Work, lately...

I don’t usually mix my personal blog and my professional life - and I don’t often write about work here. But as we move into a new year, and as Allan Events Co. continues to grow, it feels like the right moment to connect a few dots.

I’ve been working with many new colleagues in Prince George over the past couple of years, and I’m realizing that not everyone knows why I do the work I do, or where it really comes from. My LinkedIn bio hints at it, and this blog has inadvertently documented the last 11+ years of my life, but this feels like a good place to pause, reflect, and explain things once - clearly.

Where this all started (and continues)

In 2014, my life changed in ways I never expected. A diagnosis of metastatic melanoma (AND then thyroid cancer) reshaped my priorities, my pace, and my understanding of what meaningful work actually looks like.

Those years were hard, frightening, and deeply clarifying. And while I am currently grateful to be living with no evidence of disease, I remain “on surveillance” at BC Cancer, with annual CT scans, regular follow-ups, and the quiet knowledge that cancer is not something I can ever fully put behind me. It is part of my life, and it continues to inform how I move through the world and my work.

Living with serious illness has a way of stripping things down to what matters most. For me, that meant focusing my energy on work that feels purposeful, connected to people, and genuinely useful - work I can feel proud of at the end of the day.

That clarity eventually became Allan Events Co.

My professional path before and alongside this chapter has included roles in sales, technology, finance, and leadership with organizations such as OpenText, BlackBerry, Scotiabank, Loblaw, and Community Futures. Since my diagnosis, I have also been deeply involved in oncology patient advocacy, leading national education and awareness initiatives with Save Your Skin Foundation and Ocumel Canada. Strategy, communication, education, and compassion have become inseparable for me, both personally and professionally

This work is also personal in another way. Mike and I met through patient advocacy, connected by a shared experience with metastatic melanoma and life-saving immunotherapy clinical trials. It’s an unusual thing to have in common, but it shapes how we move through the world and the work we choose to take on. We know - very clearly - that every day matters.

What we do at Allan Events Co.

Allan Events Co. focuses on business events and medical education, delivered with care, precision, and a deep respect for the people involved.

We coordinate events in all formats - conferences, trade shows, training sessions, roundtables, CME-accredited symposiums, and community gatherings. Much of our work happens behind the scenes: venue sourcing, budgeting, timelines, sponsorship, catering and A/V coordination, speaker and exhibitor management, and all the small details that make an event run smoothly.

Our role is to bring all the moving pieces together, keep everything on track, anticipate challenges, and create space for our clients to focus on what matters most to them. We aim to deliver events that feel thoughtful, seamless, and impactful. And we genuinely have fun in the process!

Recent work & gratitude

Over the past year, we’ve had the privilege of supporting several projects in Prince George and beyond, including work with the Prince George Chamber of Commerce on initiatives such as the Business Excellence Awards and Voices for Change Safe Streets Rally. These events take many hands, minds, and partners to bring to life, and we love collaborating with venues, suppliers, technicians, and community organizations to transform spaces into exactly what our clients need.

One of the most meaningful projects of late 2025 was supporting Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation on their 32nd annual Festival of Trees at the CN Centre. Spirit of the North is a driving force in advancing healthcare across northern British Columbia - funding equipment, innovation, and care that directly impacts patients and families in our region. As someone who continues to live with the long-term realities of cancer, being invited to support Festival of Trees was both an honour and a deeply personal full-circle moment.

Looking ahead

As we move into 2026, I’m looking forward to continuing work that sits at the intersection of community, education, and patient advocacy.

Alongside ongoing projects through Allan Events Co., I’ll be spending time this year supporting national oncology education and awareness initiatives - including continued collaboration with Save Your Skin Foundation, consulting work in the cancer education space, and participating in conversations that help bring patient perspectives into broader healthcare discussions. There are also a few upcoming speaking, writing, media, and podcast projects in the works that I’m excited to share when the time is right.

