Meet Jesse Finkelstein Founder of Page Two And 2019 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards TELUS Trailblazer Award Finalist

Jesse Finkelstein

Founder, Page Two

TELUS Trailblazer Award Finalist

Jesse Finkelstein and Trena White have 35 years of combined experience in book publishing. The pair worked together at D&M Publishers until 2012, when the company went into creditor protection. With their backs against the wall, they choose to take a leap of faith and found Page Two — a company that helps non-fiction authors navigate all of their options for publication, and helps organizations with their publishing activities.

My first job ever was… camp counsellor at a bilingual camp. I loved helping kids build friendships with one another across a language gap, forging lasting bonds while they learned English or French and breaking down the “two solitudes” barriers we often experienced growing up in Quebec.

I decided to be an entrepreneur because… I was convinced that there was a better way to provide an exceptional publishing experience to subject-matter experts, thought leaders, organizations, and other entrepreneurs, and I knew that no one else was doing it the way that I wanted to. I also saw an opportunity to build the company with the person I admired most in the publishing landscape: Trena White, who is Page Two’s co-founder and the best business partner anyone could ask for. The mutual admiration and respect that Trena and I have for one another is the heart and soul of Page Two, and I believe that it’s laid the foundation for our success. 

My proudest accomplishment is… learning to own my sense of accomplishment and ambition as an entrepreneur, and doing it while raising a family. When we launched Page Two, my kids were old enough to understand that I was doing something bold and new, as well as trying to earn a good living for our family, and I know they appreciate that even though I’ve chaperoned very few school field trips and always take my laptop to hockey practice. They see that I can take great pride in work and great joy in raising them, and those things aren’t mutually exclusive. That feels like a big win for me.     

I surprise people when I tell them… I used to be terribly shy and introverted. I worked hard to overcome that and now I love reaching out to new people and spending time among strangers who might become colleagues, clients or friends. This is a good thing because Page Two depended on my (and my business partner, Trena’s) ability to do that!

My best advice to people looking to disrupt the status quo is… hold on to your vision, but not dogmatically. As a disruptor, you’ll face naysayers and others who resist the way you’re challenging their practices and assumptions. Listen to the thoughtful ones; their responses will help you refine your offering so that it’s even stronger than it otherwise would be. And of course let yourself be uplifted by those who believe in you from the beginning – they’re the wind in your sails.

My best advice from a mentor was… my mom told me that every problem will have its own solution (which I call faith), and my dad told me that people will respect me if I stand up for myself, even if it’s uncomfortable or inconvenient for them (which I call chutzpah). Those two pieces of advice have guided my life and career, especially in challenging moments. 

“Self-care is a big buzzword these days in business and only now am I realizing how critical it is for my own sense of peace and well-being. Sleep, exercise, healthy food, and downtime — they are not optional.”

My biggest setback was… working at a company that went through a bankruptcy process. It was heartbreaking to see the end of a beloved independent publisher and it was a time of great professional strife for all of us who worked there. 

I overcame it by… relying on the wisdom of a great mentor and role model, Anne Giardini, who phoned me as soon as she heard the company news. She told me that if I could hang on through the grinding months ahead as we dealt with selling assets and dealing with creditors while losing our jobs, I would find it to be an invaluable learning experience that would help me build more resilience than I even knew I had. She was right; I think that experience emboldened me and gave me the courage to become an entrepreneur.

I never go a day without… feeling grateful for the privilege of the loving, prosperous family into which I was born, and feeling grateful for my mental health and that of my kids. 

If I had an extra hour in the day I would… read for fun instead of for work! 

I stay inspired by… spending time among my female friends and colleagues. Their strength, resilience, and creativity are astounding and I love learning from them.

The future excites me because… Page Two has been very successful in its first six years yet I feel like we’re just getting started. We now have an amazing team who are poised to run the company so Trena and I can find new ways to build on and refine our offering. Recently, one of our employees said she feels that the possibilities at Page Two are “limitless” and it thrilled me to think that our team members feel that way too.