Ep 18. / Kirstyn DeVries - Host, Pace & Purpose ~ My Personal Journey of Change, Purpose & Resilience

In this episode, Kirstyn DeVries reflects on her personal journey, exploring themes of change, purpose, and resilience. She shares insights from her life experiences, including her upbringing, career, and personal challenges, and how these have shaped her current outlook and podcasting journey. Kirstyn emphasizes the importance of adapting to change and finding one's purpose through choice and self-awareness.

Takeaways

• Change is a constant and embracing it leads to growth.
• Purpose is grounded in choice and self-awareness.
• Adapting to life's changes is crucial for personal development.
• Reflecting on past experiences can provide valuable insights.
• Building a supportive network is essential for resilience.
• Philanthropy and community service are integral to Kirstyn's journey.
• Running and physical fitness are key motivators for Kirstyn.
• Kirstyn's career has been shaped by diverse experiences and challenges.
• Finding balance between personal and professional life is important.
• Kirstyn's podcast aims to share diverse stories and insights.

Quotes:

Change is a constant in my life. 

Purpose is grounded in choice. 

Adapting leads to personal growth. Reflect on past for insights. 

Supportive networks build resilience. 

Philanthropy is part of my story. Running motivates my journey. 

Diverse experiences shape my career. Balance is key to success. Sharing diverse stories inspires.

Chapters

• Introduction and Personal Reflection
• Early Life and Influences
• Career and Philanthropy
• Personal Challenges and Growth
• Finding Purpose and Balance
• Podcasting Journey and Insights

Keywords

Kirstyn DeVries, personal journey, change, purpose, resilience, podcasting, self-awareness, adaptation, life experiences, career

Transcript

Kirstyn DeVries (00:01.176)
Hi, it's Kirsten. Today, as I said, it's just me and the mic. No guests, but I will answer some questions and I know you'll get to know me a bit more in the process. I have treated today's episode as a checkpoint to reflect on how far we've come this season and what it means to find your rhythm again when life changes tempo. For those of you following along,

we've been reaching out to my network of dynamic creatives, athletes, and entrepreneurs to glean insights from their stories. Today, we're at episode 18, the story behind the meaning of this podcast, the momentum that drives it, and what purpose means to me right now. So as I say, grab your coffee or your running shoes and let's take the first step.

I'd like to start out with some background and my story growing up that influenced the trajectory and the arc of my life, which ultimately led me into hosting and producing this weekly podcast. So when I was reflecting on recording this episode, I began to think about what is that common thread across my life? What has given me the forward momentum, motivation and focus?

to embrace challenges and take on projects, entrepreneurial endeavors, and more recently, endurance sport.

Upon reflection around that central theme, it came down to change. Change has been a common thread throughout my life. And with the shifting tides of my journey, I've had ample opportunity to adapt and flow through the waves of change. You will see this theme flow throughout as I take you through my typical question one on the podcast. I'll take you through my personal journey that got me

Kirstyn DeVries (02:10.155)
to where I am today.

I spent the early years of my life in Ottawa, Canada's capital, and growing up moved around various parts of Ontario as my father worked in hotels and hospitality. So this led to living in upwards of 15 different homes before I even started second grade. I always find it fascinating when people say that they grew up in just one house.

I'd say for me, I didn't really realize how much change was happening around me at that time. I simply enjoyed leveraging my imagination for play, whether it was reenacting one of my favorite movies or finger painting at preschool. I was less aware of the moves and changes at this young age. However, in 1995, our family was rocked when my parents divorced and I moved with my mom and little brother.

hundreds of kilometers from Ottawa to the rural region of southern Ontario. As I said, just my mom, my brother and I starting a new life on my grandparents large acreage of farmland.

The move was softened by the new and stimulating surroundings. My brother and I would fish in the pond with my grandfather, chase down newborn kittens in the barn, and often help my grandmother harvest tomatoes off the vine or husk corn before dinnertime. I have a distinct and grounding memory of damp boxes of National Geographic magazines as I sit in silence, flipping through pages of old publications that my grandfather collected in the barn.

Kirstyn DeVries (03:55.97)
This part of my life transitioned from playful childhood to preteen responsibility when my grandparents moved to British Columbia and my mom went back to work after completing a post-secondary education in her late 30s. Go mom. Being 36 now, I can't imagine what life must have been like.

Now between grade two and grade eight, I went to four different schools and experienced various stressors of which on reflection the biggest was my best friend going through leukemia treatment throughout grades seven, eight and nine. Having the opportunity to attend her chemotherapy appointments and medical check-ins with her as she thankfully moved into remission was a big moment for me as a young teenager.

