There is nothing about Tetyana Golota’s life that’s typical.
Her early years were spent on her grandparents’ farm in the mountains of the Ukraine.
Her teenage years saw her hunkered down at college, after the prodigy gained early admission at the age of 14.
In her 20s, she and her husband immigrated to Canada — without knowing how to speak English — with their young son after her mariner father visited Vancouver and raved about its welcoming Ukrainian community.
And in her 30s, while establishing a career, Golota was plying her trade in a press shop, much like her mother did back home in their native Odessa. In between her shifts, she ran two successful businesses on Port Moody’s main drag: La Boutique Consignment, a used clothing store, and Around the House Consignments, a furniture shop.
But six years ago, just shy of her 40th year, the Coquitlam entrepreneur had an ‘aha’ moment.
She was being wheeled into surgery at Royal Columbian Hospital when she turned her head to see her husband, a licensed practical nurse.
He was sitting, his face white and expressionless.
Golota kept his worried look in her head and thought, “If I get through this, things are going to be different. I’m going to be a better person.”
A year earlier, Golota had been diagnosed with a brain tumour, discovered during a routine X-ray to figure out why she couldn’t shake a cold.
Doctors monitored the tumour for a year, first ordering a CT scan at Burnaby General Hospital, then MRIs every three months.
In 2012, after talking with three neurosurgeons, she agreed to have her skull cut open to have the tumour removed. By then, it had doubled in size.
Golota came out of the operation with a massive scar on the right side of her head to add to other aches and pains compounded by previous diagnoses of fibromyalgia and arthritis.
She also emerged as a new person, one who was more determined to make a difference.
“I was given a second chance,” she said. “It’s not that my life was boring but it was not fulfilling. I thought, ‘What is my life? Am I happy?’ I knew I had a good education and childhood but you have a movie of your life in your head and I didn’t want mine to be a black-and-white one. I want it to be in colour.”
Because of her long-term disability (she has peripheral vision loss), Golota wasn’t able to do much at first.
To combat depression, she sewed mini dresses — using haute couture material donated to La Boutique that she was unable to sell — and encased her artwork in shadow boxes. She also made hats and fascinators (decorative head pieces), pushing through the arthritis as the best she could.
Golota also created a new business, called Happy Lifestyle Inc., and got more involved in her community, joining political campaigns, charities and women’s networks such as She Talks.
About two years ago, her friend Mary Zilba, of the Real Housewives of Vancouver fame, invited her to a Vancouver Fashion Week show.
“I was mesmerized,” Golota remembered. “It opened a whole new world for me.”
Tapping techniques her grandmother taught her as a tailor to fellow villagers back in the Ukraine, Golota launched her own designer projects with the help of fashion industry mentors.
With a focus on charity, she showcased her garments on catwalks during Eco Fashion Week in Vancouver and Seattle, and at the Little Black Dress gala.
Next Friday will be the third time her outfits have been featured at the gala, which benefits the Help Change My City Alliance, a non-profit that helps troubled and underprivileged youth in Metro Vancouver.
At that fashion show, 14 models (including The Tri-City News’ publisher Shannon Mitchell and sales rep Sheryl Jones) will exhibit 19 of Golota’s creations and hats.
In the meantime, Golota will get ready to compete as Ms. Canada Universal Elegance in England in September. Her new title comes after she vied for the Mrs. Canada Globe crown in Regina in March as the reigning Mrs. BC.
Golota, who holds a master’s degree in engineering, said she especially loves pageant duties and meeting new people from around the world. Already, she has connected on Facebook with Ms. Universal competitors in Belgium, China, South Asia and Australia.
“That’s my main goal,” Golota said. “I want to meet with them. They are very strong and smart women. They inspire me.”
She said her past modelling work will also give her an edge at the international event. Previously, she appeared in Vogue UK and Vogue India, the latter as a featured eco designer.
Golota shakes her head at her achievements over the past five years, despite having a disability. “I had no clue that this is where my life would lead me,” she said. “I’m waking up in pain every day and I struggle sometimes to get through it. But I find so much to keep me going: my family, my friends, my new path in life.
“Each day is a blessing.”
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LITTLE BLACK DRESS GALA
The Little Black Dress gala is a spring charity fundraiser on May 26 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver (900 West Georgia St.) and features the work of 17 local designers — both emerging and professional.
Proceeds support the Help Change My City Alliance, a non-profit organization that works with troubled and underprivileged youth. Tickets ($45) are available via littleblackdressgala.ca.
