Heather Hollingworth drove her silver VW sporting California plates into Kelowna just as the snow reluctantly melted. She is enjoying a career change from paid employment with full benefits to freelancing. This is a courageous move, so why would Heather choose Kelowna as a base from which to launch such a transition? Wouldn’t the warm climes of the ethnically diverse and urban center of Silicon Valley be a far more appealing choice?

“My family is here” Heather explains. “Kelowna is home base for me”. She emphasizes that it is the familiarity of Kelowna that pulls her here. Yet, she recognizes that she has seen it grow with the speed of the popularity of Facebook and become cosmopolitan without having a hard edge. The valley, she is convinced, is full of friendly and easy-going but ambitious, play-hard, work-hard types.  Although born in Vancouver, Heather’s family has lived on Okanagan Lake for 26 years. “I have great history and memories with Mount Boucherie and Okanagan College, skating and skiing…and over the years taking in the growth of the wine industry which easily rivals Sonoma and Napa. Last week in fact, in a Vancouver restaurant, friends enjoyed a multi-course meal paired with five wines…all Okanagan wines. “I felt proud eavesdropping on their delight.”

Clearly, being called by Kelowna muses is a catalyst for Heather’s career shift. “It was my goal to split my time between Canada and the United States. I have just come from California where I have lived for the last seven years. I was working in the corporate concierge field but was drawn to work seriously with indexing. Index writing. You know, back-of-the-book… index writing.” One evening, last year, when Heather, recently single, was looking at options of which career she would follow and in which country she would reside, decided to not choose an ‘either/or’ attitude but say ‘yes’ to all choices and allow the vision to unfold.  Freelance indexing has afforded her this dream. She revels in the detail of indexing books, without being nailed to one office. Freedom. Moreover, this career sidestep from employee to freelancer has opened the possibilities of living in both Kelowna and California.

Heather is quick to clarify, “I’m Canadian and did my first degree at UBC.”  After world travels and fashion merchandising in Montreal, Heather landed in Florida and ultimately settled in California. Her heart continued to lead her to study indexing at the University of California, Berkeley.

Now the pendulum is swinging back again bringing Kelowna another American citizen, a very appreciative one at that.  She notes that Kelowna is a great stepping off point in starting a career. Because her clients will not necessarily be based in the Okanagan, she points out that coming back gives her the flexibility to start freelancing for clients anywhere in the world. The way the global economy is headed, one needs to be adaptable, not focused on nine to five. Achieving that work/life balance is about job sharing; it is telecommuting and flexible work hours which allows for quality of life. Kelowna, with its predictability and security can be a foundation for this modern lifestyle and a gateway to the world.

Finally, after quiet thought, Heather insightfully points out that living in a place like California is wonderful but one does not have the passing of the seasons, the markers. In fact, in California time seems to slip by unnoticed. Not so in Kelowna. “Kelowna and its seasons provide a sense of new starts, renewals, energy….. I feel like I have two homes.”