Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jenny Canham. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jenny, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I developed the skill of resilience by changing my perception of the word ‘no’ to ‘not yet’ in my career towards achieving my goals in the non-profit sector.
I grew up in England and was lucky enough to live with dogs and cats as a child, which allowed me to develop a love for animals early on. At age 11, I began to educate myself about animal agriculture, and was shocked to learn about the suffering that farmed animals endure. How could I love the dogs and cats I lived with, but continue to eat other animals? In order to align my actions with my love for animals, I decided to stop eating meat. But I wanted to do more.
I felt a need to use my voice to speak up for animals and it became a dream of mine to devote my career to animal protection. However, getting into the animal protection non-profit sector was more difficult than I had anticipated.
As a recent graduate, I remember applying to countless non-profit sector jobs in a variety of areas, and rarely even got to the interview stage. I got very used to hearing the word ‘no’, however, I knew that this was what I was meant to do. So I changed my perception of ‘no’ to ‘not yet’ and in response to the rejections, I decided to revisit my approach.
Employers are often looking for a mix of skills plus experience, which is difficult when you haven’t yet gained that experience. When I did get a ‘no’ in response to a job application, I would always ask for feedback to help me learn from the experience, and employers usually acknowledged my passion for the cause, but decided to go with another candidate who had more experience. So in order to tackle this, I decided that instead of waiting to be given an opportunity to be doing the work I wanted to do, I would start doing it in any capacity I could. After all, animals need as much help as they can get.
I must recognize the privileged position I was in to be able to volunteer with animal charities whilst working other jobs. I know that working in unpaid volunteer or internship positions isn’t an option for everybody, for example, people with a family to support or other financial responsibilities. For me, this really opened the door to the sector I wanted to work in, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.
I then landed my first full-time job in an animal charity in supporter relations, which involved taking donations by phone. I was so happy to finally get this ‘yes’ I’d been waiting for, and to dedicate my work to helping animals full time. However, I couldn’t help but feel that I could be doing more, and using my skills in a creative way to really be making a difference. I wanted to reach my full capacity.
I’d always found writing and communicating to be one of my strengths, and was keen to empower people to act to help animals through my writing. I was disappointed that developing my writing skills wasn’t possible in my current job, however, I knew I had more to offer and was keen to challenge myself to see what I was capable of.
So once again, instead of waiting for somebody to give me this opportunity – I created it for myself. I created and managed my own animal protection news website, and simultaneously completed the National Council for the Training of Journalists Diploma in Journalism, whilst also tutoring in a secondary school to support myself financially. Shortly after completing my final journalism exam, I landed my first full-time job in both Communications and Campaigns in an animal protection organization in London.
I was thrilled to be able to write about important issues affecting animals, and this also introduced me to campaigning, which I was instantly drawn to. I loved the idea of creating hard-hitting campaigns that could impact the lives of millions of animals – changing laws, achieving corporate victories or influencing public behavior change. I was particularly proud to be able to focus my work on protecting farmed animals, given the extent of their suffering; 10 billion farmed animals are slaughtered for food every year, in the US alone.
My work developed and I was able to lead on some incredibly exciting animal protection campaigns for over five years. In that time, I had presented animal protection issues in UK Parliament, often as the only female speaker, which came with its own set of challenges. I worked with high-profile celebrities, and gained national and international press coverage, sharing animal protection stories with millions of people around the world. And, my work was making a difference.
In 2023, I was nominated for ‘National Campaigner of the Year’ for my work in gaining inspections in farmed fish slaughterhouses as a legal requirement in Scotland, an achievement which has the potential to impact approximately 50 million animals annually.
Having worked to make a difference for animals in the UK, I then set myself the challenge of continuing this work overseas, working on projects and initiatives that were forward-thinking in approach, and using my skills to make the biggest impact for animals that I could, on a larger scale.
However, obtaining a visa to work in another country can be incredibly stressful and challenging. Once I had found an employer to sponsor me, I had to prove that my work had made a significant impact in the field I worked in and that I had an extraordinary ability to be able to achieve this.
It took me around six months to collate hundreds of pages of evidence for my case. And although at this point I thought I had so much experience of rejection that it wouldn’t affect me as badly, when my first visa petition was denied, I was instantly humbled and realized that getting a ‘no’ never gets easy.
But still, I reminded myself to change my perception of ‘no’ to ‘not yet’. I started my case again and reapplied, and am pleased to say that after being approved on my second try, I have now been working to make a difference for animals in the United States and living in Los Angeles for almost six months.
My biggest learning from this experience is that nobody else decides what’s possible for you, only you. I started seeing failure in each step of my career as one step closer to achieving my goals. Every time, I learned something that I would take with me when I tried again. It really isn’t about how many times you hear a ‘no’ but what you do after hearing it. To me, this is what resilience is all about.
