A year that was 2023

As I reflect on the year that has passed us by, I sit in gratitude and in recognition of what my body has endured for the last 12 months. Last year at this time, my body collapsed and said a big loud “NO!” to the stress it was under after a medical intervention went wrong in Nov 2022. I went from leading a growing company while supporting multiple clients, hiking every weekend, and swimming twice a week, to being fully incapacitated and wheelchair bound after experiencing a near death experience that resulted in multiple system (organ) dysfunction. I spent all of December 2022 and January 2023 in a haze – vacillating between the physical and spiritual realms as my medical team managed the crisis my body was in. My brain (and level of consciousness) kept me stable enough to give directions to members on my team to make sure my company did not come crashing down in my period of discombobulation.

Experiencing a near death experience (NDE) amid leading a company that was in phase of growth with many new members was hard on my husband, who is also my business partner, and it was confusing for my team and clients. I was not always coherent, and I appeared irrational, secretive, and not entirely myself on many occasions. My team expected leadership and mentorship, while my clients, although understanding and supportive, felt a sense of loss as they wanted the stamp of my brand on the work my team delivered. In January, every lucid moment was spent supporting my business, rather than on my recovery. At that time, I thought my company was too young and that it would not recover from the loss of my clients if I stepped away from work fully to focus 100% on my recovery. My husband struggled with my decision, yet he supported me as he knew the tremendous responsibility I carried, being the owner of a young company responsible for my team’s source of income. So, we persevered on.

Between February and May, as my brain was forming new connections and my body was struggling to heal from the trauma it had endured, I continued to not know what was coming and what was going, crossing between the two worlds of the physical and other realms. For those of you who know me, you may have an appreciation for how my spirit was able to provide the energy my physical body needed to navigate this twilight zone. And for those of you who worked with me during this time, you may now have more context for your experience of me during those precarious months. I want to express my profound gratitude for your patience with me, and for having the flexibility to allow me to recover while also holding the tension that you may not have known that my work was only thing that gave me the courage to stay on in this physical world.

You see, during those first 5 months of 2023, I was on an intense healing journey. Where the conventional medical system failed me and my family, the right traditional medicine healers worked with me and slowly, but surely, brought me back to where I am today. I went back and forth from Dr. John Yang MD and Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine at TCM Vancouver, to Victor Han, Bodyworker and Tuina Healer at TCM Vancouver, to Satomi Sataka, Acupuncturist at the Lotus House, to Beau Bradley, Doctor of Chiropractic, at Eagle Mountain Health, to Dr. Stefanie Schlegel, Naturopathic Doctor at North Shore Wellness Center, and to Marianne Tout, Kinesiologist at Physio2U. Each member of this phenomenal medical team helped me bring balance back to my system, taught me to walk again, reconnected my wiring so that I could talk again, and helped replenish the nutrients my body was lacking. I also finally got to see the cardiologist I had waited those long 5 months to see within the conventional medical system and was eventually put on the last missing piece of the puzzle (aka long overdue prescription medication).

In June, I underwent surgery. While I was still weak, my body and mind were ready to experience this last leg of major intervention that was outstanding in my recovery journey. A serendipitous side effect of this surgery was my brain finally got the rest it needed to jumpstart my neuronal connections and put me ahead on my path to recovery. Anesthetic drugs cause brain circuits to change their oscillation patterns in particular ways, thereby preventing neurons in different brain regions from communicating with each other. My brain was switched off for those few hours I was under, and boy oh boy, did I feel its benefits in the weeks after that initial post-surgical recovery. As July and August rolled around, my stamina (mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional) steadily increased. In September, I think I finally made my come back. I ditched my walker and graduated to using walking sticks; I slowly returned to my yoga practice, and finally started to sustain a full day’s work without crashing my system.

As I look back on 2023, and bring myself back to the present day and moment, I look up to recognize and honor my team for their support and love, I send gratitude to my clients for their ongoing trust in the work we do, and I bow my head in reverence to my traditional medical team and husband for reviving my spirit and body. I realize I am not the only one who has had challenging 2023. I raise my hands to those of you who have had to survive this year, and I send you my best wishes to have your hope and grace restored as you bid 2023 a goodbye.

As I bring 2023 to a close, I want to give a shout out to my team for a few amazing achievements:

1. Early this year we entered discussions with Clear Leadership to explore an initiative to bring an Indigenous lens to the way their program was being delivered. In April, Nicole L’Hirondelle, one of our lead Consultants gave us a gift by saying yes to the daunting proposal to have her attend the Clear Leadership program and to be trained as the first Indigenous Facilitator of the Clear Leadership Program. In September Clear Leadership announced their partnership with Changing Gears Consulting with the health authorities in BC. In November, we made history in partnership with Clear Leadership – Nicole delivered her first course. Not only did Mike Cody at Clear Leadership train Nicole, he also supported her in her first delivery of the program to a group of 12 participants. So, a BIG thank you to Nicole and Mike for making this vision come alive! And another big “thank you” to the participants of the Nov 19 Clear Leadership cohort and Gabi Cuff (co-facilitator), who enabled Nicole, Changing Gears Consulting and Clear Leadership to achieve this. Stay tuned for more in 2024, as we will unveil what is to come!
2. We successfully delivered 4 impactful projects with 4 of our clients! Projects spanned time and attendance management with a Kronos UKG implementation, HR process and discovery for a call-center redesign project, digital health transformation connecting First Nations to provincial health for electronic medical records and e-referral implementation, and enterprise asset management for an operations and finance program. Thank you, Canfor, WorkSafeBC, First Nations Digital Health Ontario and Translink!
3. We were awarded two RFPs (of the 3 we applied to) to be a preferred vendor – one for Executive Coaching services allowing us to showcase our diverse coaching roster and another for Travel Training, which will enable us to illustrate our diverse clinical, change management, graphic facilitation, and training consulting experience. We look to the new year to welcome more.
4. We are a shortlisted proponent for our Train the Trainer program for Personal Support Workers at a major hospital network in Bangalore, India.

I could not be more proud of my small and mighty team!

As I invite 2024 into my life, I will be taking some of my own advice, and focus on my wellness and allow my body and spirit to continue to heal. My tremendous core team and I spent the last few months treating Changing Gears Consulting as another client, and using our internal expert knowledge, we have built succession and sustainment into our service delivery model so our clients and our team members are supported well. We are just emerging from the dust that is settling from the chaos of 2023 and we are energized to step into the new year. We will have some exciting announcements emerging in the new year and I want to welcome you to stay tuned into our work.
I wish you all the very best as we draw 2023 to an end and enter a new year.

Goodbye 2023! Hello, 2024!