In the editorial on their website, Road to Possible states that it “is not about politics. However, living is political”. Operating across multiple platforms, the organization is home to a web series, an interactive website, mobile apps, and a planned 1/2 hour broadcast series. The mission of Road to Possible is to profile real people who are in tune with their authentic selves and are in pursuit of their dream lives. With over 50 people worldwide sharing their stories, Road to Possible creates a sense of relatability to those who are considering their options or ready to commit to a career path.
Founded by Lesley Apelbaum and Edward Heeley, the organization was cultivated as a response to the societal expectation to have all the answers regarding one’s life path. Lesley reflects, “There is this pressure to know exactly what you want to do as soon as you finish high school so that you can go to university. A lot of people I’ve spoken to through Road to Possible have expressed that university should be a place for people to explore what they want to do”.
Through their work, Lesley and Ed hope to add a less rigid, more inspired perspective to the conversation. “Hopefully, doing Road to Possible will help show people that it is okay to not know and that it’s also okay to change. We’re profiling a lot of young people who have changed paths or who have gone down a different stream that they weren’t expecting”.
When asked about their purpose for creating Road to Possible, Ed admits “The reason we’re doing it is we didn’t come up with defining that there was a need for it. What drove the series was the fidelity to content. Letting the audience find the program because we are telling the truth. We’re hoping that it has a direct impact on young people to tune into their dreams and ambitions and who they are as people”.
As politically charged conversations dominate the main sources of content, Road to Possible attempts to step back from the noise and focus solely on the people. “Living is political” is a bold statement that exposes the weight of the minuscule details of our existence. “Living is political because the cost of food, housing, interpersonal relationships in the neighbourhood are tremendously important”, Ed explains.
“It’s not about choosing something to fight against. Although it is important to choose something to fight against, whether that’s racism, social injustice, poverty, the gun issue. But at the same time, you must recognize that everything you do in life is political because of the sociological inter-reacting between people, as well as the community structure”.
Through Road to Possible, Ed and Lesley explore how people choose to take up space in the community structure that we all live in.Ed and Lesley aim to profile real people who are living their dreams in the most authentic way. Free of expectations from authority figures, peers, and society, Road to Possible does not seek celebrity figures or influencers as their subjects. “It’s about building an audience, because we feel like the message behind Road to Possible has a universality to it. There is a universality to having dreams. Whether someone pursues those dreams is a totally different story”, Lesley admits.
Through cultivating this type of audience, Road to Possible builds a community for people who need the inspiration from other people’s stories. It is a safe and honest place for those who are in search of what is possible for people like themselves. When asked about a time in her life when Road to Possible would’ve been helpful, Lesley reflects on her post-secondary graduation.
“Having something like this would’ve been helpful and would’ve given me more hope. It would’ve taken some of the pressure off around the time of graduation. I was trained as an actor, so there is a lot of expectation to book a lot of auditions, get an agent, and do all these things that I was not mentally prepared for. I was no longer sure if that was what I really wanted. So, having Road to Possible at that time would’ve given me that sense of community of other people who were also figuring it out”. The profiles, stories, and wisdom from Ed and Lesley provide perspective, tools, and inspiration for people from all walks of life to find their limitless potential
For more information, visit http://www.roadtopossible.com/
Author: Vanessa Butera, Content Writer, The Onside Media, Toronto, Canada. If you have stories to share kindly email: – vanessa.butera@theonside.com
