Famous Gwich'in skiiers and Olympians Sharon and Shirley Firth are on new stamps released by Canada Post after a ceremony last week in Calgary, AB.
"Not to be egotistical but I think it's fabulous," said Sharon with a laugh.
Sharon attended the ceremony in Calgary and her sister Shirley, who died in 2013 at age 59, was represented by her husband, Jan Larsson, as well as her daughters, Marie and Nina Larsson.
Sharon said it was great to see everybody and meet people from around the North whom she had never met before.
"To show them what we've done in life, it really motivated and inspired them," said Sharon. "So hopefully when they go back to their communities they could get involved in helping youth or even in their own personal life."
The Firth sisters were at the top of Nordic skiing in Canada from the late 1960s to the mid-‘80s, winning 79 medals at national championships, including 48 titles. They competed in four Olympic Games and four World Ski Championships.
In those days, the two sisters would go to schools and help out young people. After skiing, Sharon made this into a career.
"It's in my blood," she said.
She is currently a youth and volunteer leadership specialist with the GNWT, travelling to all 33 communities to help out and spread her message.
"It's not everyone who's gonna reach for the stars and go to the Olympics," she said. "That's not the message I send out. It's to be active and wake up in the morning and show up. That's always how I thought of making it in life."
It's not just sports, either – it's the approach anyone takes to anything they want to excel at.
"If you're going to do well in your job you need discipline. If you're going to do well in sports you need discipline. It carries through life, the discipline. And you fall. We fall. Gotta get back up, you know, and move forward."
While she said cross-country skiing is a sport one can do from the cradle to the grave, Sharon said these days her main activity is Nordic walking – something she can do with friends to get some fresh air and exercise to break up the workday.
"With Nordic walking it's walk and talk, so it's very social. You solve the world's problems and you solve the nutrition problems and the addiction problems," she said with a laugh. "It's fun to get involved with other people and see what their views are on life in general."
This year she'll be watching the Olympics with special interest. Jesse Cockney, the son of her contemporary Angus Cockney, is Team Canada's cross-country skiing roster.
"It's really encouraging and inspiring that he's made it to his second Olympics. It's going to be very tough over there.
"It's incredible we have Brendan Greene, also. He's going into his third Olympics. And Kevin Koe, I'm just so impressed that he made the team. That was my dream to see curling in the Olympics because we grew up with curling in Aklavik."