Today we’d like to introduce you to Victoria Pelletier.
Hi, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My story is one of overcoming significant adversity and obstacles and being incredibly resilient. I have used this to fuel me personally and professionally. I became a Chief Operating Officer at age 24 and have maintained senior executive roles ever since, predominantly in a B2B environment – I love the complexity it offers. I have also sat on several boards, as I do currently; many of the prior not-for-profit boards were aligned with my personal passions and advocacy areas. I am also a professional speaker; I speak on topics such as resilience, my corporate journey, personal branding and networking, leadership, culture and DEI. I strive to create a life of positive impact on all those I engage with and create positive workplaces and communities.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have had to overcome significant challenges from childhood; I was born to a drug-addicted teenage mother who was extremely abusive to me. I was fortunate to be adopted into a home with very loving parents, but have had many obstacles since including a significant number in the corporate world including 18 merger and acquisition transactions – many of which required me to re-organize or restructure the teams, as a result, impacting many people’s careers and livelihood. I would not say any of these challenges or obstacles have been easy, but I’ve developed a multi-step process to have a more healthy way to be resilient and move forward. I think resilience is developed via both DNA and also a learned skill; something that can be built like a muscle. I now spend a lot of my time speaking and coaching on this very topic to help others.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
In addition to my executive “day job” I am a published author and a professional public speaker – these are things that give me great joy and I thrive on the energy and engagement from the audience.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
It’s interesting, I have been asked repeatedly how I’ve managed to “have it all”. The question has always bothered me as I have a saying” “where there is conviction, there is capacity” – I have always been committed to my career AND to my children once I had a family. I have also believed in maintaining activities that brought me value personally or for my family. So I CAN and HAVE had it all- sometimes with compromise. I have made a choice to create time for, and participate in things that bring me personal and/or professional joy or value. Those that don’t, I’ve learned to say no to, or to delegate or outsource. These actions are what brings me happiness – I make time for my family, friends, fitness, for personal development and for play.
Contact Information:
- Website: victoria-pelletier.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victoriapelletier/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/PelletierV29
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoria_pelletier_unstoppable/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Victoria.Pelletier.Speaker
- Medium: https://medium.com/@victoriapelletier
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/VictoriaPelletierNoExcuses
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