There is so much about you that we want to know, Puneeta. Where did you grow up? When did you move to Edmonton and what was the move like?
I was born in Dawson Creek, BC which is way northern BC, and then I grew up in Grande Prairie, AB. So, I moved to Edmonton in 2007 for university, moved downtown, and that was a bit of a shock to the system. Coming from small towns my whole life to all of a sudden moving downtown to a major city. It was a different place back in 2007, so I definitely had to get used to sirens and everything!

I think it took me about two years of my degree to fully fall in love with Edmonton. I didn’t know that when I first moved here, I planned to stay, but by the time I was about halfway through my degree, it was pretty clear that I was going to stay.

 

I’m curious, you said it took you two years to fall in love with Edmonton, what was it that made you fall in love with it after a while?
That’s a good question, I don’t know that I have ‘a’ single answer to that; you just build community over time. Especially with the way I am, relationships with the people around me are really important. I recognized pretty early that opportunity is hard to come by when you’re a small fish in a really big pond. I saw how many opportunities there were in Edmonton, I volunteered and met incredible people and when I reflect back it usually comes back to the people I’m surrounded by and the opportunity.

 

 

That brings up a good point though, you built quite an awesome career in Edmonton. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got into your current role with the Edmonton Downtown Business Association?
I feel like you can never know where your career is going to land you or what doors are going to open up along the way—I didn’t even know this job or this organization existed when I was in school or in the early stages of my career! I come from the marketing world, starting at Incite Strategy for almost four years, and Amplomedia before that, and then I was at Alberta’s—actually I think Western Canada’s—largest independently owned marketing agency after that, ZGM Marketing. Marketing was my whole career. I really thought my future was in the advertising industry. I even considered moving to Vancouver to work for an agency there, but that didn’t feel right.

It wasn’t until I was on mat leave in 2020, this EDBA job opportunity came out of nowhere. I found out they were in need of a new leader, and a couple of my friends texted me saying, ‘you should go get that job!’ I had known Ian, my predecessor, and I kind of knew what he did but I didn’t really know anything about the organization or what the job actually was. I quickly realized this might be exactly what I should be doing—it was the intersection of marketing and city building, government relations, etc.

So I applied for the job in the Fall of 2020 and went through a pretty intense process, and here I am!

 

When you were interviewing, was there something about your passion or ideas or process that you brought to the table that they really loved?
The interview process up to a certain point was pretty straightforward. At the end for the final shortlist, we had to give a presentation of like, our first year in the job, what is our vision was, what to tackle and what is our plan to get Downtown Edmonton back on track… so that was a lot of pressure, that was pretty intense. After I was hired, the recruiter said it was tight as there were really, really incredible candidates and she said that towards the end of their deliberation she asked them the question, ‘Think about what type of leader or type of person this organization needs right now”. She told me that was the question that made them think I was the right one.

 

So 2020, you said you were on maternity leave but for most of us, 2020 screams the Pandemic. Please tell us how you navigated your new role.
The presentation [for the application] was in the midst of Covid, it was the end of 2020 when I had to give that and I walked in with a lot of optimism which I think has been absolutely essential. When I got there the team had been through so much and I got to walk in bright-eyed and bushy-tailed coming off mat leave and I wasn’t beaten down by Covid the same way everyone else had been. The team was able to absorb a little bit of my optimism; you need a lot of optimism and resilience and to try not to focus on the things that are out of our control, but focus on what you can control. Every day you have to give yourself that reminder because it’s easy to throw up your hands if you let yourself do that. And you REALLY have to care, again, it’s easy to throw up your hands. One of our core values here now is to ‘show up and give a shit’, which I love.

show up and give a shit

 

But that brings up a good point, roadblocks. There are so many in life, can you tell us about one of the biggest roadblocks you’ve had and how you overcame it?
Obviously, the ups & downs of Covid have been a roadblock for everyone of course, but personally, when I think of my life and career as a whole, my roadblocks have been other health-related things. I had Thyroid cancer in 2015 then after that we struggled with unexplained infertility for years which took a massive toll mentally. The health issues turned everything upside down but they also put everything in perspective which is the key to overcoming; focus on what you can control, focus on what you’re grateful for, and give yourself the time and space you need to heal.

I think that’s a bit of a silver lining through Covid—I’ve noticed that leaders and workplaces are so much more empathetic and open and recognizing the life behind the scenes that people have—that there’s family and kids and illness happens. It’s a more passionate community. I hope that’s one thing that stays with us.

 

 

That brings up another good point. Earlier, we chatted about being a female in the marketing world and how it’s hard to find that work-life balance. What three tips would you give to young females to help them succeed in their careers and in everyday life?
This is a tough one. One tip that I always give is to not prioritize goal setting. I feel like more than ever having big goals, vision boards, etc. it’s good to do and to revisit goals once or twice a year, but what’s more important than that is finding your opportunities and to shine in whatever it is you’re doing; master whatever it is you’re working on right now because when you shine at what you’re doing that is when the world sees you as being a superstar; then you can see what the next move/goal is.

I worry that when people visualize big goals they miss the mark on mastering whatever it is they are good at in their current role.

Spending time on self-awareness and what you’re good at and paying attention to those things. Cultivating your skills and talents and looking for more opportunities, volunteer maybe to stretch some of those skills and then maybe improve on some of the things you’re not so great at – that work is more important when you’re young than having bigger goals, I think.

There’s a great book, it’s called Atomic Habits by James Clear and there’s one line in there that I love, ‘we don’t rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our systems.’ Just because you have that goal, doesn’t mean you’re going to end up there; it’s the daily, the weekly, the yearly habits and practices and work that you’re putting in that’s going to get you where you need to go. 

