Lynne Groulx is a Métis woman from the Treaty Three historic Metis community of Rainy River/Lake of the Woods, who grew up in Cochrane, Ontario. She has spent most of her adult life living and working on unceded Algonquin territory.
She spent 15 years in the private sector before obtaining a civil law degree. As a lawyer, she became a senior advisor for the Canadian Human Rights Commission with a focus on systemic human rights issues. She now works for the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) as the Chief Executive Officer where, among many other things, she’s helped develop two Resiliency Lodges—Elder-led holistic healing centers for Indigenous women. You’ll want to get to know her.
H&B: Tell us about yourself and your role at the NWAC.
I joined the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) as the Chief Executive Officer in 2016. My primary function is as the chief administrator and spokesperson/advocate for the organization, as well as advising the Board of Directors. Since joining NWAC, my proudest accomplishments have been the development of two Resiliency Lodges, which are holistic healing lodges for Indigenous women in both Quebec and New Brunswick; the purchase and renovations of the Social, Cultural and Economic Innovation Centre, which is our new headquarters; the growth in the types of programming we offer, including most recently a national apprenticeship program; the Accord we signed with the Government of Canada; and the 65-point action plan we developed on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (“Our Actions, Our Plan”). How did you get involved with NWAC?
I always knew I wanted to work for my community. When the opportunity arose in late 2016 for the Executive Director position at NWAC, I decided to apply. I was ready to take on that role for a national not-for-profit organization. I wanted to work for the NWAC to help advance the rights of Indigenous women and gender diverse voices.
"I wanted to work for the NWAC to help advance the rights of Indigenous women and gender diverse voices.”
What is the biggest challenge that NWAC faces today?
It was no shock to us when the National Inquiry for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls concluded with the finding of genocide. The violence, racism and discrimination of Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse peoples is not an isolated incident, and proves the ongoing legacy of colonization. Indigenous communities need healing services and healing centres across the country. Almost every community is experiencing some kind of trauma—direct, indirect and intergenerational. We work relentlessly to identify funding and programming to help the families and survivors heal from intergenerational trauma. The instability in funding from the federal government has been challenging, as we want to implement our programs and services in every province and territory. We need ongoing and stable support to ensure we can deliver these much-needed services to our communities.
“The violence, racism and discrimination of Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse peoples is not an isolated incident, and proves the ongoing legacy of colonization.”
What is something that excites you about the work of the NWAC?
The most exciting thing about the work at NWAC is the diversity of our work, which ranges from policy to economic development to service delivery to international work. Through our work, we are seeing concrete changes and improvements. Then, there is the development of our lodges and being able to provide the service of healing to grassroots women. We are working with Elders in developing the model of the Resiliency Lodges, which are the first of their kind in Canada; and also seeing the positive impact of NWAC’s Virtual and in-person programs and services, such as our cultural and artisanal workshops. The organization has gone from running six-month programs with about $400,000 in core funding to multi-year programming up to 10 years. Incorporating fundraising, and seeing an increase in donations from wonderful supporters and allies, has led to close to two million dollars in much-needed additional revenue in order for us to continue to deliver our programs and services. What advice would you give your younger self today?
Before she passed away, my grandmother gave me this piece of advice: “Remember, nobody is better than you.” I’d repeat those words to my younger self. I’ve learned that nobody is better than me, because nobody has had my unique experiences. Those words are a reminder that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to, but it took a long time to get to this place. We’re all humans and we all have limitations and strengths, but this makes us who we are, and no one can take that away from you.
“I’ve learned that nobody is better than me, because nobody has had my unique experiences.”
You are quite active on Twitter. How can social media be a platform for truth and change?
Twitter is one of the strongest social media tools that we have in our advocacy work. People are using Twitter; they’re reading it and retweeting it, and subsequently learning from it. We can get our message out; we can influence people and have them understand who we are, what happened to us, what needs to happen to redress the harms and how they can collaborate and become allies. What does empowerment mean to you?
I believe a lot in self-empowerment. It needs to come from the inside, rather than from the outside. In order to empower ourselves, we have to work on ourselves. It’s a journey. And by empowering ourselves, we empower our family, we empower our community, and we empower our country.
“And by empowering ourselves, we empower our family, we empower our community, and we empower our country.”
Why do you believe organizations like the NWAC and brands like Hillberg & Berk should collaborate on inclusion, representation, and impacting social good?
We both want to make a difference with our stakeholders and in our communities. We all have a role to play in counteracting violence against women and advancing reconciliation. We all have to work together to find ways to make our communities better. If we want to see a better place, a better country, we need to collaborate.
“We all have to work together to find ways to make our communities better. If we want to see a better place, a better country, we need to collaborate.”
This June is National Indigenous History Month. What is something you’d like our H&B community to know about the importance of acknowledging and celebrating Indigenous cultural history and amplifying Indigenous voices in Canada?
We envision our future with full rights that are honoured and respected. Indigenous women and girls have faced multiple, intersecting forms of violence and discrimination from which we are actively empowering ourselves and our communities to overcome. We’d like to share with your H&B community the importance of collaboration and allyship with Indigenous communities across Canada. To understand Indigenous women and their struggles, the first step is to sit with us and get to know us, our hardships, our successes, our culture, our history and where we need to go from there. The H&B community can do some self-learning by exploring the National Inquiry report and other reports on NWAC’s website at www.nwac.ca. There are many ways to help amplify NWAC’s voice. Staff can follow us on Twitter and retweet our messages. They could consider booking a cultural training experience with us at our National Office or Resiliency Lodge. It’s about finding those occasions or ways to amplify our voice. We would appreciate H&B’s support in amplifying NWAC’s voice and that of Indigenous women, girls, and gender-diverse people.
“To understand Indigenous women and their struggles, the first step is to sit with us and get to know us, our hardships, our successes, our culture, our history and where we need to go from there.”
Can you tell us about a woman who has inspired you?
Alma Brooks inspires me. She’s a 79 strong Wolastoq woman and she’s actively working in her community every day and continues to mentor and support individuals and projects across Turtle Island. She recently sent me a photo of her sitting on a tractor at the farm in New Brunswick, which is located on the property of our second Resiliency Lodge. She’s spearheading and leading the healing movement in our lodges. This is a really huge initiative and it’s Alma’s mission and vision. I so admire Alma. She is a selfless and driven woman and a dear friend of mine. She continues to share her wisdom and knowledge to help her community.
Writing: Carter Selinger
Jamie Pandit (she/her) is a digital creator, fashion expert, and influencer based out of Toronto. Her story of “living in stealth” for 16 years before publicly coming out as a transgender woman in 2020 touched the hearts of many. We chatted with Jamie about her story, her style, Pride, and what it means to be a good ally. You’re going to want to get to know her.
What inspired you to become a digital creator and share your story?
I’ve been creating on social media for years, at first hiding my transgender identity. It was never just about the outfit; it was about sharing my thoughts and perspectives and connecting with others. But from hiding my identity and seeing misrepresentation and lack of representation of transgender people, I internalized that transphobia. I wasn’t proud of who I was because I didn’t see people like me online. After coming out through a Youtube video, I realized there were so many others like me who didn’t feel seen or heard. There’s so much hate put on trans people for just existing. I saw that negative energy and decided it was important for me to not only exist but prove that transgender people can thrive and lead lives full of success and happiness. I also wanted to prove we deserve to exist in all spaces, including in this “influencer” world, where we haven’t always been included. By sharing my story I’m hoping to normalize our identities, livelihoods, and unique experiences.
"By sharing my story I’m hoping to normalize our identities, livelihoods, and unique experiences.“
Are there any aspects of the LGBTQ2S+ community that you wish were more common knowledge? Or things about Pride that you wish more people knew about?
It takes time to for people to understand the difference between gender identity and sexual identity. Being transgender has to do with one’s gender identity not matching the sex assigned at birth. It’s also important to understand that the LGBTQ2S+ community is not a monolith. We have shared and individual experiences despite all belonging to the “queer” community. Pride isn’t for a day or a month. It’s more than the rainbows, parades, fun parties, and drag shows. As LGBTQ2S+ people, we have to consciously choose our happiness and take pride in who we are even when the world tells us to dim our light. Pride month can look different for every person. For some, Pride is a time to get together with kin—and other LGBTQ2S+ community members—to celebrate boldly and proudly. For others, it’s a time to really focus on advocacy work and to call for the action needed to inspire necessary change. Pride can also encourage people to reflect on how they can be better allies and support the community. For LGBTQ2S+ members who have not come out to themselves or others, Pride can be a time to step out of their comfort zone and into a space where they can start to be who they really are.
"Pride isn’t for a day or a month. It’s more than the rainbows, parades, fun parties, and drag shows. As LGBTQ2S+ people, we have to consciously choose our happiness and take pride in who we are even when the world tells us to dim our light."
What is the biggest or most common misconception about trans people?
It would have to be that transgender people have a “mental illness,” or that they are confused and don’t know who they are. We do know who we are but are often afraid to explore and be ourselves because of the policing, marginalization, and oppression of trans people. A trans person knows who they are better than any stranger ever can. Cisgender and transgender people may have different experiences but trans people’s experiences are still valid and legitimate. One doesn’t have to take away from the other.
Why did it feel right for you to be a part of this specific campaign?
It’s an honour to be part of this campaign because, after coming out in 2020 and not being able to celebrate Pride during the pandemic, it feels special to be seen and celebrated. As I get older, I’ve started appreciating jewelry for how it reminds me of special moments in time. I’ll remember celebrating this year’s Pride through this campaign.
Although Pride month is important to celebrate, this Prism Sparkle collection will be available year-round with proceeds donated to the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity (CCGSD). I love that you can share the magic of Pride with anybody throughout the year and keep donations going to a good cause.
What can we do as allies to show support to the trans community?
Society, medical knowledge, and science are evolving—we need to evolve as well. There are so many harmful myths that contribute to transphobia and continue to put the lives of trans people at risk. An important part of allyship is critically thinking about what you hear and read, and how you address your own biases. With the existence of harmful anti-trans bills and policies, we need the support of allies more than ever. You can use your voice to dispel harmful misconceptions and call out transphobic comments and behavior when you witness it.
"An important part of allyship is critically thinking about what you hear and read, and how you address your own biases.“
What builds or represents community for you?
Community to me is based on respect, kindness, love, and shared attributes. The community that I have built online through my platform is based on connection. I typically connect with people through their authenticity and vulnerability.
