November 11, 2024 • 49 mins
If you need a good dose of hope and inspiration this week, then Episode 177 is for you. Canadian writer and author Beka Shane Denter joins the show to talk about her latest book, Bloom Across Canada - an inspirational collection of conversations with 50 diverse women and non-binary creatives entrepreneurs from all across Canada.
Beka shares how a pandemic, her nomadic life and a career as a features and content writer helped inform her decision to embark on bringing the "Bloom" series to life and, how this book in particular, is a love letter to Canada.
This is a great episode for creatives who...
⭐️ need a little boost of encouragement to take on those big, dream projects
⭐️ want to be a more effective storyteller in their work
⭐️ need some real talk and encouragement about not taking no for an answer
⭐️ are searching for community for themselves and for their work
⭐️ need a good dose of hope right now
This episode is brought to you by our Premium Subscriber Community on Patreon and Buzzsprout
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
- bekashanedenter.com
- Bloom Across Canada - where to buy
- Heritage House Publishing
- @beka_shane_denter on Instagram
- Find Beka on LinkedIn
You can find Melissa at finelimedesigns.com, finelimeillustrations.com or on Instagram @finelimedesigns.
You can connect with the podcast on:
- Instagram at @andshelookedup
- YouTube
- Tik Tok at @AndSheLookedUp
For a list of all available episodes, please visit:
And She Looked Up Creative Hour Podcast
Each week The And She Looked Up Podcast sits down with inspiring Canadian women who create for a living. We talk about their creative journeys and their best business tips, as well as the creative and business mindset issues all creative entrepreneurs struggle with. This podcast is for Canadian artists, makers and creators who want to find a way to make a living doing what they love.
Your host, Melissa Hartfiel (@finelimedesigns), left a 20 year career in corporate retail and has been happily self-employed as a working creative since 2010. She's a graphic designer, writer and illustrator as well as the co-founder of a multi-six figure a year business in the digital content space. She resides just outside of Vancouver, BC.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
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(00:42):
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I can't tell you how much Iappreciate all our monthly
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They are the engine that keepsthe podcast running and they're
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(01:03):
And now let's get on with theshow.
Welcome to the and she Looked Uppodcast.
Each week we sit down withinspiring Canadian women who
create for a living.
(01:24):
We talk about their creativejourneys and their best business
tips, as well as the creativeand business mindset issues all
creative entrepreneurs strugglewith.
I'm your host, melissaHartfield, and, after leaving a
20-year career in corporateretail, I've been happily
self-employed for 12 years.
I'm a graphic designer, anillustrator and a
multi-six-figure-a-yearentrepreneur in the digital
(01:46):
content space.
This podcast is for the artists, the makers and the creatives
who want to find a way to make aliving doing what they love.
Hello everyone, and welcome toanother episode of the and she
(02:07):
Looked Up podcast.
As always, I am your host,melissa, and this week I am so
happy to be welcoming author andwriter Becca Shane Dentor to
the show.
Welcome, becca, it is lovely tohave you here.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Hi, thank you for having me.
I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yes, I'm really looking forward to our
conversation today.
For those of you who may not befamiliar with Becca's work, she
is a Canadian writer and authorwhose work has been greatly
inspired by her life of livingabroad, which we are going to
talk a little bit about on theepisode.
Her professional life began asa high school English teacher
(02:43):
and it continues to be a journeyof ongoing learning.
She's a mom to two sweet andsassy girls and has a passion
for denim and dark chocolate,because who can resist a good
square of dark chocolate?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, it's a sort of obsession.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yes, so we are going to be talking today about
Becca's brand new book that hasjust been released.
It is called Bloom AcrossCanada.
I'm just going to hold it upfor those of you who are on
YouTube, but it is 50 inspiringconversations with women and a
few non-binary folk from acrossCanada, mainly I think almost
(03:21):
entirely in the arts andcreative entrepreneurship realm.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
And entrepreneurs?
Definitely yes, but the focusis primarily, I guess, the arts.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, and it's the second in a series of books that
Becca's been working on.
The first was called Bloom,where you Are Planted, and it
followed the same format, but itfocused on people in British
Columbia.
So we're going to be talkingabout all of that today.
But, becca, the first questionI ask everyone who comes on the
show is did you feel like youwere creative as a kid?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Definitely I was exposed to everything creative
at a very young age.
Both my parents were verycreative by nature and it
started with dance lessons andart classes and, I think, just
being exposed to galleries.
I grew up in Ottawa so we hadthe National Gallery.
My dad lived in DC so it was alot of going to museums and
(04:16):
galleries there as well, andjust this constant exposure to
anything and everything creativereally was put into everything
we did in our lives as a family,and I remember even making
magazines at the age of, I think, seven or eight and found one
(04:38):
of those recently and yeah, so Idefinitely have had it in me
for a long time.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Creating a magazine has been on my bucket list since
I was five.
Never too late I know it'sstill there.
It is still percolating in theback of my brain.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
I would make them for my mom who would travel a lot
for work and they had likecrosswords in them and like Q&A.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I love it.
That is awesome, the things wedo when we're that age.
It is so cool to go back andlook at them and and uh, just I,
because I think we forget aboutthem and then somebody presents
you with this thing that youcreated when you were seven and
you're like, oh my goodness yeah, it all comes full circle.
It does.
It really really does.
So you are from Ottawa, but youhave spent the last 20 years
(05:29):
living and working abroad quitea few different places.
So what was it that sparked youto get out there and see the
world and tell us a few of theplaces that you've been?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Well, it's been 25 years now, so I guess, when I
was 24, I decided I wanted totravel and my mother said well,
as long as you can make somemoney while you're doing that?
that would be great.
So my first excursion, inaddition to traveling as a young
child with my parents throughthe Caribbean and Mexico excuse
me and Canada, through theCaribbean and Mexico excuse me
and Canada I had my own desireto go and seek things.
(06:08):
And so I ended up in Mexico atthe age of 25.
And I was working with Club MedResorts and that kind of was my
first experience, kind of goingon my own and working abroad,
and that took me from Mexico toAustralia, to Bali, to St Lucia,
and that was kind of thebeginning of that part of the
(06:32):
journey.
And then later I met my soon tobe my husband, my at the time
my boyfriend, christian, and hewas working for global affairs,
canada and he was getting readyto go to Japan on his first
posting and I was all right, I'mall on board, let's go.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
And I was a teacher at the time.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
So Japan seemed like a very great place to be.
So Japan was our first place.
We lived together as a coupleand since then we've lived in
Boston and the Philippines and acouple stints back in Canada,
and now we're in Denmark and inaddition to that I've traveled
extensively through SoutheastAsia to Malaysia, Cambodia,
(07:12):
Vietnam and throughout theCaribbean as well, and you've
got two young daughters at thispoint, so do they.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
that has got to be a great experience for them
getting to travel.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Usually.
They were very young when welived in the Philippines, so
they most of their memories arebased on the photos we show them
and videos.
And Denmark for sure, they're alittle bit older now but they
really have a love for travel.
They love airplanes.
The longer the journey on aplane, the better, because that
means more snacks, more fun foodand more movies.
They love to travel.
I mean it changes a plane thebetter, because that means more
(07:46):
snacks, more fun food and moremovies.
They love to travel.
I mean it changes, as they, youknow, go through different
stages of life, but they're at aperfect age right now, which is
it's great to be in Europe andScandinavia right now and we all
love to travel and we reallyenjoy being in new cultures and
new countries and just kind ofseeing what that's like, because
when you live in a country it'svery different than visiting.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Yes, it is.
I think it's easy to have agreat time on vacation, but when
you actually have to get intothe weeds of living a life.
It's different.
Yeah, Are there any places thathave really had an impact on
you as a person, more so thanothers?
Maybe?
Speaker 2 (08:27):
For sure.
I mean, each place definitelypresents some memorable moments,
for sure, and memories areformative in different ways.
But I would have to say,probably for me, japan was kind
of my first, you know, deepexperience with Asia and Asian
culture was kind of my first,you know, deep experience with
Asia and Asian culture.
And also Bali before that mytime in Indonesia was very, very
(08:50):
important and interesting andunlike anywhere else I'd ever
lived before the people, theculture, the peacefulness of it.
This was back in 1999, 2000,before tourism, kind of like
Instagram and social media.
But living in Bali was really aunique and special experience
for me and I'm still in touchwith a few of my Balinese
(09:12):
friends, and Bali has played animportant part in my life, with
my husband as well.
He proposed to me there and itwas just.
It's just a beautiful placewith beautiful people and I'm
planning to take my daughtersthere in the next few years as
well.
And Japan, because Japan wasjust so different and, again,
the people were just sowelcoming and interested in who,
(09:38):
who.
I was as a woman, as a Canadian, and it really kind of sparked
my, my love for fashion andcreativity in a new way as an
adult after being a teacher formany years, and so I found
myself really kind ofgravitating towards more
galleries, more fashion showsand just really kind of looking
at that part of who I was.
And then also the cherry on thetop was meeting the emperor of
(09:59):
Japan oh wow yeah, how did thatcome about?
rainy spring morning and Iremember just waiting for hours
in the rain and when the emperorand his daughter came to us
(10:27):
they actually apologized to mefor making me wait in the rain.
And I looked at my husband.
I said what do I say?
The emperor apologized to me.
This is just so bizarre, whatdo I say?
And so I just did my littlecurtsy, my bow, and I was very
polite and smiled and it wasvery lovely.
It was a lovely experience.
(10:47):
Japan is just a really specialplace.
I recommend people have theopportunity to go.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yeah, I think it's a bucket list destination for a
lot of people.
Yeah, for sure, something aboutit that's very intriguing.
Yeah, how do you think this?
Well, first of all, let's stepback a little bit.
How did writing becomesomething that was so important
in your life?
Is that something you've donesince you were a child?