Just because you have that goal, doesn’t mean you’re going to end up there; it’s the daily, the weekly, the yearly habits and practices and work that you’re putting in that’s going to get you where you need to go. 

Another tip would be to focus on the relationships you form, both professional & personal. Those are the single greatest assets to your future success. Personal relationships are massive – you never know where a client or coworker may end up and who they’ll know, or where you may cross paths again. Wherever you go, whatever you’re doing, avoid burning bridges. Take a few extra minutes during a conversation to build a deep relationship and know them better – it’s huge, especially in Edmonton.

A third tip: I wish I had known how important balance and boundaries are when it comes to working life – especially if you’re ambitious and love what you do. It’s really easy to let work blend into evenings and weekends and consume your thoughts. Burnout creeps up really fast and out of nowhere. I wish someone had told me to say no, to be a lot more selective for what to volunteer for, and to put clear boundaries in place between work and home life. For example, if you have to work after hours, pre-schedule emails to send the next day during work hours to set that boundary in a leadership role.

We as leaders have to set an example, so if we’re telling people to have boundaries in place then we can’t be sending emails at 8 pm at night!

 

So how do you find balance?
I do wonder where I would be if I hadn’t had a baby because one thing that was a huge blessing if you have a forced boundary, it doesn’t matter what is on your to-do list or if someone wants to meet with me- I can’t. I have to be home at 5:15 every day (for the most part) and work around my family’s schedule.

Not having those forced boundaries can make it really hard. I have gotten better. I block off time in my calendar, and just make it clear to colleagues that you’re blocking off time. Communicating those boundaries upfront is so important.

I use Calendly for scheduling to make it clear when I am available.

Focus on the relationships you form, both professional & personal. Those are the single greatest assets to your future success.

 

What hobbies or activities do you like to do outside of your work? / How do you wind down and blow off steam?
I used to have so many! Once I became a mom all of it kind of fell away, but I love to snowboard and golf. I used to do yoga religiously, now I just squeeze those things in where I can in my busy schedule with work and being a mom.

 

You have a very strong background in marketing but if you had to choose another profession what would you have done?
When I was younger the dream job was to be a music supervisor- I love music, love great film and television, and was just obsessed with the idea of curating and managing the music for movies and TV.

 

I feel like we kind of already answered this question about the challenges of being a female Executive Director in your early 30s, was there anything you wanted to add?
If I was doing it in non-covid times it would be more challenging with going for drinks,  networking events in the evening or off-hours and weekend events. The expectations for this job would have been tough as a young mom.

The silver lining of doing it now is that none of that really happens due to the pandemic and I can focus on a regular workday. It’s a huge reminder of how much work still needs to be done for true equity in the workforce for mothers. As my son gets older though, now that the evening things are coming back, I do have a bit more flexibility to do those things once or twice a week, so that’s nice too.

I also don’t often look and sound like the demographic of my peers and predecessors in this role, and sometimes I feel like I’m viewed with a bit of skepticism. But I look at it as an opportunity to set an example of what business and community leadership can look like for the next generation.

 

What excites you about Edmonton’s downtown? What’s your vision? You came into the role with a different outlook, a lot more balanced and everything associated with that. So tell us what excites you?
Oh, so many things. It is hard to not get bummed out by the negativity around ‘downtown’ across North America due to Covid but I don’t focus on those things. I try to focus on how our downtown isn’t finished yet and there is so much development opportunity. I get to see the designs, the redevelopment- there is so much that can be built up.

I see the opportunity to double our downtown population in the next 10 years (or less). It’s a young, affordable city with so much opportunity for small businesses to take over downtown. There are so many tech startups and new businesses that can make it feel like a community that grows with us, to be more inclusive and creative and fun. 

Edmonton’s downtown has the perfect blend of old & new/corporate & creative. We get to watch Edmonton grow and develop.

I see the opportunity to double our downtown population in the next 10 years (or less).

 

What’s your favourite hangout downtown?
I’m going to say Red Star / Lock Stock / The Bower. Partly because I worked there, where I met my husband 12 years ago. It’s the anchor for so much of the downtown community – an absolute gem of a place.

I’d also say Rosewood Foods. It’s my favourite place for lunch. It’s an example of a place that opened despite all the odds during Covid.

The Art Gallery! Edmontonians don’t spend nearly enough time there. Have lunch at May. Especially when it’s cold outside, it’s a fantastic place to spend the day.

 

So what’s your future vision for Edmonton?
That’s a big question – I really think we have the opportunity to be the place for young, diverse, entrepreneurial people who want to be a part of a community and want to live somewhere where it’s not about the hustle and grind every single day – it’s about so much more than that. You can have a family, have a house, and a job you want and I think that’s really unique about Edmonton.

We’ve elected probably one of the youngest city councils we’ve had, most gender-balanced. We are seeing more of what we want to be in leadership across the city. We have some fantastic business success stories. We need to keep incentivizing and encouraging the innovators who are making this place what we want it to be.

We have a really high, affordable quality of life and I think more people are starting to realize that. There are lots of opportunities here.

 

So to wrap up, what’s next for you?
I’m going to stay true to my first piece of advice in being very focused on what I’m doing right now. I have more than enough on my plate. I have an amazing little family and am doing everything I can to succeed in this job.

I’m not thinking about what’s next, not until the right door opens at the right time. Onwards & upwards.

 

Photography by: nicholasdyee.com

 

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