2023 was a huge year! Here are some of the highlights as I reflect on the past 12 months and plan for what’s ahead in 2024.
The year started off on a challenging note, after learning in December that Kelly’s Mom was really sick with cancer. We were fortunate to have time with her before she passed in late February. We are so grateful to our neighbours, friends, family and coworkers who were so supportive during the tough time. In early March we celebrated her life with family and friends in Montreal.
Later in March I traveled to Waterloo, where I spoke on my career in cyber security to high school girls at the Perimeter Institute’s ‘Inspiring Future Women in Science’ conference, which was held in person and online across the globe. If you’re interested in listening, the whole inspiring event is available here: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=joTTxH7IiSs
In March, I spoke at the PKI consortium conference and celebrated the accomplishments of many amazing women at the annual Women in Defence and Security (WiDS) breakfast in Ottawa! We also welcomed my family for a March break visit complete with snowboarding and the twins first NHL hockey game.
Shortly after my family left at the beginning of April, our kitty Marble ate a piece of gym mat that ended up stuck in her intestines. After a quick trip to the emergency vet (cause you know…. weekend), she had emergency surgery. Thankfully the entire team of professionals at the Ottawa Emergency Vet were amazing and she made it through. She enjoyed the 2nd floor of our house as her recovery zone, returning to her adorable bonky and meowy self after a couple of weeks. Needless to say, we no longer have gym mats in our basement.
Near the end of April, I flew to San Francisco where I attended the RSA conference for work. I was honoured to be recognized by Deloitte and the Female Quotient as a woman at the forefront of the cyber revolution. I was invited to speak at the event in San Francisco which was a great experience and it was incredible to be surrounded by amazing women in cyber! I was really grateful that many of my colleagues who were at the RSA conference also attended the event. I learned a lot at the conference and met lots of incredibly talented people working in cyber security.
May was Kel’s birthday month! We celebrated his 50th with a biplane flight over Ottawa, a getaway with friends to Tremblant and a party with his buddies at our favourite pub.
We got one round of golf in before my frozen shoulder took over and ruined the rest of the season. 8 months later my shoulder is getting better, but I will be grateful when I can shoot a basketball and swing a golf club again without pain!
Later in May I attended the ‘Canadian Women in Cyber Security’ conference with a few people from work, where I delivered a presentation on my career in music and cyber security. I broke my own rule by singing at the end when someone asked! 😀 It was really fun and like the Oscar’s for cyber, complete with fireworks and tasty food.
In June, Cheddaroo was spayed, which was both adorable and tough to see. She wore her super suit to heal and the vet clinic didn’t want her to leave! She did really well healing and was back to normal within a week. June also brought celebrations for my friend Morgan’s birthday and the annual Brain Tumour Walk, where we raised money for brain cancer research and walked in memory of our friend Andrew.
Kelly surprised me with a half birthday celebration in July, and we also celebrated our friend Ryan’s birthday by peddling our way through Westboro with thirst quenching drinks.
I was then incredibly humbled to be recognized by IT World Canada as one of Canada’s Top 20 Women in Cyber, after being nominated by a colleague from the Emmy Noether Council. I participated in a live panel during the awards ceremony and they did short videos of each of the award recipients. It was super inspiring to hear about all of these women doing awesome things in cyber!
The day after receiving this award, I started a new role at work, acting as a Director General in the Cyber Centre. It has been a great experience thus far and I continue to learn from incredible colleagues every single day!
August brought some much needed vacation where I visited my family in NS. We hit the beach, ate lobster and caught up on life!
In September, I sang two roles in the opera Suor Angelica with OperOttawa. I visited Washington, DC for work and got this sweet picture of the Pentagon on my way home!
UNB also wrote an article on my career in one of their alumni newsletters, highlighting the fact that music has been a key part of my success working in cyber security. And finally, I met my family back in NB for my cousin’s wedding at the end of September. It was so wonderful to witness this beautiful day and to reconnect with extended family!
In October, I sang in a Seventeen Voyces concert where we performed the soundtrack to the silent film Phantom of the Opera. Then I headed to Montreal to participate in the InCyber cyber security conference, where I tackled my first bilingual speaking engagement on the subject of post-quantum cryptography. 🤓
With October being cyber security awareness month, speaking engagements were plentiful. I delivered a keynote address at the Canadian MapleSEC conference, participated in a cybersecurity panel as part of the worldwide IBM Z Days conference, and talked about the importance of recruiting more women in cybersecurity with The Female Quotient and Deloitte. The month ended with Halloween where we dressed up our Corgi as a bucking bronco. 😂
November brought more opera (yay!!) where I was thrilled to sing the First Spirit role and chorus in Magic Flute with OperOttawa.
The next day at work we hosted a super inspiring US Cyber Security leader on her first official visit to Canada. I was thrilled to co-host a fireside chat with her, where she graciously shared her wisdom and advice with many of us.
December started very well on a plane to Cuba, where we spent a week on the beach recharging. It was lovely, and needed.
As soon as I got back, I hopped on a plane to NYC for a couple of days for work, and also found out that I passed my French speaking exam for work – woohoo! 🥳 It was a great couple of weeks, and culminated with a Seventeen Voyces Christmas concert and then… Christmas break. Celebrations with colleagues. Ahhhhhh. Breathe. Made it.
Still with me? 😀 Overall, I am truly grateful for a wonderful year filled with lots of interesting experiences, learning and growing. I loved helping my mentees, continuing to learn and supporting my incredible teams at work. I had fun teaching others about crypto, speaking about the importance of diversity in cyber security, making beautiful music with talented colleagues and of course, spending quality time with my family and friends, all who mean so much to me and make life complete. 🙏
What is coming in 2024? I plan to slow down and focus on my health. As a mentor of mine said last week – 2024 is the year of health and Melfare! 😂 I want to be a better partner, friend, colleague, daughter, sister, aunt and fur mom, which means I have to scale back on a few things even though I find that difficult. I’m laying out some personal goals that I plan to review monthly, to ensure that I can sustain my pace and be healthy.
What are your plans for 2024? Wishing you and your families all the best in the new year. I hope it’s filled with joy, laughter, fun, health, rest and resilience.
Big hugs to you all and thanks for reading! Happy New Year!
❤️ Mel
Musings of an aspiring diva 
Wow, Melanie, what an amazing year. I hadn’t realized you’d been suffering with frozen shoulder. I went through more than 20 years with rotator cuff injuries, frozen shoulders, chronic pain, finally culminating with the two shoulder replacement surgeries I had three years ago and 3 months ago. ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU’RE WORKING IN AN ERGONOMICALLY SOUND SETTING!!! Always. And I am highly supportive of your goals for 2024, regardless of how much you have to offer to the world. Take care of Mel and the rest will follow! Happy 2024!! ❤️
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Wow, what an eventful year Mel! Congrats on all your accomplishments and wishing you a calm and peaceful 2024!
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