At that time, my family was going through a very pertinent medical journey as I'd been thinking about how health journeys are like life lessons in pace.

At the moment, my family is going through a very pertinent medical journey. And I've recently been thinking about how health journeys are like life lessons in pace. So I believe that learnings from my experience supporting this friend in middle school are tools in my tool belt today.

So back to the story. As a young teenager, I was given the unique opportunity for a once in a lifetime volunteering trip. Joining a motivated group of individuals, mostly in their 20s and 30s, a local church community center and joining a group of motivated individuals in their 20s and 30s from a local church and community center, I traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to Poland. I was 13 years old.

Kirstyn DeVries (05:49.857)
volunteering with a group of local community center programmers and giving them the resources necessary.

We volunteered with a group of locals at a community center, helped them with programming and resourcing the necessary support for children who became caregivers for their siblings amongst terrible economic uncertainty. Now back in the early 2000s, these conditions forced many Eastern European, back in the early 2000s, these conditions forced many Eastern European families to work several jobs.

and their kids left to fend for themselves.

This trip left a lasting impact on my heart and memory and instilled in me a certainty that philanthropy would definitely become part of my story long term.

I felt ready for more learning and growing as I transitioned to my high school and grade nine. I was excited to embrace fresh change and creativity. It was in my high school years that I was given the opportunity to study further, my favorite language, French, and visit Europe as a tourist alongside my high school friends, visiting Italy and France for the very first time, and even then marking in my mind

Kirstyn DeVries (07:11.991)
during that visit that someday I'd live a stone's throw from these beautiful European countries. So I'm thankful that I've spent the last six years living in London, leveraging it as the portal to Europe.

In high school, I was involved in theater. I was in sport as a competitive rower and various volunteer initiatives that led to strong academic standing and referral into the university program of my choice at the now Toronto Metropolitan University, then Ryerson. I studied theater performance production, a four-year bachelor of fine arts degree that led to a career in corporate events when an incredible opportunity came my way to be part of the

founding team of a technology incubator and accelerator that is now central to Toronto's downtown tech and startup ecosystem. The Digital Media Zone, or the DMZ, is an incubator for student-founded technology startups. And wow, did that community open up my networks to founders and entrepreneurs of all types. For nearly six years, I worked in a public relations role in coordinating events and international delegates.

to visit the space, meet the founders, and ultimately expose our startups to capital, mentorship, and further opportunity. To this day, I am still connected to hundreds of entrepreneurs because of this opportunity. In fact, you've already met some guests from this part of my life, including Val Fox in episode seven and Alex Kuludkin in episode nine, with more to come in the next couple of months.

So let's get back to my early 20s. After the incubator, I went on to work for one of the exciting HR tech startups called Soapbox, an incredible year of operationalizing and bootstrapping a fast growing tech company, coordinating things from board relations to employee benefits and negotiating new office lease agreements. I have a distinct memory of us all pushing our office chairs down the street to our new office where we subsequently built our IKEA desks together.

Kirstyn DeVries (09:26.924)
that hopefully paints a picture.

I gained valuable skills in my early years that armed me with the agility required in working for a growing startup. What I really wanted to do then was leverage my heart for community give back and combine it with those skills. So soon after my operations role in tech, I then stepped into a nonprofit role for the incredibly life transforming C3 church, a global movement founded in Australia. From a small group of individuals with a drive to make impact to a city,

To a few years later, working under the incredible leadership of Sam and Jess Picken, I look back fondly on this opportunity to build community partnerships through launching and leading the Love Toronto initiative. My favourite impact project during this time was coordinating fundraising efforts and house renovation, ultimately leading to the C3 community donating to the purchase of an entire family home.

on behalf of Matthew House Toronto Refugee Reception Services, where today families of Eritrean refugees reside. Without this incredible opportunity to effect change in Toronto through the C3 community, I certainly would not have been given the opportunity and privilege to travel to Sydney, Australia for further studies, this time in religion and biblical text.

And yes, many people do not know this about me, but I studied in the mornings and worked part-time as a nanny in the afternoons. During these two years down under, I also studied for and received an accreditation in real estate sales, exposing me to a new sector, which in turn opened a door for work in the UK, starting in late 2019. It was this journey in the UK which began with a bright start in 2020 in a new role

Kirstyn DeVries (11:23.23)
in growth strategy for a large commercial real estate brand. However, excitement of the new role was quickly dampened by the pandemic. Being confined to a tiny flat and feeling fuzzy, a limited vision for my future, I was stuck. On top of it all, after some years of struggle and minimal repair on various attempts, relationship coaching,

To top it all off, some years of struggle and minimal repair on various attempts, after relationship, to top it all off, after some years of struggle and minimal repair, following various attempts, relationship coaching, and ultimately exhaustion, I experienced a breakdown of a 12 year marriage.