These efforts are deeply connected to the local work I do in Prince George. Whether coordinating events, supporting healthcare foundations, or contributing to national education initiatives, the goal is the same: to create spaces - in person and online - where learning, connection, and advocacy can meaningfully happen.

If you’re here because you know me personally, professionally, or somewhere in between - thank you. This post exists to offer a bit of context, so there’s a shared understanding as I continue focusing on the work that matters.

 

(...and if you want to know more, feel free to peruse the blog tags in the right sidebar, see some highlight photos below, or view my portfolio, here) 

Lymphedema Education Day - Nov-2024

Accredited Medical Education Conference

Prince George Chamber of Commerce 2025 Business Excellence Awards

 

...including time spent with The Honourable Jody Wilson-Raybould

So very grateful for all of the wonderful people, businesses, organizations, and concepts that we get to work with! 

And lots more to look forward to 😊

  

My 5-year BC Citizenship – Check!!

British Columbia, Canada, is a land of adventure, varied landscapes, has the world’s only inland temperate rainforest, and much unique and fascinating industry and history that I continue to learn. I was thrilled to move here five years ago, to share life with the man of my dreams. Along with Mike’s warm welcome, I was embraced into his beautiful family, for whom I am grateful and enjoy spending lots of time with. I have also met and made many friends, acquaintances, and colleagues in Prince George, BC.

It has been a busy five years to be sure! And I was always on my toes – alert for any opportunity to earn “points” toward my “BC Citizenship application.” As I have mentioned before, when I moved here, Mike gaily informed me that I would not truly be a British Columbian until I had passed the exam after five whole years of living here. (If you have not previously read my blog about the move and introduction of the BC Citizenship, please feel free to sidebar, here) And I quote: “Mike tests me regularly. I frequently 'lose points,' but then I get them back in sneaky-smart I'm-gonna-be-a-BC-girl ways ha ha - so fingers crossed for the five-year test.”

We’ve driven to the Yukon, the Shuswap, the Okanagan, the Kooteneys, the Bowron Lakes chain, and the Island. Have touched the geographical centre of British Columbia, as well as BC’s Pacific coast in four places – Stewart, Prince Rupert, Bella Coola, and Tofino. Multiple trips to Vancouver of course, via the Fraser Canyon or the Duffy Lake road – both equally entertaining! Also hit up a place called Sasquatch – no joke.

I know where the Fraser River begins. Have camped boondocking. Touched ancient petroglyphs. Skinny-dipped in the midnight sun.

I have my gold miner’s license and know how and where to pan for gold. We hold annual passes for Barkerville, and we’ve explored Likely, Quesnel Forks, and the historical mines of the area.

We’ve adventured countless lakes, rivers, water falls, trails, back roads, dams, hot springs, hoodoos, gondolas, suspension bridges, and even a rodeo ground after dark. We’ve seen glaciers, bears, moose, deer, elk, caribou, bison, eagles, and the most incredible night skies – stars stars stars and of course the aurora borealis.

I’ve met Mike Hall, Claudia Bunce, Caden Fanshaw – and Mr. PG! I’ve written a blog for the City of Prince George, and I’ve gotten myself on three local radio stations as well as the CKPG Today television broadcast. And Mike and I were featured in and on the cover of our neighbourhood magazine. 😁

I’ve gotten my photo taken with a Conservation Officer.  And most recently, I have registered a business in BC, to renew my entrepreneurial vigor and be in BC Business. (More on that later)

 

And drumroll please…..  

I got my BC Citizenship!!!

 

On the 5^th anniversary of beginning our adventure together, Mike threw me a crazy impromptu surprise party with a bunch of our beloved family and friends! I was so shocked, walking in to the party with so many special faces (and a secret surprise guest I’m not allowed to reveal but whose photo you can find elsewhere in this blog), a huge cake, a BC flag, and all the love I could possibly imagine flowing around the table.

In classic Mike fashion though I had to work for it LOL – there was indeed an exam! I had to answer five questions about British Columbia, standing in front of everyone, still so shocked but also thrilled.

