Alissa Wilson/Handout
She went through Alberta’s Community Futures grant program, put down money for a two-year lease on a building in town and secured her liquor licence, spending thousands of dollars before she’d made her first sale. Her new business, The Fermented Moose Brewing & Equipment Co., opened on Sept. 1. People can make their own wine, beer and cider on site or buy home-brew kits.“It was so nerve-racking [to start the business], it was something that was so scary,” she said.
“I think what’s happening in the world right now is forcing people to really question what their values are, what they want in life and what they want their purpose to be,” said Jacob Hirsh, an associate professor of organizational behaviour and human resources management at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, whose research centres on personality processes in the workplace.
For Toronto-based Amanda Soufi, a pandemic layoff accelerated a security-to-meaning transition she was already preparing to make. Ms. Soufi, a former public relations and marketing professional, was pursuing a certificate in holistic nutrition, a long-time passion, while working part-time at a restaurant. She was in the middle of her studies when the pandemic hit and she was laid off.
People also need to have the resilience to get through and learn from failures and setbacks, she added. “If you’re doing anything worth doing and that’s stretching you, you’re going to encounter your limits both in your skills and experience.”