Grow Airdrie BLOG #1 Who am I?
This is where I’m supposed to spew pure brilliance as a blogger and inspire you to greatness…
- Lower your expectation
- I’m no guru with the answers
- I believe with all the ideas in my head some of them are winners and much like a major league baseball player I expect to strike out, I expect some will fall short and some will surprise me and take on a life of their own.
This is a first for me, writing a blog that is. I’ve been self employed before and this starting a business doesn’t seem like it’s too much different other than EVERYTHING IS ON ME. No big deal, no pressure. This blog is about introductions. Introductions to me, my business, my ideas and finally the most important part, you. I want to introduce you to all the wonderful businesses and non-profits in Airdrie and Area.
Who I am in Lindsey Coyle, I came out of my mommy fog from my two kids induced sleep deprivation period and started to get involved in the community and rediscover who I am and what I stand for. Well the first thing I did was perform on stage with Airdrie’s first Vagina Monologues in 2014. I am a feminist and believe in the grassroots power of bringing awareness to the epidemic level of violence against women and children, as an effort to address it and reduce it. Your’s truly was cast as “The Moaner” so I’ll just leave that with you. After that I did some more family friendly community theatre projects and started volunteering extensively. In 2015 I started the Airdrie Block Parent Program mostly by accident as I just inquired if we had a program through the provincial body and next thing I knew a “How to start a Program in your Community” package arrived on my doorstep. I’m still plugging away at that. In September of 2017 my youngest went to grade one and I reached the pinnacle of the longest stretch of time between drop off and pick up since I was a SAHM. I decided to run for Airdrie City Council, I wanted to get to business to positively impact my community. Well for my first time running and only announcing on Candidate day I did pretty good, 9th out of 22… 23? It was a ridiculous number of candidates. What did I learn from this experience… I was overly polite. I was so keen to keep a clean and positive campaign, I struggled with how to address issues in our city that would bring light to things not being done properly or efficiently in my opinion. I was in effect scared to step on toes. The two weeks after the election, after feeling like the universe sucker punched me, I thought I was exactly where I needed to be when I was campaigning, so I was optimistic. Despite the excessive amount of energy I pour into causes I believe or connect with, I am energized and fulfilled which was the case for campaigning and now starting Airdrie Exchange. Don’t get me wrong I get physically tired, I just lose myself and time when I am doing something I love, plus my creative energy is through the roof. Don’t let creative energy fool you either, I am not an artist. I am an idea ninja, I have challenged status quo so much in my life that thinking outside the box in my normal. Plus, I am always optimistic as mentioned before, I don’t shut down ideas as quickly as most and that has been my superpower in life. So here I am starting a business, a local directory and event calendar, I never saw that coming. Next blog is about how Airdrie Exchange came about.