mental illness is not something that should be taken lightly or made into a joke. It's serious and is life altering to those who suffer from it. I saw numerous therapists and was put on numerous medications to try and stabilize my emotions. I spent a lot of time in the hospital because that is where I was the safest. I am one of the lucky ones who was able to get the help I needed and I have been able to learn how to manage my emotions. I have good days and I have bad days but I deal with them as they come. Mental illness is personal and different for everyone. I think our society needs to become more educated on how it affects people and instead of kicking a person while they are down we need to lift people up. There is no sense in making it worse for someone who is already suffering. We need to end the stigma that for some reason still surrounds the topic of mental illness. It is nothing to be ashamed about. It doesn't define us as a person...it's just the cards we were dealt with. We just need compassionate people around us who are willing to help us deal and cope with what we were dealt with. I am proud to say that I was able to turn my life around for the better and make my struggles into accomplishments. I have published 2 books about what I went through in my teen years and it speaks a lot to the topic of mental illness. I have been able to help teens who were in the same spot I was. I have also just recently finished nursing school. We need to be more compassionate and understanding towards people with mental illness. In my life time I want the stigma to be gone and for people to look at mental illness the same way they see physical illness. If we rallied around people with a mental illness the same way we do when someone we love has cancer...our world would be much better off. It is our duty and our job to make this happen. If we don't then who will?

Hi my name is Laura Hesp and this is #MyCanada My father and I always had a very colourful relationship. It declined as I got older. I suspect he just didn’t know how to raise a young lady when he was quite comfortable having drawn pictures and watched cartoons to keep me company. As I got older our relationship became a source of a lot of pain for both of us, because we didn’t know how to be a “father & daughter.” My father was an alcoholic, but I still loved him. He hurt everyone around him indirectly, but I loved him. He didn’t know how to be a father but he showed me he loved me in the capacity in which he could, and I knew that. My father was homeless, it was a source of shame for him and guilt for me. How could he let his daughter see him like this? How could I let my own father sleep on the streets? Last month (March) my father died of very tragic circumstances. Living on the street is something that is so inhumane and unbelievably dangerous and heart-breaking, and no one wants to acknowledge it. The way his death was treated by the police department, coroner and funeral home were absolutely unacceptable. My mother and I were given a box of latex gloves and told we had to clean the motel room he died in. The coroner told me they didn’t bother with an autopsy because it didn’t really matter. They told me my father didn’t matter. My father. We want to throw a sandwich at “these people” and think we’ve solved the problem. One meal helps for the moment, but why did they end up on the street in the first place? That’s what I aimed to show everyone. I’m currently building a non-profit called #YouAreLoved, and it was created to de-stigmatize, humanize and assist the homeless. In the beginning, I went on foot and handed out almost 100 bagged lunches, 100 hot soups, 100+ articles of clothing and blankets. I used my social media to create awareness, to fundraise and to curate donations. Since then, it has snowballed into me building a passionate team of philanthropists from photographers, graphic designers, restaurant owners, government workers and dozens upon dozens of volunteers to help me. Because of the sheer volume of donations from organizations, monetary donations and amount of volunteers, I decided to step it up a notch for the community. I’m currently in the middle of rolling out a 3-step media campaign for awareness, followed by a large community potluck aimed at bringing the city together to break bread with the same people living behind our dumpsters and on our benches. Let’s look in each others eyes, let’s talk about why that’s so uncomfortable for people to do. My Canada looks like a country where people fearlessly pursue their dreams, because they know that our country is full of opportunity and freedom. My Canada is a place where we acknowledge our painful history, we make amends and we put systems in place to take care of the people we neglected. My Canada is a place where the people who make it what it is, all look different. Where we accept you no matter your history, your race, your religion or your financial status. We care about your well being and My Canada is a place that selflessly gives back to their community in order to see change on huge scales! Chasing my dream in Canada means I feel safe to do so. I feel free and supported by my country, my province and my community on every level. Chasing my passion means that I found that spark inside me, that drive, that motivation that will not let me sleep on it. Chasing my passion means I don’t even have money to pay rent, but I still wake up every day and grind out my non-profit because I know the difference it is going to make for so many people. Chasing my dreams means taking the uncomfortable step to put yourself in a category that not a lot of people are willing to sacrifice for. It means lonely nights, a lot of anxiety and a complete shift in priorities. It means, at times, not recognizing your friends because your life has shifted from “me” to “they” and you can’t understand why everyone doesn’t feel this way. Chasing my passion means sacrifice, determination and an unrelenting urge inside of me to help people less fortunate than myself.

