As a teenager, Kristen's only interests were music, partying and preparing for the next party ... oh, and boys of course.

Kristen is my daughter.

Listening to music, she says now, was her way to "prokristenate" and she became a great "prokristenator" ...so great, she dropped out of school after Grade 11.

It took two years of dead end jobs and a lot of late night parties before she finally decided to "... eat a lot of humble pie and go back to school with my friends' younger brothers and sisters."

Her self confidence still a little shaky, it was her good fortune to meet Miss Rob, an exceptional teacher who found a way to give her the confidence, focus and motivation she needed to do well and go on to university ... although, after two years, having got what she felt she needed, she dropped out.

Soon after that, she moved to Whistler to spend a little time as a "ski bum". Two years later, as she was getting ready to leave and get a "real job", the mayor took her for lunch and encouraged her to stay. "Whistler needs people like you," he told her.

A few days later, a senior manager from Blackcomb Mountain ate at the restaurant for the first time and sat in Kristen's section. He too was impressed and offered her a job in Guest Services, a job that gave her experience writing media releases, working on special events, and an assignment to do snow reports on the local radio station.

The next year that job led to her doing traffic and special event reporting on air and, soon after that, a "what's happening" column for one of the local papers. Two years of covering special events led her into the special events field and eventually a job as the producer of the Word Ski and Snowboard Festival, the job she's had for the past five years.

Kristen's ongoing passion for music came in handy while working with the World Ski and Snowboard Festival. A good part of her responsibility involved finding and hiring emerging bands, good bands that hadn't quite made it yet, bands they could afford and she was really good at it - The first time she hired Nickleback, she paid them primarily with free room and board and ski passes. They are now in the $150,000 a night range.

Hiring, watching, and becoming friends, with the people in bands like Nickleback, Default and Swollen Members gave her the confidence she needed to take the big jump and move to Toronto, the centre of the Canadian music industry.

"I saw what can happen when you have passion for what you are doing, a clear vision, and a willingness to pay your dues and work hard," she says.

So, just a few weeks ago, she moved back to Toronto to set up her own little company and find a niche where she can help emerging bands get their first big break.

Right now she's working with a major sponsor to develop a nation-wide tour involving 100 dates for three emerging bands. Some of her responsibilities will be to find and secure the bands, confirm the deals with local promoters, and create and implement the national marketing plan. Sounds exciting doesn't it?

Who could have guessed that all those "wasted teenage years" spent partying and listening to music would give her the foundation she'd need to create such an interesting career?

Could something similar be happening to a young person in your life? If they are off track now, chances are they'll find their way back, get a break or two, meet a mentor or two ... and do just fine.