From a boating company to innovative courier services, meet serial entrepreneur Nathalie D’Aoust

Reinventing an industry isn’t easy, but someone has to do it. Nathalie D’Aoust was up to the challenge, opening a same-day courier service in 1995 in Montreal (and winning awards to top it off), a motor-boating business in the Dominican Republic in 2000, and her most recent entrepreneurial success, VCourrier, a just-in-time delivery service.

Nathalie has partnered with Cisco’s Circle of Innovation, an internship program managed by Cisco, Communitech, and Business Development Bank of Canada with interns from the University of Waterloo, to help grow VCourrier’s digital presence. We asked Nathalie and her new intern, Natalie Beg, about their new partnership and how they’ll be using technology to collaborate and drive future growth and success.

I decided to be an entrepreneur because I needed to express my passion for customer service in my own way.

My boldest move to date was building my company from scratch, one customer at a time.

My best advice to those starting their own business is to follow the voice of your intuition.

I surprise people when I tell them I feel like a free spirit, in charge of my destiny.

Technology has helped my business because my customers can follow the progress of their shipments at any time. That gives them peace of mind. They can also place their shipment requests on our website, which simplifies their life.

I plan to use technology in the future to be more mobile-focused in our service offering. Our approach will help customers be more efficient.

Meet Nathalie’s intern, Natalie Beg

School: University of Waterloo

Program: Honours Computer Engineering Co-op

Year of Study: Second

What are you looking forward to at your new internship?

I look forward to being inspired by successful women in business and technology through the mentorship opportunities Cisco is offering. It’s also very exciting to be able to assist female entrepreneurs in bettering the technological reach of their companies. It is an overwhelming honor to be part of such a unique outreach program and I’m certain my time at Cisco will be memorable.

How will you use technology to engage with your new employers?

As part of a virtual internship, technology will be a very important bridge for collaboration with the entrepreneurs across the country. The advanced video conferencing technologies that Cisco creates will be very exciting to use as someone with a passion for innovative tech.

Are you a new business looking to build a team remotely? The Cisco Entrepreneur Xperience solution features everything you need to get your business communicating, collaborating, and connected. Customized for your business size and needs, the product bundle is simple to deploy and cost-effective. Fill in this quick form to receive more information on this “Office in a Box” offer.