By: Anagha Bharadwaj
We’ve gotten the chance to speak with and feature some pretty incredible women over the last several months of #justanoutdoorgal, and we’re so excited to keep this love going with Kate Titterington.
Kate is a women unafraid to chase her own dreams: she fights wildfires in the summer and works with sled dogs in the winter. She’s also currently a student, and anticipates getting her bachelor’s degree in Spring, 2018.
While Kate loved the outdoors while growing up – her family had a cottage they would visit in the summers – she wasn’t always active in athletics. That changed when she went to college and began playing ultimate Frisbee. That’s also when she started going to the gym.
She originally became interested in firefighting through her brother, who is also a firefighter. It didn’t take long for Kate to love firefighting on her own. No two days are the same, and the work–while difficult–is immensely rewarding. In addition to that, her fellow firefighters are all incredibly supportive. She started in Yukon before shifting to Ontario, and despite the changes in training programs and procedures, her love for her work remained constant!
For Kate, the fast paced nature of the work, as well as the excellent colleagues, both play a role in her love for firefighting!
In the off season, Kate usually works with sled dogs. What started out as a difficult and temporary job turned into something she could be truly passionate about. While looking for work, she happened to hear from someone who needed help caring for their dogs, and initially dropped down just for a visit. At first Kate wasn’t even sure that she wanted to work with sled dogs, but that fueled her to do it even more. Before she knew it, Kate was looking for work with sled dogs for a second winter in a row!
Kate’s story is one of serendipity: while she didn’t always know what she was going to do long term, she wasn’t afraid to take advantage of opportunities that came her way. Even when it seemed like she might not like something, she was willing to stick with it long enough to know for sure, giving herself a chance to like something knew.
Kate had the following advice to share with other women as well:
“Recognize that you don’t need to be proud of everything you’ve done. Know that there are a gazillion ways in which you can handle any given situation in life and know that there are always ways to be better and grow bigger. We are so hard on ourselves. Don’t ever be afraid to stretch your limits, be patient with your own growth and accepting of others and don’t ever allow yourself to be minimized, limited, restrained, curbed, bridled, subdued, reined in or any way inhibited from being who you truly are. Most important of all, never stop laughing.”
We really enjoyed speaking to Kate this month, and hope that you did as well!
No Comments