"Take massive imperfect action every day," with non-profit founder and multipreneur Tamara Doerksen

More Than Work

This week’s guest is Tamara Doerksen, multi-preneur, published author, yoga and meditation and mindfulness teacher, and a career transition and entrepreneur coach. She’s also the founder of the non-profit organization, Lonny’s Smile.

I chatted with Tamara from her home in Toronto, Canada. She started her career at a global consulting company where she spent 25 years. Around 2010, an initiative of the company around community contribution and responsibility, along with some personal circumstances with ailing parents, set Tamara off on her path to founding her own non-profit. You’ll hear the entire story around Lonny’s Smile which helps kids with congenital heart defects including the absolute synergy that led to choosing Camp OKI, the benefactor of the non-profit.

Through her work with Great Big Sea’s Murray Foster, Tamara ended up working in film production and then collaborating with Darren Portelli at Crazy D’s Prebiotic Sparkling Sodas. In talking through Tamara’s career transitions, we delve into having faith in oneself, transferable skills and our abilities to pursue various occupations within our careers.

Tamara uses yoga and meditation to ground herself and give her space. And, she is certified to teach both! Some just practiced these things during the pandemic, others like Tamara got certified!

Main topics:

• Having multiple facets to your career
• Processing grief over time
• Non-profit work and founding a non-profit
• Yoga and mindfulness practices
• Saying “yes” and pursuing what you love

Note from Rabiah (Host):

I have had a chance to speak with quite a few people and sometimes I have a different connection with them. In this case, Tamara and I both lost a sibling though at very different times in our lives under different circumstances. (TW: we talk about the death of a sibling.) Her honouring her brother through a non-profit organization is something I really wanted to chat with her about and then we had a lot more to talk about too! Enjoy!

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Find Tamara

Tamara’s Website: https://www.tamaradoerksen.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tdoerksen

Insight Timer: https://insighttimer.com/tamaradoerksen

Lonny’s Smile Website: https://lonnyssmile.org/

Lonny’s Smile Twitter: https://twitter.com/lonnyssmile

Lonny’s Smile Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lonnyssmile

Lonny’s Smile Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lonnys.smile/

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Mentioned in this episode:

Murray Foster: http://www.murrayfoster.ca/about/

Darren Portelli: https://twitter.com/darrenportelli

City of Toronto: https://www.toronto.ca/

Salvation Army Canada: https://salvationarmy.ca/

Paul Newman - Hole in the Wall Gang: https://www.holeinthewallgang.org/

David Sedaris: https://www.davidsedarisbooks.com/

Anderson Cooper: https://edition.cnn.com/audio/podcasts/all-there-is-with-anderson-cooper

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