You mentioned making magazines,but, yeah, where did writing
(11:18):
start to become really importantto you?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Writing kind of came from initially and I speak about
this, I think, in theintroduction to to this book and
and especially the third oneI'm actually working on, bloom
International and it's aboutthis kind of fascination and
connection with magazines.
I grew up an only child and Ithink I really lost myself in
words, be it books like JudyBloom books and any magazines
(11:41):
that were hanging around thehouse.
I just really got lost in thecharacters and stories and the
lives of people and words andmusic.
I love music and I think that Iwould always like look at the
lyrics on the back of albumcovers and made album covers.
And yeah, I had a dream when Iwas younger to be a reporter for
a Rolling Stone magazine.
That was kind of like I wasgoing to be a reporter for
(12:04):
Rolling Stone magazine.
That was kind of like I wasgoing to go to New York and do
that, but anyway.
So yeah, writing is justsomething I always kind of did.
I remember doing a little bitof journaling in high school and
working on my university paperat the University of Ottawa and
that's where I started doinglike interviews and that kind of
thing and I just really kind ofliked it.
(12:27):
I just kind of always kind ofhad my hand in words and um I
kind of put it aside for a longtime and became a teacher, but I
was teaching English.
I was teaching how to write.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
You're still teaching words.
Yeah, I was still teachingwords, but I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
And then you know, eventually, when my first
daughter I was pregnant with herin Boston and I took a break
from teaching, writing kind ofjust came to me it was the time
of starting online platforms andso I started writing about
sustainable fashion in Bostonand it just kind of went from
there, and that was 2010.
And here we are, 14 years later.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Yeah, I mean that whole era of early blogging
launched so many writing careers.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Oh I know, it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Yeah, it was.
It was such a uniqueopportunity to be able to put
your words out there without apublisher or an editor or anyone
standing in your way, and itreally kind of those early.
I always refer to it as thewild wild west of the internet.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
I was actually writing for another blog.
I don't remember the name of it, but I was like their fashion
reporter in Boston and then thatkind of moved on to magazines
at some point.
But yeah, it was a very kind ofsafe stage of writing where it
wasn't as competitive.
You could really kind ofexplore your interests, which
was something I really did.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
You could.
You weren't writing for SEO.
You were able to dive intothings and it was really
interesting because it didn'tmatter how niche you were, there
was an audience out there foryou For sure, yeah, which was.
I think what made it sointeresting is things that you
weren't able to find to readpreviously.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Curiosity, yeah, curiosity on the part of the
writers and the readers, whichwas wonderful.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
It's evolved considerably since then but.
I do miss those early days.
It was really it was.
It was a lot of fun that ledyou to doing more magazine
features and things like that.
But going from a magazine towriting a book is Well, the
(14:41):
pandemic happened, okay, okay.
So that's where this kind ofsparked.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
okay, that's, it was my pandemic passion project.
The first bloom book kind ofcame about.
I was reading at the time to mydaughters, who are younger,
good night stories for rebelgirls and they just loved the
series.
We had all the books and I justsaw their eyes light up every
time we'd read about one ofthese fascinating women.
And when the pandemic kind ofstarted, freelance work kind of
(15:09):
slowed down to a bit of asnail's pace and I realized
there's only so much Netflix andhomeschooling I could do.
I needed to do something formyself and so while I was
reading these books I thoughtabout well, what about all the
women, people who are doing thework but aren't necessarily
famous or well-known?
And I started to just interviewmoms during the early days of
(15:30):
the pandemic for an onlineplatform called Bust.
And people really enjoyed that.
Just people.
How are they parenting?
How are they mothering?
How are they partnering?
How are they working?
How are they parenting?
How are they mothering?
How are they partnering?
How are they working?
Right?
And during that time we alsomoved our family from Ottawa to
Vancouver.
We just thought that was abetter place to be.
(15:52):
We didn't know where thingswere going.
We weren't going on a postinganytime soon.
And with that transition I hadthis idea, kind of halfway
across the country, I thinkwe're in Saskatchewan I thought,
huh, what about a book aboutall these incredible people
doing incredible things duringthis time?
And initially I was like, well,maybe to keep it safe, I'll
keep pitching it as a magazinepiece, a weekly piece to support
(16:15):
creatives and entrepreneursduring this really difficult,
challenging time in our history.
And it didn't really sit withanyone, but that's okay.
I was like, well, I'm going tokeep doing this.
And I arrived in BC and withinlike six weeks I think, I had 50
people.
Oh wow.
Yeah 50 just seemed like areally nice number because I
knew a lot of people there inthe creative field and I had
other people, so you have tomeet this person, that person.
(16:37):
I was all through introductionsor other people I've written
through about magazines and itjust kind of organically, really
kind of came together reallyquickly and I just kind of went
ahead and did it and it was justa way to kind of keep my
spirits up and positive and Ijust put together the book in
about I think it took me about10 months of interviewing and
(16:57):
within a year and a bit it waspicked up.
Thankfully, after severalpitches it just landed in the
right person's lap at the righttime and I think we were all
kind of in a need for somethingpositive and more local and BC.
I focused on BC because that'swhere I was and that made sense
(17:18):
to me and I wanted to kind ofstart small and I didn't know
where.
But halfway through that book Iknew I had to do Canada.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I wondered why it started in BC.
I thought initially I thoughtyou were probably from here, but
that my husband is fromVancouver, which is why we moved
.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, we moved there, so it made sense to kind of
transition.
It had kind of been a home basefor us.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Right.
So, so, yeah, that is so.
So you didn't have a publisherinitially lined up or anything
like that.
This was just purely a passionproject that you were going to,
which I think the pandemic we'rejust.
I think we're just starting tohear now about all these
projects that were hatchedduring the pandemic and I think,
oh sure, I'd like to thinkthat's one of the positive
(17:59):
things.
We'll look back on it.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
I have to agree.
I think that's got to be.
A lot of us had to dig deep andthink outside the box.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Absolutely.
This is something that comes upa lot and with a lot of our
audiences, particularly thosewho have the idea for a book in
their head or thinking of doinga book.
But what were your steps to getit in front of people like
decision makers and pitch it?
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Oh, I'll be honest, it takes a lot of energy and
self like motivation which,let's be honest, we don't have
every day all day long.
But I think I was so committedto the people in the book I felt
(18:46):
this responsibility.
I still do, even on the secondand third book.
I feel this very strong senseof responsibility and sharing
the stories of people.
I find people fascinating and Ijust so enjoy shining the
spotlight on other people andcelebrating other people.
I think we all need a little bitmore of that in our lives, and
(19:07):
so what I did was I felt thisstrong commitment and this
determination, and there weremany rejections, and that is
probably the hardest part.
It still is, because it's theunknown, it's chartering into
unknown territory, especially assomeone who's never written a
book before, and it's still alearning process.
It's all, and I will say itdoes get easier with each
(19:29):
successive book and each project, for sure, but it was just
about really knowing your targetaudience, and that's something
that is really important.
No matter what your, yourstorytelling is or your niche
market or your genre of book,you really have to do the
research, and that's something Ireally did extensively for
(19:49):
months before I even startedpitching it and yeah, so you
have to just really be clear onwhat you want from this and who
you want to work with and whoyou want to represent the work,
because that's important as well.
And, again, you're going tolearn as you go.
We make mistakes all the time,everybody does but I feel like
(20:10):
determination is so importantand if you believe in it, if you
really really believe in it andit feels right, just keep at it
.
And if it's not your full-timeday job, which is the reality
for most of us then just setaside time and prioritize that,
because what you get back fromthat, that sense of fulfillment,
is so rewarding, and you knowthat you did it all yourself.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
No one's holding your hand.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
You have to do it yourself.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Yeah, absolutely yeah and be organized too, about it.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
You know, like you know, write up your dream list
of people and publishers, and oragents, so you know whatever
direction you want to go.
But it's really important togive yourself that time and and
and some space too, becausesometimes you need to step back
from it because it can becomeoverwhelming.
Yes, yes, yeah, the rejection,yes, which is a real part of it.
(21:00):
But I do believe if you believein it, someone else will too.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah, I think that's very true.
Sometimes you have to find theperson who sees your vision.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
It's really about the right person, the right time,
the right moment Exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
A lot of no's are exactly that.
They're just no not right now,as opposed to no never.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
It's still something I'm learning, even at 50, even
as I go into my third book.
Now you just have to reallybelieve in yourself, and it's
hard and I didn't reallyappreciate that.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
no doesn't mean never , it just means not right now.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
until I was a person saying having to say no, yeah,
it's not personal and I'm stilllearning.
It's not personal.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
It's not, it really truly is.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
It feels like it was.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Well, you know, our projects are our children.
Well that's it Right.
And you want to bring them outinto the world, you want to grow
them, you want to do all thosethings, and so when somebody
says no, it feels like they'resaying, no, your, your kid's not
good enough and that's that's.
Nobody wants to hear that.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
They have to believe, you have to believe.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Yes, yes.
So there is definitelysomething to that just being
very determined and just keepknocking on the doors until you
find that right person, orswitching up your pitch until it
hits the right note withsomebody who would want to take
it forward yeah, and sometimesalso taking that space right.
Yes, and recalibrate re-energizeyourself yes, yes, you can burn
(22:42):
out doing that kind of thingvery quickly, yeah for sure.
So without having, uh, anactual book deal in place, when
you were reaching out to allthese women and and a few other
folks that you had come intothat you featured in the book,
how did you convince them to dothis?
Because I find gettingcreatives to talk about
(23:02):
themselves extraordinarily hard.
It is.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
And not everybody responded with a resounding oh
yes, some took a little moreconvincing and some just
believed in the project and somejust were really at.
You know, it was a pandemic forthat first book.
With the second book I had alittle bit more.
I had a little bit morecredibility, credibility.
I had the first book put outinto the world.
(23:27):
I can show them here's aphysical, actual thing that was
actually, you know, done, it'saccomplished.
So I definitely would say thatthe second group had a lot.
