https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories daily 0.75 2021-03-26 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/finding-his-own-truth monthly 0.5 2021-03-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1616793087965-8R7GZLL9X5850V3JC2PP/A3B72218-FD19-4870-A04F-8AF9B9AF07A3.jpeg SAP Stories - Finding his own truth Former journalist Alex Freedman has launched a new business helping others shift their career path. Photo from Alex Freedman’s Facebook page https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/ladies-unite-for-international-womens-day monthly 0.5 2021-03-04 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1614808094518-LINHC74IMHKMEHU5JD5D/JLO_Wellness_Women_2021-7019.jpg SAP Stories - Ladies Unite for International Women’s Day - Dahna “I don’t know which starting over story you want,” Dahna Weber laughs as I ask her about the road to her business success “I lived abroad for eleven years, spent six years in Japan teaching English, then I went into sales and marketing, and had success in the chocolate and confectionery industry. But when my son was six I started to have to travel too much,” Dahna remembers. Around that same time, her marriage fell apart, and she knew she had to find a way to be home more for her son, so she decided it was time to take the leap into entrepreneurship. “I chose the most difficult time in my life to launch a business,” the 54-year-old recalls. “But I’ve learned from working with so many women over the years, there’s never a good time, you just have to do it.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1614806959026-D5OAI4I28UNPSER2R0IL/JLO_Wellness_Women_2021-7039.jpg SAP Stories - Ladies Unite for International Women’s Day - Linda Just like Kathleen, Linda Sestock’s business success is rooted in her community, and just like Kathleen Linda’s thriving business was born of a second act that she crafted for herself. The 54-year-old is one of the most successful real estate agents with Royal LePage Village, a career she switched into after her kids were born two decades ago. “I was home with the kids, and I liked being home, so I wrote the real estate exam. I literally had about two free hours a day, my kids were toddlers, but I got it done.” Linda never went back to her 9 to 5 job in insurance, and instead went from full-time Mom to launching her own business. “The first year was hell,” she remembers. “Baptism by fire.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1614805622496-TAQX2AR4LDPM7F1W2XGK/JLO_Wellness_Women_2021-7009.jpg SAP Stories - Ladies Unite for International Women’s Day - all photos credit: Gavin Fernandes @photaugraf Standing at a safe social distance on the steps of the West Island Cancer Wellness Centre. (L to R) Jessica Romano, Kathleen Girard, Dahna Weber, Linda Sestock, Debra Ganong-Séguin, and me. (missing from the photo Sherry Nash). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1614806526994-107XNEXRWW15A7PU7TC7/JLO_Wellness_Women_2021-7023.jpg SAP Stories - Ladies Unite for International Women’s Day - Kathleen “I thought it was a joke,” Kathleen Girard laughs when I ask her reaction to being an honouree at the International Women’s Day event. “I couldn’t understand who would nominate me.” The 45-year-old entrepreneur is the owner and photographer at the very successful Studio Photo Cookie et sa garde-robe now located in the Valois Village in Pointe-Claire. After speaking with her for just a short time, it’s very clear her business is about far more than just creating amazing pictures for clients, it’s about providing an experience, and delivering confidence to her customers. “We want to empower people. We want them to enjoy the process, see themselves on screen and see how amazing they are,” Kathleen explains. https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/cooking-up-a-new-dream monthly 0.5 2021-02-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1614021518220-XWCF7F4SEF80C8SQ5GHF/_DSC1297.jpg SAP Stories - Cooking up a new dream Sisters Lindsay Arseny (left) and Lori Garet made a massive double career shift during COVID launching their healthy and delicious vegan meal service Prairie Sisters in Winnipeg Manitoba. photo credit: Riki Katherine Photography https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1614022045345-8CDLC7E9WNLILIT4H4D2/_DSC1274.jpg SAP Stories - Cooking up a new dream - These two focussed, kind, enthusiastic siblings, who finish each other’s sentences, are a living, breathing embodiment of what it is to support each other through hard times, and shift dramatically from a life that came crashing down, into a new passion full of love, joy, and hope for the future. Photo credit: Riki Katherine Photography