How would you describe your personal style?
My style is always evolving depending on how I feel. I draw from different experiences, what’s happening in my life, and of course trends! At its core, I’d say my personal style is bold, bohemian and ethereal glam goddess. How does adding jewelry to an outfit, or fashion in general, make you feel like you're embracing your brightest, boldest self and standing in your power?
I’ve always loved bright colours, but in the last year my outfits have been even more vibrant and bold. I’ve been especially drawn to rainbow and the shades of pink, white, and blue that represent the trans flag. I lived in stealth for over half my life and now I just want to celebrate with colour and sparkle. In the last few years, I’d gotten used to wearing simpler jewelry but felt like something was missing from my outfits. Now I’m adding and layering jewelry and it’s really elevated my style and made me feel more put together. This collection specifically shows off my Pride and gives me that feel-good energy to step into my day.
What life (or fashion!) advice would you give your younger self and why?
I would’ve told my younger self that I was proud of her for doing what felt right in the moment and staying authentic. All through my life I tried to fit in so I wouldn’t stand out, but my style was always bold. My energy radiated. I’m glad I never changed that about myself because I was born to sparkle.
"All through my life I tried to fit in so I wouldn’t stand out, but my style was always bold. My energy radiated. I’m glad I never changed that about myself because I was born to sparkle.”
If we asked your loved ones what makes you Sparkle, what would they tell us?
I asked my husband this question and he said, “your big heart.”
Writing: Carter Selinger
In support of Pride, we created Prism Sparkle. Proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Centre for Gender and Sexual Diversity.
We also chatted with members of the LGBTQ2S+ community about their lives, the history and evolution of Pride, and what they love about their community. The particularities of these individual’s lives defy the stereotypes and expectations our world places on them. Some are in heterosexual relationships, some are technically proficient on 11 instruments, and some are really into outlaw country music. As Julie Gobeil puts it, “All kinds of queer people exist.” You should get to know them.
Alexis Fellner
“Pride is a celebration but I think it’s still a protest. It’s a bit of both, and I think it should be.”
Are there any aspects of the LGBTQ2S+ community that you wish were more common knowledge? Are there any things about Pride that you wish more people knew about?
Part of the spectrum I wish people knew a little bit more about is asexuality. I’m bisexual but I’m also demisexual, which is a part of the ace (asexuality) spectrum. Some people don’t feel a sexual drive or a sexual desire, but they feel much more connected to the romantic side of things. There’s a big difference between romantic attraction and sexual attraction for a lot of people and I feel this gets glazed over sometimes. Demisexual means I don’t feel a sexual desire for somebody until I have an emotional connection. I need to feel like they’re a person.
There’s a lot of confusion and questions about Pride like “Why do we need Pride? Why aren’t straight people included?” I think a lot of people misunderstand the purpose. The reason you wouldn’t need a straight Pride is because the pride is already there, and widely accepted, so there’s no need to protest or fight for it.
What do you love most about your community?
The amount of empathy that exists in the LGBTQ community. We’re all so willing to explore ourselves and each other and let people find out who they are for themselves. There’s a lot of empathy for people who are still finding out where they fit (whether that’s in the community or not) and that amount of empathy is hard to find in the world right now. The openness and empathy in the community is not only welcoming, it’s refreshing.
What are you most passionate about in your life right now?
Mental and physical health both on their own and how they affect each other. I’m white and cis and straight passing, but I’m part of a marginalized community and I have a chronic illness. There’s a lot of sides to every person that really affect their mental health and wellbeing. And mental health can affect your physical health and vice versa. Lately it’s been about learning about self-advocacy in mental and physical health. There’s a lot of advocacy you have to do for yourself in the medical community with doctors not quite understanding certain conditions enough to be able to treat you, or having to explain to them that you know your body, and you know what you’re feeling.
People often talk about anger as a negative emotion, yet Pride started with a riot in 1969. The Stonewall riots were an example of how justified anger can create a powerful motivational force for social change. Is it fair to say that, since then, Pride has become more of a celebration? What emotions do you associate with the origins, history, and evolution of Pride?
There are a lot of “negative” emotions that are really important. Fear is important for survival and I think anger is important sometimes in order to be heard. The Black Lives Matter movement is a really great example of a community getting fed up because they just haven’t been treated fairly, and haven’t been heard. So they needed to get loud because the passion that comes with anger is really powerful, and I think it helps others see the importance of what they’re fighting for.
It’s fair to say that Pride is a celebration but I think it’s still a protest. It’s a bit of both, and I think it should be. Especially because it has been going on for over 50 years now and we’re still fighting for certain issues within the LGBTQ community. There will always be points that need to be debated, or argued, or fought for.
Why did it feel right for you to be a part of this campaign?
I was really flattered when asked to be a part of this because I usually fly under the radar as an LGBTQ person because I’m straight passing. I’m bi and I’ve been out for six or seven years now, but I’ve often been in long term relationships with men. My current partner and I have been together for almost five years. I think that the bisexual community gets different representation sometimes. When a few of my coworkers found out (I was going to be in this campaign) they said, “You’re going to be a great representation of us.” Meaning the rest of us who are also straight passing or also bi and not out. I think I bring a different image of bisexuality than what people might imagine. I’m quite feminine a lot of the time and I have a boyfriend. And I think it’s really important to have that representation. Someone might not fit the stereotype, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get to use that label. I also think it’s really important that I’m a part of the H&B family. I’ve worked at H&B for over 2 years now and I have noticed how much this business really does value our community and values me as a person. They’re very supportive.
Do you have any book or movie recommendations?
I’m not a big reader and I don’t see as many movies as I want to. But the first thing that came to mind was a video game called Gone Home. It’s considered a walking simulator. It's not an action game. There’s no combat. Essentially, you’re walking around a house and picking up clues. It’s very situational and it’s a little bit spooky. The reason I bring it up is because they go through a really beautiful young love story of the sister falling in love with her girlfriend. I played it very shortly before—and then again after—I came out. It’s a very heartwarming, down-to-earth coming-of-age story. And it was really refreshing to interact with a story of a teenage girl figuring out who she is and how her family is going to feel about it. It shows those types of things—like your first love—in a very different light. I thought it was a good representation and it still sits with me today as one of my favourite games even though it’s nothing special. It’s just a really beautiful story.
What’s your secret skill?
I’m really good at faux calligraphy. Real calligraphy is not my thing, but I like brush lettering and I get to use it a lot when I write our donation cards at H&B. So that’s really fun for me. But another skill I have that’s a little more abstract is what I like to call “tetrissing.” I’m really good at packing. Packing a suitcase, or packing the car to go camping. And it’s kind of become my job now. I have to try and make room for everything. So, yeah, spatial awareness or “tetrissing” is something I’m good at that people are often surprised by.
You mentioned one of your favourite hobbies is drawing cartoons. What inspired you to want to be a cartoonist, and what aspects of that genre of art do you find most appealing?
It kind of fell into my lap. I’ve been an artistic person since I was old enough to hold a pencil. As a toddler, I was already drawing people with faces and arms and hands and making little situations out of it. I don’t consider myself a super funny person so I wouldn’t say I draw comic strips, or funny situations, but I like to tell stories with cartoons. For most of my life drawing has helped me make connections and tell some stories. But the thing that keeps me at it nowadays is just the feel of it. I really like to create and look at things in a different way. I’m really into bold lines and bright colours and sharp contrast. So that’s why I call it cartoony. I can do realism and abstract work, but what I really want to do is make my friends into cute little cartoon people.
Korinne Konnor
“I want to be proof that trans people can find themselves.”
Are there any aspects of the LGBTQ2S+ community that you wish were more common knowledge? Are there any things about Pride you wish more people knew about?
Our history in general. There’s not much taught about queer history in schools or anywhere really. As a queer person I had to learn all that information myself and teach other people around me how to be with someone who is trans and how to talk properly. I came out 15 years ago and it was a very different world then. I think education is so important.
With the LGBTQ community, a lot of the movement has happened through moments of tragedy that have brought our community together and helped us push forward. You can see this throughout history with the Stonewall riots and the AIDS epidemic. There are also famous hate crimes like the Matthew Shepard murder. Our response to things like this has moved our rights so far forward.
What do you love most about your community?
I love the tenacity of the community. If you look back at our history, queer people and trans people have existed for thousands of years and we’ve always had to overcome so much. Transexual* surgery started in the 1920s, which is, like, crazy. We’ve had surgeries available for almost a hundred years and only now is it starting to become a conversation. Obviously 1969 and Stonewall was a pivotal moment in history, but we’ve been around forever. People have always been fighting and standing up for themselves throughout history and that makes such a big difference for people like me who came out 15 years ago. I just hope that I’ve helped make things easier for the next person who needs to come out.
*Korinne is using the original name for the surgery in the 1920’s
What are you most passionate about in your life right now?
Ever since I transitioned I’ve been really passionate about fashion. I like how you can always reinvent yourself and recreate yourself. I like to be an exaggeration of femininity. I draw inspiration from beautiful women but also drag queens. I went to a lot of drag shows when I first came out and so I like to be soft like a woman but really bold like a drag queen at the same time.
People often talk about anger as a negative emotion, yet Pride started with a riot in 1969. The Stonewall riots were an example of how justified anger can generate a powerful motivational force for social change. Is it fair to say that, since then, Pride has become more of a celebration? What emotions do you associate with the origin, history, and evolution of Pride since Stonewall?
Pride has definitely become more commercialized and definitely more of a celebration, but I think there are still parts of it that are a reminder to us and to the world that there is still so much change that needs to happen. Pride is a very special time in my life because I came out as trans going into grade 12. I was going to a catholic school at the time, so when it came to grad pictures they wanted me to wear a bow tie like all the other boys, and I was like, “Absolutely not.” I had to fight the school board and I went all the way to the superintendent to get proper representation, but now my yearbook says Korinne. It has my name as is, and I got to have flowers in my photo, and got to wear a dress to grad. Graduation is right around the same time as Pride and it’s always a reminder for me to stand up for who you are, what you believe in, and to march to the beat of your own drum no matter what anyone else says. I think it’s important to be loud and proud.
Was Pride part of your inspiration to make sure your gender was properly recognized?
I’m just really stubborn. The beginning of it started in like January so it didn’t have anything to do with Pride at the beginning but graduation was right around Pride. Originally, I was just shocked that someone said no to me, but I’m glad it all worked out because it shows, for our community, that when someone tells you no, or someone doesn’t believe in you, you need to stand up for yourself, make your voice heard, and stand up for what you know is right. I’m just really glad it all worked out.
