For Chris Guérette, if she isn’t growing, it’s time to. “You have to actually morph yourself through the years. You have to learn to be a different person and use different skills. You have to change who you are without changing who you are,” she said.

The CEO of the Saskatoon & Region Home Builders’ Association has done just that, working in several different industries, including health care, education, real estate and now housing. “If somebody were to ask me, ‘Where would you see yourself in 10 years?,’ I wouldn’t really be able to answer that question,” she said. “I see opportunities that interest me, and I figure if something feels overwhelming or uncomfortable, I should do it because it means I’m going to grow.”

Guérette is originally from New Brunswick. She lived in Ottawa before making her way west to Saskatoon, which became home after the birth of her children. Guérette recently dabbled in politics, attempting to secure the Saskatoon Meewasin nomination for the Saskatchewan Party before this year’s provincial election. While she didn’t win the nomination, she learned invaluable lessons. “I got to know the people in my neighbourhood better, the issues better. You think you know the job of the politician,” she said with a chuckle. “But once you have to potentially wear that hat, your lens changes.”

Guérette is always pushing diversity in politics. “It’s absolutely crucial to have the people you represent at that table,” she said. “Because women are not used to seeing themselves at decision tables . . . then it’s not a natural thought that they could do that or should do that. “Politics is so much more than MLAs, MPs, city councillors. Everything is politics.” Working with politicians in her role as CEO of a home builders’ association, Guérette half-jokes she now has a bit more empathy for them.

She works hard to inform policy at all levels of government, so it reflects what her industry is about, which isn’t just construction. “It’s housing, how we build out our city, how we literally build our communities, how the city can be sustainable when we look at growth, land development, growing our city, attracting people here, our economy,” she said. She says there is no such thing as a typical day.

“We have to be OK with (being) uncomfortable and growing because we are always evolving . . . for the benefit of our city and for the benefit of our province,” she said, noting what she loves about her industry is the feeling she’s contributing to a larger objective. A large part of Guérette’s job is bringing people together to foster an environment of collaboration. “We may have a very clear path forward, but we don’t know what those municipalities are living,” she said. “Advocacy is not going to happen by telling others what to do and what our opinion is.”

No matter the industry a woman finds herself in, Guérette encourages women to be unapologetic and unafraid to take up space. “Do not be afraid to rock the boat, do not be afraid to have an opinion, to be loud, to take up space,” she said. “Make a point to do all those things.” That sounds a lot like Guérette’s first mentor, her grandmother, who drove and was impeccably dressed, wearing heels into her 80s. “She was always in a supporting role to make sure somebody else was successful; but, given a different time, her leadership role probably would have come out more. She was always caring for people – not in the motherly sense, almost like the community-minded way.”

Those words might describe Guérette, too. Finding it hard to describe herself, she thinks others see her as direct and someone who is loud and ruffles feathers. She hopes they see her as community-minded, too, and as a woman driven by action. “My number one fear is that I become an old lady that’s stuck in her ways,” she said.

Unlikely, but just to be sure, Guérette always has a stack of books on her bedside table to ensure she fulfills her goals of personal and professional growth.

-Darla Read