https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/a-leap-of-faith-to-find-your-path monthly 0.5 2021-02-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1611593832330-IJ1Z7ETOKLOR25FVXX6I/JLO_Linda2020-4392.jpg SAP Stories - A Leap of Faith to Find Her Purpose Photo Credit: Gavin Fernandes @photaugraf https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1611594392673-DCB4QZJABUAW8B2G6D2O/JLO_Linda2020-4361.jpg SAP Stories - A Leap of Faith to Find Her Purpose - But ten years later, just before my 60th birthday, I was ready to move on again. I decided that I wanted to be part of one of those grassroots community groups funded by WICS. I wanted to be with the groups that were actually doing the hard work of helping at the ground level and offering direct services to people. https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/writing-her-own-path-to-success monthly 0.5 2021-02-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1611075151574-WTYV5AENJC3MWSUX24MS/JLO_Anne_F-4240.jpg SAP Stories - Writing Her Own Path to Success - When she speaks, Anne punctuates her sentences with laughter, or more accurately soft giggles. It’s a tangible sign of the life philosophy she says she has learned to adopt. “If you can do something about it, then do it. But if you can’t change it, you may as well laugh about it,” she shares. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1611074859999-R49WTKUWT3GORFON69XD/JLO_Anne_F-4248.jpg SAP Stories - Writing Her Own Path to Success Photo Credit: Gavin Fernandes @photaugraf https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1611075471449-2UWJ49GM4TNCPD5ZDLWM/JLO_Anne_F-4220.jpg SAP Stories - Writing Her Own Path to Success - “I had belonged to a writers group for twenty years, I had earned my Master’s Degree in writing popular fiction when I was in my 50’s and that’s where the first chapters of the Lamb’s Bay series were conceived. I had always been planning for this, so after that conversation with my son, I really pushed myself. I finished the first book in the Lamb’s Bay series then promptly got the second book done, and I wrote the third book before the end of 2019. So I figured if I had three in the can then I could publish them while I was writing other things. And then COVID hit.” https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/833qd5yikpd55inb46yij84z9vcfk2 monthly 0.5 2021-02-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1607700419319-WZE3F7RDG0WKNHN9QXP0/JLO_Wendy-2796.jpg SAP Stories - Finding My Footing Photo Credit: Gavin Fernandes @photaugraf https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/born-for-a-life-of-purpose monthly 0.5 2021-02-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1606915438196-Y52IGMGE3OWSWHCJUML4/JLO_2ndAct_Gemma-4186.jpg SAP Stories - Born for a Life of Purpose Photo Credit: Gavin Fernandes @photaugraf https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/fighting-procrastination monthly 0.5 2020-11-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1605805480594-DWA5AUTT0M5FEK5KUEKK/1E0979F5-8C34-4975-9B4A-CEA6E9A4DC61.jpeg SAP Stories - Tommy Therapy - Tommy shares the poignant, heartbreaking, but also sometimes hilarious, tale of his relationship with his mother Olga in his recently released memoir Makeup Tips From Auschwitz: How Vanity Saved My Mother’s Life. The book is an eye-opening and often humorous account of his own incredible life journey, and also recounts, with frank horror, the story of how Olga survived the monstrosities of the Auschwitz death camps. The role of best-selling author is Tommy Schnurmacher’s 3rd, even 4th act. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1605562858422-PEOQ0FB3ED1BL9M612FA/7772FF23-8D88-47D3-8946-B82B08A4C32C.jpeg SAP Stories - Tommy Therapy https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/finding-balance monthly 0.5 2021-02-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1605201455648-GXOZR0L94AYL9H6IFGO2/JLO_RoseB-2902.jpg SAP Stories - Finding balance - “Do you live every day with the worry of what if? Crystal balling everything?” Rose ponders, “Or do you say: I’m going to live today as best I can and make decisions that will make me as happy as I can be because that’s going to reflect on your kids, your spouse, your friends. It’s infectious when people feel good. That's what they’re projecting out to everyone else.