“We were safe in our town—but we didn’t know if that would change”: Why this children’s book author and her COO husband left Massachusetts for Toronto

Who: Shari Becker, 53, children’s book author and entrepreneur, and John Gauch, 57, fractional COO Known for: Educating the next generation of children’s authors (Becker) and helping start-ups like Axiom and Spartan transform their industries (Gauch) Moved from: Brookline, Massachusetts, in August of 2021

Shari Becker: I was born and raised in Montreal, and I moved to New York in the mid-1990s for graduate school. That’s where I met John. We got married in 1999, and our daughters were born in the US in 2003 and 2005.

John Gauch: I’m from Tarrytown, New York, but I’ve always felt connected to Canada. I had relatives from Windsor, and growing up I spent summers in Michigan just north of Sarnia.

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Becker: When Donald Trump was elected the first time, we were living in Brookline, an independent municipality next to Boston. It’s a hyper-progressive place. I’ve always felt that its values were quite aligned with Canada’s: health care access for all; equal rights regardless of race, gender or sexuality. It’s ranked as the second most educated community in America, which makes sense since it’s so close to Harvard, Boston College and a slew of other schools.

Gauch: I started off as a corporate attorney and then worked with tech start-ups at a multinational law firm. I held a series of positions at IBM and alternative legal service provider Axiom before joining the leadership team at Spartan Race in 2014. At the time, they were trying to become what Iron Man was to triathlons but for obstacle racing. Our job was to turn their races from a trend to a proper sport, with training programs, trainers and a fitness philosophy. It was a big job. From there, I moved to working as a part-time COO for start-ups, which is what I do now.

Becker: My company, Whale Rock Literary Workshops, offers master-level writing workshops for children’s literature authors. It came together rather suddenly. John’s mom is a former vice-president at Penguin, and she wanted to do a writing workshop with children’s book author Gary Schmidt but couldn’t find a venue. I used to work in project management at Nickelodeon, so I offered to run the event. My company now runs dozens of workshops a year for hundreds of authors. And I’m a writer too. Two of my books—Maxwell’s Mountain, about a young boy getting lost in a park, and Sprouting Wings, a book I co-authored about Black aviator James Banning—have been named Junior Library Guild Selections.

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Gauch: Until a few years ago, we’d never really considered relocating from the US to Canada—not even when Trump was elected the first time, and he passed the so-called Muslim travel ban on his seventh day in office. It was a train wreck. Even the people enforcing it were confused. That foreshadowed the rest of his term: poorly thought-out and executed decision after decision.

Becker: Our family knew we were safe in our town—our politicians weren’t restricting abortions or trying to ban books—but there was this constant sense of anxiety. We felt a pervasive sense of dread. Both of our daughters have friends whose parents are immigrants and friends who are gay, bi or trans. We have friends who are gay. I also have a good friend whose husband is a Trump supporter, and I really struggled with that. How could I sit at this person’s table and eat his food when I knew he’d voted against women’s and LGBTQ rights? But I believe in building bridges through dialogue. My friend and I have had many impassioned conversations, and we have preserved our relationship. I’m glad we did.

Gauch: I felt some relief when Joe Biden was sworn in, definitely more than Shari did. She was prescient; I was naïve. The party in charge of the government changed, but the overall atmosphere did not. Red states were still attacking women’s rights and banning books. New president, same conflicts.

Becker: During Covid, my dad, who was living in Montreal, got very sick, and I couldn’t come see him. And because my extended family was in Canada and John’s was out of town, we had no one to bubble with outside of our immediate household. We began to feel quite lonely, and the news cycle wasn’t getting any better. I started to think, We don’t have to do this: I’m Canadian. It didn’t take us long to realize that we could pull off a move. John was already working with a Canadian company. Our younger daughter was in Grade 9 at the time, and when we brought up the idea, she was open to it.

Gauch: We left Massachusetts for Toronto in August of 2021. At first, we lived in a rental in midtown, next to Shari’s sister’s house. Then, last year, we bought a little semi-detached house 10 minutes south of there. I love our neighbourhood, its pace and walkability, and our neighbours have been very welcoming. I still love the US, and my family and many colleagues are there. Being in Toronto gives us a buffer, but I’m anxious about what’s happening in my country.

Becker: Our older daughter just graduated from university in Texas. Her outlook is constantly shifting. Some days, she tells me America is her home. Other days, she seems relieved that Canadian citizenship is on the table. She once called me asking, “If one of my friends gets in trouble, can we bring them to Canada?” Early on, our youngest noticed that the kids in Toronto are far more chilled out than her friends in the US. Which makes sense—they aren’t constantly worrying about school shootings, among other things. Living here has allowed her a much lighter adolescent experience than her older sister had.

Gauch: Our oldest is exploring the city—Toronto is growing on her. I think she will probably look for a job in the US, though.

Becker: On the work front, I recently brought on a consultant to help grow Whale Rock even further. I’m really enjoying being a part of the Toronto children’s writing community. The writers here are supportive of one another in ways that those in the American community sometimes aren’t. My next picture book will be about volunteers from all around the US coming together to help save a cold-stunned turtle—even if they can’t agree on anything else.

Gauch: One of the companies I’ve acted as COO for in Canada is Synervoz, a Toronto audio engineering start-up. They’ve built a library of audio and voice AI tools that allows developers to create products in weeks rather than months. They’ve also done audio software development and R&D for Bose, Amazon and Meta, and their investors include Slack and Techstars.

Becker: Maybe I’m naïve, but Trump’s impact on Canada doesn’t scare me much. I’ve lived through him once already. He’s like the Tasmanian Devil, wreaking havoc wherever he goes. Yes, there will be effects, but we are a much more stable country, and I really believe Canada is going to be okay.

Gauch: I’m a newcomer, a guest still, but it’s been great to see Canadians bond over their distaste for Trump’s policies. Before he left office, Justin Trudeau talked about how Canadians are friends of the American people and want the same things they do. That’s been my experience. We still have many ties to the States. There’s a lovely cross-border life we can pursue. We still have a lot of hope.