Why did it feel right for you to be a part of this campaign?
I think it’s important for me because one of the biggest moments in my life was meeting and seeing a trans person for the first time. Prior to transitioning, I was very androgynous. I wore women’s clothes. I didn’t really understand myself. I just thought I was a gay kid, but that moment (of meeting a trans person) gave me such clarity and I finally understood. So I think it’s important to make myself visible so hopefully—if someone else is confused—they can see there are people just like them, and that it’s ok to be whoever they are, and it’s ok to be confused. I want to be proof that trans people can find themselves.
Can you talk a little bit more about meeting a trans person for the first time and what that was like? Who were they? What were they like? How did that whole experience make you feel?
When I was in grade 11 my friend and I came across a queer youth group called Generation Queer or GenQ, so we started to attend. At the time they identified as lesbian and I identified as gay. After being in this group for a couple weeks I found out that one of the facilitators, Zak, was a trans man. I went home and immediately started looking up everything about being trans; everything I had been feeling for so long started to make sense. I was already wearing makeup, wearing women's clothes, shaving my body hair, and a friend of mine was already referring to me in female pronouns. By the next weekly meeting I had already picked my name, knew my transition goals, and officially came out as trans.
Being in GenQ, being around other LGBTQ+ kids was already significant but to have a trans facilitator / mentor was life changing. Zak really took me under his wing to guide and support me. He was my biggest cheerleader and we immediately became like family. I can't imagine beginning and going through this process without GenQ and especially without Zak to help me that year. It was a place for all of us kids to feel safe, supported, and understood.
Do you have any book or movie recommendations?
Disclosure by Laverne Cox is a great documentary about trans representation in the media. There’s another really good documentary called Killing Patient Zero on HBO that really changes the story about the first person with AIDS. He obviously wasn’t the first person with AIDS, but he was the first person to work with doctors to help identify what this illness was and help them connect how it was spreading. He potentially could have saved millions of lives. He was a hero.
What's your secret skill?
I think my skill is perseverance. All my life nobody has ever been able to tell me what to do. I stand up for myself when I need to. I think especially in this community it’s important for you to stand up for yourself and make yourself loud and proud and to refuse to take no for an answer when it comes to your rights.
You mentioned you’re always looking for fashion that helps you be “almost an exaggeration of femininity.” Could you elaborate on what you mean by exaggerating femininity? What aspects of fashion help you achieve this?
I love a tall heel, bold colours, crazy silhouettes, great shaping outfits. I like really big, bold, beautiful, and glamorous looks. Almost on the verge of drag queen, but not quite.
Julie Gobeil
“All kinds of queer people exist. We’re your family and friends and coworkers and we look all different ways.”
Are there any aspects of the LGBTQ2S+ community that you wish were more common knowledge? Is there anything about Pride that you wish more people knew about?
Yeah, I think the main thing I wish more people realized is that all kinds of queer people exist. It’s not just white, thin, cis men. We’re your family and friends and coworkers and we look all different ways. Also, I wish people understood that you can label yourself however feels best for you, and nobody really needs to be policing that. Like if a non-binary person identifies as a lesbian, that’s fine.
I think you addressed this in a different question, but I think it’s important to remember the roots of it. It did start as a riot with Stonewall. I also think people should be wary of businesses that slap a rainbow on something and call themselves inclusive when maybe the rest of the time they aren’t actively working with queer people, or hiring queer people.
What made you want to be a part of this specific campaign?
Well, like I said, I can be wary of capitalism in general (laughs). When I was first asked I really didn’t think I was going to do it, and I wrote a long email that included all my questions and concerns. I was really impressed by how H&B addressed all my concerns. They set up a meeting with me and talked about every question and concern I had. They also went the extra mile on a couple suggestions I had made. For example, I was saying that it’s really important to have queer folks working behind the scenes. I gave them some ideas for makeup artists, and they ended up hiring one of the queer make up artists I suggested. So I came in pretty skeptical and I ended up feeling really good about doing it because of how willingly they communicated with me and took what I said to heart. I know in other years H&B has done a rainbow Sparkle Ball™ but never explicitly for Pride, or for LGBTQ folks. So that was really important to me too. I was assured that the messaging was about Pride and the proceeds were going to queer organizations.
What do you love most about your community?
With my community of queer friends, I really like how politically active they are. I guess outsiders would call us social justice warriors, which I’m fine with to be honest. I’m constantly impressed with the insights and activism my friends are developing and taking part in. It just makes me want to be better and more educated about various issues. I learn a lot from them.
What forms of activism do you and your friends get involved in?
Well right now in Regina we’re talking about supporting a conversion therapy ban, and it’s gone to discussion at city hall meetings with many—I would say bigots—voicing their opposition to the ban. I have some friends who have spoken at city hall so eloquently and made such great, evidence-based points. I have another friend who has started a grassroots movement to support this conversion ban. I’m also on the board for UR Pride—a local organization that has a lot of programs and services for queer people, and that’s really important to me because they’re doing a lot of great work to make things safer and more inclusive for queer (and LGBTQ+) people here in Regina.
What are you most passionate about in your life right now?
I would say Regina-specific queer issues are really important to me. Obviously, the conversion ban. Also, a couple years ago there was a public school board vote to make Pride celebrations mandatory in public elementary schools and I was part of that motion. It feels more doable for me to focus on Regina and to make Regina safer and more inclusive for queer people versus trying to attack the whole world and system. I’m just really passionate about local activism.
People often talk about anger as a negative emotion, but Pride started as a riot in 1969. The Stonewall riots were an example of how justified anger can be a motivational force for social change. Is it fair to say that, since then, Pride has become more of a celebration? What emotions do you associate with the origin, history, and evolution of Pride since Stonewall?
I definitely believe that anger can be a forward-moving emotion. Sometimes that’s the only way to get things noticed, or to get things moving forward in terms of equality issues. As I said earlier, I do think it’s unfortunate how people can quickly forget the roots of it, and then it just seems like a fun rainbow party. Some of the most staunch, politically progressive people I know don’t participate in Pride, and I think it is capitalism—the businesses jumping on board—that really grinds their gears. As a queer person, who identifies as a progressive, it’s nice to march in the streets with a bunch of people who are happy for you. I’ve marched with my mom and brother and it just feels amazing. So I’m not totally cynical about Pride. My mom came one year and we met up at Pride and she had a big sign that said: “I love my gay daughter.” That was pretty great.
Do you have any movie or book recommendations?
Yeah I’ve read a few books recently where the author is queer or the main character is queer or both. The one I read most recently is called The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta. It’s a young adult novel that’s super good. Milk Fed by Melissa Broder is great. I’d recommend a biography called On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous By Ocean Vuong. One that’s good for Queer history is Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg. That’s just a really amazing book about being a butch lesbian in the 70s in America.
I also have a couple of TV recommendations. The new season of Shrill is really good. The main character’s best friend is in a relationship with a non-binary person which is pretty cool. The show The Bold Type is so good. I don’t know anyone else that watches it, but in my opinion it’s super inclusive and there is lots of queer representation, and then I May Destroy You is obviously epic.
What’s your secret skill?
The only thing I could think of is that I have really nice penmanship. Aesthetics are kind of important to me in all aspects of life, but yeah I have very nice writing and I’m really picky about my pens and it’s a whole ritual for me. I was writing down my answers to these questions because I don’t always get a lot of opportunities to hand write.
What interests you most about the world of fashion?
I’m really into red carpet fashion. I like to post photos and recaps of red carpets as they’re happening on my Instagram. I also add witty captions and judgments of the outfits people wear to events like the Oscars, Grammys, or especially the Met Gala. That’s just something I love. I follow a lot of high fashion designers on Instagram too and it’s always so cool to see someone wear a look that you remember seeing on the runway.
Echo Roberts
“The LGBT community remains resilient and able to fight back for our rights and the rights of future generations. I feel that same resilience within the Indigenous and two-spirit communities.”
Are there any aspects of the LGBTQ2S+ community that you wish were more common knowledge? Are there any aspects of Pride you wish more people knew about?
Definitely supporting trans people. There are so many hateful discriminations against the trans community and laws that are being passed in other countries that are taking away their rights; that’s something that is so important to talk about. We need to help that cause right now.
What’s a good way to make your voice heard?
I think social media is a good way. You can help create or share videos and bring as much awareness as you can to these things online with your posts. People spend a lot of time there these days. It’s a good way to get your message out there.
What do you love most about your community?
I love that no matter how many generations of discrimination we go through—like hate, violence, and misunderstanding—the LGBTQ community remains resilient and able to fight back for our rights and the rights of future generations. And I feel that same resilience within the Indigenous community and two-spirit community.
What are you most passionate about in your life right now?
Definitely my photography. It’s one of my biggest passions. It’s really hard for me to put what I’m thinking or feeling into words because I’m not very writing or tech-savvy, but I like how I’m able to take a photograph and show my creative self through that photograph.
Are there any photographers that you’ve drawn inspiration from?
Yeah there are a couple in Saskatoon. Tenille K. Campbell (@sweetmoonphoto) is a great Indigenous photographer in the Saskatoon area.
What are some consistent themes throughout your photography?
Definitely couples. Just being able to capture their love, their lifestyle, and how they interact with each other to show how they are instead of having them pose. I like trying to capture their unique love story through the ways they interact with each other.
People often talk about anger as a negative emotion, but Pride started as a riot in 1969. The Stonewall riots were an example of how justified anger can be a motivational force for social change. Is it fair to say that, since then, Pride has become more of a celebration? What emotions do you associate with the origin, history, and evolution of Pride since Stonewall?
I think a lot of people look at Pride as an excuse to party and have fun, but it started out as a riot because of how LGBTQ people were being treated and even now there’s so much injustice for the LGBTQ community in North America and other countries. Pride was started by a Black trans woman rioting against police violence and I feel like that doesn’t get talked about enough. To this day Black trans women are often the targets of violence. There’s a mixture of feelings—and I know it’s hard to talk about these things—but Pride isn’t just about celebrating. It’s also about remembering that history and the struggles and sacrifices that give us Pride today. That’s why Pride is so important right now.
