Journeyman Stories

I haven’t been on this earth long enough to claim that I know a lot, but the little I know has shown me that people do change. Who I am now is not who I used to be. Am I getting better as I age like it is the case for wine? I really don’t know. I remember many years ago as Paul my business partner and I spoke about what we would like to create in the future, he told me that I would be the front man of our company, and he would work behind the scenes. He kept his word for a long time. I can assure you that he made me look good on numerous occasions while he did most of the work. My job was to go out and present; I had a very good deal. That was a few years ago. I guess I did a very good job at presenting our stuff (at least that is what I tell myself). Well guess what happened a little over a year ago? Paul went out and got his coaching certificate and now he is presenting workshops with me and coaching as well. I think I inspired him lol.  He even did an entire ...

You might be wondering who the heck is Richard. He is a gentleman I met a while ago when I was participating in a training program for coaches. For two days, I was part of a class where we learned how to customize our coaching approach when working with new immigrants to Canada. The training was amazing and I am looking forward to the next part where we will be assigned a person to coach for 6 months. During the first day of training, they told us they would bring somebody to share a story about how the coaching program had helped him to find his first job in Canada. Richard was the guy. He was well dressed, he was funny and he was ready to share his story. Richard has been in Canada for only five months now. He was a very successful professional in his native country and also had experience working in many Asian countries. He was very successful before coming to Canada. When he started to share his story it didn't take too long to realize that his first days in Cana...

I recently returned from a three day trip to Montreal where I hosted an event organized by "Ishaka", a Burundian traditional dance group from Ottawa. This is the second time that these ladies have asked me to be the MC of their event. The trip was also an opportunity to get away from the usual and get a little bit of rest.  The event was phenomenal. It was close to perfection. The group's preparedness, their professionalism and their excellence made me feel proud to be Burundian. I have hosted many events over the past years, but I have never experienced anything like this. I had the opportunity to work with backstage producers, sound engineers and stage managers...It was a blast! The beautiful Theatre Outremont was full to capacity and the crowd was really into it. The music and the dances were well performed by the young ladies with their beautiful smiles. I could tell they were having fun. As I arrived early to the venue for the rehearsals, I...

  It was almost four years ago when I met Cecilia for the first time. I was part of a coaching and training program where Cecilia was one of the three people who were assigned to me for coaching. The program was set to last seven months and included four trips to New York. By the way, did you realize that I am back to blogging again? Yes Jim, I am back... Now back to Cecilia. During the seven months I spent working with Cecilia, I developed a friendship with her that is still there after four years. While I was trying my best to help her, she ended up being the one who inspired me to become a better person and a stronger leader. A few weeks ago, while speaking to her on the phone, she mentioned to me that her business was thriving and that she was dealing better with life's challenges.  She was in a very good mood and I was happy for her and her business.  What she went on to tell with me during that conversation really surprised me; she told me that m...

Have you ever been in a situation when you feel you want to get away from everything?  A place that is far away from the everyday routine, away from the noise, a place where you can calm down and....listen? This has been my case for some time, but the opportunity never presented itself until this last weekend. It was a long weekend here in Ontario last week, so it was perfect timing. Why did I want to get away? You may ask. Simply because I wanted to get some direction. Without getting into the details, I will tell you that I was so angry last week. It doesn't happen a lot, but when it happens, I can get REALLY upset.‎ I was in a situation in which I felt I was unfairly treated and I was not even given a chance to explain myself (in my opinion). I couldn't understand; It was really unfair and there was nothing I could do. As I was riding on the train going home with my daughter, with my mind wandering all over the place, this guy came near the door w...

    One of the things that I enjoy a lot (other than good food) is to go to sleep when I am completely exhausted. I like when I go to bed so sleepy that in a few seconds I am snoring (apparently I do). That was the case this weekend. I was so busy last week that by Friday I looked like a zombie. For more than two years, my daughter has pretty much dictated my schedule (especially in terms of the amount of sleep I get daily), but this last week it was the opposite. Since I commute daily to outside of the city, I woke up very early each morning, dropped my daughter at the daycare and immediately after proceeded to my final destination. When I went to pick her up at the daycare, they told me that Skylar was sleepy all day long. Needless to say that by Friday, my daughter and I were in the same situation. The only time we did not sleep was when we attended church on Sunday. We slept every other time during the weekend.  My wife could not believe the number of h...

I have had a few questions in my mind. I am glad it’s only a few questions unlike the Brazilian soccer team that was crushed by Germany (are you kidding me??). As the questions kept popping in my mind, I did what I always do in search of inspiration; I went back to the texts that changed my life a few years ago. Every time I read it, I learn something new. It never gets old.  I am sure you will enjoy it as well. I know many of you have read it before, but I have no doubt that it will inspire you as if you are reading it for the first time. It said that the author is unknown, but whoever wrote it, he/she was really inspired Here it is "Everything Happens for a Reason" Sometimes people come into your life and you know right away that they were meant to be there, to serve some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help you figure out who you are or who you want to become.  You never know who these people may be (possibly your roommate, neighbor, teacher, frat...