Light Up with Adera – Featuring Rebecca Harrison

What if your next chapter is waiting on the other side of one brave decision?

Life rarely unfolds the way we expect.

Sometimes we outgrow careers. Sometimes our children grow up. Sometimes a dream changes. And sometimes we simply wake up knowing we're meant for something more.

In this episode of Light Up with Adera, I'm joined by the incredible Rebecca Harrison—writer, coach, author, traveler, former personal trainer, ferry captain (yes, really!), and someone who continues to reinvent herself with curiosity, courage, and an open heart.

Rather than letting fear keep her stuck, Rebecca has learned to trust the quiet nudges that lead her toward a more meaningful, adventurous life. From co-creating the Family Tree book series to traveling the world through house sitting, writing about her experiences, and embracing unexpected opportunities, she reminds us that there isn't just one path to purpose.

If you've been feeling like you're ready for a change—but aren't sure what's next—this conversation is for you.

In this episode we explore:

✨ Why it's never too late to reinvent yourself
 ✨ Following curiosity instead of fear
 ✨ Finding purpose in every season of life
 ✨ Why human connection and storytelling matter
 ✨ The courage to say yes to unexpected opportunities
 ✨ Creating a life that truly lights you up

As Rebecca says so beautifully, we're here to grow, to have adventures, and to create a life that feels fulfilling—not just one that looks good on paper.

If your heart has been whispering that it's time for something different... let this be your sign.

🎧 Listen now, and if you enjoy the conversation, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share it with someone who's ready to embrace their next chapter.

More about Rebecca. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Light Up with a Dara. This is a fun podcast where we're meeting awesome people that are doing them in the world, whatever that looks like, however that unfolds. And Redhead Rebecca, Rebecca Harrison is one of my favorites because since we've known each other, you have evolved and evolved and evolved in ways that I don't think you knew you were gonna. And you've just rolled with it and figured it out. And I just think your journey is so inspiring for so many that A, they either have something in their life that has shifted unexpectedly, where now they're having to sort of reinvent themselves or come up with what is next for them. And or maybe they've just decided or they've taken a choice and they're like, listen, this isn't working for me anymore. Yeah. And they're ready to try something new, but it's scary. Tell me how scary it was. Tell me how it all unfolded a little bit. Tell me a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 1:00

Ah, let's see. Let's see, let's see. Well, I feel, I mean, I guess I feel very blessed that I've been able to do some really fun things in my life. Um, writing is definitely the thing I love the most, and that probably started way back in theater school writing my own like one-woman shows, and that was always the most fun that I had. Um, but you know, life takes you on journeys, and I sort of decided that acting wasn't my true calling at some point. Um, even though I had a lot of fun with it, um, it wasn't always paying the bills, and yeah, if you're an actor, you just really have to love auditioning, right? And you have to love no, yeah, really, it's true. Like I remember 20, you know, auditions and getting three callbacks, and then I finally got booked on a commercial, it was so exciting, and then somehow the commercial got cancelled at the last minute. So just stuff like that. But so then I I became a personal trainer because I had always worked out, and that was something that I I loved and needed in my life anyway. So um, that's really, you know, I I think of as my main career for 16 years. I did that, and um, I think what I loved about it the most, other than staying fit and working out and keeping people moving and healthy, and all that was just actually the people, like really just getting to know people. And I would say that some of my personal training clients are still friends, like we keep in touch and see each other and stuff. So but in that time, I also found a nutrition company that I was like super passionate about, and that was really easy to share. Um, so that became like a side business, I guess. And but it's yeah, interesting how life does loops, and I really came back to the writing and was able to help fos foster some people in sharing some really beautiful, beautiful stories about family.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Right. So that was how the is that how that came around, the family tree? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Okay, yeah, it's actually I went to a writing retreat in France with Julie, Julianne, who you probably know, Julie, right? Yeah, and I had ideas for what I was gonna write at that writing retreat, but she loved the idea. Um, I was working through honestly my own story, my own father-daughter story, and looking to heal kind of the next level of that. And that resonated with her and the other women at the retreat, and so they really encouraged that, and so that became the first family tree book that was all father-daughter stories, and so we had 11 authors join. Um, three men actually shared real life stories about their daughters, and then eight women short shared true life stories about their relationship with their dad. And I guess what I loved was it really was when people you just went through this experience, right? When people bring real life stories out into the world, it's so vulnerable and exciting and scary and um like fulfilling, really, right? So that I loved that part of it. And then kind of as we got close to launching, we went, we realized we went, well, this isn't just one book, there's all the different relationships, right? So then it became the next one was the mother, the mother-daughter stories. Again, 11 authors, and then that turned into the mother-son stories. So 11 authors. I don't know, it was just magic, magic number 11 for all three.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