Emotionally, I love that Pride is there. It feels really good that, as a group of people, we’re able to celebrate ourselves and have it well known. At the same time, it’s frustrating because you read all these comments online that are like, “Why do people need Pride?” And there’s so much violence against the LGBTQ community and it’s happening everyday. That’s why we have Pride, and that’s why it’s so important to keep talking about it.
Why did it feel right for you to be a part of this specific campaign?
I like to be an advocate for the LGBTQ community as well as the two-spirit community. As an Indigenous person, I’m really happy that H&B gave me this opportunity to use my voice to give back to the LGBTQ community. I chose to wear orange for this campaign because my father was a Residential School Survivor.
I also saw that H&B has had Indigenous models before so that made me feel like I could trust them. I know that H&B had a rainbow Sparkle Ball™ before, but this is the first time they’re doing it for Pride, which is really cool.
Do you have any book, movie, or TV recommendations?
Disclosure on Netflix. It’s about how Transgender people have been represented in a really mean, negative way in the media and how it has led to the current widespread backlash towards trans rights. Indian Horse is also really good. It follows a kid who was taken from his home and brought to a residential school. It’s a really powerful movie. I think everyone should watch it, especially in North America.
What’s your secret skill?
I can come up with really creative solutions when I’m put on the spot. That’s like the only thing I could really come up with for this question (laughs). I think I’m a pretty creative person naturally. There’s a saying, “A Native is never stuck” (laughs). I say that a lot. If something ever breaks at home I’m always able to fix it really quick. I’ll figure it out. I think if I was stuck somewhere on an island I’d probably survive.
Has your relationship with your Indigenous heritage evolved or changed since you began identifying as two-spirit?
So I never really began identifying as two-spirit because it’s been a part of my Indigenous heritage my whole life. As I got older, and understood more, I identified more loudly and proudly. It’s important to me to keep that history alive that Indigenous people lost because Indigenous people were always accepting of the gay community. Gay people were always highly respected because you were able to love both female and male. And spiritually you were considered both female and male.
I think Indigenous acceptance of the gay community was lost because of colonization. Colonizers tried to force Indigenous people to lose their traditional beliefs. And sometimes Indigenous people today don’t agree with gay people and that’s sad to see because it was something that was highly respected and important traditionally. It was normal, and that doesn’t really happen with a lot of cultures. That’s why it’s important to me. Even though history has changed, it’s nice to know back then I would have been accepted for who I was.
You mentioned that you’re very passionate about sharing your culture’s teachings. What is a piece of cultural wisdom that helps you when you encounter some of the pitfalls of our current world?
My mother was one of my biggest teachers when she was here. She was passionate about how I was raised and made sure I had that connection with my Indigenous culture and roots. Respecting is a huge thing with the Indigenous community. There’s an importance placed on respecting spirituality, all of life, and nature. Nature is especially important to respect right now because we’re living in a world with climate change and it’s really scary.
How do you think we can bring these Indigenous cultural teachings more to the forefront in a world that seems to flounder in our support for things like the environment?
Bring awareness to Aboriginal people. Indigenous peoples' voices are always silenced. For example, during the (Red Dress Day) for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Instagram removed everyone’s posts, and that’s a perfect example of how Indigenous people, even today, are being silenced. That’s something that I’ve always lived with, but knowing about it helps you keep fighting. It makes you push back ten times harder. We’re trying to let people know that’s why we need to do these things like block pipeline construction and protect the planet as much as possible. That’s what Indigenous people are trying to do and that’s what we’ve always been trying to do.
Ciel Butler
“There is a lot of stigma around what it means to be non-binary in society right now. I’m very thankful to be here today because I can represent just one faction of what it means to be non-binary.”
Are there any aspects of the LGBTQ2S+ community that you wish were more common knowledge? And are there any things about Pride you wish more people knew about?
Through the internet age, there’s a kind of common perception that most members of the LGBTQ community are in their late teens, or early twenties and they’re all social activists. And I think more people need to understand that there are people in this community of all ages. There are people—from children to the elderly—who are living their best lives as members of the queer community. I do find that it is the activists that get the spotlight because they’re always around, which is amazing as they are a crucial part of our community and its advocacy. I just hope that people realize that they’re not all that exists out there.
What do you love about your community?
Definitely the people. I know that’s kind of a broad answer. I didn’t enter the local LGBTQ+ community until about two years ago—cause that’s when I first came out—and I was astonished at the difference of people I could relate to once I entered this community. Before, I had all these friends but I never really felt like I belonged anywhere, and then once I found all these queer people I was like “Ah, there’s more out there like me. I’ve got a community of people who are supporting me who will be by my side. That was really neat.”
What are you most passionate about in your life right now?
It’s a little hard to be passionate about things with this current climate that we’re in. But despite all the circumstances, I have managed to become very passionate about songwriting during the pandemic, and I’ve been doing a lot of that. I’ve even released an album kind of unofficially. It’s very amateur, but that’s been my biggest passion. Drag has also been a passion that I’ve been trying to keep up with during the pandemic by practicing my makeup skills and performance and all that.
Have you been doing drag shows over Zoom?
There’s been a number of Zoom shows in the past year and a bit. I’ve personally been getting a little bit tired of the Zoom shows because they don’t give me the same sense of fulfillment that the in-person shows do, but we take what we can get.
I’m curious about that though because in the drag shows that I’ve been to, the audience has been such a huge part of it. It’s almost like performance art in a lot of ways.
Absolutely it is.
So I was curious as to how that would translate over Zoom.
Yeah so with the Zoom performances, you have the host and then they set up a pre-recorded performance that you’ve submitted, and then there’s a chat box for any audience that’s watching cause we usually do it over Twitch. The people in the chat will be hyping us up over the Twitch stream and they’ll be like “Yaaaas! Go go go!” And that’s always exciting, but there are always less people in the audience than there would be for a normal show. So that’s one disappointing factor, but it’s still something.
People often talk about anger as a negative emotion, but Pride started as a riot in 1969. The Stonewall riots were an example of how justified anger can be a motivational force for social change. Is it fair to say that, since then, Pride has become more of a celebration? What emotions do you associate with the origin, history, and evolution of Pride since Stonewall?
Yeah, so I think it would be fair to say that, since Stonewall, Pride has become more of a celebration. I would discourage people from saying that it has become only a celebration though because—despite how far we’ve come in our society in accepting and giving rights to LGBTQ people—in North America there is still discrimination against LGBTQ+ members. For example, bathroom laws and restrictive sports rules prevent trans people from having the same rights as everyone else. There are still issues for everyone in this community in terms of being accepted by society as a whole. I do think that it has become more of a celebration, but that doesn’t mean that the protests should stop or are going to stop any time in the future. I think they’re pivotal to getting more awareness of who we are and bringing more awareness to our rights and lives.
I think we’re very privileged to live in Canada where we have a lot of rights, but there are still 71 countries where being LGBTQ+ is illegal and there are 12 countries where it’s punishable by death. So I feel like through our development and our rising to celebration, we’re also representing the people in the world who don’t have those rights yet. So we need to keep fighting for them.
Why did it feel right for you to be a part of this specific campaign?
I feel like I was a pretty good fit for a campaign because as a trans masculine non-binary person, there is a lot of stigma around what it means to be non-binary in society right now. There’s a lot of people in our society who don’t understand it. They lump the idea of being non-binary into one single category of person despite non-binary being an umbrella term and there being many identities that exist within it. I’m very thankful to be here today because I can represent just one faction of what it means to be non-binary. Maybe that can help people broaden their horizons and realize that “Oh, there’s more than one type of person than what I thought could fit here.”
Do you have any book, movie, or tv recommendations?
Yeah I do. I recently read a book called I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver. It’s about a kid who comes out as non-binary and their parents are completely unaccepting. The book follows this kid’s experience of going through life and trying to find a community that accepts them. It was phenomenal for the way it described the struggles that somebody coming to terms with being non-binary would go through. I’ve never read a book that I was able to relate to in that way before.
The other recommendation I have is the TV show on Netflix called Sex Education. It has the most sexually diverse cast that I’ve ever seen on television and they go in-depth talking about different sexualities and different gender identities as though they were completely normal and part of the growing up process. Not as something that’s to be tokenized, and I really appreciated that from the show.
You mentioned you’re passionate about music. What instruments do you play?
I did my degree on the trumpet. I also play classical guitar. In school we learn to be proficient on every band instrument that exists. So that was really fun.
What’s your secret skill?
I’m technically certified proficient on 11 different instruments.
Ok, you have to name them for me.
Trumpet, classical guitar, ukulele, clarinet, flute, oboe, saxophone, trombone, tuba, french horn, oh and drums!
Maybe we can just time travel a little bit and talk about pre pandemic times, back when you were performing, what do you like most about performing and what’s your favourite reaction to get out of an audience?
My favourite thing about performing is the audience to be honest, which is why performing online isn’t doing it for me lately. It’s the hype that you feel when you first get onstage and you hear everyone excitedly buzzing for what you’re about to do, and the second you begin everyone is screaming and everyone’s excited, and it just fills you with adrenaline to the point that you’re just having so much fun.
In terms of the reactions I like to get, I feel like it’s always based on the number you’re doing. If I’m putting on a comedy number, I really want people to laugh cause if they don’t I’m gonna be awkward. I’ll be like “Sorry, I tried my best.” And if I’m doing a number where I’m just looking super fierce and fabulous, I just want people to be like, “You look amazing, oh my god.” That’s all I want and then I’ll live my best life on stage.
Before the pandemic I was a lot more focussed on my drag performances and every time I had a show coming up that’s all I could think about. I would do my other activities but always be thinking about costumes, numbers, all that stuff.
Ryley Koma
There’s something amazing about groups of human beings who are just like, “I like you. We got you.”
What do you do for work?
I’m A floral designer at Wascana Flower Shop. I’ve been part of that team for over 12 years. It’s good. It’s hectic. Everyone thinks, “Oh, a flower shop, that’s fun and relaxing.” It is a high paced environment that’s constantly evolving and changing every day, which is why I’m passionate about it.
What are you most passionate about in your life right now?
My work. I love what I do. My work is one of the biggest priorities in my life right now. I’m in an industry that nobody is in to get rich. We’re in it because we love it. I’m lucky enough to build relationships with families because you do the major life events like grads, bereavements, and weddings. It’s nice to build relationships with people who respect what you do, and what I do is emotion-based. It’s the biggest love of my life. I’ve worked with the same group of people for 12 plus years. We often joke that we spend more time together than the girls spend with their husbands or any of us spend with any of our friends. But we get to do what we love and we get to do it with the people that we love everyday. That’s probably the biggest gift that I could ever receive in my life.
