This Is My Life | I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.

This Is My Life | I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.

I’ve kinda neglected my blog the last week… Posts have been few and far between but I’ve still been active on all the socials. Over the last 10 days I won a Canadian Screen Award as an innovator in social & digital media (Voice Pioneer), I spoke at a conference in Edmonton where my name trended in Canada (ahhh!), spoke at the United Nations of Canada International Women’s Day event, and was a director on a TV commercial. So, safe to say lots has been happening! I’m happy and healthy and wanted to let you know, in case you’ve not peeped my daily Snapchat stories (follow here ?), read tweets, or seen posts on Instagram. I’m hustling hard to make 2016 the best year ever! So far, it’s been amazing.

These flowers were on set yesterday and now they’re brightening my home office and filling it with a springy scent. I’ve FINALLY organized the spare room to have an office that’s tidy, with a great work station, and bright light. I’ve been spending more time at the 1188 offices since January but I’m planning to spend more time working from home and the cottage for the next few months.

Title of this post is a quote by Arthur Rubenstein and it really resonated with me today because although i’ve slightly neglected my blog the last two weeks, I’ve been showing my life extreme love and appreciation. Each day I’ve put my head and heart into my work and feel like the universe is rewarding me with gratitude and more of what I truly want.

On the day of Canadian Academy of Film & Television’s #AcademySocial Awards I had a complimentary psychic reading with Angel Morgan at the Spoke Club. I’ve not really been into that type of things but with heaps on the go, I was interested to see what she would say. The first thing she said when I walked in the room was ‘WHOA, you have a very strong tiger medicine’ meaning I have very strong business energy. She mentioned a few things about my sister that she could have never known, including the cat food indecent Jenie had the night before. ?

She said I have a very masculine energy, a very ambitious energy. She said I’m in a good place in my career and she saw people around me clapping. Later that night I won the award and that weekend I really killed my talk at the conference. Lots of claps! ? It gave me a bit of confidence that calmed me down when all this stuff could have really stressed me out. Something else she mentioned was that I should share my story more, not just what’s on the surface. Whilst I am now debating having a regular psychic reading, I’m taking all this with a grain of salt. But what it did make me think about is sharing more opinions, thoughts, feelings, struggles. I’ve always kept my blog as a little ray of sunshine on the internet, a place you can always go and see bright colours, a smiling face, usually mine haha. I plan to write more. I started blogging as a way to keep more memories and I can’t thank the internet enough for helping me create this space. Next month, April 2016, marks 11 years of blogging, it’s something I’ve done since I finished university, done my entire career. It’s NOT something I ever plan to stop, this is my diary, my place to share stories and moments, this is my life.

Today I’ve been listening to Gwen’s new album and I’m into it. I need to charge my phone.

Looking forward to opening the cottage this weekend and taking some long weekend time to relax with the fam. Next weekend we are heading to Costa Rica for vacation, an actual NO WORK getaway. Can’t wait. It’s been a WHILE since I went on a trip and wasn’t working.

Hustled hard today and shall reward myself with a mani/pedi. Perks of working form home and being your own boss. ?? Thanks for following along my adventures. Wherever they may be!

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This Is my Life | Behind the Camera

This Is my Life | Behind the Camera

Going into this week I was thinking it would be a pretty easy one, after last week’s crazy, I was ready for some chill time. BUT, as usual, something came up! I’m grateful for opportunities that come my way and I’ve learned I really only have one speed, GO. And fast. Aside from *just* fashion week things, I’ve been tasked a new project at 1188, casting & co-directing a commercial. Last year I directed 2 commercials and I realllllly want to do more this year. I’ve always said ‘be careful what you wish for, you just might get it!“.

I’m a firm believer that thoughts become things, intentions become actions, if you channel your energy in the direction of your goals, you’ll be closer to achieving them. So, here I am, wrapped casting auditions for about 75 ppl today. (Snap says 100 but there’s always a few no-shows!)

