The path to discovering who you are and want to become has many twists and turns, but three things help you along the way: being unapologetically yourself, embracing discomfort, and having the support of the people around you.
Like most people, lawyer with Brown Mills Klinck Prezioso LLP (BMKP Law) Maggie Carmichael’s journey to finding herself and who she would become in the future began during her high school years. That journey turned out to be not a straight line, but instead one with a few curves with strong influences and mentors at each anchor point.
As a Class of 2011 alumna at Trafalgar Castle School, Carmichael fondly remembers her days of playing competitive and school sports — a passion that influenced her career goal — and spending time with classmates in the Common Room before or after class. One memory stands out among the rest, however, and that was being able to grow as her own person, surrounded by a collective of people who supported her in who she was and who she was becoming.
“To me, the Trafalgar Castle School advantage is that ability to be yourself — unapologetically,” Carmichael explains, “Being in an environment where you feel that others support you in accomplishing your goals and help you push yourself out of your comfort zone to grow. You need a safe, supportive environment to truly grow as a person. It gave me the confidence to do so later in life, outside of the Castle walls.”
As a Senior Student at Trafalgar Castle School, Carmichael’s passion for sports and science led her to set her sights on a career as a Physical Education teacher. After graduating from Trafalgar Castle School in 2011, Carmichael pursued her Bachelor of Arts in Kinesiology and Physical Education at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ont. and was a goalkeeper on the women’s varsity soccer team. She was also considering pursuing graduate studies in kinesiology or psychology. However, during her early years at university, Carmichael discovered something new about herself — she loved continuous learning. That discovery became the first curve in what Carmichael perceived as a straightforward future. Her sights leaned away from kinesiology and zeroed in on a completely different career: law.
“I gravitated towards law because I really enjoyed the continuous learning opportunities it offered.” Carmichael says, “I thought that the law was so broad that it would offer many areas where I could continue to learn.”
So Carmichael then moved on to Queen’s University to pursue her law degree and was able to take courses in different areas like family law, wills and estates, business law and more. It was a pension law course in her last year of law school that particularly fascinated Carmichael. “I didn’t think at the time that I was actually going to be a pension lawyer, but I really enjoyed learning about it,” she added.
Experiential training is a key part of the lawyer licensing process in Ontario and the most popular option for experiential training is ‘articling’ under the supervision of an approved lawyer. Carmichael took an opportunity to article at one of the largest firms in Canada. Here, she could test out her interest in many areas of the law, while continuously learning, exploring emerging issues, and eventually specializing in an area that she had become very good at: pension law.
Throughout her practice, Carmichael has been enveloped in a strong circle of support and encouragement. She is surrounded by and has learned from a collective of intelligent, dedicated lawyers, including a more senior lawyer who took Carmichael ‘under her wing’ when she was a new lawyer and has provided exceptional mentorship to help her overcome challenges as she progressed through different stages in her pension law career.
Carmichael could be considered a prime example of the power of those around you in helping you discover who you are, what you’re capable of achieving and the paths you decide to take. “I believe mentors are critically important in your career and your development, personally and professionally,” she says, “I certainly had strong mentors throughout the different stages of my life. When you look at the last five or ten years in particular, I’ve had a few really strong female mentors who have taken me under their wing and helped me in my career and other endeavours.
One key thing that Carmichael has embraced from all of the mentors throughout her life — from Trafalgar to law school and beyond — is to embrace discomfort. “That’s the growth point,” Carmichael explains, “That’s where you will grow the most in different facets of your life. If you’re comfortable, you’re not pushing yourself, so you’re not growing. When you’re pushed a little out of your comfort zone and the people around you support you and know that you can do it, they give you that opportunity to grow.”
Today, Carmichael is a lawyer with BMKP Law, specializing solely in pension, benefits and executive compensation law. To say that she is booming is an understatement. Carmichael has been named an ‘Associate to Watch’ by Chambers Canada in pensions and benefits law and a ‘Rising Star’ in the Legal 500 Canada in pension law. Looking back, Carmichael can attest that the path to self-discovery is certainly not linear.
“When I was in the Senior School at Trafalgar, and even in my early undergrad years, I thought I would become a Physical Education teacher. I never expected that I would go to law school or become a lawyer, particularly a pension lawyer.”
Carmichael can also attest that having the support of the people around you leads to success, and today, she gives back by lending support to others. She dedicates time to mentoring young lawyers and summer and articling students, and in 2022, she joined the Trafalgar Castle School Board of Directors, first as a member of the Governance Committee and later as the Chair of the Risk Committee, which is responsible for overseeing the risks facing Trafalgar.
“Trafalgar Castle School had such a lasting impact on my life and my development that I wanted to give back by lending my skills in a way that would be helpful and useful to the school,” she says, “It was really about giving back to the place that made me who I am today.”
When asked what her best advice would be for students about to embark on their own journeys towards self-discovery, Carmichael said, “Keep an open mind. Think about what you want out of a career, what skills you have, and how you can use those skills in a career that you’re satisfied with and can be successful at.”
And, “Be unapologetically you, exactly who you are. Because that will differentiate you from others and lead you down a path that will bring you success and happiness.”