Great Heights Pathways is a culmination of the most important threads of my values, experiences, interests, hopes and collaborations. This snippet of my story gives some insight into why I do this work.

I grew up on a 100-acre farm in rural Ontario, Canada. It was here where my education in outdoor intelligence and a love of adventure began.  A childhood of horse riding, wild swimming and meandering hikes through the countryside gave me a connection to nature that lives deeply in my bones.

For a long while, I thought I was going to be a doctor and my undergraduate degree and early work experiences were all lining me up for this first predicted path. But my eclectic mix of studies across biomedical sciences, microbiology and immunology and philosophy led me to carry on asking questions and studying. In postgraduate work, I began to think about how society and culture both embraces and rejects the human drive to innovate and grow. I had the opportunity to work with some of the world’s most leading edge scientists and engineers, translating their work for an academic audience in the humanities. Finally, my years in academia seemed to connect — I am deeply interested in people’s minds, bodies, behaviours and social interactions. Simply put, finding out what makes people tick — both individually and as collectives. 

I left academia to apply that interest in design and business. Next came a highly demanding decade as a London-based business consultant. This gave me an up-close look at what makes individuals and teams thrive or fail; how leaders and companies navigate uncertainty and conflict; and the importance of interpersonal dynamics. This helped to fulfill my curiosity about people and what it takes to excel in the corporate world, but the work was also all-consuming and missing important ingredients.