She’s So Brave – Meagan Douglas
Tell us about yourself. Your name, and age if you want.
My real age? My name is Meagan Douglas. I’m 41 years old.
What do you do?
I’m a teacher, and I also am the kids race director for all of the Southeast Asian races. Spartan races. So, I actually live in Singapore for the moment. We just moved, we were living in Singapore for 6 years and then we moved back to Canada last year. And then, in a crazy turn of events, my husband got offered another job over (there) so we sort of shifted our family back a year later. We moved back the first week of August, and then I came back to be with Caley.
I have a daughter who is nine, (and) a son who is seven. They both started preschool in Singapore, went all the way up until senior kindergarten and Grade two (Grade 1 and 3), and now they are in Grade 2 and 4.
And they loved life over there?
Yeah. Its an interesting life for them over there. They attend a Mandarin bilingual program. They speak Mandarin fluently.
So are you picking some up as well?
Uh… no. Let’s not talk about that.
Meagan laughs.
So yeah, their life has basically been in Singapore
What does your husband do?
He used to work for IBM and now he works for a company called Salesforce. Part of the reason he wanted to be on (with them) is because they build their staff (based) on whether or not you fit into their company culture. It was a real draw for my husband, going from the big blue machine of IBM, then shifting to Salesforce.
We have a great life over there. It used to be better when my sister (Caley), her husband, and their two boys also lived in Singapore with us. We all moved back at the same time.
But it’s a great life over there, we are afforded the opportunity to travel to lots of cool places. I teach part time at the Canadian International School, and one of the really beautiful parts of living there is that there are 80+ nationalities that attend our school. So, it’s a really global-minded opportunity for our kids, and a good lens for them to see the world. Its cool.
What’s the bravest thing you’ve ever done?
The bravest thing I’ve ever done… gosh, that’s such a difficult question. I don’t think of myself of brave, I thought it was funny that I was even nominated for this opportunity.
I guess maybe 20 or so years ago, I came to this point in my life where I was not very healthy. I’d been diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder (that) took away half of my immune system. And then, I got diagnosed with another autoimmune disorder, where my thyroid function stopped. It was just a series of really funny events. I decided to take my life in a direction (to) live healthy all the time, whether it was fitness or my diet. And these low parts of my life led me to my bravest moments.
I started getting into ultra marathon running and at that point (there) was a lot of self doubt. Finishing those races are about being resilient and really gritty. It’s a real high when you finish, you have to dig really deep. Some of my bravest moments (came when I) committed to the things that I (was) scared of, and then finishing them.
I suppose that’s the journey of my bravery.
I don’t feel like it’s a sad story. I’ve never felt more healthy in my entire life, which is really funny, because on paper, doctors say “You should not be this healthy or strong, or be able to do the physical things you can do.” Especially with the lack of my thyroid function. You just persevere and commit to things that push you outside of your comfort zone. I think I do a good job of that.
And that leads me to why I decided that Spartan was a really good fit for me. Their entire ethos is all about grit and resilience and pushing people out of their comfort zones. They’ve got lots of cool bravery stories, and I can understand and appreciate where they are coming from.
View the Online Gallery
An online gallery of all her images is available for the next 30 days. From the online gallery you are able to favourite images, order prints and share the gallery with your family and friends. The gallery can be accessed via the link below and you can contact Meagan directly for her secure password.
https://jmphotographyportraits.shootproof.com/DouglasPORT
We are so fortunate to have had the opportunity to photograph Meagan for She’s So Brave and we thank her for sharing her story of bravery with us!
Want to share in the experience? Contact us today to book your session or to set up your free wedding consultation with Jeremy!
Images by Calgary Portrait Photographer JM Photography © 2017
Some of my Favourite Photos from Meagan’s Session
Meagan’s Portrait Session Details
Date | 10.19.17
Location | Family Home
Photos by Jeremy Martel
Editing by Kelly Anne Steel
Blog written by Jenna Anderson
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