It was a lot easier, for sure,in some ways, but I think people
really just believed in it andthey welcomed the opportunity to
share a snapshot of theirjourney, because a lot of them
(23:49):
realized that if I hadinterviewed them five years
prior or five years in thefuture from that moment, it
would be a totally differentinterview and they were really
excited about that.
And I think what convincedpeople was they liked the, the
realistic, honest approach I hadfor this.
It was about sharing, about thejourney, which is not
(24:10):
one-dimensional, it's not just astraight up, it's really up and
down, especially for women,especially for non-binary or
transgender um, well, foreverybody actually.
You know, we're seeking out ourpassion, whether really up and
down, especially for women,especially for non-binary or
transgenders Well, for everybodyactually.
You know we're seeking out ourpassion, whether it's a creative
, entrepreneur, advocacy itrequires so much of us, but I
think that my credibility and mypassion and my heart really
(24:33):
came through and they reallyfelt that they felt safe with me
.
I had a lot of people say to meyou know, you're the first
person I've really opened up toabout this and it was not about
exposing everything.
Some things are reallyimportant to keep close to the
heart and I made sure that theyonly shared what they wanted to.
But it was about sharing asnapshot of the reality, of what
does it mean to be underundertaking?
(24:54):
You know, this kind of journeyas an entrepreneur, as a
creative, that really appealedto a lot of people.
I think they really felt like,hey, and you're interested in me
, wow, that's really cool.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Like they think they're responsive to that and
and it's one of the interestingthings about the book is that a
lot of the questions you ask andand the conversations you have
really made the intervieweethink about what it is that has
shaped their journey and youmentioned this in the intro to
(25:27):
the book, in that how, when we,when we do these things, it's
not just this idea that justcame to us out of nowhere, like
it is a path of progression fromfrom when we're very young, or
like how all the little piecesin our lives lead up to the
moment where we create the thingor we we make the thing for
(25:48):
sure.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
It's all a part of the person.
You look at all their layers Icall them the layers of life and
they really if we're luckyenough in this lifetime to
actually understand and knowwhat that is and access that and
do something with it, I feelthat's an incredible gift, no
matter what it is.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
I've realized at this point in life is that all the
things I have done in my careeror my working life, whether I
enjoyed them or not, have allled me to exactly where I am
right now, and I love what I doright now.
So I needed to do all thoseother things in order to get to
here.
Like it's, you don't see itwhen you're younger and you're
in the thick of it, but as youget older.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
You look back and you're like, no, you don't.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
You're like, oh it all, it all kind of makes sense.
I was where I needed to be atthe moment.
I needed to be in it all.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
I do believe that.
I think that's the only way wecan really get through this life
without feeling so much regretand resentment.
I think that does come with ageand experience.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Definitely, Definitely.
I wouldn't have seen that in mythirties.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
No no, Even in my early forties maybe not.
Well, it's getting on the cuspthere.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
But, yes, no, definitely not my twenties, no,
no, In your twenties you'rereally just trying to figure out
how to function as an adult inthe world.
At least I was.
Oh, true, yeah.
So you mentioned that the firstbook you kind of hit upon the
idea halfway across the countryand you started with British
(27:33):
Columbia because that's whereyou were, and then with the
second book you have grown thatto be people from all across the
country.
So how did you find thesepeople you mentioned?
With BC?
It came together very quickly,but what was your process of
looking for people, or or orfinding the people you want to
(27:54):
talk to?
I will admit, that I my.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
My creative escape escapism is on Instagram.
And so I follow a lot of peoplein fashion, in art, food, you
know things that I'm reallyinterested in, and that was
really one way of connectingwith people.
And again through other peoplewho I knew, or because I've
worked in magazines.
I had met an extensive range ofpeople across the country in
different sectors, and it wasjust a lot of introductions.
(28:19):
I would find one person and say, oh well, you have to meet this
person, and they'd introduce meto like two or three other
people.
Sometime they should be in thisbook, you know, and it wasn't
just about like how manyfollowers you have, that was
definitely not the criteria.
It was more of what are youdoing, why are you doing it, how
(28:40):
are you giving back to yourcommunity and what does that
look like, and that was reallyinteresting, and so for me,
there were definitely places inCanada that I wish were more
represented.
But you know, people's time,people's timelines and lives
they don't doesn't always matchup right when it's something,
and it was just again veryorganic.
And the second one cametogether really well and
(29:02):
beautifully when I was in mylast year living in Vancouver
and I actually submitted themanuscript, I think a few months
after I learned we were goingto be moving to Denmark, but I
really thought of it the lasttwo books as like as someone
who's been living away fromCanada for so long.
I was actually in Canada from2018 to 2023, the longest
(29:23):
stretch I'd been in Canada sinceI was 25.
And it was a wonderful way forme to kind of reconnect with my
country and kind of see what wasgoing on.
I mean this whole idea ofblooming where you're planted.
It's like you know.
That's how I kind of connectwherever I am.
It's like who's doing what andwhy are they doing this right?
And it was kind of like a loveletter in a way to my country?
Speaker 1 (29:43):
yes, and because I am very proud to be Canadian.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Even though I'm not always there, it's a huge part
of who I am yeah, no, I lovethat.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
I love the idea of it being a love letter.
I think that's a very lovelyway to to talk about the books.
When you we alluded to it alittle earlier in the in the
conversation but when you weregoing through the process of, of
talking to all of these people,how did you, did you have any
(30:13):
who resisted or who flat outsaid no?
Speaker 2 (30:15):
well, there are definitely some who flat out
said no, definitely.
But I respect that and I respect, and people always have an
option to say no, it's you youhave to be 100% on board and
comfortable and if it's just notyour jam or just not the right
time in your life or not thekind of platform you're
interested in, that's 100% okay.
You know, keep your mask, keepyour and say no.
(30:37):
Um, there were definitely twopeople who who were, for
understandable reasons, werekind of ambivalent unsure at
first and because one wastransitioning and one is
identifies as non-binary, andthe way I kind of approached it
with with one of them was like,well, you know, your story is so
(30:59):
important.
Just think, like you know youryounger self, if you had read
that kind of story of somebody,how they're like oh yeah, that
kind of makes sense, becausethey kind of resisted a little
bit and you know I understandthat I wasn't going to push
anybody into.
It had to be very organic, ithad to like come from them, and
it turned out to be twobeautiful interviews with two
really beautiful individuals,one of whom was in the first
(31:20):
book and lydia o'kello, whopenned the forward and for the
bloom across canada book and um,it's just yeah, that's okay.
Yeah, but it worked out reallywell and again, I place no
pressure on anybody.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
It has to be something people want to do yeah
, I was going to ask you, giventhat you haven't lived in Canada
for quite a while but I didn'trealize you had had that moment
in between there, like what madeyou, oh, I did I stuck that in
yes we did live there for fiveyears.
Yeah, so that's interesting,that, uh, that is where you
(31:59):
decided to, I'm guessing, tofocus on Canadian women for the
book.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Of course yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Yeah, so and this I'm asking this this is kind of a,
this is kind of a selfishquestion but, as an interviewer,
how did you go about yourresearch for when you were going
to talk to each of these women?
Because with both books now,you were at a hundred people
that you have done interviewswith.
(32:25):
That's a lot of people, that'sa lot of stories to draw out,
and I find when I'm doinginterviews, the more
well-prepped I am research-wise,the easier it is for me to draw
stories out of people.
So how did you go about yourresearch process for each
individual?
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Well, initially, we would try and set we would
usually do like a phone call ora Zoom call to personalize the
process, because all theinterviews were done in a
written format.
Because with this kind ofinterview, I felt that people
needed the time two to threeweeks each to sit down with 10
questions in a Q&A format, whichgave them the time to, you know
(33:06):
, really think about it.
And so I would.
Before I put the Q and A'stogether, we would have this
conversation on zoom.
I'd ask them to send me somekey points they want to cover
and then I would do my researchon them and I would just kind of
through their websites orwhatever platforms they were on
and kind of piece somethingtogether.
There were some repetitivequestions, of course, like one
of my big ones is like where didyou grow up?
(33:32):
How did this shape and inspireyou as a person, as a
professional?
but they were all reallytailored and the more I did the
easier it became and they werereally great at sharing with me
what was important.
And I always said to them ifyou find something's missing
from this Q&A you, you write itin there and we'll incorporate
it in.
And I think giving them thatkind of voice in it and keeping
it in a Q&A format just kept mekind of as like the guide for
the conversation and the focuson but research was really just,
(33:55):
it wasn't super in-depth, butit was like through conversation
and then just looking at whatthey were doing and really
getting into the work, listeningto their music, um, you know,
looking at their art, readingtheir books, that kind of thing
and I really just I'm curious bynature and so it really seemed
(34:16):
to me and I think the Q&A formatworked really well for both the
interviewee and interviewer.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Yeah, definitely gave them some time to think about
their words and be intentional,and that was important that they
had time to work on it whenthey had the energy and they
weren't feeling under pressureto respond.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Yeah, they needed time to reflect, but not too
much time.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
That's the flip side.
You still have to go and gather50,.
You know Q and A's and geteverybody.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
I'm still working through with this last one, yeah
.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
So there's, there's that whole side of it too.
I always say the interview isthe easiest part of what I do,
like the actual sit down and theconversation is the easiest
part.
It's all the stuff behind thescenes.
For sure it's not asinteresting to do all the
paperwork and admin stuff, allthe paperwork and admin stuff.
(35:11):
So are there any stories fromeither book that have really
stuck with you or reallyimpacted you as a person?
I'm sure they all have in theirown way, but Definitely.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
I mean each, each interview definitely impacts me
in some way.
I that's the truth, and youknow I've interviewed now with
almost 150 people and one hasresonated with me in some shape
or form, which is why I thinkI'm drawn to them too initially.
