Guest: Olga Gagarina
Olga dives in to share that even when she was on the brink of burnout, initially she could only see it as a stress leave from work. Her story unravels her experience of her lost sense of self while battling through burnout as she worked with students and clients in the international students and immigration sector. It was September 2022 when she identified there was a shift in her energy, feeling frustrations and irritability, simultaneously the political unrest that continued forward with the invasion of Russia on Ukraine. The events of this war further perpetuated another lost piece of her identity, as she expressed feeling shameful to identify herself as Russian. At her place of work, Olga supports both Ukrainian and Russian students amongst other races and backgrounds and she internalized all the suffering she experienced, witnessed, and endured. Olga mentioned that this external event affected her ability to cope, so she sought out support for her mental wellbeing and actively participated in the therapy process. The intense shame that she experienced took a toll on her physically, like stomach pain became intolerable, severe migraines and a great deal of crying and tears followed. She explains that the support she provides to her students is beyond study permit regulations, she learns about each student’s individual life and students tend to confide in Olga with personal details of their struggles to get to Canada, which was a contributing factor of the battle that led her to burnout. It took a great deal of time for Olga to admit after being on stress leave and seeking out some additional support, guidance and building her coping skills that she came to terms that what she was experiencing was in fact burnout. Her key message to the listeners is: take action by allowing yourself to explore all of what you are going through; give yourself time, be open minded, explore help and resources that are out there; and even when you know what to do, do the doing because knowing is not enough.
Guest Bio: As a proud immigrant in Canada, Olga carved her own path from starting in banking and corporate finance to opening an international education agency to then taking a role as an International Student Advisor at Centennial College. She is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant, advocating passionately for Canadian newcomers, future immigrants, and international students. She uses her expertise in Immigration Refugee Citizenship Canada (IRCC) policies, 10 plus years in international education, entrepreneurial spirit, and leadership to achieve accessible immigration advisory, and ethical student recruitment and successful integration of newcomers in Canada.
Olga is on a mission. She is advocating for newcomers in Canada, so every immigrant story is a success story. She believes in supporting newly immigrants to Canada the opportunity for quality education and is currently working on creating a non-profit organization with a goal to educate future immigrants before they make the decision and to newcomers upon their arrival to Canada.
Passionate about: Dr. Ruben Gagarin (spouse) and his YouTube Channel providing a way for individuals to develop their own #mentalbeauty.
Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Dr.Gagarin