I aced all the questions except for a brief phone-a-friend moment for the year that BC joined Confederation – my Ontario showed when all I could think of was 1867 – BC became a Canadian province in 1871. Whoops – I knew that from all the great presentations at Barkerville! I did make up a few points by over-answering a couple of the other questions, and my smarty-pants friends even challenged me with the suggestion of a couple of real stumper questions – thanks guys!

My ever-flowing tears really burst forth when Mike announced I had officially passed the citizenship test and was now declared a British Columbian, and all my loved ones around the table waved little BC flags! 

Mike left no stone unturned in this process, and I am grateful for his thoughtfulness and caring, and his love of fun and shenanigans. We laughed and cried and partied on, so freakin’ wonderful I can’t even put it into words. ❤️ Thank you Mike!! ❤️ And everyone, for making that crazy surprise happen, for being there for me that evening and in the last five years, and for the promise of more love and laughter in the years to come.

So, as a real live BC Citizen, I’d love to share with you some photos of our last five years. Thank you Mike, for being who you are, and for sharing with me. I love and cherish you so much and appreciate every moment we spend together. -- AND I’m extra super glad I passed my citizenship as I truly don’t know what would have happened if I didn’t!! I’m glad you’re keeping me, but I’ll still always work extra hard for the points. 

To close this blog, I’ll leave you with the tidbit that I will soon be officially launching our new business: Allan Events Co.  Mike and I are partnering on this venture, which will encompass business event planning, but also our writing and speaking engagements. Very excited to return to entrepreneurship and support the business community and medical education sphere in Prince George and the province!

Allan Events Co.: corporate event organizers planning, coordinating, and executing business-related conferences, summits, networking events, meetings, education events, and CME accredited programs. Whether it’s an industry summit or a grassroots networking event, we create space for ideas to flourish and people to thrive.

Our work is also deeply rooted in the oncology patient support space, where we’ve helped lead advocacy initiatives, global education campaigns, and professional development events for healthcare providers.

In-person, virtual, or hybrid - we’ve delivered impactful events in every format—from networking events, training sessions, and roundtable meetings to CME-accredited conferences and symposiums. Event idea? Let’s make it happen!

Melanoma Blog(s) Updates - a Quick Check-in

Every year around this time I get a bit twitchy about my upcoming cancer-versary, it's soon annual CT scan time, and so I need to stop and smell the roses. Many amazing things have happened in my life in the last year, it's really been non-stop around here - all good stuff! And never a dull moment. Mike and I travelled around BC a bunch, including a raucous Camaro trip to the Kooteneys, and a stunning camping trip to Bella Coola. 

Also news: Claire and Cass moved here to Prince George (haha right - I never thought I'd say those words!) and are settling in beautifully. I of course am thrilled that we are back to living close to eachother!!! They are loving PG and immersing themselves in their new city.  We're slowly but surely getting their Toronto-blood-pressures down, and the imminent spring weather is going to greatly help that when we can get back out there for camping, exploring, and adventuring. 

In the meantime... work. Mike and I both have been burning the candle at both ends the past couple of seasons. Mike worked BC Elections as he loves to do, and then took on a side gig here in town to help him pass the winter (aka non-Camaro) season. I've still been working with Community Futures but also was part of a Scientific Planning Committee (my first one!) to bring a two-day accredited for Physicians hybrid conference to Prince George for Lymphedema Education. It was a large undertaking and I am honoured to have been able to support this event with my conference planning skills. Not long after that, I was part of the team who brought the B2B Expo to the Prince George business community - another large project I am proud to have been part of. These recent refreshers have reminded me how much I love to plan and facilitate corporate events, and how my professional efforts need to swing more in that direction. 

Sprinkled in between all of that was also a little bit of time with Save Your Skin Foundation! In February, SYSF invited me to host their Fireside Chat and speak on the topic of "Connecting to Your New Normal." It did stretch my cancer patient muscles a bit - I dusted off some decade-old feelings about this disease and shared my story and perspectives on life after cancer, hopefully giving even just one person a glimmer of hope in their skin cancer journey. 