But with Blimacross Canada,there was Carla Tack, who's a
(35:42):
Vancouver artist, has a reallystrong, layered story and is
coming from a place of traumawith her art, and just to see
her strength and the beautifulwork she creates out of that has
just been so beautiful andinspiring.
She came to art later in life,but it it was always in her and
(36:09):
you know she had to work throughthings before she kind of got
to that place and I think thather story I mean all the stories
speak to different people fordifferent reasons Hers really
resonated with me for somereason.
We just really connected whenwe talked and some similarities
in our past and I learned a lotfrom her and kind of motivated
me and moved me to do somethings in my life too, which was
(36:30):
really interesting.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Those are always the ones that have yeah, where it
pushes you forward as well.
Those are always my favoritetoo.
You've spoken to well 150 womennow.
(36:54):
Now that you're working on thethird book, um what?
Speaker 2 (36:58):
has that shown you about us as humans?
What is it that word keepscoming up, layered right?
layers like our life, that we'reall like these different
beautiful layers, and what yousee, just you know superficially
, is not necessarily what is.
And um, especially as someonewho has lived and who has had to
kind of bloom where I'm planted, literally over and over again,
(37:20):
this is the 10th place I'velived, denmark being the place
I've actually lived in my sinceI was born, and it shows me that
(37:41):
, no matter where we are in theworld our culture, our country,
our language we do have a lot ofshared stories, shared
experiences, and I think that'sthe beauty of these books is
that someone in Tokyo could bereading about someone from the.
Yukon and have a connection andor be inspired like, hey, maybe
I want to become an artist now,or maybe I want to like go back
and learn to dance, or maybe Ido want to like take this idea I
have for business to the nextlevel, and I think that's a
(38:05):
wonderful thing, as human beingsis that as big as the world is,
it's also really small, andI've learned that connection is
key.
Yes, community is key, and Ithink, for me, diving deep into
creating these books and sharingthese stories was my way of
trying to find community, assomeone who doesn't always feel
that where I am someone whodoesn't always feel that where I
(38:30):
am and that's.
you know, that can becomplicated, but I feel like if
you're doing what you love andwhat you're interested in and
you're connecting with thosekinds of people, no matter where
you are, you will find somesense of community, whatever
that means for you.
Yeah, but definitely it's aboutthat that we share stories, no
matter where we are as humans,and as women in particular, like
if you're a mother, you're adaughter, you're a sister,
(38:53):
you're a partner, you're a wife,grandmother, you know, there's
similar shared experiences there, no matter where you are in the
world or the country.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
Yeah, it's funny.
Every year for the show I have atheme that is not necessarily a
theme that I share, or anythingbut I always find that it sort
of coalesces into a theme, evenif I don't have one off the top
of my head.
And the thing I've noticed thisyear for the season that has
been coming up over and over andover again and we're only a
(39:25):
fraction of the way into theyear is community and connection
, like it just seems to be atthe heart of every interview I
have done so far this year and Ijust I find that very
interesting that we are sofocused on like that, that.
That that's where we're allkind of going this year.
I've always been a hugebeliever in it but this year it
really seems to be.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
You think maybe we're craving it because we're so
disconnected in some ways, likewe have all the access to
technology, but yet thepersonalization of that has been
kind of.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
I think that's part of it I know, for me anyway yeah
, I know I definitely catchmyself scrolling and not feeling
particularly happy and it'sbecause I'm experiencing things
vicariously and when I reallywhat I really want is to
experience them with otherpeople as opposed to watching
(40:19):
other people, if that makessense.
So, yeah, I think that'sdefinitely part of it.
I think I think part ofitpandemic, and we are kind of
coming out of this hibernationand looking to make up for lost
time, for lack of a better wordor I think it's a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Yeah, there are definitely a lot of reasons why
we do what we do.
I know.
For me the shift happened evenbefore the pandemic and I speak
about this I think in theintroduction to the first book,
a little bit in the second book.
I lost my mom about this, Ithink in the introduction to the
first book, a little bit in thesecond book.
You know I lost my mom verysuddenly when I was living in
the Philippines and itcompletely changed the way I
walked through the world and atthe time I was doing fashion
(40:58):
copywriting for a high end brandin Europe and wanting to focus
more on people, and it justsometimes we need a little bit
of a shake up, unfortunately,and we have to grow from that.
We do, we do learn and ourhearts expand in grief.
That's one thing I've learned.
But I think people haven'treally addressed the idea that
we were grieving in the pandemicas well.
Yeah, absolutely.
(41:20):
I think, that that was onereason I really threw myself
into the first and now thesecond bloom book.
Was I just I really needed tofind some source of positivity
and inspiration, a reason tokeep going, a reason to keep
smiling and believing in thepower of good and people and all
the great things that all thesewonderful people are putting
(41:41):
out into the world through theirbrands, for their music, their
words, their art yeah, yeah,yeah, I was going to kind of
touch on that with you.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
Given everything that's going on their brands,
their music, their words, theirart, yeah, yeah, yeah, I was
going to kind of touch on thatwith you.
Given everything that's goingon in the world today, we won't
go, we won't dive into all ofthat, but but does doing working
on these books, does it giveyou hope that we're going to be
okay?
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Yes, I hope so.
I think you know as a parent andbeing in the state of the world
, sometimes I get really scaredand I think that, as someone who
had the luxury I call it aluxury of traveling unencumbered
and unafraid in my teens and20s, I really fear for my
daughters.
You know I'm like I want themto have those experiences.
(42:34):
And are we gonna have that forour children?
Are we gonna have a planet?
And for me, yeah.
These books were definitely away to try and focus on the good
stuff happening and the goodpeople are really pouring their
heart into doing, and I thinkit's really important.
(42:54):
We watch the news and we canbecome very easily overwhelmed
and frightened and anxious, andso it was definitely selfish in
some ways, for me to kind offocus my energy and time and
energy on this, these types ofbooks and these types of not to
say they didn't come with somehardship, because people do
share about hardship.
I share my hardship in theintroductions as well, and I
(43:16):
think that that was the beautyof it to show the yin and yang
of the human experience,especially as um, as someone
trying to pursue their passionin the world yeah, yeah, yes,
very, very well put.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
So you, I was going to ask you what's happening next
.
You have another book in theworks, and I was very curious
about this because it did soundlike this was on its way to
being a series, which I'm veryexcited about.
So the next one is Bloom.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
International.
So, yeah, when I arrived todenmark, um, my intention was to
write a very different kind ofbook, to kind of challenge
myself, maybe do a piece offiction or a memoir and, of
course, reach out to somemagazines.
But I found myself really drawnin meeting all these other
incredible people here.
Um, an American here whostarted up this amazing magazine
(44:10):
, and then you know, aSingaporean, malaysian woman
who's here doing incredible workand advocacy, and I started
meeting all these people and,like, I arrived, and I think,
the end of July of 2023 and bylike November, I had more than
half the people already.
It was just really snowballingreally quickly.
And again, because I was wetalked about this earlier in the
(44:31):
podcast how you know, with eachsuccessive one, it kind of be
streamlined it a little bit yeah.
Just became so clear and it justfelt so right to be doing.
I'm like I'm going to do it.
I'm going to do it and myfamily's like you're crazy, why
are you doing this again Another50 years?
What are you thinking?
But it just felt so right andagain just came together so
easily, and so my hope is, youknow, this one is the third, one
(44:54):
is almost done, but my focusright now, of course, is on
Blooming Cross, Canada, and I'mfeeling real pangs of
homesickness, I'll be honest,because I am due back for a trip
.
I think we're going back inFebruary, but you know it's
great timing and it's a greattime of year, Cause I love this
time of year in Canada.
But yeah, the third and finalbook will be, you know,
(45:16):
hopefully out in the world inthe next year or two.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
Oh, that's awesome, Awesome.
Um cause, that was going to beone of my questions.
Are you going to do like aninternational one?
And here we are then, then Ihave to like do something
different yeah, yeah, but it'llbe a nice bow on the series, I
think, yeah and it's a nicereflection of me as someone
who's had to.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
Yes, and I felt like a real representation,
reflection of who I am as aperson.
Speaker 1 (45:40):
yeah, yeah.
Well, becca, thank you so muchfor being here today.
It was really such a pleasureto get to talk to you and learn
more about what went on behindthe book, because it is a
beautiful book, everyone.
I was lucky enough to get acopy of it, and I also have
(46:01):
Bloom, where you Were Planted ona hold list with my library, so
that I can read that one aswell, because I really enjoyed
it.
So where can people find youonline and where can they find
the book and tell us all thatjuicy?
Speaker 2 (46:19):
good stuff.
You can go to my website, whichis just wwwbackashamedentercom,
and you just drop down the menuand you click on the Bloom
books are on the side and it'lltake you right to a tab that
says buy here and it takes youright to Heritage House
Publishing, which is mypublisher, and that gives you
different options on where tobuy If you want to buy locally,
(46:40):
independently, on Amazon and,yeah, it's going to be out
October 22nd officially.
I know you can do somepre-orders now and it was chosen
by Indigo as one of the mostanticipated Canadian titles for
this year.
Speaker 1 (46:54):
Oh nice.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
Nice, that's where I am.
I'm on Instagram as well.
Yeah, and we will put my otherwork.
Like my website has my otherwork I've done oh great.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
And we will put links to all of this in the show
notes for everyone, so you don'tneed to worry about how to
spell things or anything likethat.
We'll have links to all of it soyou can connect with Becca and
so you can get your own copy ofthe book.
It is definitely one of thosebooks to have on your bookshelf
and go back to when you need adose of inspiration and
(47:30):
creativity in your day.
So, yes, thank you again somuch for being here.
It's been such a pleasure andfor all of you listening.
That is it for us for this week.
We will be back in another twoweeks with another brand new
episode.
We will be back in another twoweeks with another brand new
episode and we will becontinuing on with our Prep for
(47:52):
the Holidays mini-sode series.
And, as always, if you areenjoying the show, please
subscribe or feel free to leaveus a review on Apple Podcasts or
on Spotify, and if you are onYouTube, you can give this video
a thumbs up.
