A mid-winter Tuesday morning might be just another day at the office for many Canadians. But for Bay Street lawyer and meditation coach Catie Fenn, Law’12 (Artsci’09), it could be the time to wrap up a litigation case, prepare for a “soul coaching” session, or fly off to Costa Rica to lead a transformational retreat. 

Lucy Sun, a current student in the class of Law’19, sat down with Catie Fenn at a Toronto coffee shop in January to discuss her life, career, how she maintains a healthy work/life balance – and why she participated in a popular reality TV show.

Sun: Your Instagram bio says, “Soul Coach, Speaker, Lawyer, Magic Maker. Helping people learn to be happy.” Tell me about your journey to being happy.

Fenn: I would say my journey to becoming happier started when I was articling and I had just achieved everything I had ever wanted to. I had this amazing Bay Street litigation job that I was loving, I was in an amazing relationship, I was living in an area of Toronto that I had always wanted to live in – I had basically achieved the vision I had worked towards for so long. 

But at the same time, I felt more flat and disconnected than I had ever felt before. I had this objectively perfect life that I’d always wanted, but I wasn’t happy. So, I started to deconstruct each area of my life to look at what really was making me happy and ask myself if I had created some things only because they were what society told me I should want. 

The first thing I did to actually feel happier was to start meditation. It was a whole journey after that to unravel my life and rebuild it into something that truly fulfilled me. Everyone will say, “I don’t have time to meditate” or “I don’t have time to take care of myself,” but there’s this teacher I love and she always asks, “Do you have time to feel terrible?” Off course you don’t. I work on my happiness like it’s a full-time job.

Sun: Tell me about your practice as an associate with the litigation boutique Brown and Burnes.

Fenn: I work in civil litigation and my claims are primarily defending personal injury actions. I really love it because I’m constantly participating in the litigation process – every week I’m out at discovery, or in mediation, in motions court, in pre-trial … there’s so much variety and I get to be out and about and meet people. 

I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer because, intellectually, I found the law very fascinating. I also used to work at a bar in Yorkville, where I talked with a lot of lawyers about their practice areas and those conversations confirmed for me I wanted to pursue the law. And honestly, I sort of fell into litigation, but I can’t imagine myself being in any other area.

Sun:  How do you manage being a Bay Street litigator while remaining peaceful and calm?

Fenn: I think the number one key is to make taking care of yourself and finding balance an absolute and unapologetic priority. We’re getting a lot of young lawyers coming into the profession, saying, “I had a lot of interests when I was in law school and I want to be able to maintain them.” I think law firms are very receptive to that idea, but they’re not going to offer that up – you have to take responsibility! 

Sun: And now you’re helping other young professionals find balance. You’ve created “the Circle.” Tell me about that.

Fenn: The Circle refers to events I run in Toronto, primarily for women, to meditate, encourage each other and set goals for themselves. I wanted to create a space where women could connect and support one another on their path to growth. When I started my journey of meditation and reflection five years ago, I had no one to talk to … so pretty much I created something that I wish existed when I moved back to Toronto and began my career.

Sun: You’re also running “transformational retreats.” Where have some of your recent retreats been?

Fenn: Los Angeles, Costa Rica … and now there’s a retreat center opening in Muskoka, so I’ll be doing some work with them. But Costa Rica is the place I go to reset and most of the retreats I do are out of there. I’ll actually be in LA and Costa Rica for the next few weeks for a transformational retreat.

Sun: What’s the schedule like at the Costa Rica retreat?

Fenn: We wake up, have a healthy breakfast, do yoga, and then I’ll lead the group through a short meditation. We’ll do a workshop on evaluating your habits, connecting to your intuition, and coming up with a powerful vision for yourself. The afternoons and evenings are spent surfing, hanging out at the beach and being immersed in nature.

Sun: If you were soul-coaching Queen’s Law students, what is the first question you would ask them to ask themselves?

Fenn: The first question I would ask them is to think about what their “four core desires” are. What four words or feelings do they want to drive their experiences or encounters with the world? It becomes easier to make decisions when you have a guiding principle of who you want to be and how you want to feel. 

Sun: What are your four words?

Fenn: My four words for this year are precision, excellence, gentleness and release. For me, precision and excellence are important words because it can be very overwhelming to be working in litigation, while also running Circle, and then coaching people, and travelling to Costa Rica. In order to do all of that, I need to be precise with my time and what I do. But for people in law, we are also very “Type A,” so I’ve also learned to intentionally be gentle with myself and not to put so much pressure on doing everything perfectly. And the last word is release, because I think that we outgrow a lot of things. I always try to stay mindful of relationships, places I go, behaviour or habit I have … and ask, “Is this still serving me or have I outgrown it?” And then be okay with releasing it and moving on. 

Sun: Your life sounds so exciting! What would you say you are most excited about right now?

Fenn: Right now, I’m most excited about sharing the tools that I’ve found to be helpful with other people. I want to help other people find the joy and peace that I’ve been able to discover through meditation, goal-setting and supportive communities. 

Sun: And finally, many people tuned in to watch you as a contestant on The Bachelor last fall. Tell me about your experience on the show.

Fenn: At the beginning of 2017, I decided to say “yes” to life, to new opportunities, to doing things that otherwise felt uncomfortable. A friend suggested I apply to The Bachelor, and I did, because that was my opportunity and I said “yes.” I thought it would be a great life experience – and it definitely was!

Follow Catie on Instagram @catiefenn or check out her website.