I’m on my morning bus ride to work. I see the same faces as usual and I smile and wave. That’s about as much acknowledgment we give each other. It’s all women on the bus with me. Sleepy faces looking out the window into the dark morning.

As the days go on the mornings get darker. The sun rises while I’m on the bus which means when I’m scheduled to open the store I work at, Reitmans, I get to watch the sun come up. I rise with the Roosters.

As I sip my thermos of coffee I’m thinking about my career and where I want to be in 5 years time. I’m hoping to work my way up to store manager, I’m currently the assistant manager. The main focus of my job is to keep the store up to visual standards. Head-office sends us a visual layout of the store and my job is to implement it and tweak it when needed to fit the store. I’m still in the process of learning, I love everyday at my job and I have a great team of women I work with.

My commute to work is an hour and a half so I have a lot of time to think. I’m usually listening to music and the type of music always depends on my mood. Right now I’m listening to my Women’s Power playlist on Spotify bouncing around in my seat on the bus. At this point when I reach mid Richmond Hill there is no one else on the bus with me. So I drink my coffee and look out the window.

The skyline is red and purple right now and the leaves are red and yellow dangling from the branches and colouring the grass. I love Fall. Crisp morning air filling my lungs and beautiful scenery.

I’m taking it all in.