I spent nearly a decade at one of the Big Four global firms in Toronto, advising large organizations on tax compliance, financial reporting, risk management, and complex regulatory and technology initiatives. It was rigorous, demanding work that gave me a deep technical foundation.

In the fall of 2020, after one too many lockdowns living in downtown Toronto, I moved home to Collingwood to work remotely. I told myself it was temporary. I grew up here, but returning as an adult made me realize how special this place really is. The trails, the water, the community. Before long, I stopped saying I’d be moving back to the city.

By 2022, the burnout I had been outrunning finally caught up to me. I took a sabbatical, traveled, and for the first time had real space to breathe and to examine what I actually valued and what I’d been too busy to question.

Part of what I encountered abroad was a different relationship to death: cultures that treat it as a natural and sacred part of life rather than a failure to be feared or ignored. Everything in nature arises and passes away. Turning toward that reality clarified what truly matters, and changed how I relate to fear — not as something to avoid, but something to learn from.

There was a point during that time away when I genuinely didn’t think I’d return to accounting at all. But with enough distance came new perspective: I realized I love this work, and people need this kind of support. I just needed to do it differently.

I returned with clarity: I could use these skills to support the people and organizations helping my community thrive, rather than the large corporations that seemed to be harming it. So I resigned, founded my own practice based in Collingwood, and never looked back.