Last week, I stood in front of a roaring crowd as lead vocalist of The Beaches, Jordan Miller, was nearly brought to tears.
In front of a sea of adoring fans, she remarked on the journey that she, and their all-female band, have taken over the last decade. The challenges, triumphs, and unreal feeling of returning, successful, to perform in their home town, in front of 16,000 supportive fans.
I stood there, with my co-founder Serena Mandla, P.Eng, MASc., marveling at their unabashed exuberant femininity and fearless authority. Wondering why I was hesitant to celebrate the two year anniversary of our own journey at Noa Therapeutics.
I have always found it difficult to pause, to see what we have accomplished, because my mind is invariably on the road ahead.
Yet, as I stood there, I remembered how empowered I felt the first time I saw this group of young women, soon after we founded Noa. I remembered the progress we have made thus far to make an indelible impact of patients lives with complex immune diseases.
And I reminded myself, that I should pause.
Not only for myself, but for those around me. To share how incredibly grateful I am for their efforts, for our progress thus far, and for the improbable amount of support we have been fortunate to have received over these last two years.
So, thank you, to my team, to our collaborators, to our community, to those who inspire me, every damn day.
I am proud of what we have done thus far and I'm excited as hell to see where it is that we're not afraid to go next.
