It’s a big decision to pick up and move to a different country.
Carien Rennie (Wessels) took courage to a new level when she left South Africa for Canada in hopes of giving herself and her three sons a better chance at life.
“It’s the uncertainty of the country, and the state that it’s in left us all to wonder what was going to happen in the future.”
Rennie and her family moved to Nova Scotia first, but found it wasn’t the right fit. The family packed up and moved again to Kelowna in December 2019.
Settling into a new city in a new country was not easy. To add to the hardship, Rennie said her job qualifications aren’t recognized in Canada and she had to go back to the basics.
“I studied as an aesthetician and I eventually worked my up in South Africa.” Rennie worked as a regional sales manager for a pharmaceutical company in their aesthetics division. “Coming here, it’s different levels of qualification that you need to do it, it doesn’t just work on merit.”
Going back to where she started, Rennie took a job as an aesthetician at a local spa. Then COVID-19 took the world by storm and Rennie decided to re-evaluate life once again.
“The world changed as it is, and being in that industry where touch and all of that was the main focus of it I had to question myself.”
Rennie started doing pre-consultation visits for a doctor, but found being stuck in an office wasn’t the life for her. “I can’t be contained in four walls. My personality is way too big and bright and sparkly, and I need to be in between lots of people.”
With a history of sales, Rennie applied and accepted a job with Boulevard Magazine in March of 2022 as an accounts manager where she continues to work today and loves it.
The hardships didn’t stop there, however, with Rennie’s husband filing for divorce during her first year in Kelowna. “So, here I was in this country thousands of kilometres from anyone I knew or know, new culture, new environment, single mom, three boys and it was like, what do you do now?”
Rennie said a choice had to be made and she wasn’t going to let circumstances stand in the way of success. Rennie said it hasn’t been an easy road, but she is extremely proud of her resiliency.
Her advice to other women, “Never stop trying.”
Rennie said the people she surrounds herself with have made all the difference in climbing the ladder and reaching her goals in life. “We are all flawed human beings and we need each other, we need to stand together. No one is meant to do this alone.”
Rennie started with Boulevard in the Okanagan and has since been promoted, also overseeing the English and Chinese magazines in Vancouver.
She recently received her Canadian citizenship alongside her three boys, adding excitedly that “the future is bright.”
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