Vanessa Ferlaino

Vanessa has done many things, and has been many people; she has been an award-winning corporate innovator at a national telecommunications company; she has been an executive at a gene therapy company; and she has also done investment and portfolio strategy for medtech companies. She has also watched her father lose his battle to brain cancer at the age of 49; took too long to realize how a man had taken her voice away; and has made many other questionable choices that forced her to address the trust and value she places on herself.

In her questioning, she found many answers turning inward. Unsure where to begin, she began expressing herself through her artistry: acting training and writing kept her reflecting and curious; piano and vocal work kept her busy (as she’s self-taught) and more importantly, in touch with her emotions and connection with herself and others. She rediscovered her roots; growing up in the small town of Sault Ste Marie, in a multicultural family with a Mexican mother and Italian father, the choices and life events that took her to Toronto, Calgary, Mexico, and then back to Toronto, she now sees all of these pieces of herself that had been lost, covered, and tucked away in the expectations and framework of society.

With a new lens, Vanessa sees the system we live in, but thankfully, as an artist, she also sees beyond this framework into the larger world we exist with. She puts these two visions together to share what #beinghuman means and how the movement was born.

Visit: vanessaferlaino.com

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Challenging the meaning of life is the truest expression of the state of being human.

viktor e. frankl