Niagara Women's Enterprise Centre provides safe space for me to explore who I am and what I truly want without judgement or pressure. Courses Brenda Martin set up with the incomparable Victoria Peel and through Contact North let me learn at my own pace. Psychotherapist Jane Bradley helps me understand how to get past blocks from my past. LIGHTUP coach Andrea Wick empowers me to accept what skills I do and don't want to use, so I can reveal what I truly want to express with my life course going forward. For a long time, I believed my role in life was to create peace. I behaved in accepted feminine ways like soothing and helping others, mediating, being humble, diligent, non-intrusive, polished, receptive, nice, generous, forgiving, and encouraging to others. All valuable skills, but also dangerous liabilities unless paired with a healthy sense of boundaries, self-compassion and self-worth. I've been building those latter muscles, and NWEC has helped a lot. Believing an inherited myth that lives and careers must be linear, I married young, went to college, and spent many years in Library and Information Technology. I excelled and advanced, while literally struggling to stay awake. A health scare, an injury, chronic pain, layoffs, an abusive relationship, vision troubles, terminal elders, and professionals who helped me through these events all shifted my work ideals. Most employment advice suggested networking extensively, diligently utilizing social media, and daily updating an online resume with demonstrated skills reflecting your unwavering passion for your work. That's all practical if you haven't outgrown your field, or lost trust in your ability to be useful or safe in the competitive work world. I tried different types of jobs, with less respect and more manipulation, at lower pay. I couldn't imagine better while on edge at home. Even after leaving a toxic life, it takes a while to feel safe being seen. It's hard to envision a right livelihood when you're depleted. It's hard to imagine working for yourself without examples of what that can look like for a woman like me. NWEC's offerings have been very helpful, especially during the pandemic. They provide sturdy support on my confidence-building journey, helping me identify my unique perspectives and values, so I can better discern what growth and skills I honestly want my energy and time to go towards.
Niagara Women's Enterprise Centre provides safe space for me to explore who I am and what I truly want without judgement or pressure. Courses Brenda Martin set up with the incomparable Victoria Peel and through Contact North let me learn at my own pace. Psychotherapist Jane Bradley helps me understand how to get past blocks from my past. LIGHTUP coach Andrea Wick empowers me to accept what skills I do and don't want to use, so I can reveal what I truly want to express with my life course going forward. For a long time, I believed my role in life was to create peace. I behaved in accepted feminine ways like soothing and helping others, mediating, being humble, diligent, non-intrusive, polished, receptive, nice, generous, forgiving, and encouraging to others. All valuable skills, but also dangerous liabilities unless paired with a healthy sense of boundaries, self-compassion and self-worth. I've been building those latter muscles, and NWEC has helped a lot. Believing an inherited myth that lives and careers must be linear, I married young, went to college, and spent many years in Library and Information Technology. I excelled and advanced, while literally struggling to stay awake. A health scare, an injury, chronic pain, layoffs, an abusive relationship, vision troubles, terminal elders, and professionals who helped me through these events all shifted my work ideals. Most employment advice suggested networking extensively, diligently utilizing social media, and daily updating an online resume with demonstrated skills reflecting your unwavering passion for your work. That's all practical if you haven't outgrown your field, or lost trust in your ability to be useful or safe in the competitive work world. I tried different types of jobs, with less respect and more manipulation, at lower pay. I couldn't imagine better while on edge at home. Even after leaving a toxic life, it takes a while to feel safe being seen. It's hard to envision a right livelihood when you're depleted. It's hard to imagine working for yourself without examples of what that can look like for a woman like me. NWEC's offerings have been very helpful, especially during the pandemic. They provide sturdy support on my confidence-building journey, helping me identify my unique perspectives and values, so I can better discern what growth and skills I honestly want my energy and time to go towards.
NWEC is committed to supporting women on their entrepreneurship, training and wellness journeys and YOU ARE INVITED! Getting involved is easy. Here are some options to consider:
Become a Member
Become a Wellness Associate
Become a Sponsor
Become a Donor
