Olympian Jon Montgomery wants people to know that they can do anything if they believe in themselves. On Wednesday, Montgomery spoke to a room full of people in the County of Grande Prairie at this year’s Growing the North Conference. He says that if people are willing to try new things it can open doors for them.
“Being open enough to do something you’re scared to do, that you have no previous life experiences or expertise at but saying yes none the less. That opens all kinds of doors and it opens opportunities to grow and to develop and for more things to come your way to say yes to.”
Montgomery won a gold medal in Skeleton at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Then in 2013, he became the host of the television show The Amazing Race Canada. This was his first time speaking at the conference and says communities like Grande Prairie are worth getting behind.
“Anytime that I can get behind an initiative where people are trying to do better for their communities, who are trying to advance the business opportunities for their residents and constituents I’m going to take part in that any day I can.”
Growing the North is a two-day conference that was started by the County in 2010. It gives people from across the province the chance to come together and hear about innovation and economic development opportunities in the B.C. and Alberta Peace region. Montgomery says that if there’s anything people should take away from his speech it’s that if you believe in yourself you can do anything.
“Whatever it is that we aspire to, whatever our goals are in life, believing that they’re possible is sort of the starting point… For me, if somebody’s setting a goal I believe that it’s rooted in your ability to actually believe that’s it’s possible to get it done.”
The conference will wrap up Thursday night at the TARA Centre at Evergreen Park.
