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Ascribing to the philosophy: “follow opportunity and take your passion with you,” Renee Merrifield has never shied away from pursuing new opportunities and passions as they arose.
Founding partner and co-CEO of Troika Developments as well as the elected MLA for Kelowna-Mission, Renee’s initial interests were neither in construction nor politics.
“You could not have predicted my career path,” Renee laughs. “I started university in biomedical sciences, and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Arts and a Master’s in Theology. Not exactly where you would expect a businesswoman to emerge from.”
Renee’s decision to pursue real estate development in the late 1990s stemmed from her deep-rooted desire to pursue the life she wanted in a province she loved, and in seeing a need for housing that met the needs of the community. “I saw an opportunity to make a difference in Kelowna by creating attainable housing,” says Renee. “And at the same time, I was creating a business that could employ people for decades to come.”
That’s when Renee founded Troika Developments, armed with a vision to build sustainable communities that people could actually afford to live in. She eventually obtained a second master’s degree to support her new endeavours. This time, she got an MBA.
As she continued to grow her business, Renee noticed a number of challenges she had to overcome as a woman and a mom who owned a development company. “I didn’t really think about the fact that construction was a male-dominated field,” she says. “Once I was in the business, I realized I was going to need to advocate for my ideas and capabilities a little harder than I anticipated. But I believe that it became an advantage for me, as at least people tended to remember the one female developer in town.”
Renee continued to follow opportunity into the political arena, while taking her passion for her community andy, housing affordability with her.
The pattern of challenging the norms continued when she got into politics, which remains a male-dominated field. “It’s a challenging environment for women and especially for moms,” Renee points out. “For example, being an MLA requires you to travel for extended periods of time, and that can really take a toll on you when you’re raising a family.”
When it comes to how she raised her three children and two stepchildren while running a business and serving as an elected official, Renee says it all comes down to striving for work/life integration over work/life balance. “As a mom, you carry your kids with you wherever you go. It’s not an easy path, but very fulfilling. But hopefully my life, my work and my journey will make it a bit easier for the next generation of women to fulfil their own destinies and make our world that much better.”
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