Our Story
It all started with a bullet journal and the desire to maintain purpose and intention.
In 2018, I went into a Chapters to get a new yearly planner. I had attempted to try using just my phone as a planner, but I had used a planner for years and the phone did not work as well. On the phone I cannot see the overview of my week, make notes in the same way, write down and track in a way that was meaningful and effective in keeping me on track and allowing me to be creative. I needed the pen-to-paper feeling.
I decided to try a bullet journal from the salesperson’s recommendation, and I fell in love with the creative freedom to put in whatever you wanted to plan, track, and create.
The process of creating my own templates and layouts with different pens, markers, and colours was meditative. I started with a finance tracker to see where I was spending my money and where I could cut costs. I created a habit tracker to keep track of what I wanted to accomplish, what I did on a regular basis, and monitor where I was spending my time. I added in quotes and colour, and I loved to open my planner every day and see all the creative inspiration.
But… after awhile, consistently creating my own templates on the blank pages started to feel like a second job. I felt like I was spending more time creating my planner than I was planning! I started searching for the best of both worlds; the ability to look at the day-to-day, like finances, habits, and meal-planning, but also inspirational outlet to look at the big picture and have room to dream and grow.
Once I realized that my search seemed endless, I decided to create my own. I hired a designer to put my drawings into a digital format and the journey of the POWer planner had begun.
Now that I have one myself, I really love the way that it helps me to plan, organize, create, track and do all of the things that need to be done in a week. With these things more organized, I free up more energy for other things. I am still a work in progress, but I am very aware that I would not be as effective as I am at work or at home without using this planner. I could use another one and you may find another one that works better for you. However, the things that make a difference for me are in this planner. The simplicity of having them laid out with added space for extras, works for me. I hope that it can help you too.
But my planner goes much deeper than tracking finances and meal plans… Read on for the bigger story behind my desire to live an intentional life, and why I’m committed to helping you do the same.
Living intentionally and living with joy and purpose have been a part of my life pretty much always. However, it became very difficult for quite a while after a tragic loss in 1998. I wondered what I was supposed to do after that. Was there something I was to learn? How could I serve or find a way to use my grief, my loss, my lessons to serve? I’m not sure I was very successful at that, but at the very least, I had to move forward with gratitude and intention. It wasn’t always easy and didn’t always come naturally, but it was always natural to try and to work at it.
In the initial couple of years after the accident, I sometimes felt hopeless. On three different nights that were particularly difficult, I had three different dreams. Each dream was reassuring, empowering and joyful. Each dream gave me a sense of peace and security when I awoke from them in the morning. Each dream had a different animal guiding and supporting me in a way that felt joyful, powerful, forgiving, supportive, strong, grounded and graceful. Each one helped me to more forward in the dream and then in life. The first was a panther, the second an orca and the third a walrus. Panther. Orca. Walrus. These dreams led me and strengthened me. They reminded me that I am never alone. That the strength and support that I seek is always within. So when I was trying to think of a name for the planners and the business that is intended to guide, support, strengthen and bring joy and peace and grounding, the letters of these three seemed appropriate. Hence, POWer Planner became the name.
It is my hope that this planner can be a tool that supports you in tracking, creating, designing, managing, planning, dreaming and achieving. I hope that it helps you to listen within and to get done what has to be done to allow more focus and energy for the things that bring you more joy.
So much joy to you!!
The three rings in my logo represent the three dreams, and the P.O.W. in POWer stand for Panther, Orca, and Walrus.
The Panther is a reminder to remember who you are, to feel your feet on the ground, and to walk with grace, forward.
The Orca and Walrus stand for strength, support, joy, and fluidity.