Rewarding Relationships

What a weekend on the beautiful grounds of Royal Roads University. 🌲

Royal Roads University - Professional and Continuing Studies Alumni Weekend was everything, inspiring conversations, deep connection, and the privilege of hearing Nobel Peace Prize nominee Sheila Watt-Cloutier speak with wisdom, clarity and heart.

Her words will stick with me:

“Things will happen at the speed of empathy. Things will happen at the speed of trust.” - Sheila Watt-Cloutier

As a coach, I felt those words shift my core.

Sunday was all about Celebrating 25 years of Executive Coaching at RRU. What a milestone! This program has touched thousands of lives: 2,000–3,000 working professionals have earned the Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching (CEC), and 450 non-profit organizations have been coached as part of the CEC education process. That’s not just a program, that’s a legacy!

🌿 The Embodied Coach: Exploring Nature & Somatic Practices with David Graham, MA, MCC and Simon Goland, Ph.D., PCC Goland, PhD, PCC
As a volunteer for the coaching demo, I benefited from the Somatic Coaching experience personally, and Simons unique presence in ways I didn’t expect. I learned to show up with better presence as a coach, and more importantly, as a mother. The practices we learned together, shifted the entire room, and I know that kind of learning is rare. If you haven’t registered for time with Simon on May 13th at 5pm, I highly recommend it! https://lnkd.in/gBjzS4b6

It was marvellous to see so many familiar faces I love, to meet new friends and to continue to uplift this community. Coaching changes lives. Weekends like this remind us why we do this work and gives us time to stop and celebrate the change we’re making together.

Congratulations to the entire RRU Executive Coaching community. Here’s to the next 25 years. 💛

Jeff and I are attending the 2026 Northwest Native Economic Summit and Fashion Show, cohosted by the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians Economic Development Corporation (ATNI-EDC) and Nixyaawii Community Financial Services (NCFS) April 21-23, 2026 at Ilani Casino in Ridgefield, WA.

Super proud to be wearing my Moose Hide pin, that has some extra special love from Mooshum (Jeff’s Dad). He added moose tufting and beads to my pin because he knows how much the Moose Hide medicine means to me, and that I wear it every day to honour my commitment to cultivating love and safety. ❤️



Moose Hide Campaign day is May 14. Check out the website to participate in the gift of medicine in the day, workshops, fasting and ceremony. ❤️

It was an honour to be selected by the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres to teach Indigneous Youth Coaching skills at the Gathering Our Voices Conference in Vancouver.

We covered….

What is Coaching?
The Cultivating Safe Spaces Framework
Confidentiality
Practicing Listening Skills
Asking Powerful Questions
Supporting Goal Setting
and practiced Mini Coaching Sessions Demos - Talk Show Style! 🎤

It was very inspiring to spend time with kind, brilliant, courageous, and wise Indigenous youth sharing coaching skills together! ❤️

I was really honored to be invited by the Restorative Justice Association of BC (RJABC) to the Provincial Symposium to present a Cultivating Safe Spaces (CSS) workshop. One of many impactful moments, was joining 3 CSS Facilitators (.loyer.poll Lindsay Poll (Loyer) , Karen Milstein-McKinnon & Shelley Saje Ricci MBA ) in meaningful and encouraging conversations around our work. This gathering provides an opportunity to share insights on cultivating inclusive, respectful environments and deepening our commitment to restorative practices. Events like this are essential for building stronger, more compassionate communities. Thank you RJABC. ❤️



Naqsmist Storytellers Inc

Cultivating Safe Spaces Conference is a transformational experience of healing and connection. I’m so grateful to be sharing “Cultivating Safe Spaces in HR (Human Relationships)” and to be learning along side other leaders working towards a better, more loving world, starting with our internal relationship with ourselves.

“Cultivating Safe Spaces is a coming of age framework. Coming of age is about being able to regulate yourself, no matter what space you’re in….coming of age means you know who you are.” -

“As I am, is enough.” - McCallum

“I want to be what I have learned.” - Mattice

It was a real privilage to connect with brilliant minds at the Vancouver Island University Leadership Conference and connect with so many Vancouver Island University MBA Program students last week. The topic was “Beyond Boundaries” and it was organized for the students, by the students. Thank you to the organizers...Dorcas Nganga, Telanie Moolman, Reese Braybrook, Saranya Parthiban, Ayush Mathur, B.Tech, MBA, Valentina Farfan, Ataene Dienye, Phyllis Kimani, Sumithra Rajendran Rajendra, Natasha Ladouceur, all supported by the incredible Omar Karim.

I learned so much from the delegates and speakers...

Brodie Guy, C.Dir. - Environmental Investments within Public Funds
Karima Ramji - Cultural Intelligence
Jatinder (JD) Dhir - Global Collaboration
Mohit Payare - Career Success Story
Nneka Otogbolu MScIM, MBA, BSc. - Diversity, Leadership and Connections

You all touched my heart and filled it with hope for the future. ❤️

https://www.vilc.ca/

https://lnkd.in/g46XfvEN


 
 
 
 

 
 

Cultivating Safe Spaces is rooted in the foundational work of self understanding and self reflection. You can’t cultivate safe spaces, if you aren’t one. These are some excellent questions to ask anyone working on a team from a place of struggle and feeling stuck in the cycle.

Internal self-awareness

What emotions are you experiencing?
What are you assuming about another person or the situation?
What are the facts vs. interpretations?
What are your core values, and how might they be impacting your reactions?

External self-awareness

What are you doing in team meetings that is helpful?
What are you doing that is not helpful?
If you could change one part of how you interact with the team, what would it be?

Take personal responsibility and a collaborative approach to problem solving.

https://hbr.org/2019/01/to-improve-your-team-first-work-on-yourself?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=hbr&utm_source=Linkedin&tpcc=orgsocial_edit

Excited to be part of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce ! 🎉

We are excited to welcome our newest members Alacrity Canada, 22c Partners Inc., Rewarding Relationships, Nelson Investments Inc., Scrubtastic Cleaning Inc., and Onward Security!

🤝 Calling all businesses in Greater Victoria!
🚀 Discover exclusive benefits and resources when joining The Chamber.

>>> Find out more about our newest members and becoming a member on our website: http://bitly.ws/S3uK