Joann Fitzgerald
Chief Marketing Officer, Tourism Nova Scotia
What are you most proud of professionally?
I am so proud to be leading the marketing for the Province of Nova Scotia - we have such an amazing team and the product, Nova Scotia, what can I say; I am lucky.
What’s your vision for Atlantic Canada in 10 years? What’s our biggest opportunity now?
Atlantic Canada, and especially Nova Scotia, where I live, has seen such fantastic growth in all sectors of industry over the last number of years and I would like to see Atlantic Canada continuing this growth. Over the next 10 years, I think harnessing and leveraging the power of innovation here and welcoming more immigration will help shore up our economy, add diversity of thought across so many areas including, tourism, the arts, education, culinary, and many others.
Our biggest opportunity is to build on the successes of today and not take it for granted. All leaders across all industries and government need to think outside the box, be innovative and help make it easy for businesses, organizations and travellers to visit, work and live in Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada.
What was your greatest stage of growth? What made it a shift for you?
I can’t say there has been one “greatest stage of growth”. I think with every 5 years, (as that is a solid chunk of time) I reflect on what I have learned, and what I have accomplished. Has it been what I expected? I try to consider the opportunities and the challenges that I might be facing and move forward. Each role I have had the opportunity to “live in” for a while, has allowed me to grow as a person and as a professional. New industries, new processes, new people and new responsibilities, all force you to learn new skills and ultimately grow as a person.
What’s your favourite or most read book or podcast?
I love to read. I read fiction, non-fiction and of course business and wellness books.
I can’t say I have a favorite, but I just finished “The Happy Human” by Gopi Kallayil - he is the Chief Evangelist of Brand Marketing at Google, a brand guru for sure and a TEDx ‘talker’. He uses stories from his high-tech career life and his diverse personal life, to walk you through an exploration of what it means to be really and truly happy. It was an interesting read with ideas that stay with you and can be used for anyone’s very personal journey to happiness.
What’s your deepest learning from this past year? How did/will you apply it?
Deepest learning so far this year is, you can find the time to do the things you really want to do, even when you think there is no time.
I was recently invited to teach a class at Dalhousie University, a marketing course for their MBA graduate students. I am super excited to take on the challenge, but have wondered how I could make it happen? I am already so busy, to add this new challenge to my already busy day job, trying to train for my first triathlon (a very beginner triathlon), my weekly pottery class, and my role on the board of the Nova Scotia Talent Trust, I was not sure how I could make it happen. However, I was not letting this wonderful opportunity pass me by. I was “walking through the door of opportunity”, as Gopi would say in the book I mentioned. We will see once the end of the year comes, if that was truly a door or a ledge!
Who’s inspired you, directly or indirectly? How have they inspired you?
Inspiration comes for me from all sorts of places. I think as a kid and as an adult, my parents inspire me. My Mom was a hairdresser for over 40 years and all on her own terms with her own business. I saw her independence, passion and ability to make things happen, all while growing up. My Dad was with the same company for over 40 years and I saw him do things that excited him and many that frustrated him, but his work ethic was uncompromisable. Both of them instilled in me my values and my belief in myself, gave me the confidence to make the decisions I made, like quitting a full-time job to go back to graduate school. Throughout my career I have watched and learned from a few inspiring leaders, as well as learned what not to do from several less than inspiring leaders.
What would you have done differently?
I think I would have found an official mentor in my chosen field. I have many unofficial ones, but there are actual programs now that pair up senior and junior people in various industries to help guide their career direction and development. To have the opportunity to learn from a pro, other than my direct supervisor, would have been tremendous. I would have loved to have had that opportunity early in my career.
What motivated you to make the choices you’ve made?
Well this is a loaded question. I think I have made choices for all kinds of reasons, financially motivated, family motivated and professional excitement motivated. I have made good and bad choices along the way, but certainly all of the choices have helped me grow in my career and as a person. And professionally, today I would not be in the best role I have ever had, without making all the choices that led me here.
What are the principles you live by?
For me there are five key values or principles that I live by:
Honesty, integrity, humility, respect and kindness.
Without these values I believe it is difficult, if not impossible, to truly connect with people, build relationships or grow as a person professionally or personally.
How have you recovered from fractured professional relationships? What uncomfortable truths have you learned about yourself in those experiences?
I can’t think of anything directly here, not anything I would qualify as a “fractured professional relationship”. I have worked with challenging people and it forces you to try to find ways to make the relationship work and face those challenges head on, rather than ignoring and letting things fester - it is like any relationship, clear communication is important and it is even more important to be sure you are communicating in a manner or style that the person hearing it can really hear it.
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Logical, creative, dynamic, knowledge & experience seeker; movie and travel lover; shopping guru