You can also leave comments onYouTube, which is nice because
it's one of the few ways that Ican interact with you all after
(48:14):
an episode, so that is alwaysappreciated.
So that is it for this week.
We will talk to you all againvery soon.
Thanks for listening.
Thank you so much for joiningus for the and she Looked Up
Creative Hour.
If you're looking for links orresources mentioned in this
episode.
You can find detailed shownotes on our website at
(48:37):
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(48:59):
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(01:03):
And now let's get on with theshow.
Welcome to the and she Looked Uppodcast.
Each week we sit down withinspiring Canadian women who
create for a living.
(01:24):
We talk about their creativejourneys and their best business
tips, as well as the creativeand business mindset issues all
creative entrepreneurs strugglewith.
I'm your host, melissaHartfield, and, after leaving a
20-year career in corporateretail, I've been happily
self-employed for 12 years.
I'm a graphic designer, anillustrator and a
multi-six-figure-a-yearentrepreneur in the digital
(01:46):
content space.
This podcast is for the artists, the makers and the creatives
who want to find a way to make aliving doing what they love.
Hello everyone, and welcome toanother episode of the and she
(02:07):
Looked Up podcast.
As always, I am your host,melissa, and this week I am so
happy to be welcoming author andwriter Becca Shane Dentor to
the show.
Welcome, becca, it is lovely tohave you here.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
Hi, thank you for having me.
I'm happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yes, I'm really looking forward to our
conversation today.
For those of you who may not befamiliar with Becca's work, she
is a Canadian writer and authorwhose work has been greatly
inspired by her life of livingabroad, which we are going to
talk a little bit about on theepisode.
Her professional life began asa high school English teacher
(02:43):
and it continues to be a journeyof ongoing learning.
She's a mom to two sweet andsassy girls and has a passion
for denim and dark chocolate,because who can resist a good
square of dark chocolate?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, it's a sort of obsession.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Yes, so we are going to be talking today about
Becca's brand new book that hasjust been released.
It is called Bloom AcrossCanada.
I'm just going to hold it upfor those of you who are on
YouTube, but it is 50 inspiringconversations with women and a
few non-binary folk from acrossCanada, mainly I think almost
(03:21):
entirely in the arts andcreative entrepreneurship realm.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
And entrepreneurs?
Definitely yes, but the focusis primarily, I guess, the arts.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, and it's the second in a series of books that
Becca's been working on.
The first was called Bloom,where you Are Planted, and it
followed the same format, but itfocused on people in British
Columbia.
So we're going to be talkingabout all of that today.
But, becca, the first questionI ask everyone who comes on the
show is did you feel like youwere creative as a kid?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Definitely I was exposed to everything creative
at a very young age.
Both my parents were verycreative by nature and it
started with dance lessons andart classes and, I think, just
being exposed to galleries.
I grew up in Ottawa so we hadthe National Gallery.
My dad lived in DC so it was alot of going to museums and
(04:16):
galleries there as well, andjust this constant exposure to
anything and everything creativereally was put into everything
we did in our lives as a family,and I remember even making
magazines at the age of, I think, seven or eight and found one
(04:38):
of those recently and yeah, so Idefinitely have had it in me
for a long time.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
Creating a magazine has been on my bucket list since
I was five.
Never too late I know it'sstill there.
It is still percolating in theback of my brain.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
I would make them for my mom who would travel a lot
for work and they had likecrosswords in them and like Q&A.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
I love it.
That is awesome, the things wedo when we're that age.
It is so cool to go back andlook at them and and uh, just I,
because I think we forget aboutthem and then somebody presents
you with this thing that youcreated when you were seven and
you're like, oh my goodness yeah, it all comes full circle.
It does.
It really really does.
So you are from Ottawa, but youhave spent the last 20 years
(05:29):
living and working abroad quitea few different places.
So what was it that sparked youto get out there and see the
world and tell us a few of theplaces that you've been?
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Well, it's been 25 years now, so I guess, when I
was 24, I decided I wanted totravel and my mother said well,
as long as you can make somemoney while you're doing that?
that would be great.
So my first excursion, inaddition to traveling as a young
child with my parents throughthe Caribbean and Mexico excuse
me and Canada, through theCaribbean and Mexico excuse me
and Canada I had my own desireto go and seek things.
(06:08):
And so I ended up in Mexico atthe age of 25.
And I was working with Club MedResorts and that kind of was my
first experience, kind of goingon my own and working abroad,
and that took me from Mexico toAustralia, to Bali, to St Lucia,
and that was kind of thebeginning of that part of the
(06:32):
journey.
And then later I met my soon tobe my husband, my at the time
my boyfriend, christian, and hewas working for global affairs,
canada and he was getting readyto go to Japan on his first
posting and I was all right, I'mall on board, let's go.
Speaker 1 (06:49):
And I was a teacher at the time.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
So Japan seemed like a very great place to be.
So Japan was our first place.
We lived together as a coupleand since then we've lived in
Boston and the Philippines and acouple stints back in Canada,
and now we're in Denmark and inaddition to that I've traveled
extensively through SoutheastAsia to Malaysia, Cambodia,
(07:12):
Vietnam and throughout theCaribbean as well, and you've
got two young daughters at thispoint, so do they.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
that has got to be a great experience for them
getting to travel.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Usually.
They were very young when welived in the Philippines, so
they most of their memories arebased on the photos we show them
and videos.
And Denmark for sure, they're alittle bit older now but they
really have a love for travel.
They love airplanes.
The longer the journey on aplane, the better, because that
means more snacks, more fun foodand more movies.
They love to travel.
I mean it changes a plane thebetter, because that means more
(07:46):
snacks, more fun food and moremovies.
They love to travel.
I mean it changes, as they, youknow, go through different
stages of life, but they're at aperfect age right now, which is
it's great to be in Europe andScandinavia right now and we all
love to travel and we reallyenjoy being in new cultures and
new countries and just kind ofseeing what that's like, because
when you live in a country it'svery different than visiting.
Speaker 1 (08:07):
Yes, it is.
I think it's easy to have agreat time on vacation, but when
you actually have to get intothe weeds of living a life.
It's different.
Yeah, Are there any places thathave really had an impact on
you as a person, more so thanothers?
Maybe?
Speaker 2 (08:27):
For sure.
I mean, each place definitelypresents some memorable moments,
for sure, and memories areformative in different ways.
But I would have to say,probably for me, japan was kind
of my first, you know, deepexperience with Asia and Asian
culture was kind of my first,you know, deep experience with
Asia and Asian culture.
And also Bali before that mytime in Indonesia was very, very
(08:50):
important and interesting andunlike anywhere else I'd ever
lived before the people, theculture, the peacefulness of it.
This was back in 1999, 2000,before tourism, kind of like
Instagram and social media.
But living in Bali was really aunique and special experience
for me and I'm still in touchwith a few of my Balinese
(09:12):
friends, and Bali has played animportant part in my life, with
my husband as well.
He proposed to me there and itwas just.
It's just a beautiful placewith beautiful people and I'm
planning to take my daughtersthere in the next few years as
well.
And Japan, because Japan wasjust so different and, again,
the people were just sowelcoming and interested in who,
(09:38):
who.
I was as a woman, as a Canadian, and it really kind of sparked
my, my love for fashion andcreativity in a new way as an
adult after being a teacher formany years, and so I found
myself really kind ofgravitating towards more
galleries, more fashion showsand just really kind of looking
at that part of who I was.
And then also the cherry on thetop was meeting the emperor of
(09:59):
Japan oh wow yeah, how did thatcome about?
rainy spring morning and Iremember just waiting for hours
in the rain and when the emperorand his daughter came to us
(10:27):
they actually apologized to mefor making me wait in the rain.
And I looked at my husband.
I said what do I say?
The emperor apologized to me.
This is just so bizarre, whatdo I say?
And so I just did my littlecurtsy, my bow, and I was very
polite and smiled and it wasvery lovely.
It was a lovely experience.
(10:47):
Japan is just a really specialplace.
I recommend people have theopportunity to go.
Speaker 1 (10:53):
Yeah, I think it's a bucket list destination for a
lot of people.
Yeah, for sure, something aboutit that's very intriguing.
Yeah, how do you think this?
Well, first of all, let's stepback a little bit.
How did writing becomesomething that was so important
in your life?
Is that something you've donesince you were a child?
You mentioned making magazines,but, yeah, where did writing
(11:18):
start to become really importantto you?
Speaker 2 (11:19):
Writing kind of came from initially and I speak about
this, I think, in theintroduction to to this book and
and especially the third oneI'm actually working on, bloom
International and it's aboutthis kind of fascination and
connection with magazines.
I grew up an only child and Ithink I really lost myself in
words, be it books like JudyBloom books and any magazines
(11:41):
that were hanging around thehouse.
I just really got lost in thecharacters and stories and the
lives of people and words andmusic.
I love music and I think that Iwould always like look at the
lyrics on the back of albumcovers and made album covers.
And yeah, I had a dream when Iwas younger to be a reporter for
a Rolling Stone magazine.
That was kind of like I wasgoing to be a reporter for
(12:04):
Rolling Stone magazine.
That was kind of like I wasgoing to go to New York and do
that, but anyway.
So yeah, writing is justsomething I always kind of did.
I remember doing a little bitof journaling in high school and
working on my university paperat the University of Ottawa and
that's where I started doinglike interviews and that kind of
thing and I just really kind ofliked it.
(12:27):
I just kind of always kind ofhad my hand in words and um I
kind of put it aside for a longtime and became a teacher, but I
was teaching English.
I was teaching how to write.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
You're still teaching words.
Yeah, I was still teachingwords, but I really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
And then you know, eventually, when my first
daughter I was pregnant with herin Boston and I took a break
from teaching, writing kind ofjust came to me it was the time
of starting online platforms andso I started writing about
sustainable fashion in Bostonand it just kind of went from
there, and that was 2010.