SYSF has now posted the recording of my talk, and a short blog re-capping my melanoma and Save Your Skin story. You can check these out here and here: 

SYSF February 2025 Fireside Chat: "Connecting to Your New Normal" 

with host Natalie Allan, Cancer Survivor & Motivational Speaker

Thank you Kathy and Save Your Skin Foundation, for being there for me, and for Mike, our families, and all of the patients and caregivers your life-saving work supports in the cancer community. 🙌

I'm grateful to have some re-connects with my melanoma friends and family, and these opportunities help me to pause and reflect, and celebrate almost 11 years since I was first diagnosed, and I am HERE. 🙏 xoxoxo

🧡

One more quick note before I dash off to the next thing - just this very morning I received an email from Feedspot notifying me that my blog was again on the Top Melanoma Blogs list! Surprising as I haven't posted as much since last receiving this honour in 2017, but a very welcome nod and neat timing as I was just preparing to post about the SYSF event. Thank you @Feedspot - I appreciate #29 and will happily share your new badge. Great to see so many of my old friends and melahomies on this list as well! 🥰

Update - We Got Married!

Today Mike and I posted on social media the news of our recent marriage. On facebook and the other personal and professional social media platforms, we shared a few short words and a photo and drone-video, keeping it brief and true to us. But... on my blog I hold a bit more creative (aka wordy) license, and cannot resist saying a few extra things about our happy news!

Mike is the man of my dreams, a truly wonderful person inside and out, a fellow melanoma warrior - though he is brave and strong enough to call himself a melanoma survivor! - a true inspiration, and my best friend. Mike is intelligent and insightful, can always be relied upon by his friends and family, is invariably adventure-driven, and the funnest person I know. I am unspeakably honoured to share with him this crazy thing called life, and I thank my blessed stars every day that we found each other. 

Mr. Allan and I eloped last weekend, had a quiet ceremony at home, and shared this sacred moment between us with every emotion in our hearts and on our faces. We take this union very seriously, cherishing each other, knowing how quickly life can change and how important every moment is to live to the fullest. As the marriage commissioner prompted our words, the sweetness in the air was tangible, and we vowed to love and care for each other as husband and wife for the rest of our days. 

With an overflowing abundance of love and gratitude, yours truly,

💗 Mrs. Natalie Allan

~ with photography - and love-filled heart! - creds to Mr. Michael Allan 😎💕

Us - in our neighbourhood magazine!

Well... honestly I'm not even sure where to start with this one. I've frequently reported how I tend to find myself in interesting situations at the most interesting times. Today is no different! And now Mike and I are "in it" together 😁 

We have landed on the cover of a magazine! We did submit ourselves to this - after several months of viewing non-local families being featured in our residential-neighbourhood magazine available in print and delivered to our mailbox monthly, we decided to put our voices to task and contribute to the local publication and share our family story to save the reading masses from random United States etc. family features from flooding our mail. 

Simply enough, we contacted the College Heights (Prince George suburb we live in and love) magazine publisher Best Version Media to submit our story for local interest coverage. Lo and behold, they said "Yes! Fill out this questionnaire and we'll feature you!" And here we are. 

Mike Allan and I wrote every word of this article together:

(I'm pretty sure this supports my BC Citizenship application!!)

Words cannot express how grateful I am for this incredible man with whom I now share my life - he is my dream come true, literally! Mike - amazing human, my partner, I love you. 💖 I am SO grateful we are on this crazy path together. Your openness in sharing your cancer journey - and your life journey - with me is something I cherish deeply, identify with, and will always protect and hold dear. 

***

There is no link to a digital version of this article, so you'll have to bear with us on reading the pdf version scanned from the paper magazine. We are still giggling (and snuffling) over this whole thing, and are grateful for the many people who responded to our call for extra copies so that we can share the print magazine with our kids and family members. Thank you College Heights community - this is what it's all about! 

