Meet Miss Canada!
Note: I realized I do not have a photo with Miss Canada, but she's there on the left holding the flag---I thought that this was perfect to go along with her name! :)
How does a Canadian lady end up at Oklahoma State? With a lot of help! The shortened long story is agriculture is a small world. Growing up showing cattle and competing in livestock judging contests, I was fortunate to make friends who pursued livestock judging scholarships to American colleges in the years leading up to my post secondary. When I expressed interest in doing the same, they kindly helped me get a spot on the team at NEO A&M. My advisor, college president and GPA then helped make additional scholarship opportunities available in Oklahoma and so after juco I completed my degree at OSU.
Tell us about your big win at the Canadian Country Music Awards! It’s a bit of a crazy story, really. We worked with Gord Bamford (2010 Male Vocalist of the Year) on his website redesign last spring and found out in the summer that the site was nominated for Canadian Country Music Association Website of the Year.
After a few rounds of voting, the site made the top five and we were invited to attend the CCMA Industry Awards in September. We had no thought that our first musician website would win, but I was pretty excited to attend the ceremony anyway! Double D Ranchwear , Silpada ,Taryn Stewart, and Jade-Ann Schneider kindly outfitted, styled and made me up for the big day so I could at least look presentable.
I was sitting beside Gord and his team and when they got to the presentation for Website of the Year, I was pretty relaxed. Being quite certain we hadn’t paid enough dues to win, I had no stress and no speech prepared. The MC goes through the nominees and then says there is a 4-way tie! I am thinking, Really? No run-off vote?, when he goes on to joke that the one company who didn’t make the tie must be really poor at their job, and that they should probably find a new profession.
At this point I am wanting to crawl under my seat. What if it’s us? I’m sitting right beside Gord and we’ll be humiliated! “And the first award goes to... Gordbamford.com by Bella Spur Innovative Media...”
I quit listening, I was just so happy not to be humiliated! We’re all hugging and cheering and Gord says I have to go to the stage to accept the award. My heart drops – I’m not prepared for this! So I tell him he’s coming with me and we push-pull each other to the stage. When we get there, the other award winner is doing his speech and so we stop at the steps to wait our turn. I’m listening to him thank his family, thinking to myself, It’s not like you are a musician, man! You are home every night! He wraps it up and they motion for us to come up, so I look behind me for Gord and he’s not there!
Now I’m in full panic mode – I intended to make him speak as I am deathly afraid of public speaking but he’s gone! They essentially drag me up on stage and push me in front of the mic. I don’t remember anything I said, but it must have been ok because the audience laughed and he’s still talking to me. And there was only a two-way tie for the award, with the website that has won for the past three years. So we’re pretty ok with that. {I don't care if it was a tie or a landslide--Miss Canada walked home with a trophy!}
Did you meet anyone famous while you were there? It’s industry awards, so not as many musicians attend. But I chatted with some of my fave Canadian artists: Hey Romeo and Tiffany Dowhan.
You recently spent some time traveling across Europe. What was your favorite place? I have to choose ONE?!? I loved Vimy, France. There is a Canadian war memorial there and we were able to attend Remembrance Day ceremonies that I will never forget. It’s beautiful and heart-breaking at the same time.
You've also said you felt like you really found some peace with a lot of things on your trip. Tell us about that. I think when you are traveling alone in unfamiliar territory, there is the opportunity to really think about your life, consider what is important and make realizations on your own, without the distractions and influences of day-to-day life.
You are pretty straight forward in saying that you don't want to have kids. Do you feel like people judge you or don't understand that? Some do. The people who matter don’t. A lot of people, men and women, have children without ever really thinking about it. But ask any parent how much they think about that decision once their kids are born and they will tell you “constantly.” It is the biggest decision anyone can make in a lifetime, the greatest responsibility you can take on, one you can’t undo – it’s a life. I think that deserves careful consideration and thought as to whether you are really prepared to give everything that commitment deserves. Some people are. I’m not. {Very well put....she needs to teach a course on this or something!}
Tell us about the best date you have ever been on? I was dating a guy who lived in another state, and we decided to meet halfway and spend the weekend together. When I got there, he had an entire romantic evening planned complete with dinner, massage, candles, the whole nine yards. I was impressed! The next day we spent looking at cattle and enjoying the countryside – two of my favourite things. {Love love love this!} Lots of fond memories from that weekend!
And....because these are always better stories....the worst date? From the same date, surprisingly. We broke up in the parking lot as we were leaving. I’ll save you the gory details, but suffice to say it was not cool.
You've started your own business that is now crazy successful (HELLO...CMA trophy!!). What is your best piece of business advice? Follow your passion and the rest will come.
2 comments:
I loved reading this post - Laura is definitely an inspiration to many.
WICKED Meet the Cast Monday!! SO pumped that you and Laura have created a beautiful friendship. Hugs
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