And here we are, 14 years later.
Speaker 1 (13:02):
Yeah, I mean that whole era of early blogging
launched so many writing careers.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Oh I know, it's amazing.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
Yeah, it was.
It was such a uniqueopportunity to be able to put
your words out there without apublisher or an editor or anyone
standing in your way, and itreally kind of those early.
I always refer to it as thewild wild west of the internet.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
I was actually writing for another blog.
I don't remember the name of it, but I was like their fashion
reporter in Boston and then thatkind of moved on to magazines
at some point.
But yeah, it was a very kind ofsafe stage of writing where it
wasn't as competitive.
You could really kind ofexplore your interests, which
was something I really did.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
You could.
You weren't writing for SEO.
You were able to dive intothings and it was really
interesting because it didn'tmatter how niche you were, there
was an audience out there foryou For sure, yeah, which was.
I think what made it sointeresting is things that you
weren't able to find to readpreviously.
Speaker 2 (14:12):
Curiosity, yeah, curiosity on the part of the
writers and the readers, whichwas wonderful.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
It's evolved considerably since then but.
I do miss those early days.
It was really it was.
It was a lot of fun that ledyou to doing more magazine
features and things like that.
But going from a magazine towriting a book is Well, the
(14:41):
pandemic happened, okay, okay.
So that's where this kind ofsparked.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
okay, that's, it was my pandemic passion project.
The first bloom book kind ofcame about.
I was reading at the time to mydaughters, who are younger,
good night stories for rebelgirls and they just loved the
series.
We had all the books and I justsaw their eyes light up every
time we'd read about one ofthese fascinating women.
And when the pandemic kind ofstarted, freelance work kind of
(15:09):
slowed down to a bit of asnail's pace and I realized
there's only so much Netflix andhomeschooling I could do.
I needed to do something formyself and so while I was
reading these books I thoughtabout well, what about all the
women, people who are doing thework but aren't necessarily
famous or well-known?
And I started to just interviewmoms during the early days of
(15:30):
the pandemic for an onlineplatform called Bust.
And people really enjoyed that.
Just people.
How are they parenting?
How are they mothering?
How are they partnering?
How are they working?
How are they parenting?
How are they mothering?
How are they partnering?
How are they working?
Right?
And during that time we alsomoved our family from Ottawa to
Vancouver.
We just thought that was abetter place to be.
(15:52):
We didn't know where thingswere going.
We weren't going on a postinganytime soon.
And with that transition I hadthis idea, kind of halfway
across the country, I thinkwe're in Saskatchewan I thought,
huh, what about a book aboutall these incredible people
doing incredible things duringthis time?
And initially I was like, well,maybe to keep it safe, I'll
keep pitching it as a magazinepiece, a weekly piece to support
(16:15):
creatives and entrepreneursduring this really difficult,
challenging time in our history.
And it didn't really sit withanyone, but that's okay.
I was like, well, I'm going tokeep doing this.
And I arrived in BC and withinlike six weeks I think, I had 50
people.
Oh wow.
Yeah 50 just seemed like areally nice number because I
knew a lot of people there inthe creative field and I had
other people, so you have tomeet this person, that person.
(16:37):
I was all through introductionsor other people I've written
through about magazines and itjust kind of organically, really
kind of came together reallyquickly and I just kind of went
ahead and did it and it was justa way to kind of keep my
spirits up and positive and Ijust put together the book in
about I think it took me about10 months of interviewing and
(16:57):
within a year and a bit it waspicked up.
Thankfully, after severalpitches it just landed in the
right person's lap at the righttime and I think we were all
kind of in a need for somethingpositive and more local and BC.
I focused on BC because that'swhere I was and that made sense
(17:18):
to me and I wanted to kind ofstart small and I didn't know
where.
But halfway through that book Iknew I had to do Canada.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
I wondered why it started in BC.
I thought initially I thoughtyou were probably from here, but
that my husband is fromVancouver, which is why we moved
.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Yeah, we moved there, so it made sense to kind of
transition.
It had kind of been a home basefor us.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Right.
So, so, yeah, that is so.
So you didn't have a publisherinitially lined up or anything
like that.
This was just purely a passionproject that you were going to,
which I think the pandemic we'rejust.
I think we're just starting tohear now about all these
projects that were hatchedduring the pandemic and I think,
oh sure, I'd like to thinkthat's one of the positive
(17:59):
things.
We'll look back on it.
Speaker 2 (18:01):
I have to agree.
I think that's got to be.
A lot of us had to dig deep andthink outside the box.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
Absolutely.
This is something that comes upa lot and with a lot of our
audiences, particularly thosewho have the idea for a book in
their head or thinking of doinga book.
But what were your steps to getit in front of people like
decision makers and pitch it?
Speaker 2 (18:26):
Oh, I'll be honest, it takes a lot of energy and
self like motivation which,let's be honest, we don't have
every day all day long.
But I think I was so committedto the people in the book I felt
(18:46):
this responsibility.
I still do, even on the secondand third book.
I feel this very strong senseof responsibility and sharing
the stories of people.
I find people fascinating and Ijust so enjoy shining the
spotlight on other people andcelebrating other people.
I think we all need a little bitmore of that in our lives, and
(19:07):
so what I did was I felt thisstrong commitment and this
determination, and there weremany rejections, and that is
probably the hardest part.
It still is, because it's theunknown, it's chartering into
unknown territory, especially assomeone who's never written a
book before, and it's still alearning process.
It's all, and I will say itdoes get easier with each
(19:29):
successive book and each project, for sure, but it was just
about really knowing your targetaudience, and that's something
that is really important.
No matter what your, yourstorytelling is or your niche
market or your genre of book,you really have to do the
research, and that's something Ireally did extensively for
(19:49):
months before I even startedpitching it and yeah, so you
have to just really be clear onwhat you want from this and who
you want to work with and whoyou want to represent the work,
because that's important as well.
And, again, you're going tolearn as you go.
We make mistakes all the time,everybody does but I feel like
(20:10):
determination is so importantand if you believe in it, if you
really really believe in it andit feels right, just keep at it
.
And if it's not your full-timeday job, which is the reality
for most of us then just setaside time and prioritize that,
because what you get back fromthat, that sense of fulfillment,
is so rewarding, and you knowthat you did it all yourself.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
No one's holding your hand.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
You have to do it yourself.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
Yeah, absolutely yeah and be organized too, about it.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
You know, like you know, write up your dream list
of people and publishers, and oragents, so you know whatever
direction you want to go.
But it's really important togive yourself that time and and
and some space too, becausesometimes you need to step back
from it because it can becomeoverwhelming.
Yes, yes, yeah, the rejection,yes, which is a real part of it.
(21:00):
But I do believe if you believein it, someone else will too.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
Yeah, I think that's very true.
Sometimes you have to find theperson who sees your vision.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
It's really about the right person, the right time,
the right moment Exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
A lot of no's are exactly that.
They're just no not right now,as opposed to no never.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
It's still something I'm learning, even at 50, even
as I go into my third book.
Now you just have to reallybelieve in yourself, and it's
hard and I didn't reallyappreciate that.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
no doesn't mean never , it just means not right now.
Speaker 2 (21:41):
until I was a person saying having to say no, yeah,
it's not personal and I'm stilllearning.
It's not personal.
Speaker 1 (21:49):
It's not, it really truly is.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
It feels like it was.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Well, you know, our projects are our children.
Well that's it Right.
And you want to bring them outinto the world, you want to grow
them, you want to do all thosethings, and so when somebody
says no, it feels like they'resaying, no, your, your kid's not
good enough and that's that's.
Nobody wants to hear that.
Speaker 2 (22:12):
They have to believe, you have to believe.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Yes, yes.
So there is definitelysomething to that just being
very determined and just keepknocking on the doors until you
find that right person, orswitching up your pitch until it
hits the right note withsomebody who would want to take
it forward yeah, and sometimesalso taking that space right.
Yes, and recalibrate re-energizeyourself yes, yes, you can burn
(22:42):
out doing that kind of thingvery quickly, yeah for sure.
So without having, uh, anactual book deal in place, when
you were reaching out to allthese women and and a few other
folks that you had come intothat you featured in the book,
how did you convince them to dothis?
Because I find gettingcreatives to talk about
(23:02):
themselves extraordinarily hard.
It is.
Speaker 2 (23:06):
And not everybody responded with a resounding oh
yes, some took a little moreconvincing and some just
believed in the project and somejust were really at.
You know, it was a pandemic forthat first book.
With the second book I had alittle bit more.
I had a little bit morecredibility, credibility.
I had the first book put outinto the world.
(23:27):
I can show them here's aphysical, actual thing that was
actually, you know, done, it'saccomplished.
So I definitely would say thatthe second group had a lot.
It was a lot easier, for sure,in some ways, but I think people
really just believed in it andthey welcomed the opportunity to
share a snapshot of theirjourney, because a lot of them
(23:49):
realized that if I hadinterviewed them five years
prior or five years in thefuture from that moment, it
would be a totally differentinterview and they were really
excited about that.
And I think what convincedpeople was they liked the, the
realistic, honest approach I hadfor this.
It was about sharing, about thejourney, which is not
(24:10):
one-dimensional, it's not just astraight up, it's really up and
down, especially for women,especially for non-binary or
transgender um, well, foreverybody actually.
You know, we're seeking out ourpassion, whether really up and
down, especially for women,especially for non-binary or
transgenders Well, for everybodyactually.
You know we're seeking out ourpassion, whether it's a creative
, entrepreneur, advocacy itrequires so much of us, but I
think that my credibility and mypassion and my heart really
(24:33):
came through and they reallyfelt that they felt safe with me
.
I had a lot of people say to meyou know, you're the first
person I've really opened up toabout this and it was not about
exposing everything.
Some things are reallyimportant to keep close to the
heart and I made sure that theyonly shared what they wanted to.
