Q&A with Anna Stukas, Forty Under 40 Winner 2020;
Who is responsible for your work ethic?
My parents and grandparents, who expected we would always work hard and do our best – not for them, but for ourselves.
What is your guilty pleasure?
Hiding out with an excellent glass of wine, a bag of potato chips and a captivating novel.
What is the best book you would recommend?
Right now, The Citizen’s Guide to Climate Success by Mark Jaccard and Rosie Revere, Engineer (my three-year-old’s favourite).
Now that you’re entering your 40s, what goals have you set for yourself?
Be a good mum and role model for my kids. Contribute to solving climate change. Leave the world a better place.
Choose one of these five childhood career dreams: Rock star, star athlete, prime minister, astronaut, detective.
Astronaut, 100 per cent. Paraphrased excerpt from my childhood diary: I could be an astronaut that teaches chemistry by satellite while also being the flight crew physiotherapist, chief lawyer for NASA and helped engineer the space shuttle… Realistic expectations be damned!
Name your happiest place.
Anywhere in the Gulf Islands on a sailboat.
What was your toughest business or professional decision?
Deciding to have kids and figuring out how to juggle career ambitions with being present for my family.
Advice you would give your 20-year-old self?
The role you’ll be in 20 years from now probably doesn’t exist yet today. Don’t think you can, or need to, predict the future.
What is your best habit?
Resilience.
Tell us one improbable fact about yourself.
I’m actually an undercover introvert.
Best piece of advice ever received?
It doesn’t matter what you think you said, it matters what the other person hears.
What career highlight are you most proud of?
Driving commercialization of ground-breaking solutions to climate change with our amazing team.
