Tanya Horne is a mental health advocate, body positivity spokesperson, mother of three, and uses her voice to help change lives.
What are you up to right now that people should know about?
People should know that I am just getting started!! My passion for the Sit Down Stand Up Comedy Stand has become a springboard for starting my own business. I have found myself jumping into the deep end of the pool where I am learning how to swim alongside all of these amazingly successful Canadian women with whom I have the honour of being in the Pursuit:365 project. Branding, websites, coaching training, laughter yoga leader training, and comedy writing have kept me busy and on a steep learning curve! My old life, not but 10 months ago, I was living in what I call “grey matter,” where my vibrancy and passions were lying dormant. Traveling last Jan-Feb ignited a soul-spark of desire to create a grander adventure in my life and upon our return, the pandemic would be the gas on the fire to fan those flames and where I now blaze new trails. I am currently in school at Clearmind International to become a Registered Therapist. My self-appointed mental health advocacy has me at the Sit Down Stand Up Comedy Stand a couple of times a week using comedy to advocate for mental health awareness while connecting with real people in an authentic way. Over the years of raising 3 kids through the fire-walk of child sexual abuse, I found myself building my capacity through my healing journey, feet on the ground in the forefront of the aftermath of such an impact on our family. The Comedy Stand allows me to use my resilience and capacity with my own mental health struggles in hopes to reach others who are struggling with isolation and the disconnect that can be felt with people around the globe, especially at this time.
What has been your favourite experience you love to share?
I LOVE to share my ability to laugh and to share vulnerability easily. I am happy to say that my comedic journey of self-expression, self-discovery, radical self-love, care, kindness, and creativity have really helped me to restructure my life. The under-construction sign is up and as I build this bridge in between what has been and what will be, it continues to lead me to this feeling of liberation and boldly going where I have been too fearful to venture until now.
What has been the greatest shift in your career or life and how did you navigate through it?
Having been a mother since I was 17 years old and having that be one of my only truthfully fulfilling “careers” in my life, I am looking forward to being able to use my lived experiences to help aid people to move through their self-imposed limitations and be all that they can be. The greatest shift has come through my recent realization that I am worthy right here, right now. I do not need any further education, I do not need to lose weight, I do not need to feel and act like my life and my body is an apology any longer. I am here to reclaim my power and help others to do the same. A coach said to me last year, “you have a responsibility to your talents and gifts”. That really hit me. Since then, I have been blasting through my self-imposed limitations, thoughts, and feelings that have always had me limiting my success. My story is not glamorous, and for that reason, I have always shirked away from sharing it. I am in the midst of raising the curtain of my life and taking up my center stage.
What makes an opportunity exciting to you – in business or in life?
An opportunity to be surrounded by these amazing, successful women with incredibly moving stories of their own was, in fact, a giant leap of faith in knowing that although I have not had a business before now, that I am in the midst of becoming and building things as I go. Actualizing my life by my design. I figure you only get to do something for the first time once, so I am relishing in every step, in every moment, in every experience that comes through my ability to step out from under the cloak of shame I have been wearing most of my life. I am continually liberating myself and hopefully inspire others to do the same. My business life is ramping up and will include a variety of opportunities to help others through my coaching, speaking, laughter yoga, and comedy. I will use my story to inspire others to know that anything is possible. Becoming yourself and reclaiming those parts of us we have kept in the dark, hidden away I believe is the point in this life. I have a saying that I will leave you with, Where I will continue to “Take the ceiling of my comfort zone and make it my dance floor!!” I invite you to do the same.
