We're in a pressure-filled sport for sure, but anything in an Olympic season is heightened, the highs are higher and the lows are lower, and everything just takes on grander proportions.
Hydration is a key thing, as an athlete yes, but also for your skin, and I do notice the biggest difference when I stay hydrated.
There's no easy way to the top of anything, but it's a lot of hard work and I feel maybe I have the confidence in that recipe, or the confidence in myself.
We found our joy in being athletes in PyeongChang. Our biggest joy was being on the ice. Every moment revolved around just what it would take to win the Olympics.
Understanding my worth in the market is part of my job, and ensuring I am valued is important to me. I love negotiating, and do so frequently for contracts. I am fair and reasonable, but willing to walk away if a deal cannot be struck.
Women in figure skating, like in every other industry, are expected to conform to an unrealistic standard of beauty. Unhealthy habits are often encouraged to promote a thin frame, and young girls idealize a skewed definition of 'fit.'
Given my travels, I've learned to be more open and feel much more comfortable experimenting with food.
I think that's the beauty of the Olympics. There's always a story. There's always someone you're invested in. There are so many Olympic moments that resonate with people all across Canada, and I think that's the beauty of it.
You have your best workouts when you go in thinking you don't want to do it, because you're so satisfied with your own determination and grit.
I don't think I'm going to look back and wish that I spent more time worrying about my muscles or fat or whatever.
I do feel different whether I'm in the gym or on the ice when I have a cute outfit on. I think most girls can relate - you carry yourself differently.
I think the way you present yourself to the world, whatever kind of task you're tackling, is really important.
There are many things I love about my job! For instance, as a creative outlet, there's no better way to express myself than through choreography and physical movement.
A lot of the figure skating costumes are kind of revealing, so I think it's nice to have glowing, soft, smooth skin.
What I love about Nivea is they're all about authenticity. The brand isn't pretending to be anything it isn't.
I really want to learn French so I think it would be great to go and live in France and maybe learn the language for a few months.
Hair and makeup has become part of my pre-competition routine. It's a quiet time, when I can reflect, I can put on some music - and I can mentally get in the zone of performance.
When we're choreographing, we're on the ice five or six hours a day. The setting for your skin is just horrendous - the stress and the competition makeup and the training itself.
We come from a rich history of amazing sports and athletes here in Canada and there's been a long legacy before us that helped pave the way. And that's why I grew up believing I could go to the Olympics and stand on the podium one day.
When you have a sense of yourself in space, in your movement, in your muscles, you can express yourself through your body, your instrument. You learn so much about who you are and what your truth is.
At all times, there's discussion about the percentage of body fat I have, how I look on the ice and about how much skin a certain costume is showing.
I love the idea of women empowering other women. We need to come together and support one another and embrace one another.
I have a muscular build and I've learned to embrace that because it's makes me strong, giving me speed and power on the ice. It's a different kind of femininity - one that doesn't fit the norm.
I joined the Young Philanthropists Circle at the Musee Des Beaux Arts, we have little events every month where you learn about a different artist and you see the exhibit and you get an inside an inside look at the technique used.
I want to ensure that I'm sending the right messages and that I'm empowering others, and doing things that feel like they're in line with my values.
We've had the good fortune of performing to live music a few times in our career and it always creates a different dynamic.
Ultimately, and I can appreciate this as I get older, those quirks and those differences are what I find so attractive about other people, that's what I think being beautiful is.
The more people feel comfortable to showcase that and the more we highlight that as a visibility for young girls to see and look up to - I think that's better.
Everyone has those insecurities, everyone doubts themselves but it's how we handle that as humans and as people and how we support one another and how we really embrace the things that make us unique.