Very cool.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Yeah, so the only one we haven't done is the father-son, and I've had some definite interest, and I find that men can be a little more tentative about sharing those those raw stories, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:05

And how did it feel being the birther of the books? Because I just did this collaboration book uh as well, and it's quite a lot holding the line, did you find, and getting the stories and pulling the stories and get or did you find that was easy to do?

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Uh it was a lot. Yeah. It was a lot, for sure. Yeah, yeah, but also really rewarding. Rewarding. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:27

Very cool. Yeah. Okay, so you're a writer, uh, you're a writer. You're a writer, and writing has now taken you to where? Where are you going with your writing?

SPEAKER_00 5:37

Um, so after that, so I did, I did publish one other book, and that was a a children's book called The Little Tree, just sort of fit in with the family tree series. But honestly, it was a, it was a it was a dream that I had. And I just wrote it down one morning and it sat in a drawer for a lot of time until I finally approached my aunt, actually. Now I have to show off her beautiful artwork. My aunt lives in the Okanagan, and she is an incredible artist. And I shared the the story with her, and she wanted to do the illustrations. And when she first sent me these illustrations, like I I cried. Like they're just so they just brought this book to life, you know. Here, I don't know if the camera can really see, but there's kids hanging in the in the tree. Yeah, so that's Margaret Kyle. I just have to show so and again that I got to do that with family was really, really. Yeah, super special, you know?

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Super special.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

Um, but since then you asked where am I going with my writing, to be honest. I don't completely know. I've I I did start a blog on Substack, um, which has been a little bit more about my traveling and reinventing myself. And um yeah, because I think you touched on it at this age, I am meeting a lot of people, especially women, who are like finding their purpose again, you know, um, finding what lights them up. Maybe after being a mom for a long time or doing the job that wasn't necessarily fulfilling, or you know, many, many reasons, but yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

And then you found yourself on that path too. And then Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:23

It's been a few years of seeing opportunities and then going for them and like your house sitting and then writing your tell everyone what your um blog's called because it's great.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

So it's called romancing uh broad.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

Romancing abroad.

SPEAKER_00 7:41

Romancing abroad, yes.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

But you weren't trying to have romances abroad, it was more like romancing the broad, or both things are true. All things are okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

I was open to the possibility of romance abroad. Um, I was open to uh travel, adventure, more fun, more, and if romance came along, that would that was great too. Right. Yeah. Um, but I have to say that you are the person who inspired the international house sitting because I didn't know that was a thing. And you're always putting these little ideas in my head.

SPEAKER_01 8:12

I just put in one today that we'll see if it comes to fruition. Yeah, yeah. I love it. I love that you're open like that. What do you think um helped you become open to possibility and wonder and curiosity? Uh a lot of people can be closed off to ideas and suggestions that people have, but I feel like you're very good at taking in possibility and and then you pursue it and then it kind of opens up for you in ways that you didn't expect sometimes and even better than you expected sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

Like your trip in Spain or wherever you were.

