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About Trish - The Full Story
I was born and
raised in Windsor, Ontario and grew-up in the Real Estate industry, with
my father a broker and my mother his right arm. My father comes from a
small French-Canadian community and my mother was born in Germany, having
immigrated with her family when she was 5 years old. I have a brother
who’s a couple of years younger than me.
Due to my parents’
business background, it was a “given” that my career would be in business,
in one form or another. I was good at math so when it came time for me to
go to college, it made sense for me to take a three-year business
administration program. I enrolled at St Clair College in Windsor and
majored in accounting my first year. I did well but accounting turned out
too dry for me so I switched to computers my second year and enjoyed that
more. I excelled at it, but it still wasn’t what I was looking for. Those
first two years of college I lived at home. I decided to switch schools in
my last year so that I could leave home and enrolled at Durham Collage in
Oshawa, Ontario where I took human relations and psychology for my third
year. I just loved it!
My first job out of college was as an office
administrator. I enjoyed the work but felt like I wanted more so I went to
night school to get my real estate license. When my employer found out I
was going to school to pursue a new career, I was terminated. I didn’t
realize at the time that the pressure and pace of real estate was not for
me. Once I’d been licensed for six months and still hadn’t made any money,
I decided to return to office administration and accounting.
It was
during that first year out of college that I met the man that would be my
husband in years to come. Ernest is a maintenance mechanic originally from
New Brunswick, Canada. It turned out that he was a fair bit older than I
was but by the time I found how much older (17 years), it was too late.
He’d already stolen my heart. I was 21 and he was 38 but he didn’t look a
day over 30. I remember the day I went to him to tell him that my employer
had terminated me and he said, “so you’ll find a better job”. From day one
Ernest has always had the utmost faith in me and my abilities and the vast
potential for my future.
In my mid twenties I started experiencing
some severe depression. I was diagnosed with Major Depression shortly
thereafter. In hindsight I can see that I’d been experiencing depression
since my early teen years. This illness would prove to be a life-long
issue for me to contend with.
Over the next twelve years, I never
stayed anywhere for more than a couple of years at a time. I would go into
a company and find their accounts a mess, clean up the books and get their
receivables collected. I found that once I got the books to a maintenance
level there was no challenge for me. I would find myself a new position
and a new challenge.
From 1991 to 1994 I gained a great deal of
experience as a Credit Manager handling a long series of small claims. I
learned how to handle small claims lawsuits, litigation, conflict
management, negotiation, mediation and problem solving in a very large
way. I always felt that I was ahead of my time in credit management and
collections as I preferred to focus on debt reduction strategies instead
of harassing people for money. I did very well at bringing down their
accounts “over 90 days past due” from 40% of the receivables when I
started to 6% by the time I left there almost three years
later.
In 1993, while in this position, my vision started to go and over a
period of two months, I went blind in my left eye. Over the next seven
months, I had three acute attacks of abnormal neurological symptoms and
two hospitalizations leading up to a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.
Three days after my diagnosis, my employer cut my hours, my pay and my
benefits in half stating that I was not healthy enough to work full time.
I was told that this action was taken based on my extensive time off due
to illness over the last six months. This event was immediately preceded
by my manager calling my neurologist trying to strong-arm information from
him about my prognosis over the phone. Within minutes, my doctor called to
warn me that he’d had this inappropriate call from my employer. I called
the Human Rights Commission right away to file a complaint and continued
to work there while my claim was processed.
Going through the
process of diagnosis was a very difficult time for me. I was worried about
my health but yet more concerned about losing my job. Between my failing
health and my job in jeopardy, I felt as though I’d lost total control of
my life and my future. My depression was barely concealed, even with the
medication that I was taking faithfully.
By this time Ernest and I
had been living common law for almost ten years. We’d made plans to get
married the following summer. The prospect of having a wife with a
disability didn’t deter Ernest from wanting me to be his wife. Throughout
the whole ordeal with my employer and the Human Rights Commission he was a
solid support for me. He never failed to be there to hold me when I
returned home crying after a day of harassment at work. Ernest and I were
married on our 10th anniversary in 1994, a little more than one year after
my first symptoms had begun.
Two months after I filed the complaint
with the Human Rights Commission, my employer terminated me. That was in
the late winter of 1994. I was
devastated. One thing was clear to me: self-advocacy was vital when you’ve
been discriminated against. Following through with that complaint was one
of the most stressful things I have ever participated in but I knew that I
had to proceed, for the benefit of my financial future as well as my
self-esteem. After about two years, the complaint was settled in my
favour. I felt vindicated. Ernest and I used the money as a down payment
to purchase our first home. Sometimes you can make lemonade out of lemons!
