I love sharing my Woman Crushes with you because their stories are inspiring. Today, I'm super excited to introduce you to my sweet friend and lady boss Kris Reyes who you may recognize from Canadian television. Kris and I first met on set at Global's Morning Show in 2011. I was a guest contributor on the show sharing my nutrition tips and Kris was a gracious host.
I immediately felt comfortable and at ease in her presence. Since it was one only my third tv segment I'd ever done I was a little nervous -- her smile and very approachable positive vibes made it easy. Beyond doing these monthly segments with her, I absolutely loved watching her on tv. She asks really great questions and is genuinely interested in learning new things. We became friends outside of tv and Walker and I have enjoyed brunches with her, Dave and Jack. If you're lucky to know Kris personally, she's a super warm, loving mama and a great conversationalist -- I guess that's what makes her an amazing journalist!
Kris, Dave and Jack have embarked on an exciting journey the last year which I'm going to share with you today!
Joy McCarthy: What inspired you to leave your full-time job on TV to travel the globe with your hubs Dave and little guy Jack?
Kris Reyes: I always want to be growing and learning, even if it means feeling a little uncomfortable. I'm lucky that my husband feels the same way. After a lot of conversations, we decided to sell our house and embark on a year-long exploration that involved traveling, taking time off work and learning new skills. We weighed the pros and cons and we felt like we had the right timing from a hot housing market, to my son's age (he's two) to the state of the industries we're in (media for me, finance for him). Technology is really changing the way we work and live. It can be scary but it's also very exciting and full of possibilities. We choose everyday to see the world through the lens of the latter.
JM: Was it a scary decision for you and your family?
KR: [I was] Absolutely scared and excited and all the feelings. But in the end, we said all that matters is we're together. And taking this time off, at the very least, gave us the opportunity to spend a lot of time together. That helped us get over our fears. We also spent a lot of time looking at our year-long plan from all the angles. We made our decision when we felt confident we could handle the uncertainty that comes with what's we're doing.
JM: What advice would you give to other women who want to follow their passion but fear failure?
KR: The feeling of failure sucks. But failure itself can be really good for you. It's a better teacher than success. It also adds a layer of depth to how you see life and how you feel about your successes after failure. My brother has the best line: be comfortable with discomfort. Once you train yourself to be OK with being uncomfortable, you open yourself up to a whole world of options!
JM: Describe your perfect day.
KR: My perfect day ... oh i could go on and on! I have dozens of versions of my perfect day :) But to use a more recent example: we spent the summer in Paris. The best days were fresh croissants, slow breakfast, some reading and then wandering the city. I'm also a big fan of long dinners where the conversation gets better and stranger [because of] the bottles of wine and no one is looking at their phone!
JM: What do you like to do for fun?
KR: I watch my kid. I feel like every time I gush about him, I have to give the disclaimer that it is absolutely really hard work because I don't subscribe to sugar-coat parenthood at all, but mostly I enjoy him so much. The things he says, the way he stumbles around like he's kind of drunk :P, the way he gets so excited about the simplest things: CHIPS! SQUIRREL!! FIRETRUCK!!! Or the way he thinks he can talk but it's all nonsense. This is so much fun for me. My husband and I have always traveled but Jack has definitely added a new dimension to it with his energy.
JM: What is next for you?
KR: I don't know what's next for us! We know our values: work flexibility, family, meaningful work. We know what we're interested in: technology, storytelling, photography, travel, journalism, finance. We're really pushing to have those values and interests fill our lives more fully and more consistently.
Now that's a lady.
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