The Career Connections Speaker Series is an initiative from Lady Eaton College and the Career Centre, welcoming alumni of Lady Eaton College to speak about their career journey and their definition of career success. Last year, we had the pleasure of hosting Sadaf Virji, who stressed the importance of networking as “an ongoing process and learning the skill of connecting with people will be a lifelong asset.” This semester we are excited to present our second speaker in the series, Lindsay Stephenson, a business entrepreneur with humble beginnings at Trent University.

Trent University played a major role in Lindsay Stephenson’s life. Her parents met at the university as students. Her father, Robert Stephenson, later served on Trent’s Board of Governors for a total of 15 years and is even the namesake of the Stephenson Bridge outside of Lady Eaton College. It comes as no surprise that Lindsay chose to attend Trent herself in 1998.

After graduating Trent in 2002 with a major in Cultural Studies, Lindsay was chosen to be the head of Marketing and Design for a major Canadian retailer. Two years into her job, Lindsay left the career to start her own design company. This led to over a decade of navigating the unfamiliar world of self-employment. Over the last 13 years, Lindsay has grown her company into an agency that designs, manufactures and distributes stationery and lifestyles products to retailers across North America. From The Penny Paper Co. (stationery and gift items) to having a line of lifestyle products (bedding, pillows and swaddles) that she designs and licenses, to retailers like HomeSense (Canada) and HomeGoods (USA). You can follow Lindsay on Instagram at @lindsaystephenson or at www.LindsayStephenson.com.

When asked what excited her most about returning to Lady Eaton College to speak to current students, Lindsay said: “First, LEC is the best. It’s my favourite place to be, I’ve grown up running the halls both as a toddler and a University student (and most recently, bringing my own 7-year-old son!) – so to come back as a guest, is ridiculously amazing! Second, I’m excited to share my experiences over the last thirteen years of self-employment, to hopefully give some comfort to current students. If one story of mine, or piece of advice can help, I’ll be ecstatic.”

As for what to expect from her talk in this January, Lindsay hopes “that students who attend, can be inspired to travel a path less travelled when it comes to a career, and take leaps of faith when their instincts are pointing them in a direction. After 13 years of running my own business, I’m able to reflect on mistakes, successes and lessons learned that will hopefully help them in their own career paths whether it’s self-employment or working and collaborating with others.”

If you’re interested, join us Wednesday, January 17th at 6 pm in The Pit at Lady Eaton College. Light refreshments will be provided. Any further questions about the event should be directed to eaton@trentu.ca. Hope to see you there!