Written by Ruby Cole-Ellis, Editor and Co-Founder

Running for Sylvan Lake Town Council was not on my 2025 bingo card. Not even close. I mean, I was just over here trying to keep my twins alive, keep my coffee hot for more than 12 seconds, and maybe post to Instagram once a month. Politics? Yeah, no.

Then, a few days before the deadline to submit nominations, I had a heart-to-heart with someone I deeply admire, and they said the wildest thing: “You should run for council.” I actually laughed out loud. Like, ma’am, I’m wearing leggings I bought in 2021 and still can’t find my high heels since the babies were born.

But something about that conversation stuck. Maybe it was timing, maybe it was intuition, or maybe I just needed a new challenge that didn’t involve toddler snack negotiations. Either way, I found myself filling out the paperwork, collecting signatures, and officially running for office with less than four weeks to campaign.

Cue the chaos montage: designing t-shirts, ordering signs, filming videos while nap-trapped under a baby, and door-knocking with sticky hands. I reconnected with people I hadn’t seen in years, met new business owners, and got to know the community in a way that felt electric. For the first time in a while, I felt like me again – not just “mom,” not just “small business owner,” but the ambitious, passionate, slightly-extra woman who loves a good project and a meaningful cause.

You know how flamingos lose their pink when they’re raising their babies? They give so much of themselves that their color literally fades. But eventually, they get their pink back. And standing on doorsteps, meeting voters, talking about things that mattered – I could feel mine coming back too.

Before motherhood, I worked in architecture and environmental design. I even served as Executive Director for Green Building Councils in Guatemala and Alberta. (Yes, I used to wear blazers and talk about land use policy over coffee instead of running Ms. Rachel on the TV on replay.) For years that part of me felt dormant, tucked away while I built other dreams. Running for council reminded me that she’s still here: confident, capable, and ready to make a difference.

The campaign wasn’t easy. I was “too liberal” for some, “too conservative” for others, and “too young” for probably everyone. But I learned the greatest lesson of all: you’ll never please everyone, so you might as well show up as your authentic self.

Election night came, and I didn’t win a seat. But I did win something else: perspective. Nearly a thousand people voted for me. A thousand! That’s a thousand humans who saw something in me worth trusting. And that, my friends, feels like a victory.

I tell my twins one day I’ll show them photos from when they wore “Vote for My Mommy” onesies, because this season wasn’t about politics, it was about courage. About trying something new, stepping back into my power, and remembering that we can reinvent ourselves as many times as we need to.

Sometimes the losses are actually the biggest wins.🦩