Unfortunately, it took until this point in my story for the first time to consciously reflect on the concept of having purpose.

I had become a victim of myself, the act of unconscious self-sabotage that comes as the result of people-pleasing.

And this was a hard pill to swallow.

Kirstyn DeVries (12:52.246)
During this time, I was also faced with uncertainty. However, as my marriage fell apart, it was this next moment where I was truly knocked off pace.

Just a few days into the worldwide lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, I received some devastating and paralyzing news. First, in a phone call, then a knock at my door with two police officers.

Kirstyn DeVries (13:27.05)
I stood in silence as I received word that my 25-year-old brother had been found dead in a freak accident, leading to an electrocution on the live wire of a train track.

Kirstyn DeVries (13:41.748)
I was stunned, shocked, and ultimately angry, unsure of how to respond in that moment.

Sitting at the table in my then living room, looking across at the officers as they read the account of the accident to me, I felt like all of my weight went into my stomach.

Kirstyn DeVries (14:07.273)
Now for anyone that has experienced a loss of a close family member or friend, you know the debilitating feeling that arises in these moments of shock and loss.

Looking back on that day and into the days that followed, the cremation, the small memorial, the moments and subsequent years of grief that followed, I know that I only survived due to the supportive family from afar, the work colleagues in London who brought food, flowers, and conversation, and the dear friends who held me close when family could not be together to grieve.

In mid-October of this year, I took time on a wet, rainy Sunday afternoon to visit the Memorial Chapel in Northwest London and to lay flowers and celebrate what would have been my younger brother's 31st birthday.

More than five years on and many hours of therapy later, I have found a new sense of energy fueled by a focus on my wellbeing and by continuing to approach each day with gratitude.

In a spirit of thankfulness for our life and health, my partner and I often say to one another, we've got today.

Kirstyn DeVries (15:40.788)
Since the turning point in 2020, where I'd hit rock bottom, I began to reflect on the fact that I'd been living a life of momentum, but had not really been running my own race. So over the last few years, I have been wanting to start building a base of strength so that I can serve others out of joy versus obligation. I've been digging in to explore this tension between

that feeling of wanting more, like essentially defining an impactful purpose and staying grounded.

I've been digging in to explore this tension between wanting more and staying grounded. I've learned that growing is never linear. Gosh, and that every chapter teaches timing.

Kirstyn DeVries (16:34.219)
So having shared that story, I wanted to come on to this podcast. And through launching Pace and Purpose in 2025, I've endeavored to pull this narrative from the conversations in the podcast, simultaneous to the healing journey I've just described. I've been building into new friends and leveraging this new boost of energy that I've been blessed with off the back of the deep grief.

Kirstyn DeVries (17:04.203)
This new sense of energy has allowed me to travel, to embrace the sport of running, to build new friendships, and has opened up my heart to growing into a new romantic relationship with my incredibly supportive partner, whom I met in 2022. I've also been slowly but surely harnessing the things that I have loved for the past 15 years of my professional life. The growth moments of my career, the love and the loss, the change.

with the goal of leveraging all of these as springboards to the next season of my life.

As I briefly mentioned in my intro to the podcast itself, many people across my lifetime have either formally mentored me. As I briefly mentioned in my intro to the podcast itself, many people across my lifetime have either formally been mentors to me or perhaps informally guided me or simply influenced me positively by the way they chose to live their life fully and frequently in service of others.

In early 2025, as I was reflecting on this moment of gratitude, I thought, my goodness, I am sitting on a gold mine of a network. I have got to share this with the world.

So since connecting people together comes naturally, I came up with this avenue, this podcast to tell their stories. And so Pace and Purpose was born. When I was naming the show, I was drawn to the word pace because of my passion for distance running, in particular, the marathon. Now my introduction to the marathon distance initially started as a charity challenge. However, I did not know it would turn into not only a tool for healing,

Kirstyn DeVries (18:56.597)
but today my overall motivator for work and wellness. So of course I wanted an ode to running in the name of the show. Each of the guests, whether they have been part of my network for 15 years, or perhaps I met them in the last few months, have all brought an array of diverse experiences and often unconventional pathways to their purpose. And it is this winding pathway of stories that motivates me.

