About Holly-Marie

It all started with a pair of socks

I remember my first speech. I was in front of Mr. Tyo’s Grade 4 class, and I told a treacherous tale of two socks trying to stay together through the washer and dryer cycles. I even had visual aids!

My artist’s rendering of the sock duo wasn’t as impressive as my confidence and speaking skills. I moved up in the school speech contest, first to the Legion, then the Optimist Club. And I loved every minute of it.

What makes this impressive is that I had a dramatic stutter that continued until I was 14 years old. But with every competition, my skillset grew, and my experience as a storyteller deepened. My time as an air cadet let me to represent the the Provincial level in effective speaking, requiring mastery of prepared and impromptu speaking skills.

As an adult, I transformed these formative wins into real life opportunities, using my ‘gift of gab’ to secure contracts in the world of civilian aviation.

I re-entered the world of public speaking through Toastmasters, and soon became a powerhouse in their International, Evaluation, and Table Topics contests. I completed their entire slate of speaking and leadership certificates to earn Distinguished Toastmaster status in 2016.