Are there any aspects of the LGBTQ2S+ community that you wish were more common knowledge, and are there any aspects of Pride you wish more people knew about?
I think, because of its portrayal in the media, people often look at Pride as a big party. And, being a gay man, this is going to sound bad, but I’ve never been one to make it a priority to be present at a parade. I do feel that it plays into stereotypes. Often the only things that are shown through Pride parades are the flamboyant parties instead of the commitment to change. Celebrate yourself however you want, but what gets lost in my opinion is the core of what the march is for. Being recognized as equals is a basic human right. If Pride were subdued a little more you’d see a lot of everyday people walking who just want equality. These people are teachers, doctors, lawyers, cashiers at the grocery store, your kids, and more. People always say, “Why don’t we have a straight day parade?” Well thank god you don’t have to. Thank god you don’t have to have a march and fight to have your rights recognized.
What are some of the things you love most about your community and the everyday people within it that you mentioned earlier?
We’re the same as everyone else and that’s all we’re asking to be seen as. Coming from a really small town, my understanding of being gay was not positive. It wasn’t something that wasn’t spoken about in the community, or at school, or with friends. Anything that was said (about being gay) was always negative. It was a term to beat somebody down. When I moved to Vancouver at 18, I had this big epiphany when I was on the bus heading downtown to school. It was literally the moment I knew. I was by Burrard street and I saw two very well-dressed men outside of a building and they kissed, and nobody even noticed. That’s when I realized, “This is completely ok.” One guy went into a building, the other guy rode off on his bike and from that moment forward I realized “This is good. This is fine.” Since being accepted into the community, I’ve realized there’s a lot of people who come from backgrounds like me—who weren’t educated about being gay, who weren’t raised in communities or times when it was visible or mainstream. The gay community really just opens it’s arms to people from every walk of life. They back each other. They support each other. They can be complete bitches and cliquey (laughs) but so can I, and at the end of the day there’s a place to go and there’s people like you. There’s something amazing about groups of human beings who are just like, “I like you. We got you. We’re family.”
People often talk about anger as a negative emotion, yet Pride started with a riot in 1969. The Stonewall riots were an example of how justified anger can generate a powerful motivational force—
I don’t like violence and I never have. Stonewall wasn’t good for showing us as a community and it wasn’t good for showing the rest of society. Stonewall was a difficult scenario. It happened in the midst of the civil rights movement, the counterculture of the 60s movements, and the anti-vietnam war movements. People were saying they’d had enough. To be gay was still illegal then. The events of that night (and many others) originated from raids, violent attacks and arrests, and inhumane conduct towards gay individuals.
The New York city police commissioners finally publicly apologized in 2019 for the NYPD officers’ actions in these riots. I think in 1999 Stonewall was put on the national registrar and recognized as a historical place. It was a movement. That’s why it always bothers me when we talk about that night as the beginning of Pride when in fact the first Pride Parade was one year after the riots, to continue the fight for equality in a peaceful accepting movement.
When it comes to anger and Pride...that’s just a loaded question. It’s difficult to go back to a point that you didn’t live through that’s prior to the AIDS outbreak and the blame that came with that.. I remember when I came out, my Mom said, “It doesn’t matter how forward thinking this world gets. There will always be people who want to hurt you. And more people who want to see you fail than want to see you succeed. And no mother wants to see her child hurt, and I will love you and support you no matter what.” For some reason there are always these people with anger towards others that they don’t understand. Those people shouldn’t have a voice or opinion in saying, “You can’t be with somebody, or you can’t love somebody. You can’t have children. You can’t. You can’t.” But you can? In what world was it ever ok to think that you’re better than others? At the end of the day we’re all human beings. But through it all—the anger and aggression—it did create change.
Why did it feel right for you to be a part of this campaign?
I’ve shopped in a lot of places where I’ve been told “This is for women.” I’ve always worn H&B and loved it, and I love what Rachel and the whole company stands for. When I was asked to be a part of this I was like, “Holy, this is really, really cool.” This campaign is Canadian-based, it’s Saskatchewan-based, and to know how many people there are who pour their heart and soul into this stuff, and to know that the proceeds are going to charities for the LGBTQ+ community—it’s kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing to be asked to be a part of it. It makes you look at yourself and think “Maybe I’m not as bad as I think I am in my own head sometimes.” To be part of something with a group of people that’s going to help a lot of others in the LGBTQ+ community—it’s amazing. It’s kind of a blessing.
Do you have any book, TV, or movie recommendations?
I’m old school so one of my favourite books of all time is Perfume by Patrick Süskind. I’ve read it like a million times. It’s kind of dark, kind of twisted, but it’s really descriptive and pretty amazing. Salman Rushdie’s Satanic Verses is another book I really enjoy. Stand By Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation by Jim Downs is one of my favourites. My sister got it for me from a human rights museum in the states. It’s written by a pretty significant historian and it covers gay and lesbian life in the 1970s.
He digs into the history of the various groups, and the substantial movements in gay history in the 70s that really haven’t been made public or talked about much. So that’s another favourite.
What would be on your Pride playlist?
I don’t have a Pride playlist. Never have. Never will. I just love having music as a playlist to my life. I’m born and raised on a ranch. I’m as backwoods as they come. I love music though. People that know me well joke and say I’m an old man. I love Country and I love old Country. I like my Loretta Lynn and my Johnny Cash. Then I’ll switch over to Fleetwood Mac, Bob Dylan and so much more. Music lives with you. That’s why I love Country music. A lot of people would call my music depressing. I call it relaxing. At the end of the day I’m kind of a hopeless romantic and I like a good love song.
Do you have a favourite love song off the top of your head?
A newish one would be Slowdance in a Parking lot by Jordan Davis or Dance with me by Johnny Reid. Meet in the Middle by Diamond Rio. You can’t go wrong with Dolly Parton. Same with Willie Nelson. The storytelling in older Country is the thing. It has actual substance. I also love classical music too. Chopin Nocturne number 9 is one of my all times. I’m super old school. The other day I accidentally called Billie Eilish Billie Irish at work. That’s about where I’m at with modern music.
Writing: Carter Selinger
MUA: Alex Paul Artistry
The release of Birthday Cake Sparkle inspired us to talk to someone who knows their way around a beautiful dessert. Enter Venessa Liang, a pharmacist and dessert creator who appeared on The Food Network’s Great Chocolate Showdown. We talked to Venessa about the importance of family, culture, community, and balance in her life. This is one of our sweetest profiles yet. You’re going to want to get to know her.
What inspired you to have a blended career as a pharmacist and also a dessert creator?
It sort of just happened that way! I never planned to become a pharmacist when I was younger and I definitely never envisioned creating cakes and chocolate the way I do now. Although, I must say, I’ve truly found two amazing passions that I can’t live without. I would never give one up for the other because I want my cake and to eat it too! How long does it take you to create a cake?
This one definitely depends on what kind of cake I am making but in a simple answer - it takes days!! From creating fillings, buttercream and cakes to designing and decorating - it is a serious juggle to finish everything in a timely manner AFTER working a 40 hour week.
How do you balance all the aspects of your life; your two careers, your family, and your social life?
There’s a reason why my husband calls me HURRICANE VENESSA. I don’t think I’m that perfect overachiever that has everything balanced. If anything, I’ve learned that trying to do everything, accomplish everything and be happy with everything is NOT sustainable long term. It can take a strain on both your physical and mental health and then permanently break that “balance” we’re all trying to achieve. Lately, I’ve tried to focus on being content with “smaller” goals within each pillar that is important to me. So instead of trying to attain perfection in every aspect of my life (which yes, I can’t believe I’ve tried to do this for so long), I focus on being proud of the small wins! Putting less pressure on myself to reach my own expectations is a huge part of being content with where I am in all the aspects of my life.
“Putting less pressure on myself to reach my own expectations is a huge part of being content with where I am in all the aspects of my life.”
We love how much you feature your family on your Instagram! Why are weekly family dinners so important to you?
Our Chinese culture’s love language is and has always been food! While saying “I love you” and showing emotion to each other as a family was NOT a norm in our day to day, dinner together was always a must. No matter what happened, we always sat down to eat together at the end of the day. Now that we are separated into different towns and cities, we set aside our Mondays once a week to spend that quality time together. Many people may think we put too much effort into our food life but enjoying scrumptious Chinese food is something that we all relate to and enjoy immensely. Furthermore, sharing my culture and our food with society was never something that I did - for fear of judgement and frankly, racism. Since it’s 2022, I believe that there is no room for discrimination and no one should feel embarrassed by what they are eating - especially when what we’re eating is SO DELICIOUS! I find joy in sharing and providing education about my culture, and I hope to inspire others to be more open and adventurous when they think of Asian cuisine.
Tell us about a woman who has inspired you, or does inspire you?
One of my greatest inspirations is my grandma! Or, “a poa” as we call her. She is one of the strongest women I know and has been a constant throughout my life. While she may be tiny and adorable, she brings forth an energy so strong that she is a force to be reckoned with. She reminds me that any problems I come to face in my day to day are nothing compared to what she has gone through to make it to today. If grandma can do it, I can do it too. If you could choose one word to describe yourself, what would you choose and why?
Extravagant. Life is too short to choose the safe and boring option.
“Life is too short to choose the safe and boring option.”
You appeared on The Food Network’s Great Chocolate Showdown. Can you tell us how this came about and what the experience was like on the show?
This one definitely happened out of the blue! You wouldn’t believe it but a casting director messaged me on Instagram and the rest is basically history! The experience was definitely unlike anything I have ever done. It was exhausting, thrilling, fun and debilitating all at the same time. I made great, life long baker friends and I learned SO much about chocolate that put me onto the path I am on today.
Do you have any tips for staying calm while under pressure?
Deep breaths and ramen noodles. What advice do you have for anyone who is an amateur baker who wants to take their baking to the next level?
1. Practice, practice, practice! Accept that failure is a reality and learn from those mistakes to make yourself better at your craft. I definitely did not become who I am overnight and I have my fair share of failures under my belt too! Was I upset about them at the time? Yes. Am I better at what I do now because of it? Absolutely.
2. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box! The “next level” may seem unattainable at the time but sometimes, it just takes a leap outside of your comfort zone to really up your game.
“Accept that failure is a reality and learn from those mistakes to make yourself better at your craft.”
