I Stopped Drinking at 49. I Started a Business at 51.
22 oct. 2026 · @Janylène
My conversation with Sheila Slick on Milestone Moments in Business and Leadership
Three women shaped my career.
All three were my bosses. All three told me the same thing.
"You don't have it on paper. You've never done it. But I trust you can."
They were right. Every time.
I started in sales, selling encyclopedias door to door in Vancouver. I had hitchhiked across Canada with $100 in my pocket, and the money was gone. I answered an ad. I won awards.
I think it worked because of my father. When I asked him a question as a child, he would say: "I don't know. Go look it up in the encyclopedia and come tell me." Then he would ask me another one.
That is how I learned to research, to summarize, to talk. To connect through knowledge.
Then came 25 years in HR leadership. Mergers. Transformations. Always in between: Toronto and Montreal, Montreal and London.
I was the bridge.
And then the chapter ended. On someone else's terms.
My calendar, full a year ahead, was suddenly empty.
A quick thought crossed my mind: you hate what you're doing. You just can't admit it, because if you admit it, you'll have to do something about it.
Three days later, I walked into an interview for a VP HR role at a bank.
I was an athlete at interviews.
I froze.
Walking home in the rain, it was clear. I did not need another executive job. I needed a transformation.
It took a year and a half. I became sober. I built a team around me. And one session with a hypnotherapist showed me the missing link: my years as an executive, my own transformation, my coaching. It all came together.
Today, I am still the bridge. Between your conscious mind and what runs underneath.
In this episode, Sheila and I talk about:
Selling encyclopedias, and why if you can sell, you can always make a living
The mentors who trusted me before I had it on paper
The day my calendar emptied, and the thought I could not admit
Freezing in an interview after a career of helping others prepare for theirs
Why founders who sell their business need someone there just for them
Forgotten wealth: the strengths you had as a child, still there, waiting
Here is what I want you to keep.
It's always possible.
I stopped drinking at 49. I started my business at 51.
Whatever your age. Whatever happened. There is still a door for you.
🎧 Listen to the full episode here: https://youtu.be/2GBm7TDJ1bE?si=3zjZ6yZqOn4QQ6R9
And if something lands for you, send me a little hello. I love hearing what stayed with you.
Hypnotically yours,
Janylène xo
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