Connie Kobylko | The Canadian Top 30 Spotlight Project

Helping People Live the Chapters They’ll One Day Be Remembered For.

Connie is a Life Celebrant, Meaningful Living Curator, JOY Facilitator, Inspiring Speaker and Author whose work is centred around one powerful idea: people should know their lives matter while they are still living them.

Through celebrations of life, speaking, workshops, writing and JOY experiences, she helps people reconnect with themselves, recognize what gives their life meaning, and become more intentional about the way they are living it.

Her work also reaches into businesses, non-profit organizations and wellness communities, where she brings that same understanding of human connection into the workplace. For leaders, her work is an opportunity to look beyond what people do and build a culture where people understand why their contribution matters. “When people feel valued, connected to purpose and part of something meaningful,” Connie says, “it influences how they show up for themselves, for one another and for the people they serve.”

“I work in the business of meaningful living.”

There is depth behind those words. Connie knows firsthand how meaningful life is, and how quickly life can change direction without asking our permission. Several years ago, a violent assault left her with a serious brain injury. Suddenly, many of the things she had once done with ease became difficult. She had to relearn, adapt and begin understanding herself in a completely different way.

What stands out in Connie’s story is the way she speaks about what came next. “Recovery taught me a great deal about resilience,” she says, “but it also taught me something even more important: life is happening while we are busy waiting to get back to who we used to be.”

“I stopped trying to recreate the woman I had been, and began getting curious about connecting with the woman I was becoming.”

That realization became a turning point. Connie was no longer measuring every step forward against the woman she had been before. She began making room for the woman she was becoming, and that shift would eventually influence not only the way she lived, but the work she chose to build and the message she now carries into the lives of others.

“I wouldn’t choose what happened to me. I can, however, choose what I do with the life I have now. And I choose to live it, and live it with gratitude.”

As Connie continued navigating her recovery, she reached another crossroads. The life she had known before her injury was changing, and she had decisions to make about what the next chapter might hold.

She could choose the security of long-term disability, but something within her knew that wasn't how she wanted this chapter of her life to look or feel. She had a daughter to raise, a life she wanted to live, and a story she knew was not finished.

“I knew I still had purpose.”

What happened next is where her strength becomes especially clear. Rather than waiting until every uncertainty disappeared, she decided to take a risk on herself and create something new. Looking back, she says:

“I chose me.”

There were no guarantees. For Connie, starting a business was more than choosing a new career path. It was choosing to believe in herself, trust what she could contribute, and give herself permission to imagine that this unexpected chapter could become something meaningful.

She also carried the example of her mother, who had passed years earlier but had been a woman who listened to her heart, tried new things, owned her own business, and led with warmth, care, determination and courage.

“I didn’t realize it then, but in taking that leap, perhaps I was carrying a little of my mom’s courage with me.”

When Connie first began this new journey, she was focused on building security for herself and her daughter and proving to herself and others that she could still contribute, still succeed and still build a life after everything had changed.

But today, her purpose has evolved. What began as a need to rebuild, create security, and prove to herself that she could still move forward has grown into something deeper. 

 “I care about how people feel after spending time with me,” she says. “Did they feel seen? Did they feel heard? Did something I say help them see themselves or their life a little differently? Did I leave a little more warmth in the room than when I entered it?”

That is how Connie measures impact now. She still wants her business to grow and thrive, but success has become larger than business. It means making room for family, the people she loves, JOY, curiosity, contribution, rest, experiencing the world around her, and listening to what feels aligned.

“I don’t just want to make a living. I want to make a difference while living fully.”

Her work is not built around simply speaking about meaning. She lives with a heightened awareness of it. As a Life Celebrant, she has the privilege of hearing the stories people leave behind. She hears what families remember, what mattered, what made someone extraordinary, and which moments became unforgettable.

“I don’t want us to wait until someone’s celebration of life to talk about what made them extraordinary. I want us to know it now. Live it now. Say it now.”

