At a Halloween party in 2001 with my bright and amusing Newfoundlander boss, Emad Rizkalla.
I’m cheating a bit with this post. It’s not fresh. It’s re-purposed but still very timely. A friend and mentor of mine, Pat Thompson gave me the task of writing an article about myself. I had mentioned that I was interested in working with The Stop Community Food Centre and she shared this article with me. It’s about Nick Saul, the founder of The Stop, and it’s a fascinating read about his childhood, youth and how he ultimately ended up doing what he does. Pat asked me this: If the Star wanted to write a story about you like this one, what would it say?
This is what I wrote:
The Slow Trajectory of Sarah Banks’ Vocational Path
Those close to Sarah Banks say she’s a bit of a late bloomer as far as her career motivations go. As one of those kids fresh out of high school and catapulted into university, she was unsure where her interests and strengths lay so she was content at the time to do a general BA and see where it took her. Her ultimate film studies designation was a bit of a fluke—it was the program that snagged her a spot in the residence lottery at Carleton University.
University was a positive experience for her. She managed to acquire all the requisite good stuff that comes with life on campus—lifelong friendships, the ability to argue critically and constructively, a favourite drinking hole and a memorable prof or two. But when the all-important piece of paper arrived in the mail (she didn’t go to her convocation), she wasn’t exactly feeling well-equipped for life in the 9-5 world. The truth was she still didn’t know what she wanted to do. Or even what she was good at. (except downing pints and kicking up her heels to a Pogues cover band).
Not one to idle however, she took on a retail job on Front St. in Toronto and got her first bachelor pad. A year later, she thought she’d see how far her film studies cred would take her in Vancouver. The answer was not very far. She volunteered as a production assistant and stand-in on the Canadian feature film, Dirty and worked more retail—this time in tony West Van at a shop called The Avant Gardener. Seven months later, west coast weather was just too much to bear for the sunshine-dependent gal.
She returned to her hometown of Peterborough and soon found herself in what would be her first not-for-profit gig—a program assistant at the Peterborough LETS Exchange, a local economic bartering system. She was intrigued by the concept and proceeded to offer her own service in the system. Under the unregistered business name of “Clean Slate”, she offered a home organizing service (something she was naturally gifted at and quite enjoyed).
But the money sucked and she wanted to get out of Peterborough. She missed her old stomping ground in Ottawa so she applied to a one-year certificate in Festivals and Events Management at Algonquin College. She got in and enjoyed it but never finished the program. 6 weeks shy of completion, during her internship on The Tom Green Show; she was offered a job that was too good to pass up—a job that would prove to be her calling card in the future. The job was Executive Assistant at the Canadian Film Centre in Toronto. In addition to learning the art of managing a high maintenance board of directors, she also cut her chops in the world of fundraising and development with high level donors like Alliance Atlantis and Cineplex Odeon. It really was an unforgettable chapter.
Then the dot com era arrived and anyone and everyone were being hired for positions like Director of Fun and Grand Poobah of Digital Domination. How could one not be enticed by tossing Nerf balls in the office at 2pm and nap rooms? Luck and a bit of given talent were on Sarah’s side when she decided to apply for a writer position at non-linear creations—back in Ottawa. The job was great fun, with extended lunch breaks in the Byward Market and the dawn of a new era of style guides when it came to marketing writing. The freedom and informality was intoxicating. But all good things must come to an end and Sarah’s demise at non-linear came in the form of a pink slip. She had a good sob and an 11am beer with her fellow turfed comrades and soon realized she had rent to pay and a summer vacation planned for Newfoundland that may not happen. So she did what any other smart single girl of 29 would do. She ended her lease and went looking for work in Newfoundland. Go ahead, laugh. But she had fairly swift luck and landed a job as a marketing coordinator at a B-to-B web solution company on Signal Hill and got a sweet one bedroom in the heart of St. John’s. She made some great memories in her seven months there—among them, a cabbie stopping his meter to buy her baloney and a Pepsi, having breakfast beside Judi Dench on the set of the Shipping News, and dunking her shoed foot in a bucket of water for a Screech-ing In ceremony.