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1605201394360-ROIZ6BWWI2K0RPTKQL5V/JLO_RoseB-2850+%281%29.jpg SAP Stories - Finding balance Photo Credit: Gavin Fernandes @photaugraf https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1605200723850-EF7AW8I4D1ZAU4UFMC3F/JLO_RoseB-2828%2B%25281%2529.jpg SAP Stories - Finding balance - “I took what added up to about 8 months off and when I came back, I said, I can’t do this job anymore, and it's not because I didn’t like the job. It was very stimulating, I met a lot of interesting people, I got to work with senior executives, it was awesome, but there was a price to pay and I wasn’t willing to pay it anymore.” She accepted a lesser role with the same team, but after a year she realized that, too, was not where she wanted to be. https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/planning-for-the-unexpected monthly 0.5 2021-02-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1604527244891-CTD21FB08XC0L8E2MEFS/JLO_Daniela-2645.jpg SAP Stories - Planning for the Unexpected Her best advice if you’re facing a dramatic change in your own life: “The best thing to do is to take a step back and get that anger, and frustration, and ugly stuff out of your system, and then you can start thinking about what to do next.” “With time, and age, and openness you can achieve anything.” You can reach Daniela through her website: montrealeventplanner.ca https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1604516124102-PLSFJS6LF6S2HJPA7EI6/JLO_Daniela-2676.jpg SAP Stories - Planning for the Unexpected Photo Credit: Gavin Fernandes @photaugraf https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/blog-post-title-three-l3edf monthly 0.5 2021-02-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1602863263878-ECTJ1ZAEBOLAHL7S8CCW/JoyG_Sept2020-1573.jpg SAP Stories - Speaking with joy Photo Credit: Gavin Fernandes @photaugraf https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/tag/Fundraising monthly 0.5 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/tag/Networking monthly 0.5 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/tag/Entrepreneurs monthly 0.5 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/tag/finding+your+way monthly 0.5 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/tag/International+Women%27s+Day monthly 0.5 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/tag/Starting+a+business monthly 0.5 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/tag/managing+ADHD monthly 0.5 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/tag/launching+a+business monthly 0.5 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/tag/reinvention monthly 0.5 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/tag/Montreal monthly 0.5 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/tag/Women+Entrepreneurs monthly 0.5 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/tag/struggling+with+cancer monthly 0.5 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/sapstories/tag/West+Island monthly 0.5 https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/about daily 0.75 2020-11-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1603764300682-2QRCMNRNHVZVAAWI444J/JLO_Wendy_Horizontal-2782.jpg About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1603765013190-GBA00NAVI1IE3AINGQ1P/Gavin%2Bheadshot.jpg About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1603629765352-FK0T452TEW12SWI617DJ/JLOrchard-2578.jpg About https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1603641604314-3GYO9Q98RCB4IAM4W1TU/Screen%2BShot%2B2020-10-24%2Bat%2B6.35.21%2BPM.jpg About https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/home daily 1.0 2021-03-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1602878121036-VQ0FVLPM1CHACAKVEI3H/JLOrchard-2611.jpg Home - WHY I STARTED The SAP Hi, I’m Jamie and I created this project to champion and celebrate people in various stages of creating their second acts. My own life felt like it came crashing down after the company I devoted my first act to downsized me in the middle of a pandemic. People started reaching out to share their own stories of reinvention in the face of dramatic life change, and I realized, I am not alone. I wanted to share these stories of grit and determination and so The SAP was created. We hope to inspire people to own their own sap story, to believe in themselves and their future, and to never give up in their efforts to reinvent themselves https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5f4fb1e16217c27eb3472dcc/1617024753458-SFPOGIGPNDGRKY3FZ2HD/CC42C931-C700-4688-8B59-CB244F79E809.jpeg Home - Helping Journalists Find their Way The Second Act Project is devoted to sharing authentic stories from people with real experiences about finding their Second Act. This week, we meet Alex Freedman, a former investigative journalist who has launched a new venture to help journalists reinvent themselves in a time of crisis. With media companies shedding jobs in record numbers, Alex’s “Leg Up” career transition service is a godsend for journalists looking to create their own Second Acts. https://www.thesecondactproject.ca/contactus daily 0.75 2020-11-21