<grin>
I’d been off work for nine months when I started volunteering for
the MS Society of Canada, facilitating self-help groups. I was one of
their founding board members in northern York Region, starting a brand new
chapter to provide support for people with MS. Seven years later I was
volunteering up to twenty-five hours a week providing advocacy, supportive
counseling, and self-advocacy coaching and I just loved it.
A
couple of years later I was appointed to the Board of Directors for
Georgina Mobility Transit, an organization local to where I live that
facilitates the provision of accessible transportation to people with
disabilities. I served on that board for 9 years before stepping down only
recently.
During those first seven years after my diagnosis, the
course of my disease had been a rough ride. I was averaging 2 to 3 acute
relapses per year. That first time I went blind wasn’t to be the last. I
later experienced blindness in one eye or the other (thankfully never in
both eyes at once) another 5 or 6 times over the years. I spent time in a
wheelchair more than once and had one relapse that left me with no
equilibrium for almost 9 months! Gratefully, the accumulation of residual
damage left behind by countless attacks has been minimal. Aside from
ongoing neurological pain in my hands and my arms, a little
colour-blindness, mild to moderate numbness in various parts of my body,
and ongoing fatigue, I am relatively healthy, in spite of everything. I
continue to need medication for the depression but manage my treatment and
my life well.
Late in 2001 I started taking an injectible,
disease-modifying drug for the multiple sclerosis. Within 3 months, my
energy had gone through the roof! Within 6 months I was feeling so
empowered that I decided to quit smoking, start exercising and improve my
general lifestyle. I began to feel so good that I found the volunteer work
just wasn’t enough for me anymore. My ultimate goal was to return to the
workforce after being home on disability for almost eight
years.
Because the nature of MS is very unpredictable, and the fact
was that I had no idea how long this feeling of wellness might last,
Ernest made me promise not to do anything about returning to work until
I’d been in remission for a full year.
Twelve months later, in the
spring of 2002, I walked into the office of Job Skills (a local vocational
assistance program) and was introduced to a business coach. I shared with
her my story, my business background and my final termination as a result
of my health. I told her that the only way I could see myself
professionally successful with a disability was if I could be
self-employed. I vowed never again to feel guilty for being sick. After a
fair bit of conversation and one or two follow-up visits, that business
coach recommended that I look into the field of Life Skills Coaching.
While researching this option online I found a course offered through the
YWCA that I could take part-time. Right up my alley as my heath wasn’t
going to afford me the luxury of getting involved in a full-time program.
I received my certification in November of 2002.
My first role as
a Life Coach was working with youth at risk of homelessness. I thoroughly
enjoyed that contract but was disappointed to learn that the funding for
this government-supported program had not been renewed. Once again, I felt
as though my future was in the hands of those other than my
own.
When that contract ended in March of 2003, I decided that the
only way for me to build an autonomous career was to start my own private
Life Coaching practice. So, on April 1st, 2003, I “hung up my shingle” and
started CHANGING PACES.
During that same year I was appointed to
the York Region Accessibility Advisory Committee. This is a committee of
people with disabilities as well as people who work with people with
disabilities who are tasked with the function of advising the Region of
York on accessibility issues. This committee was appointed at the
direction of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA). The ODA is a piece
of legislature that mandates that all Ontario municipalities and other
public organizations use due diligence to identify and remove barriers to
people with disabilities within our communities. I am honoured to be
advocating for others like myself at this level of government.
In
hindsight I see that Life Coaching is something that I’ve been doing all
of my life. I’ve always been the person that people come to talk about
their challenges. When I was in Credit Management, I was actually a debt
counselor, while volunteering for the MS Society all those years,
providing supportive counseling, I was actually coaching them on finding
the resources and the support that they needed to survive and thrive
beyond their illness.
I am a staunch advocate and a passionately
committed coach. I empower my clients to become powerful self-advocates by
giving them the shortcuts they need to skip through the learning curve. If
you’ve recently been diagnosed and are feeling lost and powerless or even
if you’ve lived with disability or illness for more years than you’d like
to recall, I’m here to tell you that there is hope and there definitely is
help. The only things you need are a desire to get more out of life and a
willingness to reach out and connect with me. If you have those two
criteria nailed, then email me today and let’s get
started!
Till then, take care & God bless.
Trish
Robichaud
Disability Awareness Coach,
Maximum Life & Business Coach
Advocate, Facilitator, Motivational Speaker
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