Jennifer Botterill is an olympic gold medalist hockey player turned commentator and keynote speaker. In the 2010 Winter Olympics, she assisted on the game-winning goal in what ended up being her final international game, Canada’s 2-0 win over the United States. We spoke to Jennifer about her life as a hockey player, keynote speaker and broadcaster and her devotion to Canada.

What does a typical day look like for you, starting from when you wake up – to heading to bed?

Well that’s a hard question! The demands of my broadcasting and speaking career mean that there aren’t really typical days – every day is different. I feel very fortunate to have variety in my career. Every week is different, based on my events schedule.

Keeping a semblance of a routine helps, and in the morning I like to go for a run. I always have running gear in my carry-on for travelling so I make sure I get my run in. If time permits, I’ll try to do a yoga class. From then on, my day could be filled with any number of things. If I’m broadcasting or keynote speaking, I might do some research for my on-air hits, or review my notes for the upcoming speech. I might have business meetings with my agent or publicist to plan out upcoming speaking opportunities. The variety of my days keeps things fresh.

Typically my evenings contain many receptions, dinners or fundraisers, whether it be speaking or corporate engagement of Canadian Olympic team support.

One constant throughout my varied schedule are my “moments of appreciation.” At Harvard, when it would be up early in the morning and walking across the bridge to campus, I would take a moment to appreciate everything going on in my life. This has carried on as a constant throughout my life, and taking a moment from my busy and demanding schedule to appreciate where I am fills me with gratitude and keeps me going.

You’ve excelled at a number of vocations (hockey player, keynote speaker, broadcaster). What skill/attributes have you tried to cultivate in your life that have helped you succeed in such a diverse array of jobs?

The model that I strive towards is pursuing excellence in all that I do. And within the pursuit, the most important thing for me is taking a balanced approach to everything. For instance, being a high-performance athlete, a student at Harvard and an active community member helped to keep me balanced and grounded as I pursued my goals. Balance allows for top performance.

I’ve always had a saying that I perform my best when I have a free mind and an unburdened heart. Balance is an integral part of this, so no matter how focused or intense a single moment might be, staying balanced gives me the freedom to anticipate and respond. And this resonates throughout my entrepreneurial speaking career today.

While growing up, did you face discrimination or other challenges because you were a girl playing hockey? Can you recall any specific incident where you had to confront discrimination head-on?

In my experience I’ve felt quite fortunate. There were situations where people would definitely be surprised that I was a girl playing hockey – a lot of the girls used to tuck their ponytails into their jerseys to fly under the radar! My good friend, and fellow Winnipeger, Sami Jo Small used to register for teams just under the name “Sam” to avoid complications.

The sport has changed a lot in the past twenty years, and today Canada really celebrates women’s hockey. Since people became educated about the sport, there has been amazing feedback from Canadians.

What’s your favourite part about representing Canada at the Olympics? Least favourite?

My favourite part about representing Canada at the Olympics is getting to share the experience with everyone in the country. When we compete, we are competing for Canada and with Canada. I love hearing people’s stories on how they remember watching our games and sharing in those special moments. When you’re standing in line at the medal presentation and you see your teammates getting medals, you feel like the whole country is standing there with you.

Least favourite isn’t the term I would use, but the most demanding aspect of the Olympics is the physical and emotional demands of training. Training breaks your body down so you can rebuild stronger, so it’s very taxing to say the least.

What was your favourite part about working as a keynote speaker?

I love working as a keynote speaker. It is a phenomenal chance to connect with people and provide insights from my life that can help them lead their best life. Being a keynote speaker I am constantly sharing and experiencing “moments of appreciation.” I look forward to every speaking opportunity and enjoy all of it.

What’s has been your most memorable moment(s) to date?

There are a lot of memorable moments! When I was young and first started playing hockey, my parents always said they could see my smile through the cage of my helmet – that pure joy has accompanied me throughout my athletic and now entrepreneurial career. These moments provided great building blocks for my future endeavours.

A moment that also really stands out for me isn’t a goal, but the assist that I made for the gold medal-winning goal at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Assisting a team member and helping the team to win was really special.

Another series of moments that I really cherish are when people come up to me at the end of keynote speeches and share how they’ve connected with my stories. These people are often overcome with emotion and I feel so privileged to be a part of these moments.

Do you have any warnings or advice for women who dream of competing in the Olympics some day?

My advice is the same advice I got from my parents when I was fifteen years olds: why not you? Asking this question changed my entire approach to life. Why not you?! It’s true for anything. It’s about asking yourself this question and living without regrets, knowing that you have done everything possible to achieve your dreams. It’s a powerful question to ask yourself and makes anything possible.

What do you see yourself doing five years from now?

More of this! Right now I’m focused on three areas: keynote speaking (which I absolutely love), sports broadcasting (most recently working with Sportsnet’s Hometown Hockey and Ron MacLean), and working at a high-performance sports facility where we help athletes develop.

So I want to expand, grow and evolve in those three areas!

In your opinion, what is the biggest challenge (worldwide) facing women today?

We’re very fortunate here in North America compared to elsewhere in the world. There are many challenges facing women everyday and I wouldn’t want to say that one is more important than the other.

One challenge here in Canada is self-esteem. Helping young girls to have self-esteem and believe the idea that, whatever the goal might be, they can have the confidence and self-determination to get there, is a huge challenge facing young girls today. Through my speaking and leading by example, I hope to help inspire young women to find self-esteem and chase their dreams.

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