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Page 32 | MASQUERADE | Summer 2009

Barbara Williams

LPCI

arts students had the opportunity to meet representatives of the arts

and entertainment community during the annual Career in the Arts afternoon
on Wednesday, February 11, 2009.

by Nick Ashbourne

hings don't always go according to the

plan. In fact, they rarely ever do. Careers
are no exception, so people rarely end
up where they had planned. For alumna
Barbara Williams, that is just fi ne!

With confi dence, charisma and a bit

of luck, Barbara Williams has made the
journey from student VP of Lawrence
Park CI to Executive VP of Canwest
Global, with no plan to speak of.

Williams recently returned to her old

stomping grounds at LPCI to share her
experiences with students as a part of
"Career in the Arts" day.

"I loved Lawrence Park," she says, lean-

ing back in her chair. "What I remember
most was in my fi nal year. I was the Vice
President of the student council, and
the guy who was the President with me
is now my husband." She says this as if
it is extremely common and perfectly
unremarkable.

"We knew who we were and what we

were doing, and we were in control of
our lives at that stage, and I'm not sure
I've felt in control since," she says, fl ash-
ing a sly smile.

Despite her knowledge of what

she was doing at the time, she hadn't

decided what she wanted to do in the
future. "I don't think I had any clue, and
I'm amazed to hear young people today
talk with such clarity and focus about
their ambitions and how they're going
to get there."

After graduating Lawrence Park,

Williams completed a BA at the Univer-
sity of Toronto. A self described "news

junkie," Williams took courses in politics
and economics and developed an inter-
est in journalism. She took her fi rst job
as a receptionist at a minor "all-news"
radio station in Toronto. After a brief
stint there, she returned to school to
take a second degree at the University of
Syracuse.

"After that I did a lot of things before

I started my fi rst TV job, moving tapes
at what is now Omni. I even worked at a
shoe store," says Williams, smiling at the
memory. She then worked for Atlantis
Media, a specialty channel broadcaster.
Her next job was spearheading the team
that launched the channel, Toronto 1,
currently SUNTV. From there, Williams
got a job at Canwest Global and has
worked her way to the top of the com-
pany.

From moving tapes at Omni to choos-

ing content at Global, Williams has
clearly come a long way. In fact, due to
Canwest's recent purchase of Atlantis
Media, she is now in control of many of
the specialty channels she helped estab-
lish earlier in her career.

Williams is in the business of picking

hit TV shows. Sometimes, she says, it's a
gamble with a "success rate in our busi-
ness of about 25%."

"Every single hit on my competitor's

channels I've had a shot at and vice
versa," says Williams. Williams initially
refrained from naming any examples but
eventually admitted, "I would do any

C a r e e r s i n t h e A r t s

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