by Michelle Tremblay 

It will be difficult for me to follow that wonderful introduction of me given by my dear friend Karolyn.  She sees me as a mentor for women, which to me is so odd considering she is MY mentor! Much of the drive that I have is due in large part to her support and encouragement.  I have never seen myself in this light. However she believes in me, so I suppose I will give this a shot -  in hopes that my words may spark something in someone reading them, and might give you the courage to keep plowing ahead to try to make things happen for yourself.

I began this journey in 1993 when I became a single mom at 21 years old.  I was determined to raise my son in the best environment that two parents could have given him in a single parent household.  Because of this, I decided to begin working full time when he was only three months old as a typesetter for a local advertising newspaper. I worked very long hours, made terrible money and spent too much time away from my young baby.  These factors are what eventually led me to seek another job, with more reasonable hours and a better future.  Thus began my career in the Insurance Industry.

Now, let me start by telling all of you women that insurance is not a career any of us really ’strives’ for.  You don’t think as a little girl “I would just LOVE to be an insurance broker when I grow up!”  This is something that happens by accident, and it was no different for me.  However, there was something in me, a little voice that kept saying “Michelle, just learn some more, you might actually be good at this”  So, I decided to take some courses.  A little education never hurt anyone right?  I ended up getting my licence to sell insurance and moved on to a brokerage selling Home and Auto Insurance.

For lack of boring everyone too much, I will take you through the next 10 years very quickly, I went from brokerage to brokerage, 9am to 5pm, desk to desk, got married and divorced, and married again.  In those years, I went on to take a number of insurance courses to keep my mind working and to help with the boredom and monotony of it all.  The whole time I was working in these brokerages I kept thinking of how unhappy I was, how I didn’t belong there, and that this was not how I wanted to spend the rest of my working life.  However, I needed to support my son, and Insurance was the only way I knew how to do that.  Something was seriously missing in my life, and the fire that I knew I had deep down inside had just about been snuffed.

This all changed when I answered an advertisement for a job that turned my life around, and therefore began my new career, as an entrepeneur.  A life and career that I never knew I wanted, but it excited me and fit me like a glove.  I became one of the 3 members of a team that created an online insurance brokerage, from the ground up.  Something that had never been done before in Canada.  It was pretty much the scariest thing I had ever taken on - even scarier than single-motherhood because it seemed so far out of character for me.  Such a high risk, with an unknown return.  I asked myself so many questions over and over.
Could I actually do this? 
Who was going to help me?
Did I have what it would take to make this happen on my own?
Could I handle people counting on me for answers?
Did I even know the answers?

Well I am proud to say that I answered all of those questions by taking that huge risk.  I have accomplished more in the last 2 and a half years of my life than I have in my entire career.  I came out of my shell and realized my potential (with a lot of encouragement from the people I met).  The most amazing thing that I realized was that I can do anything I want to, that I make things happen for myself and that I am the one in control of my future.  This realization is what I want to share with every woman reading this today. You are the one in control and nothing will happen unless you MAKE it happen. 

Don’t let fear keep you from realizing your dreams, face that fear, and go for it.  You will be rewarded.

Filed under: Author Michelle, Work