Dining with Della: Catherine Ducharme at Rodney's Oyster House
July 04, 2016
Aside from sharing a love of continual change, we are raw oyster fans. We met up at Rodney's Oyster House in Gastown and managed to scoff down two dozen of their best, smothered in shaved horseradish, lemon and hot sauce. Of course, we washed it all down with crisp cold glasses of vino. We love this spot, not only for the fabulous Kushi's but the service is fun and cheeky.
Catherine is also the consummate networker always meeting new people. She has a zest for life that makes her a joy to be around. When I took her photo for this post, she was quick to ask to go behind the counter and get the servers involved.
What one bit of communication impacted your life?
Catherine's big lesson came in Grade 11. Her strong suits were English and writing, and she was always getting top marks. She also had an early passion for public speaking seeking out podiums wherever she could find them. All of that seemed to change in English 11, she could not get above 55% on any test. Finally, a new assignment included a book review (Watership Down, her fave) and a public presentation. She was sure she had nailed it - even if the teacher was not a fan of her writing, surely she could up her mark with the speech. Nope. The mark came back at 53%.
She promptly scheduled a meeting with the teacher to find out why. She had such a good track record and really wanted feedback or to know if it was something personal. He told her she would just have to accept writing and public speaking were not her strengths. It was a defining moment.
It was not a truth to her. She knew he was wrong. It was not the critiquing that bothered her. Had he said she should not be an engineer, that would have rung true. Without her self confidence, she expects her entire life would have been altered.
(Note from Della: This story led us to a sidebar discussion about a book review Cath will be leading for a Smart Savvy LeaderLounge. The book is Rising Strong by Brene Brown and is all about surviving failures and dealing with the critics, when you are lying face down in the muck. I have followed Ms. Brown for a long time and there is a lot of wisdom in her books and speeches. I downloaded this new one and it is worth reading.)
Catherine also had a great mentor early in her career. He was in HR and had extensive experience in working with people. She met him by chance. The company she was working for in Edmonton was relocating operations to Vancouver. As always, she was eager to move and try something new. She had been writing the company newsletter (take that English 11 teacher!) and for that reason this head of HR interviewed her. She was far down the ladder so it was unusual for someone at his level to conduct the interview. He asked one key question - how would you describe yourself? "Ambitious," she replied,"when I get to Vancouver, I am going after your job." He laughed and said her sense of humour got her the position.
His philosophy was to always treat people with respect and dignity. Catherine lives this philosophy as well.
She promptly scheduled a meeting with the teacher to find out why. She had such a good track record and really wanted feedback or to know if it was something personal. He told her she would just have to accept writing and public speaking were not her strengths. It was a defining moment.
It was not a truth to her. She knew he was wrong. It was not the critiquing that bothered her. Had he said she should not be an engineer, that would have rung true. Without her self confidence, she expects her entire life would have been altered.
(Note from Della: This story led us to a sidebar discussion about a book review Cath will be leading for a Smart Savvy LeaderLounge. The book is Rising Strong by Brene Brown and is all about surviving failures and dealing with the critics, when you are lying face down in the muck. I have followed Ms. Brown for a long time and there is a lot of wisdom in her books and speeches. I downloaded this new one and it is worth reading.)
Catherine also had a great mentor early in her career. He was in HR and had extensive experience in working with people. She met him by chance. The company she was working for in Edmonton was relocating operations to Vancouver. As always, she was eager to move and try something new. She had been writing the company newsletter (take that English 11 teacher!) and for that reason this head of HR interviewed her. She was far down the ladder so it was unusual for someone at his level to conduct the interview. He asked one key question - how would you describe yourself? "Ambitious," she replied,"when I get to Vancouver, I am going after your job." He laughed and said her sense of humour got her the position.
His philosophy was to always treat people with respect and dignity. Catherine lives this philosophy as well.
What did not work...
Her first example of what did not work was when she hired an improv team to do a show for an internal newscast at a high tech company. She was getting bored with the format and wanted to spice it up. Improv was new for corporations at the time. They must not have heard her concerns about her ultra conservative CEO. The performance was way out there with jokes about the boss involving biker chicks and more politically incorrect story lines. She said the minutes felt like hours - a total disaster. When I asked what happened after, she said complete silence. No one ever said a thing, including her boss. Painful lesson. However, I know she and the CEO are still good friends to this day.
She had another example involving exploding balloons and burning flash paper over a sign for an event. The engineers had to rig up the balloons with gas (that seeped out overnight) and stage this elaborate idea. When the half deflated balloons went off, people in the area thought shots were being fired, causing great alarm. The flash paper really caught fire and again she had a disaster on her hands.
Big lesson from both of these experiences: keep it simple.
She had another example involving exploding balloons and burning flash paper over a sign for an event. The engineers had to rig up the balloons with gas (that seeped out overnight) and stage this elaborate idea. When the half deflated balloons went off, people in the area thought shots were being fired, causing great alarm. The flash paper really caught fire and again she had a disaster on her hands.
Big lesson from both of these experiences: keep it simple.
What if...
What advice would you give to your younger self to enhance your ability to communicate with others – and why?
Married to a man ten years her senior, she has always appreciated his wisdom and of others with more experience. Cath would get frustrated with people who did not share the same response when she shared her counsel. She has since learned when giving advice, your job is to give the best counsel you can but it is up to the recipient to take it or leave it.
She also learned early on to walk away when something does not fit or feel right. She left a job with a hot, sought-after company, for exactly that reason. A tough decision when you have a partner at home raising three young children. She never looked back.
Catherine feels you get more courageous as you get older and encourages people to take risks. Don't put off travel, schooling, family time or new adventures. She is an eternal optimist knowing the world will unfold as it should. Her expression to those she mentors is "the world works" - eventually things do work out. She regularly gets emails with those words in the subject line from her network, reinforcing her optimistic outlook.
(Note from Della: I always feel good after my "Catherine fix". Her positivity is infectious.)
Posts
0 comments