I don’t want to give the impression that we’re all Mother Teresa. But at the end of the day, you feel like you’re working hard for something that’s really worthwhile. And isn’t that what you look for in a job?
—SHERRI, vice president of development, Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation
CONVENIENTLY, I’D FOUND myself in Toronto again. It would be my last week in the city, though over the next few weeks I’d still be close enough to spend some time with Danna. Ian and I had started to feel like locals. Even though I’d finished working at Steam Whistle over a week ago, we were still at Greg and Sybil’s place (they were out of town), and sometimes after work we’d stop by the brewery to drink a couple of Steamys with the employees. Ian had planned on going back home after two weeks, but instead his wife decided to meet up with us. Karen was a computer programmer and typically worked from home, so she was able to bring her work on the road.
Ian and Karen are the model couple of the future: Wherever there is a wireless Internet connection, they can pull out their laptops and work remotely. They’re completely mobile. Ian, when he wasn’t filming me on the job, was still doing freelance work, specializing in website design and search-engine optimization, and was also running an online travel magazine. I can’t begin to explain Karen’s job, but she’s really smart and really good with computers. On the road, Karen worked from Greg and Sybil’s house. She loves to cook, and so when Ian and I got home, typically she was happily whipping up some tasty new creation we were more than eager to try out. It was the closest thing to routine I’d had in a long time. If Karen hadn’t been there, we’d still have been eating pizza, frozen dinners, takeout, or when we felt ambitious, pasta.
While at Princess Margaret Hospital Foundation (PMHF), I had the opportunity to speak with some great individuals about what they do and what inspired them to work in the not-for-profit industry.
On my first day I went for a walk downtown with Steve so that he could show me the new signs promoting the Ride to Conquer Cancer. Steve, the keen high-school-PE-teacher type, was the CCO, “chief cycling officer”—responsible for managing and overseeing the event.
“I’m able to combine something I love—bike riding and athletics—with doing something meaningful and giving back to the community by raising crucial dollars for cancer research,” he told me.
Having found a job that perfectly matched his skills and interests, Steve was a good person to ask for advice on choosing a career. “My advice is don’t sell out, don’t find a job that’s a means to an end because it’s a paycheck for you. Find out where your interests lie. Find something in your heart that you want to do. You may not get paid very well at the beginning, depending on what it is, but at the end of the day it’ll work out. It’s worked for me. I’m not going to be a millionaire, but it’s about satisfaction and enjoying life. It’s not about stressing on a Sunday night because you have to get up for something you don’t want to do Monday morning.”
Later in the week I sat down with Paul, the president and CEO of PMHF. Paul was an intelligent, articulate leader with a young face and white hair. He’d spent the majority of his career in the for-profit sector. He was the president of HMV music stores, president of BMG Music, and head of all Disney Stores in North America. Since then he had experienced how working for a cause he felt passionate about was more significant than he’d ever imagined.
“My mother died of breast cancer,” he told me. “And that experience, for my whole family, it was something that totally changed my life. I felt that I wanted to do something related to cancer research, helping people with cancer. I was always in the private sector, and from a career point of view I’ve been blessed with having great jobs, but this is the best job I’ve ever had.
“One night I was describing my job to a friend. At the end, he said, ‘You’re working harder than you’ve ever worked, you’re being paid less than you’ve ever been paid, and you work with people that have cancer, all day long. How can you love that job?’
“I told him that you certainly don’t come into this sector to make a lot of money, but with all of the other benefits in the not-for-profit world, it’s an amazing place to work.”
After only one week at the foundation, I understood what Paul meant. When I visited local businesses to see if they would help promote the event, I felt as if my role was significant. I knew that the more stores I convinced to display our pamphlets, the more people would hear about the Ride to Conquer Cancer, and the more money would be raised for cancer research. It’s truly special to have such a positive impact on the lives of so many. There’s a sense of hope at the foundation, a profound belief in the work, and a shared commitment to achieving a common vision. Working there, I realized that it’s important for me to find a career in which I’m making a difference. Since the start of the project, I’d raised $8,032 in donations from my employers to fight extreme poverty, and I felt proud of the accomplishment.
I asked Paul, “What advice would you give someone coming out of school trying to decide on a career path?”
After each question, Paul paused thoughtfully and responded deliberately. “It’s not just people out of school looking for what they want to do,” he said. “I know very successful people—people that have been presidents of companies, owned companies and sold them—a lot of people are still asking themselves the same question, ‘What do I want to do with my life?’ and ‘What’s a career all about?’ And doing something that you love, I think, is the answer. My advice is while you’re in high school, college, recently out of school, or even later on in your career, find something you can volunteer for. People that volunteer and who are on not-for-profit boards, they are leaders in their community, and you’ll often find some great people who will mentor you. And for people in their twenties starting out, try to find some really smart, experienced older people—who aren’t your parents, because I think your parents can only help you to a certain extent—but when you do find these people, listen to them, seek out their advice at the right time. They can help you see things that you don’t see clearly.”
Paul continually stressed the importance of self-knowledge—developing a strong sense of what you’re good at and what you’re not. He assured me that when the One-Week Job project was over, this knowledge would be the most valuable insight that I’d take away from the experience.
“This whole issue of self-knowledge and having a lot of experiences before you settle down is so important. My parents, they got married when they were seventeen, eighteen. Well, who’s really ready to get married at that age? And how are you to know what career you want when you’re twenty-one or twenty or nineteen and you’re just starting out? But investing in that knowledge early on, as opposed to going to work and cranking away, buying a car, buying a condo, and getting the shackles on with all those mortgage payments—I think it’s really responsible to find out what you really want to do with your life before you head down that road.”