Like most people, I’ve spent the holidays reflecting on the year that was, and started making plans for the year that is yet to be. 2025 was a big one, with the official launch of Modacity Creative and owning and operating my own business. It was the culmination of years spent building a network and laying the groundwork for what I hoped to translate into a career allowing me to focus on what matters most to me, and use my strengths as a storyteller and advocate to support places that thrive.
The response throughout the year has been more than I could have possibly dreamed possible. From taking the stage in over twenty different cities around the world that included a trip back to Vancouver and where it all began and firsts (but hopefully not lasts) in India and China, to leading workshops and study visits locally and abroad for a diversity of stakeholders, and getting to collaborate with many long-time friends and colleagues on projects aimed at making a positive impact. And of course there was the release of the third book, Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation, co-authored with my longest standing business (and life) partner, Chris. To say 2025 was a success would be an understatement, leaving me optimistic for what comes next!
Through all of my projects, travels, and opportunities, one thing has stuck with me that I keep returning to. During one of our events in North Vancouver, Mayor Linda Buchanan provided a heartwarming opening during which she referred to how in everything we do, Chris and I have remained authentic. I can’t think of a time in recent memory where someone’s words about me hit so hard, but something about being recognised for my authenticity seemed to, for the first time, get down to the core of why I approach my work in the way I do.
Advocating for cities and places that support the needs and aspirations of everyone can be draining, and it can be easy to fall into the trap of cynicism or hopelessness. This work is all about changing the narrative in a way that sparks behaviour change in users, decision makers, designers, engineers, policy-makers and advocates, and will take time. In some cases, possibly a lifetime.
What I have come to learn over these last 16 years in mobility advocacy is that people find hope in the stories and experiences I have been able to share. Whether it was realising they too could live a car-lite lifestyle with children and still do all the things families do, how the lessons of the Dutch cycling story could pave the way for positive change in other parts of the world, or learning about the amazing transformations happening around the world in all types of contexts to create more vibrant places. By staying authentic to a vision – to not dwell solely on the problems, but shine a light of the potential – the goal remains to help more communities, towns, cities, etc., not only survive, but thrive.
So how will this message of authenticity guide Modacity Creative into 2026? If I have learned one thing this past year, it’s that it is impossible to plan for the unexpected, and that I need to remain open to opportunities that haven’t presented themselves yet.
Opportunities like taking on my first professional mentorship, a role I relished in jobs past but never had the chance to explore until now. Or leaning into the role as teacher, leading workshops and lectures for both students and professionals. And of course exploring new mediums and platforms that will present themselves to me as a storyteller. Through it all, I remain fervent that I have as much still to learn as other have to learn from me, and it is that curiousity and acknowledgement that I don’t have all the answers that keeps me eager to continue discovering all the stories yet to be told that will help more places realise their fullest potential.
At the end of the day, most people feel at ease and comfortable in places that feel genuine. That don’t gloss over or hide away the imperfect, but embrace it as part of their unique character while also recognising the commonalities that connect us all. The same goes for the people we meet. We connect most to people we see similarities to, or who bring a humility that makes pretense and ego dissolve and allows individual and collective strengths to collaborate to realise a common goal.
This is the spirit I will bring with me into 2026, along with creativity, openess, and a continuous curiousity for new connections wherever they may come from. Here’s to the year of authenticity!
Modacity Creative 
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