Leslie Salmon Jones

I definitely attribute my success to our ancestors and my family, especially my parents. My dad had been orphaned and came from Jamaica back in the day when there were no Black doctors in Canada. He was very determined and didn't let discrimination stop him. My mom also really role-modeled how to be an agent for change and care for others outside of ourselves, and to do it with love. They never came home disgruntled or angry with what they would face. They went through it through a lens of love, and for me, that was the most impactful. Of course, I couldn't do it without my amazing partner, my husband, who's been extremely supportive. I'm really, really grateful for that.

I would tell her to really, really honor community and to honor her authentic self. Listen to her instincts and trust your instincts. Follow your heart, because ultimately she has to live with herself and her decisions down the road. I've seen so many people who haven't done that, haven't honored their path, or they've cultivated their gifts, and because I'm also a coach, I've seen so many people feeling out of alignment in their lives with their purpose. It's important to really cultivate that and to understand, do that deep dive, inward dive, because there's all kinds of things externally that will distract you or pull you away from yourself. Start with the center. Take time to get to know yourself, and know your dreams, and then work on them and cultivate them. When you do that, then there's some joy in that, and people gravitate to you in that way. They see that your energy is at a high vibration.

I would definitely say the amount of trauma that people are carrying in their body is a huge challenge, particularly around mental health. After going through the pandemic, I feel like we're still feeling the impact on mental health and trauma. A lot was brought to light during that time - we went through the pandemic and we also had the racial pandemic, with a lot of disparities where people weren't getting the services they need based on where they're located or due to systemic racism. I would say definitely individual and collective trauma is the biggest challenge, along with our disconnection to the Earth and to each other. We're in an extractive society where humanity is extracting from the Earth, which feeds us. There's an imbalance, and I feel like that's where a lot of the trauma comes from. People are lonely, they're frightened, and they don't feel that sense of safety or care.

Definitely connection, love, and care beyond ourselves. We are all just a drop of water, and I think self-care is really, really important. That was something my mom modeled, in particular as women. I've worked with so many women, and self-care has often felt like a selfish act, but I've seen it modeled as a selfless act. It's an act of love, because when you're able to care for yourself, you actually have more capacity to care for others. You're giving from a full well as opposed to an empty well. I feel like that is really important, to be able to slow down and take time for care.