Allison Garber
Owner, Allison Garber Communications
I am a graduate of the University of King’s College, and received Nova Scotia Community College’s Advanced Diploma in Public Relations.
I began my communications career in Toronto at a mid-size PR firm. Returning to Nova Scotia, I cultivated a specialty in government and stakeholder relations while employed as a senior policy advisor for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Heritage and the Minister of Community Services.
I took what I learned in this role and applied it to my work as an account supervisor at an internationally recognized marketing communications agency based in Halifax and Toronto.
In my off-hours, I’m the communications representative on the Board of Directors for Autism Nova Scotia.
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What are you most proud of professionally? And who or why?
I have been incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity to work with exceptional clients over the past ten years, but perhaps my proudest moment would be when I organized a national media event on Parliament Hill to launch a Blueprint for a National Autism Strategy on behalf of the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorders Alliance (CASDA).
What’s your vision for Atlantic Canada in 10 years? What’s our biggest opportunity now?
Nova Scotia is small in size but great in stature. We are perfectly positioned to pilot innovative and out-of-the-box initiatives to address so many of the looming obstacles that stand in the path of our success. This includes an innovative approach to a green economy, being a leader in delivering inclusive education and supporting inclusive workplaces and positioning ourselves as leaders in mental health outreach and support.
What was your greatest stage of growth? What made it a shift for you?
The year I turned 40 was the year I think I actually grew up. It was the year I helped care for my mother when her cancer became terminal. The year I began to really prioritize what mattered in my life, and getting rid of the things that didn't add to my life's value. One of those things, a major thing, was alcohol. I got sober on October 1, 2018, and it gave me a second chance at living the life I had always wanted to life. For many years, I was using alcohol as a coping tool, self-medicating for anxiety and OCD. I had bought into the "women love wine and mommy needs wine" narrative, and in doing so I was brought to my knees. Turning 40 represented a year of transformative growth. I learned to sit with painful emotions instead of running away. I turned to healthier coping mechanisms like running - and signed up for my first half-marathon, running it a week and a half after my mother passed away. I received a renewed passion for my work, felt gratitude every day as a mother and restored relationships that I had damaged.
What’s your favourite or most read book or podcast? Now or at each of your greatest stages of growth?
The book "Drink" by Ann Dowsett Johnston was a game-changer for me. It made me question everything I knew about my relationship with alcohol, and made me realize how we position alcohol as a "fix-all" for women, especially mothers. For podcasts, I love my friend Elamin Abdelmahmoud's "Pop Chat" which is a CBC podcast: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/cbc-podcasts/438-pop-chat?cmp=Listen_SEM_ETA He takes on current events in pop culture and invites such a smart and savvy panel to dig in and provide critical analysis. It's a fun and engaging listen.
What’s your deepest learning from this past year? How did/will you apply it?
That caring, compassion and empathy are the ingredients for resiliency. Being loved, nurtured and protected makes you stronger and in the same way - giving empathy, kindness and just plain showing up for people also fuels the strength we need to get through hard times. We are nothing without it.
Who’s inspired you, directly or indirectly? How have they inspired you?
My mother. She was my best friend and not a day goes by where she isn't heavy on my mind. She believed greatly that your character and word were your greatest strengths. Nothing impressed her more than people being good at their core, thoughtful in their actions. I recall as a child not understanding her love for gardening, or as she got older, her interest in rug hooking. She was a perfectionist in the truest form of the word, whereas I tend to go big and bold making mistakes along the way. When we were together, there was a perfect balance of both worlds, and I like to think that I've learned a lot about her quest for perfection; in that it wasn't always the final product but the journey she loved so much.
What would you have done differently?
I find that question hard to answer. I could easily go back in time and pick a thousand things I could have done differently or where I could have switched certain paths. Ultimately, I see that as being ungrateful to the life I've lived and the chances I've been given. I've made many mistakes, and I have many regrets, but that bumpy road has led me here and I have brought with me many beautiful gifts and treasured memories. As cliché as it sounds, things happen when they are supposed to happen, you just need to wake up each day and commit to doing your best.
What are the principles you live by?
I ran a road race a few months back and one of my running club teammates shared a great mantra, "Work hard, have fun, don't quit". On that windy day when the running got tough, I repeated that phrase over and over in my head. I'm finding I'm applying it to other aspects of my life and sharing that wisdom with my kids. Outside of that, the one principle my mother taught me was to treat others as I would like to be treated. It's simple, so obvious, and yet for some reason it's a principle that our society seems to have a hard time upholding as of late.
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Communications Consultant, Runner, Mental Health and Addictions Recovery Advocate