This is Sergio from Brunch Store Casting, he’s cast people in Say Yes To the Dress, Food Truck Face-off, Amazing Race, and more. He’s auditioned me a few times too. Today we sat at the table, behind the lens, picking people we though fit the request. V judgey. Casting people is pretty fun, I always thought it was something I’d like to do and I’ve had a few casting gigs over the last few years. It’s always a learning experience. We were looking for a couple, so a man and woman enter the room, they’ve never met, and we get them  to act out a short scene together on camera. I played the female role a few times, about 8 husbands. 

Looking forward to more casting and set-life adventures this year. Remember, follow your dreams and set your intentions. If you believe you can do it, you can. 

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IWD 2016 – Women @ Work Managing Career, Family & Legacy

Yesterday I was feeling pretty overwhelmed. I know we all have those days. I’ve been working on something with my speaker agent, prepping for a keynote in Edmonton, and then there’s a mounting email, and social updates. Sometimes I feel like I just need to shut down and take a break, I wonder how the heck I’m gonna do it all?! That’s usually when I ring mum and she talks me through, reminding me not to give up, and how hard I’ve worked to get here. She reminds me I’m probably tired, and maybe hungry. For this, I’m grateful. I call her almost everyday with something, so today on International Women’s Day, I’m especially thankful.

When I got off the phone with mum the other night I arrived at the Rotman School of Business at U of T for a special presentation with TD, their 10 Lessons: Women @ Work Report. I was happy to see my friend & fellow social entrepreneur Gracie’s smiling face and we sat down together, all ears. Tweets from the night can be found at #YourStoryYourFuture.

TD partnered with University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management to release a joint report that uncovers insights about how women across the country perceive the challenges and opportunities in advancing professionally.

Career, relationships, family, finances, it’s hard (and often stressful) to manage this stuff all at the same time. I don’t have my own kids yet but there’s challenges with a blended family, we’ve got a sassy 8yr old 50% of the time, and Sean and I are both entrepreneurs, managing very different businesses. Learning about the challenges of other women in professional careers, really made me feel better about my own challenges. I don’t share things I struggle with very often but managing the blog, clients, marketing, fiancees, the house, staying on top of it all, is hard work. It’s also hard work to make it look easy or glamorous. ?

The report, 10 Lessons: Women @ Work Managing Career, Family & Legacy, is the result of a year-long research project and essay competition that engaged close to 400 working women from across Canada. 10 key themes emerged on how women can achieve success. Research for this report started in February last year when TD and the Rotman School launched an essay competition inviting women from all across Canada to submit personal essays describing their experience navigating family, career and legacy aspirations.

The report is now online and I encourage you to check it out here. If you feel the stress of managing career, relationships, finance, or mental health, you are not alone.

Key Lessons From Report:

  1. Being financially prepared for the unexpected to allow you to better deal with unexpected events including illness, divorce, and unemployment
    • I wrote about planning for unexpected expenses a couple months ago, you never know when something will break at home, you lose a job, or someone gets sick. It’s really important to have an emergency fund so you don’t risk losing everything if something happens. See that post here.

[symple_testimonial by=”Walid Hejazi, Associate Professor, Rotman School” fade_in=”false”]”A key finding from our perspective is the significant role education and financial preparation play in contributing to solutions and future successes in furthering women’s careers,”[/symple_testimonial]

  1. Develop business acumen which happens through formal education, on-the-job experiences or self-directed learning
    • I feel that formal education has drastically helped me in my career, I studied marketing at college and university and the skills I learned there have helped my business skills in every other area. My on-the-job experience in start-up, tech, finance, and the agency has really helped my freelance work. It’s important to always be learning and educating yourself! However, there are some business skills that can’t always be learned. To lead your own freelance work, it’s vital to have business skills, like assertiveness and decision making. Assertiveness is a skill that is essential in business, which is why my friend sent me a link to a course by Development Academy (click here). Skills like that are so important, which is why it’s so beneficial to attend classes to help those skills develop properly. Furthermore, in social & digital media, I need to know more than my clients so they want to work with me.
  1. Understand the trade-offs of a career break.
    • I’ve not taken a career break (yet) but it was interesting to learn about this stuff from some women who have.
  • The first element to consider when ‘taking a career break’ is the true cost involved. Consider long-term financial and skills implications, when making the decision to opt out.
  • The second element to consider when ‘taking a career break’ relates to the challenges of reentering the workforce. Finding work and feeling your skills are relevant and current can be difficult following a career break.

