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Joan McCusker
Olympic Curling Gold Medallist
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Joan McCusker believes it is ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Through her experiences as a teacher, mom, world champion curler, Olympic Gold Medallist and CBC Analyst, Joan has collected a number of observations on the attitudes that propel ordinary people to build extraordinary lives. With a big smile, plenty of humour and tons of Olympic examples, Joan explains the type of attitude and teamwork that builds success in every aspect of life.
Her first example is her own journey. Joan was part of a curling foursome that dominated the world of women’s curling in the 1990’s. With her teammates, Sandra Schmirler, Jan Betker and Marcia Gudereit, Joan won three Canadian and three World Curling Titles in 1993, 1994 and 1997. While balancing young families and careers, the team rallied in the fall of 1997 to win the Canadian Olympic Curling Trials and the right to represent Canada at the Olympics. These victories prepared them well for their greatest achievement: a Gold Medal at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan!
Such extraordinary events to happen to such an ordinary person! Joan and her six brothers and sisters were raised on the family farm near Saltcoats, Saskatchewan. It was a busy and active family that supported her first successes in school and sport. She graduated from the University of Saskatchewan in 1987 with a Bachelor of Education. She taught a wide variety of grades and subjects over ten years. She is married to Brian McCusker and has three children aged 19, 15 and 11. She currently resides in Regina, Saskatchewan.
She resigned her teaching position in 1998 to dedicate more time to being a mom, curler, broadcaster, consultant and motivational speaker. Joan joined the CBC Sports Curling telecast as a commentator in 2001 to the present time. Joan has become a competitive curling coach, a promoter of young women in sport and volunteers her time to charity. She spent 5 years on the founding Board of Directors of the Sandra Schmirler Foundation and is now an Honourary Ambassador. She continues to raise funds for the Foundation as an active member of the organizing committee for the annual CTV Sandra Schmirler Charity Golf Classic held in Regina every August. Joan was part of the volunteer community task force for Regina’s celebration of the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay.
Joan’s travels have shown her successful people in all walks of life. She sees the parallels of sports psychology and successful strategies used in business, community and family. Joan has plenty of examples of ordinary people doing extraordinary things!!
Presentation Topics
All presentations have the option of including:
- Olympic Gold Medal Display
- Olympic Jacket Fashion Show
- 1998 Olympic Gold Slide Show
Sharing the Gold: Techniques to help Educators Achieve Excellence:
Canada’s greatest resource is not air, water or oil. It’s our children. Educators have a tremendously important job! A former teacher and Olympic Gold Medallist, Joan understands the pressures of high performance in any setting and the keys to succeeding in the classroom. Joan will inspire educators to focus on the positive, achieve realistic goals, use effective teamwork and above all, enjoy their valuable work.
Teachers on the Tightrope: Techniques to help Educators Achieve Work/Life Balance:
More to teach, but not more time? Feeling overwhelmed and disengaged? Joan will motivate educators to invest in their own individual wellness and effective work habits. This entertaining, yet informative presentation uses the five Olympic Rings as symbols for five work/life balancing ideas. As a former teacher, CBC Analyst, mother of three and Olympic Gold Medallist, Joan knows the challenges to finding life balance!
TNT: Teachers ‘n’ Teamwork: Practical Team building Techniques for Educators:
The combination of educators and effective teamwork principles are always powerful. Joan uses her experiences as a former teacher and a champion in team sport to inspire teachers to think differently about how they perform their job. Joan will apply teamwork principles of positive attitude, shared goals, role clarity, communication, helping others and overcoming dysfunction. This presentation is sure to ignite interest in teachers and successful team building.
Her presentation style is light and humourous, but her message is clear.
Testimonials
"Your presentation to our employees on Sat. Sept. 27 was timely & conveyed the message we wanted: put a smile on & you are in charge of your attitude. All staff thoroughly enjoyed your message. I am hearing a lot of good comments from all levels of employees, like: “It was so fun”…”The time just flew by”. Your words are being quoted and discussed amongst employees. I have to confess, I quoted you in a toast to SunRise, by saying, “Here’s to ordinary people, doing Extraordinary things!" Your presentation has helped our efforts toward team building in our merger of 5 organizations. I have no hesitation in providing a recommendation to yourself for your services as a motivational speaker. Feel free to use our name as a reference in the future".
Sunrise Credit Union Merger
"I just wanted to drop you a note to let you know how exceptionally well received your keynote presentation was. I have been going to these things for 16 years and you are the only one who has received a standing ovation! You ended our conference on a super high note, which is exactly what I wanted for our group. Nurses struggle every day with burn out and stressors that the public has no concept of. You were able to make them laugh and forget it all. Thank you so much for your wit, openness and laughter, I know under the circumstances it must have been very difficult for you".
Canadian Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates
"The Co-operative Managers’ Association held its 50th Annual Conference recently at the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort. We were privileged to have Joan McCusker as the closing speaker. Speaking to an audience of 175 persons, Joan provided an entertaining and inspirational presentation on “Characteristics of Successful People”.
"Joan uses herself as an example of personal growth from small town Saskatchewan to becoming an Olympic champion. Her presentation was fast paced, humourous and uses many anecdotes of life as an Olympian. Her presentation was followed by a lively question and answer session that she handled extremely well. Following in her presentation she displayed her curling wardrobe and Olympic Gold Medal which was modeled and photographed by many in the audience.
Audience evaluation of her talk indicated 90% felt it exceeded their expectations with comments such as “excellent choice, wow! Awesome, and Fantastic”.
We do not hesitate in endorsing Joan as an excellent and stimulating speaker".
Co-operative Managers’ Association
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