As I mentioned in the start of this episode, I believe that ability to adapt through change has been a big theme in my life. And I see it as a common thread in many of the stories shared in the podcast.

curious about this ability to adapt and thrive, I've recently worked with a career coach on identifying my various strengths. And one that came up in the process, although not surprising to those who know me well, is that I'm an organizer. So yes, of course, I enjoy the methodical output that goes into planning and the executing of a task. But the interesting part is that the coach identified that not only do I like to determine how all of the pieces and all of the resources can be arranged,

She goes on to say that I do this by discovering the uniqueness of certain people. So I have this passion to learn from and observe others strengths, limitations, likes, dislikes, their interests, hopes, and emotional triggers. Then armed with this information, I naturally mix and match the various traits of these friends, colleagues, leaders to form connections or groups.

And when I can uncover synergies, my hope is that my network may reach their common goals more easily, more efficiently and quickly in collaboration with one another. So my hope is that if even one synergy is unlocked through the Pace and Purpose podcast, then it has been a success.

Kirstyn DeVries (20:59.146)
So to close out in the last few minutes, I thought I would answer a few of the questions that I normally ask our guests each week. So to start, what does a typical day look like for me? Well, I get up, make coffee, then I meditate for 10 to 20 minutes. I spend this time in silence. Then after that, I refill my coffee and spend 15 minutes looking at my calendar and pinging off any quick emails or reminders.

for upcoming meetings and deadlines. Then of course, I go out on my run. My coach, Natasha Woduck, who is my episode one guest, makes this easy for me as she's put together a fabulous training program. Then after my run, usually around eight or nine a.m., I'm recording an episode for this podcast. Then I'm making mid-morning post-workout breakfast. I absolutely love omelets and avocado toast.

Then I jump on calls that I've got from my consulting role, then follow this up with a time block of three to four hours of deep work, typically in two sets of 90 to 120 minutes. Then I eat lunch and take a post lunch walk and make personal phone calls. In the afternoons, I usually tackle more creative projects such as social media or website, come up with new ways to leverage growth strategy in the FinTech sector.

Sometimes I even take 30 or 60 minutes to read a book or listen to a podcast with a notebook at the ready to take down things that I can apply to my life. I also love podcasting on the commute.

If I'm in a marathon training block, then I go to the gym for my second workout just before dinnertime, usually a strength session. Sometimes I use my gym time to catch up with family or friends on the phone. Then I make dinner, usually a protein filled meal with a beef stir fry or a chicken salad with tofu, avocado or quinoa. Or my go-to on a super cold day, spaghetti bolognese.

Kirstyn DeVries (23:01.394)
If we're hanging out with my partner's nine and 11 year old kids, I usually go outside and kick around a soccer ball or maybe throw a frisbee post dinner. In the evenings, I have a no phones at bed rule. So I read fiction before bed with herbal tea in hand until I get tired enough to nod off, which is typically very quickly, especially if I'm in a marathon training build.

So that's my day. Next question. What's a non-negotiable system or habit that I've got in my routine that pulls me back when everything feels off course? Okay, so the first one's a no-brainer. It's walking or running in nature. It clears my head. It lets momentum of my thoughts take flight. And often I can process things very methodically when I'm running or walking. It also helps open up my creative part of my brain.

when I'm running for big ideas and for planning that's further out. Another tool that I use when I can't get outside or when I'm on an airplane is box breathing. Really coming into the self and holding those breaths for the four seconds and then releasing has been incredibly grounding for me.

Next question. How do I know when it's time to push harder and when it's time to pull back? In general, I'm terrible at this. I'm an all or nothing sort of person. Like many times this has led to burnout at work or it's actually led to injuries in the gym as well. So in order to best answer this question for myself, Kirsten, when should you push harder? When should you pull back? I actually turned to an amazing piece of technology. It's an iPhone app.

called How We Feel. This is an incredible tool which I've been leveraging for the last couple of months to gauge what I'm feeling, when I'm feeling it, and where in my body am I feeling it. So in turn, when I log onto this app, it helps me take a breath, helps me stop and analyze what do I have the energy, ability, and capacity to tackle?

Kirstyn DeVries (25:12.446)
and then I ask my body.

Kirstyn DeVries (25:16.562)
Next question. Is there a person that has deeply impacted my journey and what have I learned from them that I still carry with me? Yes. And this is my shout out to Sam Picken, founder and lead pastor of C3 Toronto Church. He taught me this incredible framework, which is these three words, time, talent, and treasure, which I use all the time to help understand myself, like an energy audit.

as well as my network and their motivations and ultimately their drivers. So let's unpack it for a second, the time, talent and treasure pieces, starting with time. If I look at my calendar, I can see where and with whom do I spend my time. And within that, what sort of tasks and appointments are on my calendar, then lay that alongside my energy. I can determine which things are taking and giving energy to me. Talent.

That means essentially, where am I spending my energy, skills, and effort? So many of us are wasting our key skills and talents in the wrong places. And finally, treasure. Gosh, this one's rough. Essentially, it's taking a look at my bank account, then using the numbers to see, really, where do I prioritize things? Where do I place my value? It's always such an eye-opening audit of where are my resources going?

What are they in service of? Is what I'm putting my money toward helpful or harmful? This overall concept of the time, the talent, and the treasure we have has stuck with me for many years. So thanks to Sam, I still carry it with me.

Kirstyn DeVries (27:02.333)
Next question. What's a goal or a vision that I'm working toward that scares me just a little? And what does that stretch demand of me?

So here I will say two things. One is a vision and a personal goal, and the second is a physical sport-related goal. Firstly, I have a vision to run a successful philanthropic organization in service of others. What that will exactly look like? I'm still building that idea out, but I can see it, and I'm writing down the inspiration, the ideas, the key people.

I'm putting steps into place to ensure that that vision can become a reality. I'm sharing that vision with people, including my partner. So it's scary to share these sorts of things, but when we do, I know that they will happen. The stretch for me demands a belief that I will successfully be able to leverage the power of my network to make a significant impact on the world. Secondly, my fitness goal is to run a sub three hour marathon.

by 2028. For those of you who've watched my Chicago Marathon training block this year in the fall of 2025, you'll see that I recently ran a three hour and 15 minute marathon. Only my second fastest race yet.

Secondly, my personal fitness goal is to run a sub three hour marathon by 2028. For those of you who watched my Chicago marathon training block this year, you'll know that I did not hit a personal best, but did run my second slowest marathon of three hours and 15 minutes. However, in order to knock off the 16 minutes in the next two and a half years, the stretch demands consistency. What does that look like on paper?

Kirstyn DeVries (28:54.247)
Well, if I run an average of two marathons a year between now and mid-2028, then each subsequent marathon until then, I'll need to knock off three plus minutes of reduction in race overall time to achieve the goal.

few. Next question. What's something I'm doing consistently and intentionally, but perhaps unseen that is driving my success? Let me share two of my hidden drivers. The first one that I'm doing, which nobody really sees, is conscious eating. This means not eating in front of screens when possible and really just taking in each bite, chewing my food. In this process, I'm also

choosing healthy foods consisting of clean, high protein diet, complex carbs, and they top all this off with supplements to stay on top of deficiencies too.

My second thing I'm doing consistently and intentionally is surrounding myself with friends, colleagues, coaches, and mentors that are much smarter and more experienced than me. These more successful people can often be quite intimidating. However, my goal is to never be the smartest person in the room.

Next question. And the final question, which embodies the podcast theme itself, which is what does purpose mean to me right now?

Kirstyn DeVries (30:29.075)
The word purpose for me is a meaningful concept because in the last two years, I've begun to discover its power. I'd been living the last 15 years in a fast-paced lifestyle that was unhealthily driven by people-pleasing. I essentially grafted everyone else's purpose onto my motivations and at one point could not distinguish the two. I literally could not tell which were my motivators and which were those of other people.

Of course, as you'd expect, after many years, this led to an exhausted, insecure self, where I was motivated by appeasing the needs of organizations, bosses, colleagues, friends, and family members.

Now, in 2025, purpose for me is grounded in one word, and that word is choice. So these days, what does purpose mean to me? When I get to choose, I'm grounding myself in my values, my boundaries, and ultimately my purpose. So when you make a choice in service of yourself, you're grounding into your purpose.

Kirstyn DeVries (31:46.41)
In closing today, I'd like to say a huge thank you to all of you that have come along the journey of these 18 episodes with me. And I hope you're ready for more incredible guests this November and December in the lineup. However, before I fully close out this episode and in line with the pace and purpose philosophy, I will leave you with this. Growth is never linear and every chapter teaches timing.

When I introduced today's episode, I mentioned the concept of change. As I said, change has always been a constant in my life and it has spurred evolution and growth in my life. So I've come to embrace it. So let me encourage you, lean in, lean into your purpose and it will continue to evolve as your pace changes. We're all learning to refine our purpose.

and find our pace.

If today's reflection resonated, I'd encourage you to share this episode with someone who's mid-stride in their own recalibration. I'm your host, Kirsten DeVries. It's been a pleasure spending time with you all today. See you on next week's episode.