Hi everyone and welcome to my Rise&Lead blog! I am so excited for you to read this!

My story

My name is Anna, I am in my early 30s, passionate about all things related to self-development. There have been several challenges that I have overcome with relationships, friendships, family and relatives, career, finance, education and, most importantly, mindset that I want to share about to help others. I believe everyone can achieve and overcome anything as long as they can put their mind to it. It is all about mindset! However, I am still learning and improving every day and I believe that I can achieve more. Below are some examples to show how far (or little?) I have come:

Relationships: from being insecure about myself and having issues in every relationship to being happily married for over 9 years and counting

Friendships: from being surrounded by a large number of people who really did not care for me to having a small but mighty circle of real friends and people that make me feel good and fulfilled

Family: from trying to be ‘good’ to everyone and getting nothing (no, not even acceptance and respect) in return to surrounding myself only with family members I like that make me feel good about myself

Careers: starting with a 6-month contract as senior business analyst to being a permanent portfolio lead/team lead; from having a role on the project to support and take notes to leading the biggest most exciting projects that are organization-wide;  from being afraid to speak up in meetings and having to write out my introduction before introducing myself including my name (as my mind would go blank if I am in a spotlight) to leading teams from 4 different organizations and presenting in front of 300 people; from making 40K to making a six figures salary (which is hard in public sector where we have no bonuses, commission or other ways to make more money)

Finance: from having significant debt (a combination of credit cards, student loans, lines of credit, etc.) and no savings to significantly reduced debt and thousands in savings

Mindset: from feeling insecure to feeling confident and knowing who I am, what I want and what I bring to the table

What this blog is about

My mission is to support, empower and help my readers in any way through my posts and stories.

This blog is for anyone and everyone who seeks to find new approaches, how-tos as well as inspirational stories and ideas on the topics of:

• self-development/personal development/confidence
• improving life/feeling good/self-care/happiness
• professional development/career growth/leadership/financial management (coming up!)
• lifestyle/food & drink/travel (coming up!)

The name of ‘Rise & Lead’ suggests for everyone who feels stuck or unsure about themselves or their abilities, or where their life is going to feel better – by realizing who you are and what you bring to the table you can rise up to new opportunities and experiences and be ready to lead others and live the life you deserve!

About Me

I am Anna, and I am a first-generation immigrant to Canada. I was born in Russia, later lived in Ukraine and have been happily living in Canada for the last 19 years. English is my second language so please be patient with my grammar 🙂 Since I’ve been living in Canada from my early teenage years, I do not consider myself as an immigrant but rather as a first-generation Canadian (almost like a pioneer on this beautiful land).

Personal life: Happily married to the love of my life for 9 years and counting; a new mom; residing near Toronto with my  husband, daughter, 3 cats (persian, russian-blue, unknown breed) and 2 dogs (border collie and a bernese mountain dog)

Education: Bachelor Degree in Politics and Governance, Masters Degree in Public Policy and Administration from Ryerson University; Accredited Portfolio Management Professional by Project Management Institute (PMI)

Professional life: Worked in all 3 sectors (private, not-for-profit, public) in various occupations, from marketing to program analysis to business analysis to project and portfolio management and strategy. Currently working for government of Ontario

Hobbies: writing, reading, hiking, travelling, self-improvement

Pop-quiz (if after reading all of this you are still interested in learning more about me:)
Ideal vacation: a destination that includes access to the beach AND a nice town/city to explore, preferably with historical buildings/palaces and restaurants with patios

Favourite drink: caramel macchiato from Starbucks on a weekday; earl grey tea on any other day; champagne

Wines: chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pino grigio

Favourite food: pasta & pizza (I refuse to be shamed about carbs! Yes to carbs!)

Favourite movie of all time: Back to the Future

Currently binge-watching: various shows where Gordon Ramsey teaches people to cook

I always carry: notebook, phone, wallet, snacks, makeup, lavander essential oil