trendingpeople SW: Start us off by sharing your "start" story. CM: My story is not unique. I was young; in a new career at Rogers which (was Cantel then); I was on a special events committee and going to school for event management.
I finished up a huge event for them and just knew this was what I wanted to do. I wanted to be part of the powerful moments that events create and I wanted to do it everyday. So, I walked in and told my boss that I wanted to start own business. I was 24 years old. He was gracious and gave me the “laid off package” and out the door I went. BUT… I knew they had another massive program coming up so I turned around, marched back in and proposed to do their event as a contractor. They gave me the contract and we created Event Edge with its first client. To be honest, we had no idea what we were doing but we figured it out and we successfully ran the event in 10 provinces across Canada. We were so young and ballsy back then, we just thought anything was possible.
SW: That’s a very powerful message. But what does this actually look like?
CM: It starts by being willing to look inside and see
where you are failing and where you are succeeding. Asking the tough questions about your life balance, instead of doing what most of us do which is doing it and hanging on by our fingernails. Kids, jobs, events, clients, staff, office, parents…. We say were handling it but were really not all handling it.
CM: The first ten years were amazing, then things started
I don’t know where or why it wasn’t taught that the higher you rank yourself on that priority scale and the better you take care of yourself the higher you will produce in the world. We put ourselves last and we do more for our clients than we do for ourselves. I have walked the talk. I made a decision on that New York morning I was going to put me first, and see the impact it had on my life, my income, my production in the world.. and I did it for two years to prove its real…. I reduced my hours, I gave myself permission. “it’s ok for me to give myself a break” It’s ok to go for a walk… to have coffee in the middle of the day and actually listen to my friends, to share my issues and talk about me. This is my life and here is what I am dealing with today. It’s ok to stop hiding behind the blazer. And my life became everything I was doing to everyone else. My life literally became a special event.
SW: The book you've written, is it the product of this journey?
So now, every quarter is theme. I theme my life. For example, this past summer was “Connected and Natural” – I spent it outside, I aimed for the highest level of intimacy with people and nature, I traveled and spent a lot of time at this pretty little duck pond which became my sanctuary. This new quarter is “Celebration and Imminent Success”. I know this sounds hard to understand but this is working. And work is continuous and more abundant than ever before in my life. I have more money and time than I have ever had.
SW: I remember your events. You entered the Canadian
Event Awards a few years in a row. Can you believe this is going to be the 20th Anniversary? I hope you will be there!
SW:
Over the past 20 years, what has been the most challenging aspect of your career?
to change. Personally and professionally. There were some really tough points where I lost it all, but through, what I have come to learn is I was growing at every point in that journey and in ways that I would not realize for years. Those tough parts would shape a whole new life for me. Truly it’s been an evolution the past decade. It has all been about finding out what was missing in my life; why I wasn’t finding the success and happiness I was searching for.
CM: Exactly. This book is for all those people in the industry and other careers that are creating amazing things for other people but sacrificing themselves in the process. Many who don’t even know it. We struggle from one gig to the next, we plan every detail of that event, we labor and stress over it but are we even doing a tenth of that for our own life? The answer for me was no. Then one day I realized, I am just as important as the special event and I asked myself, "what can I do to take on the same roles I apply to my clients, for my own life". That’s when my life started to change
SW:
I want everyone know to read this book. This is the story of so many people we know.. how has the book been received?
CM: Amazing, it’s just the beginning the journey. Last week,
instead of laying down the red carpet, I was walking it as a celebrated author. I know this philosophy and approach to life works. I am walking down the life story to help others change their lives.
54 | CANADIAN SPECIAL EVENTS MAGAZINE | FALL 2016
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