Meet Mary Tsegaye

We recently connected with Mary Tsegaye and have shared our conversation below.

Mary, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?
I definitely get my work ethic from my parents. They are 2 of the most hard working and resilient people I know. My family (parents and 2 older sisters) moved to Canada from Ethiopia when I was 5 years old. From the day we landed, I watched my father work endless hours to provide for us and my mom worked part time and took care of us full time. My parents left everything they knew behind, taking a huge risk in the hopes that they would be able to provide a better life for their kids. They barely spoke english when we arrived but they managed to find work and give us everything we needed in life. Watching them impacted me in 2 major ways. First, it taught me that with hard work and dedication, what seems impossibly difficult can be done. Second, it lit a fire in my heart to give my parents the world. A huge part of the reason why I am so determined to succeed is because I want to be able to take care of my parents and show them that their sacrifice all those years ago was worth it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I wear so many hats that its difficult to keep track sometimes! My passion for the past 5 years has been creating and sharing content on social media platforms showing my DIY journey and hopefully teaching and inspiring others along the way. Last year I signed on as a DIY expert on CityLine, the longest running daytime show in North America, When my schedule allows, I also take on design clients based in Toronto. I also, had the opportunity to design a beautiful retail space in the heart of Toroto’s Queen West area.

I love the work I do because there is something magical about being able to create something with your bare hands, theres an additional layer of joy when you are able to bring someones vision to life in their home or business. One of the best parts of being able to share this journey only comes from the messages I get from women telling me that I inspired them to pick up tools! This genuinely brings me so much joy.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
My biggest piece of advice is to do a lot of self learning. We all hold our own trauma and ways of dealing with it. These lead to different triggers and different solutions are required for those triggers. There is no one size fits all solution. I get very easily overwhelmed when I abstractly look at all the things I have to manage. What works best for me is to break every thing down into bite sized tasks. For example if I have a huge project deadline, I tend to panic if I think about it all at once. So I set a daily to do list of manageable tasks. This has helped me ease my anxiety and stress so much!.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Leadership Development
Empathy Unlocked: Understanding how to Develop Emotional Intelligence

“Empathy is the starting point for creating a community and taking action. It’s the impetus

Productivity
Where do you get your work ethic from?

We’ve all heard the phrase “work hard, play hard,” but where does our work ethic

Productivity
Boosting Productivity Through Self-Care

When you have a never-ending to-do list it can feel irresponsible to engage in self-care,