I’m proud to say that I have carved a career out of my passion, and worked to utilize my skills to reach my potential and do work that excites and inspires me, work that I know is making a positive difference to the world. It certainly hasn’t been plain-sailing to get to this point, but I’m really happy that I stuck with it and didn’t let one of the ‘no’s distract me from my path and change what I knew was possible for me.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m an experienced animal protection non-profit sector professional and have worked to make a difference for animals around the world for over a decade. I have worked with celebrities, politicians and activists to raise awareness of some of the most pressing issues animals are currently facing. In 2023, I was nominated in the Sheila McKechnie Foundation ‘National Campaigner of the Year’ Awards for my work gaining stronger legal protections for fish in the UK.
I currently work as Director of Outreach and Engagement for the animal protection organization, Animal Outlook.
Animal Outlook is a national non-profit organization based in Washington DC and Los Angeles. Our mission is focused on exposing truth and inspiring change. We strategically challenge animal agriculture through undercover investigations, legal advocacy, corporate and food system reform, and educating the public about the many harms of animal agriculture, empowering everyone to choose vegan. Our groundbreaking work has been featured in high-profile media platforms across the U.S., bringing widespread awareness to hundreds of millions of people every year.
My work at Animal Outlook involves training people to become impactful and effective advocates for animals, using proven behavior change principles to empower others to have meaningful conversations about important topics affecting our world.
Choosing vegan is an effective way to advocate for both animal and human rights issues, as well as having a positive impact on the environment at such a critical time for our planet. It’s estimated that by choosing vegan, we can save one animal life every day, and working conditions in places such as factory farms and slaughterhouses can be lethal for humans too. Animal agriculture also stands as one of the leading causes of climate change. So by taking action, such as pledging to go vegan for a week or more, we can take a stand on issues we care about and really make an impact.
I am currently working on a new website which will be a first-of-its-kind training tool that combines the wisdom of experience and grassroots advocacy with the science of change to help us all to learn about key issues and be effective advocates for social justice. I hope that this tool will empower people to have positive conversations to help others to learn more about some of the systems that are often hidden from us.
I think we’re living in a time where it’s easy to feel helpless with so many problems in the world, but we have power with the daily decisions we make, such as our food choices. I’m excited to launch this website in the new year and hope it will inspire others and help us all to see how our actions can and do make a difference.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Animal Outlook’s animal advocacy training, you can sign up as a volunteer here: https://animaloutlook.org/alliance/
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?
I think adaptability is a skill that I have found incredibly useful on my journey. I found it quite stressful trying to pinpoint what exactly my specific skill was, but then I realized that being well-rounded in your strengths and abilities is a skill in itself, and more than that – a unique skill that’s highly sought after.
Another quality that has helped me is I am a strong believer of letting go of ego and not taking things personally, which isn’t always easy. But I always want to be learning and growing, and I think we can learn a great deal from the people we come into contact with every day.
Finally, I think it’s important to acknowledge that, no matter how much we may love the work we do and even if we are working in an area we are incredibly passionate about, we’re still human and burnout is a real thing. My work ethic is now more about working smarter, and using my time as effectively as possible, where in the past it was more about just doing as many hours as was physically possible, which inevitably led to more procrastination and less creativity.
I’m pleased that I’ve grown to find a more sustainable way of working, and seeing rest as productive has been a big part of shifting my mindset to see that taking care of myself makes me a better advocate for others.
I think, ultimately, self care is central to everything we do, so my advice for others would be to view focusing on self care as also taking an important step in our careers. We’re not robots, and this is especially important when practicing resilience and having a high-achiever mentality.
As we end our chat, is there a book you can leave people with that’s been meaningful to you and your development?
The classic ‘How to Make Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie is one of the most important books I’ve read that has shaped how I approach communication both in my career and in my personal life. In my work, I’ve met with people from all walks of life and sometimes it can be daunting speaking to decision-makers, whose support could really help a lot of animals, for example, politicians.
I learned to remind myself that everyone we engage with is human. They are facing the daily stresses of life too, and approaching people on a human level has really helped these interactions to go well. Sometimes, it’s the little things like remembering personal details or stories somebody has shared with you that can make a big difference. After all, people often don’t remember what you said, but will remember how you made them feel.
On that note, one of my favorite quotes is ‘Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about’. I think keeping this in mind when communicating with others is key, and it’s why I’m so passionate about the advocacy training we lead at Animal Outlook. I believe that coming from a place of kindness and compassion is so much more effective.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://animaloutlook.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/animal.outlook/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnimalOutlook
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-canham/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnimalOutlook
