I wasn’t always an entrepreneur. I was a good student who planned to get a job straight out of university and continue to progress up the career ladder. But I had an itch for something more. I left my first great engineering job to travel to India then teach English in the Czech Republic.

After a year of adventure, I went back to school to study education, then specialized in software user experience, got married near a beautiful beach in Barbados, found a fantastic job at a .com, and had my first child. When my dream job was derailed with the dot-com bust, I spent a great year at home with my newborn daughter and young son. Then I found another cool software job. That lasted until my employer opened a new office in Markham and wanted to send me there. Something had to give. I quit my now-distant job and moved from Toronto to the suburb of Burlington.

My entrepreneurial journey began when my old company asked me back to do a short contract. I formed a company named after my ancestry and started doing more user experience consulting. Celtic Consulting was born. I had found self-employment and I liked it.

Flash-forward a decade… I’ve continued to work as a self-employed user experience consultant. I’ve worked hard, learned a lot, and taken time to explore the world with my family. New horizons have appeared again. My son left for university. My daughter went abroad for a year to study. And I started exploring new areas of entrepreneurship. This blog chronicles my journey. I’m sharing it in the hopes that others will be inspired like I was to take control of their travels and explore new directions. I’m Dianne and this is my story.

Want to hear more about my thoughts on life and entrepreneurship? Read my blog posts and let me know what you think.

Want to know more about my UX consulting? Check out my portfolio.

Want to share your own story? Contact me or post your comments. I’d love to hear from you!