But it was about sharing asnapshot of the reality, of what
does it mean to be underundertaking?
(24:54):
You know, this kind of journeyas an entrepreneur, as a
creative, that really appealedto a lot of people.
I think they really felt like,hey, and you're interested in me
, wow, that's really cool.
Speaker 1 (25:06):
Like they think they're responsive to that and
and it's one of the interestingthings about the book is that a
lot of the questions you ask andand the conversations you have
really made the intervieweethink about what it is that has
shaped their journey and youmentioned this in the intro to
(25:27):
the book, in that how, when we,when we do these things, it's
not just this idea that justcame to us out of nowhere, like
it is a path of progression fromfrom when we're very young, or
like how all the little piecesin our lives lead up to the
moment where we create the thingor we we make the thing for
(25:48):
sure.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
It's all a part of the person.
You look at all their layers Icall them the layers of life and
they really if we're luckyenough in this lifetime to
actually understand and knowwhat that is and access that and
do something with it, I feelthat's an incredible gift, no
matter what it is.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
I've realized at this point in life is that all the
things I have done in my careeror my working life, whether I
enjoyed them or not, have allled me to exactly where I am
right now, and I love what I doright now.
So I needed to do all thoseother things in order to get to
here.
Like it's, you don't see itwhen you're younger and you're
in the thick of it, but as youget older.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
You look back and you're like, no, you don't.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
You're like, oh it all, it all kind of makes sense.
I was where I needed to be atthe moment.
I needed to be in it all.
Speaker 2 (26:50):
I do believe that.
I think that's the only way wecan really get through this life
without feeling so much regretand resentment.
I think that does come with ageand experience.
Speaker 1 (27:01):
Definitely, Definitely.
I wouldn't have seen that in mythirties.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
No no, Even in my early forties maybe not.
Well, it's getting on the cuspthere.
Speaker 1 (27:13):
But, yes, no, definitely not my twenties, no,
no, In your twenties you'rereally just trying to figure out
how to function as an adult inthe world.
At least I was.
Oh, true, yeah.
So you mentioned that the firstbook you kind of hit upon the
idea halfway across the countryand you started with British
(27:33):
Columbia because that's whereyou were, and then with the
second book you have grown thatto be people from all across the
country.
So how did you find thesepeople you mentioned?
With BC?
It came together very quickly,but what was your process of
looking for people, or or orfinding the people you want to
(27:54):
talk to?
I will admit, that I my.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
My creative escape escapism is on Instagram.
And so I follow a lot of peoplein fashion, in art, food, you
know things that I'm reallyinterested in, and that was
really one way of connectingwith people.
And again through other peoplewho I knew, or because I've
worked in magazines.
I had met an extensive range ofpeople across the country in
different sectors, and it wasjust a lot of introductions.
(28:19):
I would find one person and say, oh well, you have to meet this
person, and they'd introduce meto like two or three other
people.
Sometime they should be in thisbook, you know, and it wasn't
just about like how manyfollowers you have, that was
definitely not the criteria.
It was more of what are youdoing, why are you doing it, how
(28:40):
are you giving back to yourcommunity and what does that
look like, and that was reallyinteresting, and so for me,
there were definitely places inCanada that I wish were more
represented.
But you know, people's time,people's timelines and lives
they don't doesn't always matchup right when it's something,
and it was just again veryorganic.
And the second one cametogether really well and
(29:02):
beautifully when I was in mylast year living in Vancouver
and I actually submitted themanuscript, I think a few months
after I learned we were goingto be moving to Denmark, but I
really thought of it the lasttwo books as like as someone
who's been living away fromCanada for so long.
I was actually in Canada from2018 to 2023, the longest
(29:23):
stretch I'd been in Canada sinceI was 25.
And it was a wonderful way forme to kind of reconnect with my
country and kind of see what wasgoing on.
I mean this whole idea ofblooming where you're planted.
It's like you know.
That's how I kind of connectwherever I am.
It's like who's doing what andwhy are they doing this right?
And it was kind of like a loveletter in a way to my country?
Speaker 1 (29:43):
yes, and because I am very proud to be Canadian.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
Even though I'm not always there, it's a huge part
of who I am yeah, no, I lovethat.
Speaker 1 (29:53):
I love the idea of it being a love letter.
I think that's a very lovelyway to to talk about the books.
When you we alluded to it alittle earlier in the in the
conversation but when you weregoing through the process of, of
talking to all of these people,how did you, did you have any
(30:13):
who resisted or who flat outsaid no?
Speaker 2 (30:15):
well, there are definitely some who flat out
said no, definitely.
But I respect that and I respect, and people always have an
option to say no, it's you youhave to be 100% on board and
comfortable and if it's just notyour jam or just not the right
time in your life or not thekind of platform you're
interested in, that's 100% okay.
You know, keep your mask, keepyour and say no.
(30:37):
Um, there were definitely twopeople who who were, for
understandable reasons, werekind of ambivalent unsure at
first and because one wastransitioning and one is
identifies as non-binary, andthe way I kind of approached it
with with one of them was like,well, you know, your story is so
(30:59):
important.
Just think, like you know youryounger self, if you had read
that kind of story of somebody,how they're like oh yeah, that
kind of makes sense, becausethey kind of resisted a little
bit and you know I understandthat I wasn't going to push
anybody into.
It had to be very organic, ithad to like come from them, and
it turned out to be twobeautiful interviews with two
really beautiful individuals,one of whom was in the first
(31:20):
book and lydia o'kello, whopenned the forward and for the
bloom across canada book and um,it's just yeah, that's okay.
Yeah, but it worked out reallywell and again, I place no
pressure on anybody.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
It has to be something people want to do yeah
, I was going to ask you, giventhat you haven't lived in Canada
for quite a while but I didn'trealize you had had that moment
in between there, like what madeyou, oh, I did I stuck that in
yes we did live there for fiveyears.
Yeah, so that's interesting,that, uh, that is where you
(31:59):
decided to, I'm guessing, tofocus on Canadian women for the
book.
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Of course yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:04):
Yeah, so and this I'm asking this this is kind of a,
this is kind of a selfishquestion but, as an interviewer,
how did you go about yourresearch for when you were going
to talk to each of these women?
Because with both books now,you were at a hundred people
that you have done interviewswith.
(32:25):
That's a lot of people, that'sa lot of stories to draw out,
and I find when I'm doinginterviews, the more
well-prepped I am research-wise,the easier it is for me to draw
stories out of people.
So how did you go about yourresearch process for each
individual?
Speaker 2 (32:45):
Well, initially, we would try and set we would
usually do like a phone call ora Zoom call to personalize the
process, because all theinterviews were done in a
written format.
Because with this kind ofinterview, I felt that people
needed the time two to threeweeks each to sit down with 10
questions in a Q&A format, whichgave them the time to, you know
(33:06):
, really think about it.
And so I would.
Before I put the Q and A'stogether, we would have this
conversation on zoom.
I'd ask them to send me somekey points they want to cover
and then I would do my researchon them and I would just kind of
through their websites orwhatever platforms they were on
and kind of piece somethingtogether.
There were some repetitivequestions, of course, like one
of my big ones is like where didyou grow up?
(33:32):
How did this shape and inspireyou as a person, as a
professional?
but they were all reallytailored and the more I did the
easier it became and they werereally great at sharing with me
what was important.
And I always said to them ifyou find something's missing
from this Q&A you, you write itin there and we'll incorporate
it in.
And I think giving them thatkind of voice in it and keeping
it in a Q&A format just kept mekind of as like the guide for
the conversation and the focuson but research was really just,
(33:55):
it wasn't super in-depth, butit was like through conversation
and then just looking at whatthey were doing and really
getting into the work, listeningto their music, um, you know,
looking at their art, readingtheir books, that kind of thing
and I really just I'm curious bynature and so it really seemed
(34:16):
to me and I think the Q&A formatworked really well for both the
interviewee and interviewer.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Yeah, definitely gave them some time to think about
their words and be intentional,and that was important that they
had time to work on it whenthey had the energy and they
weren't feeling under pressureto respond.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
Yeah, they needed time to reflect, but not too
much time.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
That's the flip side.
You still have to go and gather50,.
You know Q and A's and geteverybody.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
I'm still working through with this last one, yeah
.
Speaker 1 (34:48):
So there's, there's that whole side of it too.
I always say the interview isthe easiest part of what I do,
like the actual sit down and theconversation is the easiest
part.
It's all the stuff behind thescenes.
For sure it's not asinteresting to do all the
paperwork and admin stuff, allthe paperwork and admin stuff.
(35:11):
So are there any stories fromeither book that have really
stuck with you or reallyimpacted you as a person?
I'm sure they all have in theirown way, but Definitely.
Speaker 2 (35:18):
I mean each, each interview definitely impacts me
in some way.
I that's the truth, and youknow I've interviewed now with
almost 150 people and one hasresonated with me in some shape
or form, which is why I thinkI'm drawn to them too initially.
But with Blimacross Canada,there was Carla Tack, who's a
(35:42):
Vancouver artist, has a reallystrong, layered story and is
coming from a place of traumawith her art, and just to see
her strength and the beautifulwork she creates out of that has
just been so beautiful andinspiring.
She came to art later in life,but it it was always in her and
(36:09):
you know she had to work throughthings before she kind of got
to that place and I think thather story I mean all the stories
speak to different people fordifferent reasons Hers really
resonated with me for somereason.
We just really connected whenwe talked and some similarities
in our past and I learned a lotfrom her and kind of motivated
me and moved me to do somethings in my life too, which was
(36:30):
really interesting.
Speaker 1 (36:33):
Those are always the ones that have yeah, where it
pushes you forward as well.
Those are always my favoritetoo.
You've spoken to well 150 womennow.
(36:54):
Now that you're working on thethird book, um what?
Speaker 2 (36:58):
has that shown you about us as humans?