That message runs through everything she does. She wants people to recognize that their lives matter while they are living them. She wants us to notice the people sitting across the table, the conversations we almost rush through, the smile we give a stranger, the courage it takes to begin again, and the everyday moments that often become the ones we treasure most.

That is also where JOY enters Connie’s work. She is heart-centred because she genuinely cares about people and how they feel. “My heart is also my compass and my guide,” she says. “It always points me in the right direction.” 

Her resilience comes not from pretending life has been easy, but from understanding that getting back up does not always mean returning to who she was.

“Every day I am BE-coming a newer version of myself. Who I was yesterday is not the woman I am today. And tomorrow will be another version of me.”

Connie is joyful because she has learned to notice and appreciate what she might once have rushed past. Some of her greatest JOY comes from making time for the people in her life: sharing experiences, hearing laughter, having great conversations and creating memories together. She calls it “collecting beautiful moments.”

Some are celebrations and adventures; others are everyday moments that become meaningful because of who we share them with. Connie also notices the smaller moments tucked into everyday life — those unexpected moments that invite us to pause and be fully present. She calls those little moments “glimmers.”

For her, this is part of meaningful living. We aren’t only creating our own life chapters. Through the moments we share, we are woven into one another’s stories.

“JOY isn’t always something we have to chase or create. Sometimes it is already right beside us, quietly waiting to be noticed.”

For Connie, being mindful has become meaningful. And when doubt creeps in, she returns to words she has learned to give herself.

“Today, I celebrate this version of me. I believe in who I am, and who I am becoming.”

That realization changed the way she looked at what came next. Instead of asking only what had changed, Connie began asking what might still be possible.

When doubt says, “What if I can’t?” she changes the question.

“What if I can?”

There is something in that for every entrepreneur, every leader, and every person standing inside a chapter they never expected to live. Sometimes the road changes. Sometimes the life we thought we were building changes. Sometimes we have to begin again. Connie’s story does not ask us to pretend those moments are easy. It asks us not to let one difficult chapter convince us that we already know how the story ends.

“Please don’t allow one difficult chapter to convince

you that you know how your story ends.”

Her message is not about pretending everything will work out exactly the way we planned. It is about staying open to the possibility that life can still surprise us.

What we’ve seen in Connie is someone who has learned to meet change with curiosity instead of fear, to keep moving without needing every answer, and to notice meaning in places many people overlook. She has taken what life asked of her and turned it into work that helps other people feel seen, valued, and more connected to their own lives.

What Connie has learned along the way now reaches far beyond her own story. Her work helps people feel seen, valued, and more connected to their lives, their purpose and one another.

For anyone standing in a chapter they did not expect, Connie’s own words carry the message:

“You get to be the author of the chapters you are living today. Fill the pages with people you love, things that light you up, moments that matter, and plenty of life in your days.”

Just take the next step.

Connie’s life and work are connected by something simple and powerful: people matter, their stories matter, and the way we make one another feel matters. She helps families honour the people they love, individuals reconnect with themselves, teams recognize the value they bring, and leaders build cultures rooted in connection and purpose. Through her speaking, writing and JOY experiences, she creates space for people to see their lives, their work and their own possibilities a little differently.

And that is why it is an honour to recognize Connie as one of our 2026 Canadian Top 30 Honourees—for the courage she has shown in becoming, the meaningful work she continues to build, and the way she now helps others recognize the value of their own lives, stories and contributions.

Her journey reminds us that becoming does not mean forgetting who we were. It means allowing ourselves to keep growing into who we are still capable of being.

“Your story is still being written, and there may be a beautiful chapter ahead that you cannot see from where you are standing today.”

Connie Kobylko is a Life Celebrant, Meaningful Living Curator, JOY Facilitator, Inspiring Speaker and Author whose work helps individuals, families, teams and organizations reconnect with purpose, meaning and human connection. Through celebrations of life, speaking, workshops, writing and JOY experiences, she helps people feel seen, valued and more intentional about the life they are living.