Hi my name is Allison Miceli and this is #MyCanada story #MyCanada is a mosaic of early morning sunrises and evenings lit by the dim glow of street lights. As the sun sets on the city, blanketing in darkness just in time for us to hit the streets, we run TO. #MyCanada is embracing every season, not fearing the cold, snow, rain and wind but finding excitement in the diversity of seasons that we have the ability to experience. It’s a place where I am surrounded by the faces of folks who have become a second family to me, allowing me to extend my definition of a family tree as we all share a common uniting passion. My story is not about my upbringing, or a move to make Canada my home early, it’s about the development of a community while I work to discover my self and my identity. I was born in Hamilton, Ontario, raised in Burlington, Ontario and spent a better part of my young life navigating the streets of steel town and later traveling the world as part of a marching band. But through all of these experiences I’ve never had the opportunity to explore much of my own country from coast to coast. Two years ago I never would have imagined how my path would change, how being introduced to one thing would allow me to see the city and this country from a completely different viewpoint. To be honest, I’m not sure I would have believed you if you told me this journey would be on my own two feet…while running. I laced up for the first time nearly two years ago at the end of June in 2014 and went for my very first run. I made an attempt at trying to run previously but this instance was different, I was making a three-month commitment to run three times a week with a bunch of strangers, with the end goal of running my first 10km race in September. It seemed like a crazy idea, but being the new kid in town sometimes make you do crazy things in hopes of finding your identity and fitting in. I had relocated to Toronto for work and discovered the run community through social media. A few of my yoga friends ran with a group called Tribe Fitness, they had a Learn to Run program starting and I thought that it would be a unique way to meet people outside of the office and explore the city. Tribe Fitness is known for being a free fitness community. One that fosters a community sweating for social good and making running and yoga accessible to all. I was unaware at the time that I was going to become a part of an incredible inclusive community that would believe in me more at times than I believe in myself. It has allowed me to accomplish so much over the past two years than I ever expected, all while we let go and pound pavement together weekly. The beauty of running is that it is universal and what I’ve come to discover is that this tight knit community, locally and across Canada, is all about bringing out the best in each other. Early in my #runlife one of my coaches said to me, “we are all runners…we might all run at different paces or distances but at the core of it each one of us is a runner in our own right.” I think that’s when it clicked for me, it was that moment when I shed the self-doubt of possibly failing at this and really started to understand the bigger picture of it all. The run community in a lot of ways is a small representation of Canada as a whole – it’s inclusive, multicultural, spans various backgrounds and languages. We all have a story to share and we work together collectively to help one another succeed. I don’t know if it gets much more Canadian than that. These people who were once strangers become friends, sole sisters, pace partners, cheerleaders both on the pavement and in life Running has opened a new avenue of connection for me this past year as I traveled across North America. It serves as a common thread that I can share with the locals. It’s truly a unique experience to explore a city, old or new, by foot with locals along their favourite route. Sharing that experience with someone or a fellow run crew is a personal connection that you forge as they share their pride and passion for the routes and trails they call home. It’s in this moment that you are united by the pounding heartbeat in your chest and your feet on the street. From early morning workouts with a view along side November Project YVR, to back-alley waterfront social routes with the Tight Club Run Crew, treks along the Georgia Viaduct as part of the Robson Run Crew and back home to Wednesday night runs with my crew family Tribe Fitness in the heart of the six.   It is within these words of reflection that I find the reasoning behind what represents #MyCanada and #MyPassion. This year I am working towards spending more time fostering and growing this community. This is the time and place for me to give back to the community that has given me more than they will ever know. I want to allow others the ability to access this outlet that so many have left unexplored because they believe they will not fit in. I would like to play a small part in helping allow anyone and everyone to experience the feeling of being included, seeing their local neighbourhood in a new way and exploring the vast land this country has to offer. #MyCanada is running in the dead of winter with two pairs of pants on, it’s embracing a rainstorm instead of hiding inside from it, it’s getting up early on a Sunday morning when you aren’t racing to cheer on those who are and taking pride in the community you help create! “Heart over head. Inclusion over ego. United by passion, we go all in.” – 2011 Adidas campaign Side note: It’s interesting to note what a presence the Peace Collective pieces have taken in the run community. As you travel within the GTA and across Canada you tend to always see folks at races and events representing their love for Toronto in a variety of the Home is Toronto, Toronto vs. Everybody shirts. As you cross boarders to the south and across the world you find a glimpse of Canadian pride and usually a smile upon commenting on someone proudly wearing their Home is Canada sweater. It’s the first time this community has had a clothing company provide us with the ability to show our love for our city and country in a way that is so stylish and fresh. There is nothing quite like throwing on your designs after a race or wearing it to a race expo to proudly show where you hail from! Follow @miceliaj and @tribe_fitness!