Meet Rebecca Minelga

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rebecca Minelga. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Rebecca, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.

Purpose exists in the space where prowess meets passion. It is the integration of expertise in a given field and an enthusiasm and excitement to excel. Finding it, then, is both a journey and an exploration, with a fixed end point and also a lifelong investigation. 

For me, passion was born fairly young. As a middle school student, I read a book about a young boy who loses his sight when a firecracker explodes in his face. Receiving a guide dog allows him to overcome the challenges of his new reality in new and dynamic ways. That book stayed with me through high school and college, a favorite on my shelf, tattered and torn as the years passed, then taped back together: the physical form of a dream.

As a young newly-wed, my husband and I attended a local state fair and watched guide dog puppies being evaluated through their 4-H program. I leaned into him and whispered, “I’ve always wanted to do that.” He shrugged and replied, “So, go do it.”

Two weeks later, we attended our first training. 

Almost 20 years have passed since that day and we’ve gone on to raise 16 puppies and be featured in the KTF Films documentary Pick of the Litter. I now lead our local puppy raising chapter, supporting up to 10 dogs and 30 families as they, too, follow their passion to change lives through the power of partnership. I teach “How to Raise a Guide Dog Puppy” at our local alternative school, I write about the canine/human bond in a series of women’s fiction/sweet romance books called “Pawprints on My Heart,” and I also partner with my therapy dog, Santana, to offer corporate and school-based stress relief and support.

Passion led me to the world of puppy raising and canine companionship. Experience opened doors to continue growing and learning. Purpose came with the conjunction of both.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I am an author and speaker who uses the power of words to navigate the liminal spaces between who we are and who we are becoming. I raise guide dog puppies and two sons – in that order – with my husband just north of Seattle. When not writing, I can be found Open Water Swimming in my local lake, exploring the National Parks with my family, or traveling the world on An Adventure!

My debut fiction novel, Third and Long, explores the power of canine companionship as a traumatized young woman, Abby, sublimates her pain into helping others with her therapy dog, but when she meets a boy in need of much more than a furry friend, she realizes she has a second chance at love, and, more importantly, at living. It is an #OwnVoices story from my own experiences overcoming PTSD, anxiety, and depression, and exploring the role of the human/dog bond in recovery.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

In finding purpose, I think it’s really important to explore widely. Though that seems paradoxical, it is in this exploration that passion is discovered. There is a scientific principle called synaptic pruning, where children gradually remove unnecessary neural structures as they grow and mature, strengthening others through on-going experience. I believe this principle can also apply to a more subjective understanding of our pursuit of passion. By experiencing widely, we are better able to identify the things we enjoy and slowly narrow our focus.

Embracing opportunities to learn will further develop passion into purpose. We are often most motivated to pursue topics of interest to us, and I’d encourage anyone looking to explore their purpose to learn deeply and widely in their chosen field. As expertise is attained, more doors will open, leading to an exciting spiral of more learning and more chances to further our understanding and outreach.

Finally, though purpose and identity can be closely intertwined, I’d caution those pursuing their purpose to maintain healthy boundaries. Failures and false starts are opportunities to learn, but when they are perceived through the lens of self-worth, they become dangerous challenges to our sense of self. Developing a growth mindset alongside the pursuit of purpose will help inoculate against the fear of failure and turn those occasions into moments of self-reflection rather than self-rejection.

Alright so to wrap up, who deserves credit for helping you overcome challenges or build some of the essential skills you’ve needed?

From his offhand comment to just “go do it,” you might not imagine that my husband has been my biggest fan and my best friend, but without his support, I would not be the person I am today, nor would I be pursuing the passion and purpose I have. Our partnership, though founded in a deep and abiding love, also leaves space to learn and grow, both together and apart, and I believe it is this flexibility that has served us well as I’ve pursued my passions and found my purpose, and he has, as well. Like a Venn Diagram, we each have places we excel apart and together, melding partnership into mutual support of individual passions while still maintaining a beautiful togetherness.

I would be remiss not to mention his deeply committed care across years of trauma and mental health recovery, as well. When we speak vows such as “for better or for worse, in sickness and in health,” we hope for more of the former and less of the latter, and all too often, when those latter challenges arise, our promises are shown to be less enduring than we’d expected. He, however, has not wavered, and I am unspeakably lucky to have found a partner with such an enduring commitment to our marriage and family.

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Image Credits

Pick of the Litter Poster – Devon Gibbs

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