Having been a blogger for nearly a decade and working as a freelance writer and editor for half that time, I decided that I wanted to try to create something additional that I am happy to share with you. If you enjoy my writing on this blog, please check out The Canadianna, featuring writing by yours truly and many other talented writers I've had the pleasure of working with.
What is The Canadianna?
The Canadianna is a blog for women in Canada written by Canadian women (womxn). With a name inspired by the country we call home, the genre of Canadian Literature, and my spirited daughter, whose middle name is Anna, The Canadianna strives to encompass authentic, engaging and inclusive content for the discerning tastes of women everywhere.
The goal is to produce a wide-range of diverse content to meet the interest of the modern Canadian femme with something for everyone from: current issues, story-telling, to health and beauty. Come on in, we’re glad you’re here!
Even better, please like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram and Twitter and participate in our weekly informal surveys to help us generate more wonderful content for your enjoyment.
Here's the story about how The Canadianna came to be:
Nearly a decade ago I dipped my toes into the world of blogging. This was a way for me to flex my creativity and connect with others as a newbie mom to infant girl/boy twins. Immediately I was hooked and my passion for connecting to the world around me through my writing was ignited.
While writing about parenthood, more specifically about life with twins, helped me find my personal writing voice, I knew I had more to offer my community of fellow women and Canadians than simply my experience as a mother. As my kids got older, I expanded what I wrote about, moving my freelance writing beyond a side-hustle into my full-time gig, utilizing my pen through many different topics in my writing and ghost-writing. One of my proudest moments as a writer was when an article I wrote highlighting the impact of Miss Piggy as a feminist icon was cited in someone’s graduate thesis.
In 2018, I joined a vibrant team of passionate Canadian women in the creation of a plucky health, lifestyle, and self-care publication called Future Female as managing editor and contributing writer. For three years we worked together to share the stories and triumphs of so many amazing Canadian women under the leadership of Kat Leroux. Future Female released its final issue in fall 2020, and today Kat is focusing on other projects, primarily the creation of a digital space, Future Filipina, to pay homage to her Filipina heritage. I want to personally thank her for giving many women the space to share their stories and for serving as one of the many fierce women in my life who have inspired me to launch The Canadianna.
I am fortunate to be Canadian, living in a place where I can raise my children to be feminists (in a place where feminists don’t need to live in fear of persecution). I hope to teach them to embrace the perspectives of those around them with empathy and compassion. My daughter’s fourth grade teacher recently told us that she has a strong passion for social justice, something that I’ll proudly wear as a badge of parental honour.
Having gone to an alternative high school near the end of my public-school education I learned a lot about using my position of privilege for a positive cause, advocacy, and charity. I was spoon fed a healthy diet of Sassy Magazine, Ad Busters, and gifted the opportunity to debate among my fellow students to look at popular media with a critical eye. It was there that I first floated the idea of creating my own publication or zine, something parked in the back of my head for years.
There is still so much to share and learn together from the experiences of women in Canada. I hope The Canadianna inspires you, as it has me, to embrace the experiences of real Canadian women, learning from each other.