If you were a Sparkle colour, what colour would you be?
Gold! For too long, I hated on anything resembling yellow or gold because it attached me to my race as a Chinese person. Today, I am proud to represent my culture and my ethnicity as I am. I want to be able to show younger generations of myself that our culture is beautiful and absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. It’s bold, beautiful and “worth its weight in gold”
“I want to be able to show younger generations of myself that our culture is beautiful and absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.”
Amy Robichaud is the Chair of the Dress for Success Canada Foundation and the Executive Director of Dress for Success Vancouver. She spoke with us about her organization’s beneficial programs and world-class stylists. She also talked about the psychological power of fashion, community, and how she found advocacy and activism at a very young age. You’re going to want to get to know her. Could you talk a little bit about what Dress for Success in Canada is all about?
Our goal at Dress for Success in Canada is to empower women into good jobs, financial independence, and personal success. Our most well-known flagship services are our dressing services—we get women the attire they need for interviews and work. But we also provide free 1-on-1 career coaching for women who are looking for work and need help preparing for interviews, or want to build a better CV, or improve their linkedin profile, or who are trying to access government services. You name it. We also provide free mental health counseling with clinical practitioners for women who need that. We do workshops on everything from financial literacy, to managing your mental health, to balancing family and work, to heart health and taking care of yourself. We also do leadership programs and provide women who have found work with professional development guidance for up to one year free of charge. We’re working to democratize networking so that the women who come to Dress for Success in Canada have an equal opportunity to build the same professional, business, and peer networks that we all rely on and credit our success to.
“Our goal at Dress for Success in Canada is to empower women into good jobs, financial independence, and personal success.”
Why do you believe in partnerships between nonprofits and brands like H&B? What are some of the benefits of these kinds of relationships?
There is a very strict definition of what charity is, which is important, but there is also a broader concept of just doing good—being a good citizen and showing up for your community. We all have the responsibility to do that. So partnerships like the one Dress for Success Canada has with Hillberg and Berk are important because we work together to broaden the idea of a product. We try to create something that emphasizes what a product can do for a community, and for the people in that community. We work together to help make this concept of “doing good” a more accessible, attainable thing. Being part of a community means you have a responsibility to and for each other. Our partnership with H&B exemplifies that. We take care of each other. That’s community. And when you find the right partnership, it’s like finding the right outfit. It all comes together.
“Being part of a community means you have a responsibility to and for each other. Our partnership with H&B exemplifies that. We take care of each other. That’s community. And when you find the right partnership, it’s like finding the right outfit. It all comes together.”
Has this kind of advocacy work always been something you envisioned yourself doing?
The advocacy that I do for economic inclusion for women, and equity in general, is deeply personal. I grew up with a lot of privilege in some ways, but in other ways, I experienced just how difficult it was for women to succeed. My mother is the strongest, most amazing woman I know. She was our family’s breadwinner for most of my childhood. She had to be a bulldozer. I grew up with a very powerful and present example of what it meant to be a woman who was struggling to provide for her family and succeed in the economy. She did what she needed to do, but it shouldn’t have been so hard for her. Were there any moments earlier in life that you look back on now as indications you’d be well-suited to this kind of work?
I gave my first advocacy speech before I had words. I stood on the hearth in a nightgown and impassionately intoned something to my family for several minutes. It’s a pretty straight line in my brain from that moment to lecturing adults for littering at age seven, to joining the debate team at 12, to going to university for public policy and political theory. I was raised in a family that made a point of talking about what was going on in the world. A lot of families say that politics and religion are things you should keep away from the dinner table, but that was our dinner table. Those conversations gave me the ability to see injustices and to decide to care about them.
Who are some of your role models?
My mom is always at the top of my list. There’s a lot of women, or people, in their thirties who wake up one day, look in the mirror, and say: “Oh my god I look like my parents.” For me it’s like, “Yup, there’s my mom.” And that’s a great feeling because I admire her and she’s taught me a ton.
Also, Roberta Bondar. I spent a lot of my childhood wanting to be an astronaut before I realized that math was not a strong suit for me. Roberta broke barriers and, while she did, talked about being a woman in a place where it wasn’t considered normal. I saw her doing something that women weren’t doing with grace and determination, and she always spoke about it with eloquence while advocating for other women to get involved. I actually got to meet her as an adult. She was the most gracious human. So that was pretty phenomenal.
“There’s a lot of women, or people, in their thirties who wake up one day, look in the mirror, and say: “Oh my god I look like my parents.” For me it’s like, “Yup, there’s my mom.” And that’s a great feeling because I admire her and she’s taught me a ton.”
Could you share a Dress for Success Vancouver story that has been especially important to you?
A client came in last year who was looking for a second job to cover the cost of school supplies for her kids, and she ended up going through the dressing service process. During the process, she shared her story of becoming a refugee—how she fled her home country to ensure the safety of her children because her husband had broken both of her legs. She told us all this information while trying to find shoes that wouldn’t hurt her, because she never healed properly. It feels like such a small thing for us to be able to say: “We have shoes that will fit and feel great.” That’s such a small thing for us, but for her it was the first time shoes hadn’t hurt her feet in years, and she left feeling confident about getting a second job to help her kids.
We had another client who’d been unemployed since before the pandemic. She’d worked in the tech sector and hadn’t found work in a long time. Ageism was a huge part of her situation. She’s smart and educated and has held senior roles, but after 3 years she was feeling so beaten down with “no’s” (and a global crisis) that she’d completely lost her sense of self. No one had helped her. She was referred to us and we offered her counseling with a clinical psychologist so she could have someone to talk to. After that, she came in for a dressing service, and again, for the first time in years, this was the place where people saw her, acknowledged her, helped her, and believed in her. So, those are two very different clients, but it is as meaningful for both of them to be able to access our services.
“When a client leaves, she leaves with a bag full of new-to-her clothing and a literal arsenal of tools and resources to help her feel better.”
Given that you typically try on clothes with a friend or family member, does the dressing service create a unique intimacy and opportunity to talk about physical and mental health?
There’s this sort of innate trust and vulnerability that comes with trying on clothes and being in a changeroom with other women. Our stylists do so much more than put them in beautiful, confidence-building attire. They listen, they offer other services we have, they commiserate, and empathize. They share their own experiences and they build trust and, when a client leaves, she leaves with a bag full of new-to-her clothing and a literal arsenal of tools and resources to help her feel better.Styling revolves around the psychological concept of enclothed cognition, which is the meaning and symbolism that we give to clothing. For example, we associate a doctor’s white coat with authority and intelligence. Studies have shown we’ll actually give more trust to somebody in a lab coat than someone who is not. But we also do that with ourselves. We all have a version of our own power suit—the jeans that make us feel the best, the shirt that we stand tallest in, and the shoes that we stand straighter in. It’s hard to pinpoint what it is, but something happens when we style people—the clothes allow their natural confidence to shine through, and it becomes more about the woman than the clothes we put her in. It becomes about how she feels in her body and not her body itself.
“Something happens when we style people—the clothes allow their natural confidence to shine through, and it becomes more about the woman than the clothes we put her in. It becomes about how she feels in her body and not her body itself.”
At H&B we like to talk about women “rising together”. Can you tell us about some of the relationships you’ve formed with other women through this work? How important are those relationships to your outlook and general wellbeing?
In our community at Dress for Success Canada we always talk about “lifting as we rise” and I think that’s one of the reasons our partnership with Hillberg & Berk is such a good fit. There’s a definitive brand alignment there. This organization is the only place I’ve worked in gender advocacy where it’s impossible to tell the clients, volunteers, and staff apart. Part of the reason that’s so difficult is because we have clients who have become volunteers, volunteers who have become clients, clients who have become staff, and staff who have accessed our services. Every last one of us has some way they can learn, be lifted, or rise, and we all have the ability to do that for someone else.
I know it’s really frowned upon in business literature to talk about your staff as a family, but it’s so hard for me not to feel that way with the people I work with because there is this sense of holistic community to what we do. What I felt from the very beginning through Hillberg & Berk and through the branding, through the jewellery, through Share Your Sparkle, was this alignment with Rachel’s vision. She’s built a team that doesn't just talk about this idea of “helping people rise,” but who believe it themselves. This true values alignment made all our conversations about creating and building a partnership publicly as easy as breathing. There’s a magic in it that I don’t know how to describe otherwise.
“Every last one of us has some way they can learn, be lifted, or rise, and we all have the ability to do that for someone else.”
Can you talk a little bit about the styling process at Dress for Success in Vancouver? Have you seen any great looks that you’d like to share?
Some of the best celebrity stylists are located in Vancouver and many of them choose to give their time back to our organization. It’s pretty amazing how someone who has just finished dressing people for the Golden Globes will be here the next day helping style a woman who is trying to get a second job. You see the difference in someone who professionally knows how to build confidence in someone and find pieces that are appropriate for their body and match their personality. Our stylists always show me what a powerful form of self-expression clothing can be. It’s nice to be able to see people receive that gift. It seems like it would be important to feel confident and ready for anything while doing this crucial advocacy work. Is there any jewellery that helps you feel this way?
I have a gold locket that’s been with my family for generations that my great aunt gave to me. That’s a piece that helps me do this work because I put it on and I feel like I have this lineage of women with me. I also have an M necklace with diamonds in it. Both my mother and grandmother have the same one because we all share the same middle name. We call ourselves the 3 Marlenes. So, when I wear that it makes me feel deeply connected to them and I know they’re with me. There’s something about when I put those pieces on—there’s extra power in it. Ok, I promise I’m not just saying this because we’re having this conversation for Hillberg & Berk, but I bought the Leopard print Sparkle Balls™ as soon as they came out, and they’ve landed as part of my wardrobe on the regular. They’re fun. They’re fierce. They’re a little edgy, but they also go with everything and I get compliments on them all the time. They’ve become part of that enclothed cognition where if I need a little extra help one day, one of my family necklaces and the Sparkle Balls™ are going on.
Writing: Carter Selinger
The Dress for Success Ambassador Program is a diverse and inclusive skill development program that creates leadership opportunities for its participants. By sharing their stories during workshops and events, former clients become volunteers and representatives of Dress for Success Vancouver. It’s a way for community members to continue learning while giving back. Let’s meet some Dress for Success ambassadors!
Silvia
A glass ceiling represents a barrier that women experience in the workplace and prohibits them from success. How have you shattered glass ceilings?