But life on The Rock was isolating and she missed her friends and family back home—so she returned to Ottawa and humbly couch-surfed while she sought her next opportunity. She turned 30 during that couch surf session and that made it all the more humbling. It had been 6 years since she got her BA and she had yet to land firmly on her feet—at least that’s how it seemed to her.
Not long after the less than celebratory milestone birthday, she was hired as a copywriter at the Ottawa institution of Corel Corporation. It provided a decent learning curve as it operated with an in-house ad agency environment but the content was lacking character, so when she received her second pink slip, there were no tears. And her next job would prove to be the best paying of her life and perhaps the one that instilled the most pride. It would also be her last job in Ottawa before she met her Edmonton-bred husband.
As a public affairs officer for the Canada Research Chairs program, Sarah was responsible for promoting the work of Canada’s top researchers in hard science, medicine and social sciences. It was an enormous challenge making things like neuroethics and biometric sensors accessible to the average Canadian taxpayer but she relished the role and the knowledge she gained as a result. She was sad to leave—though happy it was for love.
Between her move to Edmonton in 2003 to be with her future husband and where she is now in 2011, in Burlington, Ontario, working on contract as a communications manager for the YMCA of Hamilton/Burlington/Brantford, Sarah had a few more gigs—including freelance writing, a marketing manager position at United Way Toronto and motherhood—the latter being full time/permanent with many perks but also certain drawbacks. Sarah battled infertility but had great luck with the adoption of her son Hudson in 2007. She thought for sure Hudson would be an only child, so she was stunned to find out she was pregnant with son #2, four months after starting a home staging business with an old girlfriend. The business was scrapped when her friend got pregnant 2 months later.
At 39, almost ten years after her humbling couch surf in Ottawa, Sarah’s life has changed vastly in certain ways but little in others. She now has a family of her own that brings her great joy but also an enormous amount of responsibility. Once quite self-assured, she is quick to tell you that aging has chipped away at her confidence somewhat. On the cusp of 40, she can’t help but wish she had had greater clarity about her passions and strengths earlier in life. Yet, despite her mildly fragile state, she finds strength in knowing that even though she may be a late bloomer, at least she has bloomed. Now it’s a matter a finding which garden she wants to flourish in.
So how has she bloomed exactly? Well, she knows what she cares about (cities, young people, community engagement, opportunity for all, making a difference, rooting for the underdog). She knows what gets her excited (progressive thinking, risk taking, social innovation, arts and culture, smart design) and she knows what her turn-offs are (complacency, old-school thinking, red tape, excessive policy and procedure, narrow-mindedness). Sound like an attempt to draft a personal ad? Well, it wouldn’t be a far-cry from what Sarah is currently pondering—she really is looking for her perfect match in the career world. Thankfully, she also has a firm handle on what her talents and attributes are (writing, working in a team setting, big picture strategy, positioning, respect for others’ ideas, sense of humour).
Sarah would be loathe to say she’s drawn to orgs that “think outside the box” because the phrase is so overused, it’s almost inside the box itself. But she does dig places that are challenging the status quo and finding great success. She also loves the idea of reinvention—whether it be an industrial space completely re-imagined and put to use for the community, a lawyer who gives up life in the courtroom to pursue his dream of running a bike tour company or the evolution of Hamilton, Ontario from Steeltown to creative industries mecca. Sarah finds reinvention clever and invigorating, and it never ceases to amaze her what can be possible when something is turned on its head.
Deep down, the 39 year-old mother of two with a resume as long as your leg knows she’ll find her place—the place where she’ll feel valued and bring value. The place where she’ll get a charge out of what she’s doing—if not every day, at least once a week. The place she will become an ambassador for, outside of work hours because she thinks what they’re doing is so fantastic.
At the end of the day, it will be the place where she belongs.
I’ll miss the proximity to these dear and important people in my life.