What is it that word keepscoming up, layered right?
layers like our life, that we'reall like these different
beautiful layers, and what yousee, just you know superficially
, is not necessarily what is.
And um, especially as someonewho has lived and who has had to
kind of bloom where I'm planted, literally over and over again,
(37:20):
this is the 10th place I'velived, denmark being the place
I've actually lived in my sinceI was born, and it shows me that
(37:41):
, no matter where we are in theworld our culture, our country,
our language we do have a lot ofshared stories, shared
experiences, and I think that'sthe beauty of these books is
that someone in Tokyo could bereading about someone from the.
Yukon and have a connection andor be inspired like, hey, maybe
I want to become an artist now,or maybe I want to like go back
and learn to dance, or maybe Ido want to like take this idea I
have for business to the nextlevel, and I think that's a
(38:05):
wonderful thing, as human beingsis that as big as the world is,
it's also really small, andI've learned that connection is
key.
Yes, community is key, and Ithink, for me, diving deep into
creating these books and sharingthese stories was my way of
trying to find community, assomeone who doesn't always feel
that where I am someone whodoesn't always feel that where I
(38:30):
am and that's.
you know, that can becomplicated, but I feel like if
you're doing what you love andwhat you're interested in and
you're connecting with thosekinds of people, no matter where
you are, you will find somesense of community, whatever
that means for you.
Yeah, but definitely it's aboutthat that we share stories, no
matter where we are as humans,and as women in particular, like
if you're a mother, you're adaughter, you're a sister,
(38:53):
you're a partner, you're a wife,grandmother, you know, there's
similar shared experiences there, no matter where you are in the
world or the country.
Speaker 1 (39:02):
Yeah, it's funny.
Every year for the show I have atheme that is not necessarily a
theme that I share, or anythingbut I always find that it sort
of coalesces into a theme, evenif I don't have one off the top
of my head.
And the thing I've noticed thisyear for the season that has
been coming up over and over andover again and we're only a
(39:25):
fraction of the way into theyear is community and connection
, like it just seems to be atthe heart of every interview I
have done so far this year and Ijust I find that very
interesting that we are sofocused on like that, that.
That that's where we're allkind of going this year.
I've always been a hugebeliever in it but this year it
really seems to be.
Speaker 2 (39:46):
You think maybe we're craving it because we're so
disconnected in some ways, likewe have all the access to
technology, but yet thepersonalization of that has been
kind of.
Speaker 1 (39:57):
I think that's part of it I know, for me anyway yeah
, I know I definitely catchmyself scrolling and not feeling
particularly happy and it'sbecause I'm experiencing things
vicariously and when I reallywhat I really want is to
experience them with otherpeople as opposed to watching
(40:19):
other people, if that makessense.
So, yeah, I think that'sdefinitely part of it.
I think I think part ofitpandemic, and we are kind of
coming out of this hibernationand looking to make up for lost
time, for lack of a better wordor I think it's a lot of things.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Yeah, there are definitely a lot of reasons why
we do what we do.
I know.
For me the shift happened evenbefore the pandemic and I speak
about this I think in theintroduction to the first book,
a little bit in the second book.
I lost my mom about this, Ithink in the introduction to the
first book, a little bit in thesecond book.
You know I lost my mom verysuddenly when I was living in
the Philippines and itcompletely changed the way I
walked through the world and atthe time I was doing fashion
(40:58):
copywriting for a high end brandin Europe and wanting to focus
more on people, and it justsometimes we need a little bit
of a shake up, unfortunately,and we have to grow from that.
We do, we do learn and ourhearts expand in grief.
That's one thing I've learned.
But I think people haven'treally addressed the idea that
we were grieving in the pandemicas well.
Yeah, absolutely.
(41:20):
I think, that that was onereason I really threw myself
into the first and now thesecond bloom book.
Was I just I really needed tofind some source of positivity
and inspiration, a reason tokeep going, a reason to keep
smiling and believing in thepower of good and people and all
the great things that all thesewonderful people are putting
(41:41):
out into the world through theirbrands, for their music, their
words, their art yeah, yeah,yeah, I was going to kind of
touch on that with you.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
Given everything that's going on their brands,
their music, their words, theirart, yeah, yeah, yeah, I was
going to kind of touch on thatwith you.
Given everything that's goingon in the world today, we won't
go, we won't dive into all ofthat, but but does doing working
on these books, does it giveyou hope that we're going to be
okay?
Speaker 2 (42:13):
Yes, I hope so.
I think you know as a parent andbeing in the state of the world
, sometimes I get really scaredand I think that, as someone who
had the luxury I call it aluxury of traveling unencumbered
and unafraid in my teens and20s, I really fear for my
daughters.
You know I'm like I want themto have those experiences.
(42:34):
And are we gonna have that forour children?
Are we gonna have a planet?
And for me, yeah.
These books were definitely away to try and focus on the good
stuff happening and the goodpeople are really pouring their
heart into doing, and I thinkit's really important.
(42:54):
We watch the news and we canbecome very easily overwhelmed
and frightened and anxious, andso it was definitely selfish in
some ways, for me to kind offocus my energy and time and
energy on this, these types ofbooks and these types of not to
say they didn't come with somehardship, because people do
share about hardship.
I share my hardship in theintroductions as well, and I
(43:16):
think that that was the beautyof it to show the yin and yang
of the human experience,especially as um, as someone
trying to pursue their passionin the world yeah, yeah, yes,
very, very well put.
Speaker 1 (43:32):
So you, I was going to ask you what's happening next
.
You have another book in theworks, and I was very curious
about this because it did soundlike this was on its way to
being a series, which I'm veryexcited about.
So the next one is Bloom.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
International.
So, yeah, when I arrived todenmark, um, my intention was to
write a very different kind ofbook, to kind of challenge
myself, maybe do a piece offiction or a memoir and, of
course, reach out to somemagazines.
But I found myself really drawnin meeting all these other
incredible people here.
Um, an American here whostarted up this amazing magazine
(44:10):
, and then you know, aSingaporean, malaysian woman
who's here doing incredible workand advocacy, and I started
meeting all these people and,like, I arrived, and I think,
the end of July of 2023 and bylike November, I had more than
half the people already.
It was just really snowballingreally quickly.
And again, because I was wetalked about this earlier in the
(44:31):
podcast how you know, with eachsuccessive one, it kind of be
streamlined it a little bit yeah.
Just became so clear and it justfelt so right to be doing.
I'm like I'm going to do it.
I'm going to do it and myfamily's like you're crazy, why
are you doing this again Another50 years?
What are you thinking?
But it just felt so right andagain just came together so
easily, and so my hope is, youknow, this one is the third, one
(44:54):
is almost done, but my focusright now, of course, is on
Blooming Cross, Canada, and I'mfeeling real pangs of
homesickness, I'll be honest,because I am due back for a trip
.
I think we're going back inFebruary, but you know it's
great timing and it's a greattime of year, Cause I love this
time of year in Canada.
But yeah, the third and finalbook will be, you know,
(45:16):
hopefully out in the world inthe next year or two.
Speaker 1 (45:18):
Oh, that's awesome, Awesome.
Um cause, that was going to beone of my questions.
Are you going to do like aninternational one?
And here we are then, then Ihave to like do something
different yeah, yeah, but it'llbe a nice bow on the series, I
think, yeah and it's a nicereflection of me as someone
who's had to.
Speaker 2 (45:36):
Yes, and I felt like a real representation,
reflection of who I am as aperson.
Speaker 1 (45:40):
yeah, yeah.
Well, becca, thank you so muchfor being here today.
It was really such a pleasureto get to talk to you and learn
more about what went on behindthe book, because it is a
beautiful book, everyone.
I was lucky enough to get acopy of it, and I also have
(46:01):
Bloom, where you Were Planted ona hold list with my library, so
that I can read that one aswell, because I really enjoyed
it.
So where can people find youonline and where can they find
the book and tell us all thatjuicy?
Speaker 2 (46:19):
good stuff.
You can go to my website, whichis just wwwbackashamedentercom,
and you just drop down the menuand you click on the Bloom
books are on the side and it'lltake you right to a tab that
says buy here and it takes youright to Heritage House
Publishing, which is mypublisher, and that gives you
different options on where tobuy If you want to buy locally,
(46:40):
independently, on Amazon and,yeah, it's going to be out
October 22nd officially.
I know you can do somepre-orders now and it was chosen
by Indigo as one of the mostanticipated Canadian titles for
this year.
Speaker 1 (46:54):
Oh nice.
Speaker 2 (46:55):
Nice, that's where I am.
I'm on Instagram as well.
Yeah, and we will put my otherwork.
Like my website has my otherwork I've done oh great.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
And we will put links to all of this in the show
notes for everyone, so you don'tneed to worry about how to
spell things or anything likethat.
We'll have links to all of it soyou can connect with Becca and
so you can get your own copy ofthe book.
It is definitely one of thosebooks to have on your bookshelf
and go back to when you need adose of inspiration and
(47:30):
creativity in your day.
So, yes, thank you again somuch for being here.
It's been such a pleasure andfor all of you listening.
That is it for us for this week.
We will be back in another twoweeks with another brand new
episode.
We will be back in another twoweeks with another brand new
episode and we will becontinuing on with our Prep for
(47:52):
the Holidays mini-sode series.
And, as always, if you areenjoying the show, please
subscribe or feel free to leaveus a review on Apple Podcasts or
on Spotify, and if you are onYouTube, you can give this video
a thumbs up.
You can also leave comments onYouTube, which is nice because
it's one of the few ways that Ican interact with you all after
(48:14):
an episode, so that is alwaysappreciated.
So that is it for this week.
We will talk to you all againvery soon.
Thanks for listening.
Thank you so much for joiningus for the and she Looked Up
Creative Hour.
If you're looking for links orresources mentioned in this
episode.
You can find detailed shownotes on our website at
(48:37):
andshelookedupcom.
While you're there, be sure tosign up for our newsletter for
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(48:59):
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