Please also note - our sweet sphynx cat Archer has the centrefold of the magazine, Save Your Skin Foundation is our chosen feature charity, and there is an honourable mention for my long-time pal Reese, the eternal blog dog 🤎

SO much love xoxoxoxo

Brought in the New Year like the Old Days!

Claire and Cass came to visit us in Prince George BC!

The main annual holiday celebration for the three of us girls has always been New Year's Eve (in addition to our birthdays - we declare holidays on those days too 😇). Family fun NYEs being a lifelong favourite of mine, I passed down the tradition, and this year, we were reunited for bringing in 2023.

Travel was involved - the girls made the trek from Toronto on the two flights it takes to get here, including "the propeller plane" that Claire hasn't been super impressed with the thought of since I moved to the wild northwest. They arrived late afternoon Dec-31 and we were all ready for a full week together, relaxing, sightseeing, meeting our family and friends here, visiting Reese, enjoying the great outdoors, and talking, talking, talking!  

I can't help but think about the funny paths life can take us on, as I sometimes still do when looking around here pondering where I have come to live, in far-off PG. Alongside that - what an odd place for the girls to take a winter vacation! haha

Travel with the girls was a priority of mine while they were growing up as I feel it is important for kids to see the world outside of their bubble. We were fortunate to have family help on some trips over the years, and of course, my work opened the door to a few of our adventures together as well. Thankfully all of this experience made my trusty traveler daughters adept at flying here and open to all that the trip and location could offer. 

Our first airplane trip together was to Florida to visit their Baba and GeeGee when they were little munchkins. (Enter a few photos to support my reminiscing... hopefully the girls are too busy to see this blog so I won't get in trouble for posting these old photos! 😉 )

 

Florida, 2011

Then we went to California in 2017

And we got to go to London, and Manchester, UK together in 2018! That was quite a trip, I'd love to go back to London again. 

London

Manchester, England

And I have to post this famous moment in our lives LOL 

- the photo which to this day is my phone's home screen:

A boat ride on the Thames after we visited the Tower of London

The girls' first time to BC was in 2019 - Vancouver, and Chilliwack for a friend's wedding.

Lonsdale Quay, North Van captured their hearts

Notable mentions also - in high school Cass went to Italy and Spain on a school trip, and Claire went across Canada a couple of times in a big truck.

Ahhh travel... I could talk about it all day. And the girls' travel to Prince George! SO thrilled to have been able to ring in the new year all together, and have a week to hang out.

We had a blast showing them the sights. Mr. PG of course, and we took them to their first winery, and brewery, grown-up women that they are now. We had a spa day, and spent lots of time on the deck with the fire pit, listening to the trains. We went bowling with Mike's kids and grands, had a meet'n'greet with several of our friends, and we went to a few of our favourite restaurants in between home-cooking our family-favourite meals. 

Oh - and giant trees! Unlike Ontario trees... this giant Cottonwood:

(that's me tree-hugging)

One of the highlights of the visit was the afternoon we went for a back-roads tour to show the girls some forest service roads and try to spot a moose. We went out to Blackwater Canyon for tailgate-BBQ smokies and to "pretend" we were camping for an afternoon. It was pretty wild! They've certainly never done anything like that before (as I hadn't before Mike showed me the ropes), and because they were here in January we couldn't camp, but we could do a day trip, give them a taste of how we do it here. They loved it!

Alas, reality called, and Claire and Cass had to go home to their lives in Toronto, but they plan to come back in the summer. We'll go camping then, and scout out more big trees - and bears! And the elusive moose we missed this time. I can't wait!! 😁 In the meantime I'll go back to visit them in the spring, and we'll plan more adventures then.

We🧡PG

Happy New Year!! All the best in 2023

***

Aside... something I'd love to share here too - I've mentioned before our stops at Mr. PG when we have company from out of town - we noticed a couple of interesting "offerings" at the base of Mr. PG this time. Pretty cute, and I'll be curious to see if it catches on. Here is a photo of one of the items we found at his feet...well, base.  

Cool video about him recently too! Check it out here: Landmarks S1 EP 2 Mr.PG