Lisanne Ballantyne is the CEO and president of Tourism Kelowna, a destination marketing agency that the city entrusts to bring in more than two million visitors a year. 

Ballantyne got her start in the media world, working for outlets like The Sun, Global and CTV. 

“While I was at The Sun, there was a remarkable woman who hired me, who didn’t know quite what my skill set was, but she had a belief in me,” Ballantyne recalls. 

“She took me under her wing for four years as promotions manager of a major daily newspaper. That showed me that you can take anyone with the right attitude and trust them to build the skills they’ll need for the job.”

From there, she went on to spend most of her career managing and marketing major convention centres, arenas and exhibition sites. 

Before coming to Kelowna, she worked at Edmonton’s Economic Development Corp. 

Ballantyne says she didn’t always know that she wanted to be in a leadership role. It just came naturally over time. 

“I knew that I really liked making improvements at whatever organization I was with, and bringing that value piece to whoever the customer was we served,” she says.

“I would say it’s only because of a love for working in a team environment that you become a leader.”

“I think what's important for anyone to know, especially women who often wear so many different hats, is that you can be a leader without title,” Ballantyne adds. 

“You can be a leader in whatever role you play. It’s about bringing that value to your family or your organization or your community.”

Her advice to others who may be struggling to move their career forward is simple – visualize where you want to be. 

“The best way to get ahead in your career is to be very clear on what you want your destination to be, and then re-engineer it backwards,” she advises. 

“Envision yourself in 20 years – what do you want your life to be like?

“If you have an end goal in mind, you can always know what the next step is.”