Coolangatta
2008:
I was 19. I was living a bit of a lie. Wasn’t a very happy person. This was around the time I started to understand my sexuality a bit more, but I didn't know how to navigate it. One day I said to my mom “what are you doing 2 Fridays from now, can you drive me to the airport?” She wasn’t pleased that I booked a one way ticket to Australia by myself without even mentioning it to her. I knew I needed to do this though.
This was my first solo trip.
As soon as I stepped off the plane on the other side of the world I was a different person living a truer version of myself. This trip was life changing. I traveled around the country a bit, but I immediately fell in love with Coolangatta. I would sit at the beach everyday, feet in the sand, listening to the crashing waves, and just think about every aspect of my life. What do I want out of life? I really didn’t know.
2010:
My life was turned upside down between 2008 and the end of 2010. I had lost both of my parents and two close friends in that time period. I was overloaded with emotions, anxieties, thoughts, ideas and couldn’t control them.
I had friends that were living in Australia and so I booked a flight to visit them and explore Australia again. In the second half of the trip I went back to Coolangatta and again would sit at the beach and slowly work through all of those pent up emotions.
The only way I can describe this time is that all my thoughts were squeezed into a tiny room and everyday I’d open the door to that room working through a couple more thoughts and emotions.
Again, such an important time in my life. I knew that I needed to make some big changes in my life. My mom died a few months before she was going to retire. She worked her entire life, 30 years of it at the same company, and yet she didn’t get to enjoy any retirement. This rooted something very deep in me. I couldn’t let myself go down this same path. I needed to figure out something to do in my life that provided a good income to live an amazing life when I’m young, while also planning for my future. I also wanted to enjoy what I was doing.
2016:
Between 2010 and 2016 I made a bunch of changes in my life to try and achieve my crazy dreams. I uprooted my entire life in Maple Ridge, sold my house, and got accepted to university on the Island. After living on the island for a while, I figured out a plan to accomplish the goal I had set for myself. I figured that buying a business would give me that life I so deeply desired.
I went down the path to buy a Panago, and a few months before I was set to takeover the Duncan location at the end of 2016, I decided to head out on a trip with friends before I threw myself head first into the business. Coolangatta was a stop on that trip. I sat at the beach again reflecting on the years that had passed. I felt so confident about the path I was embarking on.
2023:
This brings us to today. Guess where I’m writing from?
Reflecting on the last 15 years. What a frickin' ride it’s been. I am so grateful for the entire full circle journey that has brought me back here. My crazy ambitions came to life. Here I am enjoying life in the moment, traveling the world with Brian, and also planning for the future.
15 years ago, I had no clue what I was going to do with my life. I wasn’t happy with my job or life, so I made the leap to travel. This opened up my mind in so many ways. It was scary as heck, but so worth it.
2010, I was just floating through life, numb, still not happy with the path I was on. I made the decision to uproot my life and make changes that would set my life on a different path. I thought that business ownership could offer me exactly what I was looking for. My experience working at Panago when I was 16 pushed me towards working at Panago again when I was attending university, which ultimately pushed me towards owning one.
2016, I had everything ready to go to rock the pizza world, and rock it, we did.
2023, I am sitting here reflecting on the craziness that was the last 15 years. I accomplished my goals, which I thought back in the day would be nearly impossible, since I had no clue how to buy or run a business.
I am thinking a lot about the past, but also thinking about what is next on my journey. I am setting crazy ambitious goals again. What will the next 15 years entail? When I come back to Coolangatta in 2038, what will I be reflecting on then? I am excited to find out.
