Economic equality and employment key issues for International Women's Day
Times Change Women's Employment Service celebrates IWD

On Friday March 7th, Times Change Women's Employment Service celebrated International Women's Day with 'Steps to Success at Work", a networking breakfast event featuring a panel of dynamic and successful women from the Toronto community. Following this year's theme of 'Strong Women, Strong World", the event was designed to inspire and motivate women seeking meaningful and satisfying work.

The dynamic panel was made up of CTV Reporter and motivational speaker Karlene Nation, Marketing and Communications Specialist Diana Bishop, Children's Author Rebecca Upjohn, Writer/Actress Carolyn Taylor and Receptionist at Shimmerman Penn law firm, Tammy Monaghan. Each panelist spoke candidly and passionately about the barriers, challenges and successes they each experienced doing what they love and how they remained focused and positive during times of unemployment.

Diana Bishop, one of Canada's leading national and foreign TV news correspondents for 20 years has gone through personal and professional struggles and stated how she managed to succeed. "What you have to remember is that everyone who has had success has also had challenges, problems, even failures. That's part of the process." She now runs her own marketing and communications business in Toronto.

Many clients at Times Change are in-between jobs or rely on contractual work to support themselves. Carolyn Taylor , whose work includes CBC's The Hour and This Hour has 22 Minutes, spoke of her experience with contract work and how to use the time wisely in between jobs. "Contract work gives you the flexibility to build in time between projects to recharge, travel, and do other things. But the key is to save for the times when you're not working. When you are being paid, you have to live beneath your means - you can't live as if that paycheque is a regular one."

Rebecca Upjohn, a children's book author and former client at Times Change talked about being unemployed and once she committed to working from home, how she learned to structure her time effectively. Her first published children's book, Lily and the Paper Man has been nominated for a 2008 Blue Spruce Award by the Ontario Library Association.

New clients interested in Times Change and current clients were encouraged to take care of their personal well-being while searching for employment or assessing their career direction through volunteer work, low cost activities, and surrounding themselves with positive and caring people.

The mood was uplifting and optimistic as audience members gained information and advice about finding a meaningful career by setting realistic goals and staying determined and focused. Women attending the event were encouraged to use Times Change's job search and career planning workshops to help them to achieve their goals.

Tammy Monaghan gave participants advice on when facing a job interview to not only answer what you can offer your employer but more importantly, what value will the employers offer her so that she can meet the needs of her family. This showed participants the importance of articulating your needs to an employer.

Participants were then treated to a special 'office yoga' demonstration by Maggie O'Conner, former Times Change client and founder of the Union Yoga Studio in Cabbagetown. Maggie was selected as a guest for the event because of her own passion in business. She told Times Change that the immense support from friends, family, yoga teachers and the local community including Times Change has been fundamental in making The Union what it is today.

She commented it has been challenging to balance the long hours of starting a business with the rest of "life", and the financial risks which have produced many sleepless nights. What keeps her focused is how engaging her work is, and the exciting path it has led her. Her yoga studio can be found on Parliament and Carleton in Cabbagetown.

Audience members learned through a guided yoga demonstration how valuable it is to set aside a few minutes a day to relieve stress as it can make a difference towards wellbeing during the job search.

Times Change continued in its solidarity to International Women's Day marching in the International Women's day march on March 8th in Toronto. Information on Times Change was also made available to the public, at the Ryerson Information Fair.

Overall, participants felt inspired and motivated towards their career and job search goals and were encouraged to find the energy and drive to pursue your dreams.

Karlene Nation, a popular motivational speaker, was recently honoured as an African Canadian Achievement Award winner. She stressed she is like a 'pitbull' in going after what she wants in life, "You have to manage your career and drive it forward, you can't let people get in your way or bring you down. You can't be passive - you have to actively go after the things you want."

Strong women, strong world indeed.

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Times Change Women's Employment Service
365 Bloor St. East, Suite 1003, Toronto, ON M4W 3L4
Telephone:(416) 927-1900, ext. 0

Service Hours:

Monday - Thursday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Friday 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

We are a perfume free environment.