[symple_testimonial by=”Beata Caranci, TD Economics Special Report, Career Interrupted” fade_in=”false”]One key finding was the lifetime impact on lost earnings due to child care absences from the workforce can be larger than they appear at first glance. Such absences were found to generate a persistent 3% wage penalty per year. When added to raises foregone during an absence, the cumulative earnings loss of a career break is amplified, and can be quite large added up over the span of a woman’s working life.[/symple_testimonial]

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The second part of the night was a talk by Laura Vanderkam from her new book ‘I Know How She Does It’. She interviewed a ton of women with children under 18 who make $100/year to see how they spent their time. I was really inspired and am very thankful to receive a copy of her book. I’m starting it today!

I find hearing other women’s challenges really helps me feel better about my own struggles. I woke up today ready to face the world and checked a bunch of things off my to-do list.

Thanks TD Bank for inviting me to this event, inspiring me, and sponsoring this post.

casie stewart, toronto, blogger, speaker, influencer, casie_pinkheart

 

Events | New Creations Festival at the Toronto Symphony

Events | New Creations Festival at the Toronto Symphony

If you’re looking for something cool to do tonight, check out the New Creations Festival at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. I’m heading back from Edmonton to meet Sean there for a date!

The festival wraps up tonight w/ Water by Jonny Greenwood from Radiohead.. It adds the beautiful sound of tambura, vocals from Brett Dean, and DJ Skratch Bastid wraps it up with a remix from the festival. Check out KNOCKING AT THE HELLGATE.

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I’m partnering with the TSO to share some of the great stuff they’ve got this season and remind you how much fun it is to go. Last time I went for was a couple years ago. I love live music and the TSO offers a whole bunch of great shows at a beautiful venue.

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LMK if you’ve already got a ticket! 

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Mill Street Brew, Segway Tour, HTC Vive, Photoshoot

Mill Street Brew, Segway Tour, HTC Vive, Photoshoot

Hello spring, is that you? How nice was it waking up to warmer temps today?! So lovely! ☀️ Spring is just around the corner. Daylight savings is this weekend too! Weeeee.  I’m at the 1188 office today and the sun is making the office nice & bright.

On Saturday afternoon I hung out with Mill Street Brewery and a bunch of bloggers & media for a brewery tour and to learn about the brand. It was super fun. The team at Mill Street is v chill and I loved getting to know them. If you follow me on Snapchat you’ll have seen the tour happen in real time. [Add me here!] Learned that 30% of the hops they use comes from […wait for it] NEW ZEALAND!  Love when there’s a Kiwi connection ???.

The other cool thing we did together was ride SEGWAYS. This is my segway gang. It was super fun and we had lots of laughs. Felt like total nerds but tbh I don’t really CARE what other people think!

  

On Saturday night we were in the 1188 studio shooting for an upcoming project. It is v handy to have a BF with a studio! The guys set up all the lighting and we were rollin’.

I quite like being behind the camera too!

vcasie stewart, 1188, photographer

I got to try out HTC Vive and IT WAS ONCE OF THE COOLEST THINGS I’VE EVER DONE. It’s not out for another 6 months and it is truly a next level experience. I was drawing in 3D in a galaxy of stars where I wrote my name and made a pink glittery fire ball. I also tried fruit ninja and it was AWESOME.

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Here’s to a great week, it’s beautiful out!