Olympic gold medalist Sami Jo Small at the Canadian Dairy XPO in Stratford. (Photo by Ashely Ferraro)Olympic gold medalist Sami Jo Small at the Canadian Dairy XPO in Stratford. (Photo by Ashely Ferraro)
Midwestern

Gold medalist talks about facing fears at Canadian Dairy XPO in Stratford

Olympic medalist Sami Jo Small is a main keynote speaker at this year’s Canadian Dairy XPO.

Small spoke about her path and struggles Wednesday morning, telling dairy farmers a story of Canadian pride and perseverance. As a past member of Canada’s female Olympic hockey team, Small has had to overcome great obstacles to meet her goals.

The message was to overcome fear.

“My biggest message is that moments like that are going to happen. Whether it’s in sport or whether it’s in life, if we can galvanize together and go through those moments, they can get a little bit easier,” said Small.

Small also promoted a strong work ethic, team building skills and perseverance to reach success.

“I think that that’s what an XPO like this is so key for. Sharing those best practices, finding out what works in one industry and using it in another industry, finding out what works in one farm in one family and using those best practices. As well as sharing those failures and sharing those fears. I think if we don’t talk about things, we don’t know what other people are going though,” said Small.

Small will be back at the Canadian Dairy XPO Thursday between 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. in upper lobby of the Dairy Classroom.

 

--with files from Ashley Ferraro

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