One of the things I love the most about interviewing extraordinary women is uncovering the moment or event that put them on their path, leading to the point where they are today. In some cases, it was a turning-point event in their lives. For others, their journey began as a deep creative desire at an early age.
For Lisa Charleyboy, a Toronto-based Aboriginal writer and blogger who is dedicated to inspiring and empowering other young Aboriginal people to follow their dreams, it was picking up a copy of Vogue magazine at the age of 10 that created a deep love of writing and fashion. At 17 years of age, she made a decision to follow her dream. So left her home in Abbotsford, B.C. and headed across the country to Toronto, to begin her studies in fashion communication.
It was while studying writing at York University that she discovered a passion for something that touched her even more deeply: her Indigenous roots -- and that connection to culture. In 2007, Charleyboy blended all her passions and launched her popular blog, Urban Native Girl (now entitled Urban Native Magazine), covering pop culture with an Indigenous twist. Her new magazine, developed out of her blog, is currently in the beta stage.
Furthering her commitment to empowering other Aboriginal Canadians, Charleyboy has taken an active role in the community, having served as a board member for Association for the Native Development of Visual and Performing Arts (ANDVPA), the Young Indigenous Professionals, and is now the Director of Communications for the Aboriginal Professionals of Canada (APAC). She has also been invited to give talks at Harvard University and to Aboriginal Women Entrepreneurs, and has become a regular writer/contributor and guest in the media.
To discover more about this inspiring young woman and what she is doing to empower Aboriginal Canadians, I invite you to watch my interview with Lisa Charleyboy on Extraordinary Women TV:
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This article was originally posted at ShannonSkinner.com.
Extraordinary Women TV with Shannon Skinner airs Mondays at 7pm ET on Rogers TV Cable 10 & 63 in Toronto/Scarborough. View it online at ExtraordinaryWomenTV.com.