SPEAKER_00 8:46

Right. Yeah. Well, I don't know. I think that's why we connect so well, because that's the way I see you, right? You're you're really open to possibility and where it's gonna lead next. And um, I just feel like I don't know if it sounds cliche, but we are here to um obviously we all have our own separate purposes, and um, my kids have been a huge part of my purpose, and I'm still very, even though they're grown now, like in the thick of like still that's that's you know, you're your mom too. So you know it's such a big it becomes such a big purpose. And I also just feel like if we're not having fun on this earth, we're gonna have challenges. You know, everyone has things that are hard and that we that we get through and that we grow through. But if we can't just really seek out the adventure and the fun, then I don't know, what are we doing here?

SPEAKER_01 9:46

I'm not sure. I agree 100%. We're souls, we're soul sisters on that. And if I had my red hair, we'd be redhead sisters. But yeah, yeah, totally.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Uh tell us a little bit about you saying that you feel like your purpose is being a good friend. And if being a good friend to your kids or to um your your besties or to the people that you work with, or like you said, that was that's very cool because it is a through line through everything you've done when you were talking about doing your personal training, and um now you also are a certified coach, and um now you know, wherever you are, if you're driving the ferries in uh in Vancouver, like you're talking to people. Yeah, like you can't help yourself. It's kind of like you're it was it's like what you're meant to do.

SPEAKER_00 10:37

Yeah. I I I I feel I don't know, almost a little humble now. Thank you. I just I have this weird thing. I I kind of like people. I don't know. Like I just I find humans weird and fascinating and like I just want to hear their stories and I can kind of do that all day long. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Yeah, yeah. And what do you do with that information? Anything particularly? Or I guess right.

SPEAKER_00 11:03

Yeah, it has woven its way into stories, and um you just mentioned that I'm yeah uh doing this summer job that is like something completely different than I've ever done. But I found myself driving the Granville Island ferries, and it's like I'm having so much fun because it's just people getting on who are basically out to have a fun day. They're pretty much mostly having fun, and it's a combination of people who take the ferry for commuting or going to Granville Island for groceries or tons of tourists. Like I've met people from Poland and Switzerland and Turkey, and like they're just from all over getting on the boat, and I get to hear little snippets of stories, and so I am thinking that I will start to write about that, like the what's going on on the ferries, just that'll be fun.

SPEAKER_01 11:52

Yeah, totally. And what's with the One Woman show or something that you were working on too? I felt like there was something else in the works.

SPEAKER_00 11:58

Oh, um, so I did have I co-wrote a Christmas play last year. Yes, which just ended up being fun and made me think I should write my own play. Um, so that's something I want to do, but I haven't started yet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:14

Just gotta find the time and space. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Very cool. Is there anything else you want to leave people with? Like, what if somebody was just listening and they were like, wow, you know, she's a writer, an actor, a mum. Uh, she's driving the boats, she's traveled all around. Like, I guess I could do that too. Or like, I guess there's just not a one way. There's not a one way. It's uh whatever way floats your boat.

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Yeah, I mean, I mean, I guess probably a lot of people really do find work, their purpose, and and if you're in a in work that you love, that's wonderful. And then I don't know, you're probably passionate about this, about finding those people who who need a change, who who want something different. And I think again, we're on the same page that you can always find something more inspiring and fulfilling. And I would just say that, yeah, uh getting really stuck in a place where you're not happy. Um I don't know, if if Adara can help you, if I can help you find your way into something more fun, more fulfilling, more adventure, um, that would be that would be great too, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Right. Like I get that it can be scary, but it's also so rewarding and uh soul satisfying when we're doing more of the things that light us up. Yes. Right. Yeah, right. Well, Rebecca and I dare you, even though it goes with my name, I dare ya to do the things that light you up. Go find them, go figure them out, take the time to explore because it's a big world out there, and you're meant to do what fills your cup. Yes, agreed. Yeah, because it runneths over and you meet really cool people. Thanks for coming on the show.

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Thank you, Adira. Wonderful as always.