I work in a male-dominated field. It’s changing little by little. More women are working in logistics, but very few have moved into leadership positions. I do my best at work and encourage other women to do the same. We have to support each other. The Vice President of our company is a woman, and she is an inspiration to me.
In what ways has Dress for Success made an impact on your life and why did you choose to be an ambassador?
Dress for Success always welcomes and supports women with respect no matter where they are in life. It’s been four years now since I went for my first fitting appointment. Since then, I have had many other opportunities through Dress for Success: I received valuable networking opportunities with the Professional Women’s Group, I’ve attended professional workshops and been given immeasurable support. This organization gave me an opportunity to truly connect with other professional women, listen to their life stories, and also share mine. I’m a proud Dress for Success Vancouver Ambassador and I want to give back to this community.
“Confidence is believing that you’re able to do whatever you want. It’s the knowledge that you have the tools, the ability and power, and the infinite capacity to learn.”
What does confidence mean to you?
Confidence is believing that you’re able to do whatever you want. It’s the knowledge that you have the tools, the ability and power, and the infinite capacity to learn. But it’s easy to forget those things. That’s why being surrounded by trusting people who encourage and remind you of what you can do is so priceless.
Sanam
A glass ceiling represents a barrier that women experience in the workplace/in their careers. How have you shattered glass ceilings?
I shattered the glass ceiling by speaking out and expressing what I needed. I remember situations in the past where I tried to follow my goal while ignoring these barriers, but that approach required so much extra effort.
“I shattered the glass ceiling by speaking out and expressing what I needed.”
In what ways has Dress for Success made an impact on your life and why did you choose to be an ambassador?
I feel more energetic and powerful in so many different situations. The Professional Women’s Group taught me that when I encounter a problem, the first thing I should do is draw up a plan and then take action. I chose to be an ambassador to keep in touch with the amazing people I’ve met through Dress For Success, and to create more networking opportunities.
Who or what inspires you everyday to step outside of your comfort zone
Both my manager and mentor at Dress for Success are sources of inspiration. I’m inspired by people who are excited to communicate and learn new things.
Tracy
A glass ceiling represents a barrier that women experience in the workplace and prohibits them from success. How have you shattered glass ceilings?
I have done this several times in my journey both as a student and during my career. I became the first female Secretary General of my student union in a highly competitive election. Despite my colleagues thinking it would be impossible, I received a commonwealth scholarship for my MSc while heavily pregnant with my daughter. In my career I was able to broker a peaceful resolution with local communities, government, and oil companies on issues surrounding oil exploitation. I developed the first-ever multi-stakeholder mechanism, an act that most of my colleagues had given up on.
“It’s helpful for women, especially immigrant women and women from minority groups, to hear stories like mine as they continue on their journeys.”
In what ways has Dress for Success made an impact on your life and why did you choose to be an ambassador?
The knowledge I gained from their workshops and the amazing network of women I’ve met through this organization have been invaluable. That’s why I contribute to the growth of Dress for Success. It’s helpful for women, especially immigrant women and women from minority groups, to hear stories like mine as they continue on their journeys.Why is giving back so important to you?
It allows me to build relationships with people in my local community and learn about different backgrounds, cultures, and experiences. And, most importantly, it helps my mental health. I feel happy knowing I’m giving back to society.
Marie
A glass ceiling represents a barrier that women experience in the workplace and prohibits them from success. How have you shattered glass ceilings?
I’ve been involved in many positions in my professional career where I've been asked to contribute ideas for women’s empowerment initiatives, but the lack of actual support at these organizations caused me to struggle to achieve my career goals. It wasn’t until I joined the Professional Women’s Group—after partaking in the mentorship program and curated workshops—that I achieved a longstanding career goal. The Professional Women’s Group mentorship program empowered me to take action and shatter my career barriers. It rebuilt my persistence and tenacity—critical traits that helped me overcome barriers and pivot into a better-fitting job that aligned with my personal values.
“The impact has been profoundly positive and nudged me towards wanting to be an Ambassador as a way to give back to the community and help other women shatter the barriers in their lives.”
In what ways has Dress for Success made an impact on your life and why did you choose to be an ambassador?
Dress For Success has not only introduced me to a network of women that support and nurture me, it has also equipped me with practical life lessons that transformed my personal and professional life. The impact has been profoundly positive and nudged me towards wanting to be an Ambassador as a way to give back to the community and help other women shatter the barriers in their lives. I’m excited to begin the next chapter with Dress For Success as an ambassador, and to impart my newfound knowledge and confidence to help others succeed on their Dress For Success journeys.
What motivates you to be a changemaker?
The need and desire to make a difference drives me to be a changemaker. I believe a small change can go a long way, and that’s what motivates me to get involved and participate in my community as a changemaker.
H&B at Dress for Success Vancouver, participating in Ambassador Suiting Programs, Winter 2022
Writing: Carter Selinger
Photography: Moves Media
Hailing from Saskatchewan, Kiteen Marie is a small town fashion blogger who has cultivated an amazing online community. She spoke with us about how her blog helped her rediscover her personal taste—an aspect of her identity briefly lost during her experiences with early motherhood. It’s easy to see why so many moms across the globe have connected with Kiteen’s personal story, and her earnest excitement for motherhood, fashion, and self-love.
How did you start your career as a digital creator?
I started a blog (formerly known as Kiteen’s Closet) shortly after giving birth to my firstborn, Violet. I remember feeling like I couldn’t remember who I was or what I liked to do before becoming a Mom. Kiteen’s Closet started as a hobby and as a way for me to find joy & passion in something again outside of being a Mother. It became a career when I realized the impact sharing my everyday life and desires for confidence & self-love was having on Mom’s across the globe who were feeling exactly like I was.
“I realized the impact sharing my everyday life and desires for confidence & self-love was having on Mom’s across the globe who were feeling exactly like I was.”
As a lifestyle blogger a lot of people look to you for influence and inspiration, who do you look to for inspiration?
Other lifestyle bloggers, mainly! One of my biggest inspirations for starting my own blog was because I would regularly read fashion posts from people like Jillian Harris, Loverly Grey, and Cara Loren.
How do you balance all the aspects of your life; your self care, fashion, your career, and young kids and family?
I try my best to set aside specific chunks of time in the day for all the tasks/roles I have. It definitely is a balancing act, and one that I have yet to master! However, I have found that making a priority list in the evening for what I need to achieve the next day has helped me tremendously with time management.
How do you want people to feel when they visit your digital channels, like your Instagram or blog?
I want them to feel inspired. I want women (and in particular other Mom’s) to see a photo of me and think to themselves “Hey – I kinda look like her! Maybe I could wear that too.” I want women to feel confident in who they are and confident in the body they are in. I hope to inspire the same type of self-love & acceptance that I have for myself in other women.
“I want women to feel confident in who they are and confident in the body they are in. I hope to inspire the same type of self-love & acceptance that I have for myself in other women.”
You have an extensive background in Agriculture, are there any misconceptions about the industry?
Yes, but gosh – where do I start?! Lol. There are many misconceptions in regards to Agriculture and Farming. It seems people still have an image of a man in overalls, holding a pitchfork with a piece of straw between his teeth when they hear the term “Farmer”. Farmers (and people in the Agriculture Industry as a whole) are businessmen and women. Some of the smartest people I have ever met work in Agriculture! I wish there was more appreciation and knowledge of the technological advances and evolvement within the Agriculture Industry.
How would you describe your personal style?
Feminine, affordable, mom-friendly.
Living in a small town, do you shop more online or locally? What are your top online shopping tips?
I definitely shop more online, but do think it’s important to also shop local when possible! One of the reasons I love online shopping is because it is easier to make conscious purchase decisions online. For example, if I really, really think I want/need something – I will put it in my online shopping cart for a few days while I ponder the pros and cons of purchasing that item. I also always try to wait for a sale when I’m shopping online – most retailers seem to set their sales to go live on the weekends!
What is your favourite Hillberg & Berk jewellery piece?
It’s so hard to pick just one! I have accumulated quite a collection of Hillberg & Berk pieces over the years that I feel are timeless and that I wear regularly. I think Sparkle Balls™ are so iconic to the Hillberg & Berk brand and will forever be a favourite of mine. I also really love the new “Designed By You” Charm Necklace!
What are some of your favourite ways to style camo, and incorporate this trend into other styles and fashion? Do you have any favourite camo pieces?
My favourite way to incorporate camo is in subtle ways – like my jewelry! The new Camo Sparkle collection is the perfect way to integrate this trend as the neutral, natural-toned print is easy to pair with a variety of looks.
“The new Camo Sparkle collection is the perfect way to integrate this trend as the neutral, natural-toned print is easy to pair with a variety of looks.”
What social causes are you passionate about and why?
I’m passionate about doing my part to end world hunger - especially in children. Being a Mom from a farming family drives my desire to help ensure healthy foods are available to those that currently don’t have access to it.
What makes you feel most empowered and why? Seeing women like me (stay at home Mom’s, women in their 30’s) live out their dreams and follow their passions!
Meet Jess Moskaluke—internationally celebrated, award-winning country music star and collaborator behind our newest Handpicked by Jess box with her other H&B must-haves. In this edition of Know Her, we chatted with Jess about her style, accomplishments, inspirations, and some of the important causes she works to support.
"Inspiration can strike from anywhere at any time. It’s about knowing when to catch it and how to turn it into something beautiful.”
What are your sources of inspiration for writing songs?
Usually it’s life experience, but I’ve also used situations friends were going through, book and movie quotes, and even Twitter parody pages for inspiration in the past. It really varies—inspiration can strike from anywhere at any time. It’s about knowing when to catch it and how to turn it into something beautiful.
How would you describe your style?
I’m a bit of a chameleon, I suppose. On stage I like to have tons of sparkle and edge. But on red carpets I like to be really polished and glam. When I’m at home, I’m definitely the girl next door and as comfortable as possible.
“When I’m at home, I’m definitely the girl next door and as comfortable as possible.”
What's your biggest, boldest ambition for the future?
I’d love to do my own headlining tour in the future. Hopefully sooner rather than later!
What social causes are you passionate about?
I love to support the MS Society of Canada. I lost my dad to Multiple Sclerosis just after my 16th birthday, so I’ve always done what I can to direct money and awareness their way. I’m also a huge supporter of animal rescues. Not one in particular—I love to spread the love and have adopted dogs from 3 different organizations over the past 10 years.
