Planting the Seed

    It should be no secret to anyone that my first passion is writing. Lately, when anyone at work asks me what's new and exciting in my life, I tell them I'm moving to Victoria in August to attend UVic’s Creative Writing program. No big deal, only one of my BHAGs being coming true.

     But now, I’m done school at Mount Royal (forever!) and I have four months before Victoria, which means, as much as I love writing, I’ve hit a writing lull. What should I write when there are no deadlines breathing down my neck? Which of my hundreds of story ideas crowding my mind should take precedence over all the others? The result is that, unfortunately, I usually end up writing nothing at all. My summer was looking pretty barren of words until Leanne came along and gave me this idea. 

     Being as goal-oriented as we are at lululemon, Leanne recently gave me the job of writing about our goals and what inspires us and, most importantly I think, what’s inspiring about us. All you need to do is step foot in one of our stores and spark up a conversation with one of us to get a sense of why lululemon is inspiring, but nobody will ever have enough time to hear about everyone’s goals in one trip to our store. So, this blog is the answer to that conundrum. Weekly one-on-one interviews with our glorious staff.

     A few weeks ago, on a Saturday morning at the store, Leanne asked me if I had any writing of mine I could read at the opening meeting. I didn’t have anything short enough to read, but I instantly had a favourite poem in mind, so she had me read it. Sometimes at work we only see our educator's physical goals and passions - yoga classes and events, marathons and half ironmen - so it was really special for me to share with the opening team something a little bit different. Leanne knew I loved writing and she wanted to showcase that. 

     I read If by Rudyard Kipling and, for a brief moment, all eyes were on me. I got to read and then talk about what that poem meant to me. For about five minutes, I was it. But the cool thing about that morning was, once I was done talking, Cara jumped in and shared a humbling experience with us. The poem affected her in a certain way and we got to hear why. So, for five minutes, Cara was it. She was the main event. After her, Jess Martin had something to say. Then Christina. I loved being able to share something that was very personal and meant a lot to me and find out how it affects the people around me when I’m showcasing my passions, my goals, my inspirations. 

     So that’s what this blog will do. It will showcase one person a week and then we’ll see a ripple effect of how each person inspires the next. That’s what makes lululemon exceptional. Scratch that. That’s what makes people exceptional.