Ami Shah began her career in marketing at P&G, before deciding to shift her career towards working on social- and education-oriented enterprises. She went on to build Peekapak into an award-winning, Canadian edtech organization that teaches social-emotional learning skills such as self-regulation and empathy in the classroom and home. Peekapak reaches over 450K educators and students across North America, using stories, evidence-based lessons, and game-based learning. Behind-the-scenes, teachers receive real-time reports showing a student’s progress and emotional state. This empowers educators to be proactive in helping curb future mental health issues.
My first job ever was… working at my mom’s flower shop making floral arrangements and beinga sales person when I was just 11 years old. It was a fun way to spend time with my mom over thesummer and learn from her how she managed her business.
Idecided to be an entrepreneur because… Igrew up inspired by my mom and her journey instarting her own business.
My best advice for small business owners is… find other business owners you can connect withand relate to. It can sometimes feel overwhelming and lonely running your own business buthaving friends who also own their own business can help provide perspective and the neededsupport.
When starting my business, I wish I knew… how much of a rollercoaster it would be.Through my business in helping children learn to self regulate, I too had a journeylearning to be more mindful of my emotions and learn to practice my ‘calm body’ throughthe highs and lows of running a business.
The future excites me because… mental health and student well-being are now top of mind anda priority for schools. As a result, I think more and more schools will work on ensuring studentshave the right supports to help them not only in the present, but to set students up for lifelongsuccess.
Success to me means… being able to bring quality learning experiences to more students and tohelp them learn these important social emotional learning skills. That is to be able toself-regulate, show empathy, work with others, and make responsible decisions that will allowthem to feel safe and secure in school, at home and within their communities. I wish I had thisgrowing up and I am excited to see how the next generation of students will thrive by havingthese skills in their toolkit.
Umeeda and Nareena Switlo, a mother-daughter team, co-founded Naledo Foods and Beverages in 2016. Offering a line of turmeric products — from an innovative paste to juice blends to soap — the social enterprise and certified B Corp uses sustainable production practices and directly supports small-scale growers, paying 7.5x fair trade prices. Selling in Canada, the United States, and Bahamas, Umeeda and Nareena are committed to providing delicious products that are healthy, sourced and produced sustainably, and empower the communities they work with.
My first job ever was…
Umeeda: As a youth engagement student for the District of North Vancouver, then guide at the Vancouver Aquarium
Nareena: A Barista at a coffee shop in Horseshoe Bay. I was 16 – I loved working the morning shifts on the weekends and was employee of the month a few times. I also had a fun job in University – In October every year I was a scarer at a haunted house! I have had some very interesting and random jobs in my life!
I decided to be an entrepreneur because…
Umeeda: My late husband saw those skills in me and asked me to write a business plan for a Childcare facility called My Little School for 150 children. The bank and he thought it was well planned and gave me a loan to start my first business. I sold it and it is still running today after 30 years.
Nareena: I really believe that I was born to be an entrepreneur. If you were to look at my CV, I never stayed at a job for more than 2 years. I would always want to help the company address inefficiencies or create positive change. Eventually I would see that creating a role for myself in a way that was fulfilling to me wasn’t going to happen while I worked on someone else’s dreams. I think that because I had so many jobs in various industries, it has given me a holistic approach to running Naledo.
My proudest accomplishment is…
Umeeda: The founding of Naledo. It has made the greatest impact on the lives of Belizean growers and our young team Also it has taught Nareena about business and I now feel comfortable leaving it in her hands as soon as we are able.
Nareena: I think going to stores like London Drugs, Whole Foods, Save on Foods, etc. and seeing our product on the shelves! It is still exciting to me and I feel so proud that Truly Turmeric is in people’s homes across the world. Cooking is how my mom, grandmother, and I really connected, so to think that our turmeric paste is part of a family’s lives makes me very proud of everyone on our team.
My biggest setback was…
Umeeda: When I started a ticketing company for events called Community Box Offices. I underestimated the competitor hoping that they would allow another small company into the market. It was a David versus Goliath fight and I lost all my assets and had to start again from my parents basement as a single mother.
Nareena: On a very personal note, I was diagnosed with Endometriosis a few years ago. It can set me back a week or so every few months and is worsened by stress. When you are an entrepreneur and things get stressful, it is really challenging when I have symptoms and cannot work.
I overcame it by…
Umeeda: Working hard for others and proving myself and finding my niche in international development. I made sure everyone was paid and could look forward. I had to overcome my fear of failure which I did in Belize by training young people and accepting the fact that I was afraid. They gave me the strength to begin a new business.
Nareena: I am still learning to manage my health and stress levels — I am a work in progress. But turmeric helps endo, so I am fortunate to have a great supply! I think when you wear so many hats in business it can be hard to put work away. I am flexing my resiliency muscles.
