Entrepreneur, Standup Comedian, Queen of the Klondike: Meet Caroline Carter
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Editor’s Note: We caught up with Caroline at her friend Nadia’s house, so all praise for her home decor should be directed to Nadia (though we can assure you Caroline’s taste is also exceptional).
Caroline Carter is one of those women you can’t help but marvel at. Not just beautiful, but highly intelligent, witty, and kind; she is a true force. From actress, to broadcast journalist, to PR professional, to entrepreneur, her career has been marked with interesting stories — including a stint as Queen of the Klondike. But more on that later.
I love being a woman in her 30s, both in terms of looking at what my peers are doing (and being in awe of them!) and also being able to reflect on what I’ve accomplished and finally feeling justified in being proud.
If there has been one common thread throughout her career, it’s that each chapter required profound communication skills, which have not only helped propel Caroline’s success as a partner at CSuite Content, but also as a standup comedian.
Now, those may seem like two different worlds, but both require an innate understanding of psychology, the ability to adjust to different audiences, and a knack for storytelling.
For background, CSuite Content is a thought leadership agency for CEOs and senior executives looking to define their entrepreneurial brand, articulate their vision, activate their social networks, and launch successful content campaigns in tech and business press.
“Essentially we help executives share their ideas with the audiences that matter most to them,” Caroline explains.
“Our agency helps lift under the hood of a company, and showcase the best parts about it (and its leadership) in a highly strategic and impactful way. We bring the human aspect of a business to the forefront — and I think the human part is what people really care about.”
And as it turns out, paying attention to that human part is also foundational to good comedy.
“Comedy has always been a bit of a country with no borders for me.”
Laughter is the Best Medicine
“Comedy has always been a bit of a country with no borders for me,” Caroline shares. It’s hard to believe such a composed and polished woman could jump on stage in a Seinfeld blazer and crack smart jokes about everything from politics to her personal life, but she slips into those sleeves with surprising ease.
“On stage during a show is the closest I’ve come to finding flow.”
“I love the opportunity comedy presents to flip power structures on their head,” she explains. “I also have just always found humour in everything. Considering my life has more or less been a series of embarrassing moments, I figured I should capitalize on that.
“On stage during a show is the closest I’ve come to finding flow. It’s where I tap into the true essence of who I am (which according to my act, is a tragic spinster on her 15th bridesmaid comeback tour…).”
The stage, of course, is not a scary place for Caroline, considering her background as an actress and broadcast journalist, a role she held while working in the Yukon in her early career.
The Power of Purpose-Based Storytelling
“I think the most pivotal moment for me was working up North and realizing all the wonderful work that was being done by leaders in these remote communities that just wasn’t getting any recognition or exposure,” she explains in her classic heart-on-her-sleeve way.
“At the time, I used my access to the airwaves to help folks share those stories and it really crystallized my belief in the power of storytelling and my desire to dedicate my life to facilitating that kind of exchange.”
To this day, that love of story permeates everything she does, and has lined her portfolio with significant impact.
“I love the work we do with our clients, and there are many pieces I am so proud of,” she shares. “Not just because we’ve helped brilliant leaders articulate their vision, but because these pieces often become foundational cultural pieces for their organization.”
“There are so many amazing stories that take place in the community that is the workplace. I love helping to tease those out, holding space for executives to reflect on their choices (good and bad), and crafting a compelling narrative out of that for others to enjoy.”
When Your Craft is Your Passion
You’d think because Caroline gets paid for her craft, writing would be the last thing she would do in her downtime, but when you truly love something, you just can’t get enough — so she still makes time for personal writing.
“There are two pieces of writing I’m especially proud of,” she shares. “One is a poem about my grandmother called Drew Drive, which won the Poet’s Pause Competition in Whistler in 2014. The other is a eulogy I wrote for my ex’s dog. Ironically both deal with themes of vulnerability and gratitude for lessons learned — and these same themes often appear in the corporate writing we do.”
Tales from the Yukon
Remember that whole Queen of the Klondike bit I mentioned earlier? That story is part of a greater tale Caroline wants to eventually immortalize in a book about her time in the wild, frigid, and sparsely populated Yukon.
“I had a very unique experience up North. I was working for a First Nations radio station, and became Queen of the Klondike in a gold rush themed pageant. Needless to say, it was a period of my life where I lived in a world of extremes and hilarious characters (of which I became one).
“In the North you’re enveloped in darkness and cutting cold for months, then suddenly steeped in midnight sun and wild teeming with life through June and July. I was also covering the tensions between the rough and tough resource sector and communities clinging to culture and life lived off the land.
“It was also the first time I had really left home, got my own place and business card, and was coming of age in a place with very few distractions from that personal, professional and spiritual growth. There was a lot of beauty up there, and a lot of sorrow. So yeah, some stuff I’d like to share, under the premise that I think every Canadian should do a stint up North.”
Plot Twist: This Entrepreneur is Actually Quite Risk Averse
It might come as a shock that someone willing to get on stages and in front of cameras, write for major publications, and work with bigwig CEOs was nervous to launch her own business, but this courageous blonde is actually more cautious than you’d think.
“I’m the most risk averse person I know, and I literally had to be shoved into entrepreneurship by the people closest to me at the time,” Caroline confesses.
“Some people know they want to be their own boss, and other people (like me) only realize it because of how they work within an organization. I found at every job I worked at, my biggest strength was seeing what was wrong at every layer of an organization and wanting to solve it. I had a lot of opinions from the armchair (probably annoyingly, so) and I guess at some point it was time to get into the hot seat and see if my budding business acumen had any merit.
“I think it took me a lot to realize I could do the entrepreneur thing. That my work could stand on its own and had value. So my first kick at the can began with helping a friend and then mustering up the courage to charge for a small strategy I put together. It was a tiny opportunity, that created a huge realization of the value I could bring to others.
“The second best decision I ever made on this career path was finding a cofounder. My business partner, Remy Scalza, inspires, challenges and encourages me every day. He’s totally brilliant and having his support and ear to bounce ideas off of (and vice versa) makes the loneliness aspect of ‘going out on your own’ a little less overwhelming. I’m a huge believer in cofounders and partnership, if you can find the right match.”
Being Grateful for the Journey
“I have never felt more equipped to handle challenges,” she says, referencing her complex road to the present. “I absolutely love being a woman in her 30s, both in terms of looking at what my peers are doing and being in awe of them, and endlessly inspired and impressed — and also reflecting on what I have accomplished and feeling justified in being proud.
“I have so much more to learn and I’m humbled everyday by people doing things better and bolder — and that excites me too. I’m in a place of truly being able to be happy for others, because I have found a baseline of happiness in myself. It took me a long time to say that and even then, those words barely sound safe in my mouth. Like with everything, it’s a work in progress.”
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