International Womxn’s Week ft. Emma Runzer-Boucher

Emma is an entrepreneurial first-year law student at uOttawa. She decided to go to law school because she wants to help entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. She also works in an Ed tech startup that is changing the way students prepare for their careers.

Over the past year, the pandemic has had a profound impact on our personal and professional lives. In order to overcome the chaos, agility has become a part of our collective DNA. How has your work been affected?

Beyond the personal impact the pandemic has had on my life, I started law school in September online. This was challenging since the networking portion in the early days of starting a new program, particularly law school, is crucial for the length of your program and your career. Outside of school, SparkPath was fortunate as the pandemic was an opportunity for educators to incorporate our tool into the classroom.

The uncertainty brought about the pandemic has forced us to be nimble, resourceful and kind. Can you describe a new project, new process, new method or new business you’ve initiated or created to adapt to this new reality?

This isn’t a project or method, but the habit I’ve made of going for a walk while listening to an audiobook or podcast and it has brought value to my career and personal well being. I’ve never had a good idea sitting at a desk staring at a computer. Humans are meant to be active and moving, so I combined this with consuming content that allows me to reflect on new perspectives. While I’m walking, I’ll write notes or prompts in my phone and come back to them after the walk. This habit allows me to reflect and think creatively about the problems at work or material I’m learning at school.

In addition to becoming more agile, did you discover (or develop) any new entrepreneurial characteristics and / or abilities you perhaps didn’t know you had?

The past year has allowed me to better understand myself and what I need to do to set myself up for success. This is relevant since as an entrepreneur, you typically have the freedom to structure your day around your lifestyle to produce quality work. For me this means I can build my schedule, or day, around my energy levels and personal needs. For instance, my head is clear first thing in the morning, therefore I do my most important work and energy taxing work (which is typically school) then. Meetings are left in the afternoon or early evening and I workout around 3–5pm since I know my energy levels will dip at that time.

The last 12 months have truly tested our ability to react and adapt in challenging and confusing situations. Nevertheless, through these dark times, we’ve witnessed some of the greatest acts of generosity, innovation, bravery, kindness and unity. What is one thing resulting from the pandemic you are grateful for?

I am grateful to have a home filled with loving and supportive family members to lean on during the pandemic.

We appreciate the importance of taking a moment to step back, to reflect, and to recalibrate in the wake of the chaos and uncertainty. If you had to give your pre-pandemic self one piece of advice, what would it be?

I would tell myself to look critically at the community around you and identify problems we need to solve. The pandemic has shown us the inequalities in society and opportunities to solve them, but a great entrepreneur doesn’t need a pandemic to inspire new business ideas.

*This feature was published in honour of the International Womxn’s Week, 2021.