What is your proudest accomplishment?
Honestly this is such a tough one. Professionally, I’m proud of being the first woman in Canadian country music to have a platinum selling single since Shania Twain. I also can’t believe I have multiple CCMA awards and even a Juno. But, on a more personal level, I’m most proud of writing the song “Mapdot." I think that song resonates with a lot of small town people, from hometowns like mine, and makes them feel proud of where they’re from.
"I’m most proud of writing the song “Mapdot." I think that song resonates with a lot of small town people, from hometowns like mine, and makes them feel proud of where they’re from.”
Do you have a favourite Hillberg & Berk jewellery piece?
How do you pick just one? No, really. The one I’ve been wearing the most lately is the rose gold Mary Toggle Bracelet. I love anything dainty that levels up your wardrobe. I also love stacking hoop earrings since I have my ears double pierced.
What is your favourite thing about your career?
Performing! My love and passion for singing and performing is what got me into this career. It’s what I look forward to the most, it’s what I miss when I’m not doing it, and it’s what gets me through the peaks and valleys of a music career. There are hundreds of benefits and other parts of this gig that I love, but to strip it all down, it’s the singing.
Who is the woman (or one of the women) who most inspires you, and makes you feel empowered?
There are so many amazing women that I work with every day that help keep my career on the rails. You all know who you are. But I’m so proud to be a woman in a male-dominated business, working alongside other women who are just as hardworking and badass as every other person in this business.
“I’m so proud to be a woman in a male-dominated business, working alongside other women who are just as hardworking and badass as every other person in this business.”
What is the best thing about where you grew up?
Small town people prepared me for my career in so many ways. I was lucky enough to dip my foot into band class, choir, and even a bit of musical theatre. I was happy to find the music industry to be like one big small town in a lot of ways. Everybody knows everybody. Everyone’s worked with someone at some point, or heard about them. So that feels very comforting to me.
Why did you want to partner with H&B?
I LOVE supporting and partnering with local businesses. I was a fan of H&B products even before I knew they’d started locally in Saskatchewan. After hearing how Rachel got her start, and how she continues to grow her business and give back as much as she does, I knew our brands aligned, and that this was a company I could gladly stand behind. After working with them a few times over the last year, I can’t imagine a better, more inspiring, encouraging, fun, and beautiful partnership.
Writing: Carter Selinger
We spoke with Canadian artist, Angela Morgan, about jewellery, colour, inspiration, her creative process, and her recent collaboration with H&B. Morgan comments on how she gets intense joy from human interactions, and then paints that joy. At H&B, we feel connected to the boldness, confidence, and vibrancy of Angela’s art, and were excited to work with her on the design of Debut Sparkle. Above all, we hope this new Debut Collection brightens your day.
“There can be a lot of dark days for people and if we can bring something into the world that makes people happy or brings some joy—that’s what I’m trying to do with my work. I love beautiful things. That’s what I endeavour to paint.”
If you could pick one work to describe yourself, what would it be and why?
The painting we did to complement the collection is 100% me. My inner goddess definitely has fiery orange hair and a big hat. I think I missed my century. I belong in an era where you dress up for dinner and wear gloves. That painting captures how I often feel. I might not always look that fabulous, but I aspire to exude that type of energy.
Tell us about your creative process. Do you have a daily routine?
When I’m at home and in my studio in Fernie, it’s rare for me to take a day off. I’m very fortunate to have a career that doesn’t feel like work. Most days I try to paint in 3 hour blocks—one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and, if I can, an evening session. I’m usually working on 20 to 30 paintings at any given time. My favourite part of the creative process is the beginning—that initial mark-making, the gestures, and brushstrokes that get onto the canvas. It’s exciting. There’s no mistakes. You’re free with your ideas and not married to any one outcome. But beginning a painting often requires a lot of energy so that’s usually a morning session. Evenings are reserved for more thoughtful work—now I’m done 90% of this painting and I’m trying to give it the focussed attention it needs.
How long does it take you to paint a piece?
A 3x3 foot painting takes me between 8-10 hours. But that 8-10 hours varies depending on the composition. A painting with a single figure in it is simpler. You’re not working through as many problems as you are with a painting that has a group of people. When I first started painting, a 3x3 foot painting would have taken about 25 hours. I’ve been painting full-time for 20 years now and you start to get better technically with colour mixing. You get a better eye and you know a bit more about your own vision. What’s in my head comes out a lot quicker than it did 20 years ago.
What advice would you give to your younger self? Or any young women starting their professional or artistic career?
Don’t despair and be kind to yourself. It’s really easy to be disappointed with yourself. I had moments where I thought “Oh, this painting is no good,” but there was always something good in it. You just had to look harder sometimes. I was probably overly dramatic about what I perceived to be failures. Those “failures” were never the huge setbacks I thought they were at the time. I take comfort in knowing that creating art and putting it out into the world is hopefully a lifelong pursuit. At twenty I thought, “Oh, I’m never going to make it,” but eventually if you do enough of something you’re going to get it right. So just keep going. I hope when I’m 80 or 90 I’m going to be producing my best work. And why not? At that time I’ll have a lifetime of experiences behind me. Don’t despair. Keep going. Drink more wine, relax, and just enjoy what you do (laughs).
"So just keep going. I hope when I’m 80 or 90 I’m going to be producing my best work. And why not? At that time I’ll have a lifetime of experiences behind me. Don’t despair. Keep going. Drink more wine, relax, and just enjoy what you do."
Why did you want to collaborate with H&B?
I grew up in Saskatchewan and have known of Rachel for quite a while because she was a collector of my works. So that was very fortunate. Hillberg and Berk is a jewelry company but it’s also so much more. H&B aligns itself with a really positive existence. There can be a lot of dark days for people and if we can bring something into the world that makes people happy or brings some joy—that’s what I’m trying to do with my work. I love beautiful things. That’s what I endeavour to paint. When Rachel first approached me, she said, “Can we work a painting into a collection?” And I was like “Yeah! What colours are you thinking?” Having her team lay out what their colour vision was and using it as a jumping off point to create something—that was incredibly exciting for me. The whole experience felt aligned with my creative process.
Tell us about the painting you’ve done for this H&B collection?
There was a lot of thought that went into the composition and ideology around this debut. We chose one woman to be front and center with the idea that she was sort of coming out of the canvas and stepping into the real world.
What do you hope our customers will feel wearing this Debut collection?
I hope they feel...I might say fabulous, and like the world is a great place. With the exception of everything going on, I hope they find they can put on these gorgeous colours and be like, “I’m wearing this piece because it reminds me I’m a vibrant person, and I deserve things that make me feel wonderful.”
“I hope they find they can put on these gorgeous colours and be like, “I’m wearing this piece because it reminds me I’m a vibrant person, and I deserve things that make me feel wonderful.”
Can you talk about why it’s important for you to have joy as a central theme in your art? And how figurative painting allows you to do this?
What’s important in my life is my connections with people—my family, my children, my friends. I get intense joy from human interactions. I try to paint that joy. It’s not as if my garden isn’t inspiring. But I’ll paint my garden and then I’ll look at the painting and say: “I love how the geraniums melded in with the petunias, and then I’m like “ehh, this is kinda boring. This needs a person!” 99.9% of my work is grounded in some physical form. I would like to be a lot more brooding and contemporary and edgy. But then I’m like, “Well maybe just one more polka dot, maybe a pink polka dot, maybe some yellow, and oh we need blue now!” And I’ll get up in the morning and be like, “That’s just another happy painting.” And then I’m like “Screw it. I guess this is just what I do.” When I look at a painting or art I generally just want to feel good, and that’s what I’ve tried to generate in my work for 20 years. A positive emotion that just makes me happy.
Do you find yourself considering the inner lives of these figures you paint?
Sometimes. I might get a painting with four or five women and I’m like “Oh my god, she’s the bossy one. Look at her gestures! There’s a small narrative that goes on in my head, which makes painting fun. I’m trying to capture a moment in time. While I paint, I’ll often find myself reflecting on memories. I’ll be like “Oh wasn’t that a wonderful moment at my friend’s wedding when the groom looked back at his mom and his mom was like “Yes! Get on with it. Say I do.” I’m not necessarily painting specific people, but these kinds of memories fuel my inspiration. But I do want to leave it up to the viewer. Most people usually identify with a character in the work because it reminds them of their aunt, their grandma, or themselves when they were little. So I don’t try to be too specific and go, “Hey, this is mom and daughter.” Hopefully when people view my work it triggers a memory for them that’s different from mine but just as meaningful.
Do you have a favourite Hillberg & Berk jewellery piece?
I probably have about eight pairs of Sparkle Balls™. They’re just iconic. Six of the pairs have been given to me as gifts. People will say, “I just saw this colour and it made me think of you, which I think is really interesting.” I also have a gorgeous necklace with these beautiful jewel tones with gold in it, and it’s very special. I throw a lot of dinner parties and like to have a small dress code when you’re invited to my house. Obviously, I’m not going to impose, but I have a great closet and some gorgeous jewels, and that necklace is one piece that is always a go-to if my friends come over and want to bump up their outfit.
Often the faces of the people (or figures) in your work are obscured by large, fun hats. Can you talk about why this is a recurring theme for you?
I started to struggle painting eyes in my work maybe 11 or 12 years ago, and I just didn’t like them anymore. And I thought, “Well, what if I just tilted that hat a little bit?” So I did a couple of paintings and realized that obscuring the eyes wasn’t taking anything away from the painting for me. I started to put them out there and the feedback was interesting because most people didn’t notice. Maybe there was a presence in the figure that stood true, even without the eyes. And my sense with the eyes was—if I didn’t get them right—the painting was ruined. Hiding the eyes got to be really fun. It’s just something that I was technically having trouble with so I found a different solution that I really enjoyed. And, now I’m painting a few more eyes too, so, here we go. (laughs).
"What’s important in my life is my connections with people—my family, my children, my friends. I get intense joy from human interactions. I try to paint that joy."
Tell us about a woman who has inspired you or does inspire you?
I guess I always look close to home for my inspiration. Personal interaction is very important to me. I’ve been blessed with many wise people that I consider mentors, or inspirations. Off the top of my head, my grandma. She lived to be 100 years old—and I might cry here—but she was just such a lovely woman. She was the matriarch of our family. She gave love every day. She created beautiful things in her kitchen and did these beautiful little landscape paintings. She was steadfast in her creation of community and love.
Writing: Carter Selinger
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