20 Years and 20 Stories | Victoria Watkins

“Reach out more often to ask for help, for mentorship and for support.”

When I went to law school, I thought I wanted to be a Family law lawyer. I pictured myself in a small Ontario town, practising out of a big house on Main Street. Once at UofT law school and in debt though, I decided to follow the crowd and article on Bay Street.

I started my career in private law practice at Blakes, for which I am truly grateful. The start of my career coincided with the market crash in 1987 and the deep recession which followed, a time when young lawyers were being laid off or re-assigned to new practice areas. I learned early on that I needed to be flexible and “bloom where I was planted”. Through a client at Blakes, I got the opportunity to take the General Counsel position at Coca-Cola Canada. That exposure to product development and marketing set me on a different career path, one where I was leveraging my legal experience and knowledge to create and market programs. I did that at The Canadian Institute and American Conference Institute and for the last 10 years, have had pretty much the best job in the country for doing that, here at OsgoodePD. During my tenure here, I undertook a Masters of Education in Leadership, Higher and Adult Education. I was able to weave my education and work together throughout that program in ways that were incredibly useful and enriching. Of course, that’s what we strive to do here at OsgoodePD, and I think the 19 other stories show that we’re pretty successful at creating opportunities to do just that!

What has always motivated me is learning new things, meeting new people, and creating something that did not exist before. I don’t think I was conscious of a career direction after starting at Blakes. I just knew I wanted to make the most of every opportunity I had. Looking back now, however, I realize that the decisions I made consistently lead me toward something that was more creative and more “tangible” than law practice was for me. I’ve been very lucky to have great opportunities to do that. At this stage in my career, my goal is to keep developing my own leadership practice, help the team here design new and creative ways for people to learn throughout their lives, and serve others in whatever way I can.