Thursday, December 8, 2011

Gals We Admire: Jo-Ann James

This career gal has a real sense of purpose—and she's up every day at 5:30 am in order to fulfill that purpose. Find out what gets Jo-Ann James going every morning and what she enjoys most about her life's calling.


Name: Jo-Ann James
Profession: CEO of Vital Steps Fitness & Lifestyle Studio
Twitter handle: @Vital_Steps

Describe your typical work day, from start to finish
There’s no typical day. Each day is different, however, what is constant is the fact I am up at 5:30 am each weekday, at that moment, I begin to plan my day which includes a variety of tasks, from scheduled meetings with staff, including existing and potential clients, also service providers, reviewing my theme for that day's scheduled speaking engagement, working on the company’s TV show proposal or writing articles, meeting with business partners, etc. When I'm able, I attend various professional women networking events to meet new business women/men to get the word out about Vital Steps. I have just returned from two grueling 12-day U.K. and 8-day Costa Rica Fit Camps, so all-in-all, each day tends to be work focused.

When you were a kid, what did you want to grow up to be?
A speech language pathologist.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
I love meeting and talking to such a wide variety of people, and having a positive impact on their health and well being.

What do you find to be the biggest challenge in your profession?
I find from time to time that clients really do not understand how to value their health until something goes horribly wrong or their medical doctor informs them they better get moving or else! Most clients assume they can do nothing or invest less in their health and expect to maintain good health and that is just not the case.

Do you believe you had a "calling" for your profession?
Absolutely!

What are the three most important pieces of career advice you would give to other Canadian Career Gals?
Never give up. Continue to nurture your talent, drive and education.

Know your strengths. Stay focused, improve your people skills.

Have a sense of purpose. I’ve assembled a team of professionals to help me stay focused with a resolve in addressing tough challenges. I am only a slice of what makes up my team. Each of my team members come to the table with the skills required to succeed, but most importantly, they are honest, loyal and reliable team members.

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