WRWR2019

What is WRWR? Women Riders World Relay. It's a relay that started in Scotland, went across Europe, into the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand and came to Canada on September 14th. The Baton arrived in Vancouver, and traveled across the mountains, into Alberta, across Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and a group of us met it in Thunder Bay Ontario. And I took a small part in this relay this year! It was amazing. All women, a few male companions, and lots and lots of road, laughs, food, road emergencies, sore muscles (sore butt!), and stories. So many stories. I want to share my journey with everyone, and how it applies to life, work, business ownership and so much more. Enjoy :)

The first part of this journey was going from Windsor to London to meet up with someone I didn't know, and ride with her to Thunder Bay. This entire ride wasn't just a ride, it was truly a journey - out of my comfort zones and into uncharted, unknown roads (with a terrible sense of direction I might add) and a journey of reflection and learning. Ashley is now a friend, who lives in the Netherlands, and getting to know her was a part of getting to know me. I don't think she'll ever understand the impact she made on my life in those short 7 days.( That's her in the second picture in the top row.) She flew from the Netherlands to Hamilton, and borrowed a motorcycle to take part in this leg of the Relay. We rode from London Ontario to Tobermory, stopping at Harley's Pub for lunch. The signs in the ladies washroom were so memorable I just had to take pics of them and share them. Honestly, I was still in a state of denial..I wasn't REALLY going to do this...was I???? What am I thinking??? I'm going to be away for 7 days, riding with people I don't know and riding roads I'm not familiar with!! I wanna go home! I want my husband to be there!!! It was still so surreal to me and I couldn't seem to wrap my head around what I was about to embark on..a REAL journey.

How does this apply to life? To my life? When I started my body contouring business I had no idea that it would become such a joy, and a blessing, and a lot of really hard work. I made mistakes, I learned. I asked a lot of questions and leaned heavily on my mentor, Jessica Rischel. I didn't know anything about advertising, SEO, analytics, or the ins and outs of running a business like this. And I was scared out of my mind! What am I doing??? What if I fail?? How am I going to pay bills, save money for retirement, build a successful business, find clients, keep clients, make everyone happy, make some people happy, make myself happy, stay sane, and so much more. I was WAY out of my comfort zone, but I didn't have a plan B. It was do or die!!! It was all unfamiliar, uncharted territory for me, but here I am, a year later, still loving what I do, making connections, making new friends, forging ahead with my dreams, and scared the whole way! But, in this fear I am finding fortitude. I am finding strength and compassion, and I am finding that I have so much in common with my clients that I wonder why I didn't start sooner!! Relating to the struggles my clients deal with, and seeing that we are all so much alike, as much as we are different, and that we are community.

My clients are on their own personal journeys, with lots of uncharted territory, fear, failure, success, questions, answers, wisdom and so much more, and I'm so grateful to be a part of each of their journeys. Everyone is on a personal journey, but sharing our journeys make them less intimidating, less scary, less isolated. There are common struggles, common victories, common experiences, and common knowledge that is shared so freely and with love and acceptance. My nearly 4000km ride wasn't just a ride, it was an experience, and a journey into myself, just as life is. I'll be sharing more about this incredible experience in the weeks to come.. I've had to really process all that I learned and experienced and how it paralled my life, and still does.

Enjoy the journey my lovelies.

Joanne Gale