If you Googled me, you still wouldn’t know…
Umeeda: That I am a refugee that came to Canada at the age of 15. I had lost so much and had to begin a new life.
My best advice for small business owners is…
Umeeda: Start small and plan.
Nareena: Do not overspend or take on more debt than you need to. Keep it small and focus on sales.
The one piece of advice I give that I have trouble following myself is…
Umeeda: Take care of myself.
Nareena: When things are stressful and you don’t know what to do to solve a problem, do not hide from it. Keep moving, keep going, and focus on sales!
When starting my business, I wish I knew…
Umeeda: The industry I was entering better by doing a better SWOT analysis.
Nareena: More about accounting! Quickbooks still scares me, and I have a hard time learning that aspect of the business. Thankfully, Umeeda is a great teacher and is helping me to become more confident in financial management.
The future excites me because…
Umeeda: I have a place to play in improving the environment and the lives of challenged individuals.
Nareena: Hmmm… I would say the future both excites and scares me. I see how much our communities and the natural world are struggling with climate change. I try to focus on what I can control, like lowering my consumption of goods, ensuring Naledo operates sustainably, and trying to inspire others to make a positive impact in our world.
Success to me means…
Umeeda: Finally owning my own home again and seeing my daughter feel secure again.
Nareena: Being able to buy my mom a home and feel financially stable. Small businesses are always competing with the big players, especially in the food industry. I would love to grow Naledo and offer more innovative products while creating more positive impact in the communities we work with.
Born and raised in Southwest Nigeria, Oladiwura Fakiyesi was exposed to business and entrepreneurship at a very early age. Her parents were both business people and her earliest memories include following her father to his place of business to receive reports from the workers. She studied Anatomy at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Nigeria and also studied general sciences at the Community College of Baltimore County, USA. She currently serves as the director/co-founder of Flenjor Foods, a leading provider of international specialty grocery and beauty products in Atlantic Canada. In her spare time, she likes to volunteer for community organizations. She is happily married and is a proud mother of three boys.
My first job ever was… as a child care provider
I decided to be an entrepreneur because… as a little girl, I grew up helping my mum in her grocery store. I saw how she interacted with her customers and made sure they got the best service. When we moved to Canada in 2016, I saw a gap in the specialty grocery segment. I saw that there was a big vacuum to fill and jumped in immediately. The decision to start the business is one of the best decisions I have ever made.
My proudest accomplishment is… being able to go above and beyond in meeting my customer’s needs.
My biggest setback was… hmm, where do you want me to start from? I think the biggest setback was the difficulty in getting funding at the start of the business.
I overcame it by… working extra hard with the little we started with, and within two years we opened our second location. It wasn’t easy, but we made it work.
If you Googled me, you still wouldn’t know… that baking relaxes me.
My best advice for small business owners is… that nothing beats hard work. Set goals for your business and work towards your goals daily.
The one piece of advice I give that I have trouble following myself is… slowing down and taking breaks.
When starting my business, I wish I knew… I couldn’t do it all by myself, that getting help makes it easier to run a business
The future excites me because… my business is like a book that gets better with every chapter. I have a lot of innovation that will take my busses to the next level of success.
Success to me means… helping others around me succeed and reach their full potential.
In her 27-year career in amateur and professional sport, 12 of which were spent in high-performance environments with Team Canada, Jenna Caira helped to lead her teams to success at every level, earning 10 international medals, 4 national championships and a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games as co-captain of Softball Canada’s Olympic bronze medal team. She still managed to find time to excel in her professional life, working in corporate communications and partnerships, and as a motivational speaker and performance coach. In early 2022, she was appointed head of franchise recruitment for Laser Clinics Canada, bringing decades of training in high-performance teams, leadership, and success in diverse, high-stakes environments to her new position.
My first job ever was… assisting with softball pitching lessons when I was 12 years old. I found the more I had to explain the dynamic pitching motion to others, the more I understood my body and its potential. It also increased my curiosity in asking “what else?” It enhanced my training by pushing me to meet smarter, more experienced people, which helped shape who I am today.
My Olympic aspirations started when… I was 4 years old. I always had a passion for softball and aspired to playing at the highest level. I was fortunate to have a few role models and mentors in my life who guided me along my journey for 27 years. I focused on maintaining a growth mindset, but more importantly, I always competed and embraced the uncomfortable moments of pressure, regardless of the outcome.
Transitioning from amateur sport to the business world has been… gratifying! While these two worlds may seem so different, there are many parallels when it comes to goal-setting, leadership, team culture and work ethic. We all have transferrable skills that we can bring to different work environments, and it has been empowering to learn new skills every day in my role at Laser Clinics Canada.
I’m passionate about my current role because… while I may not be throwing a ball and working towards an Olympic medal anymore, I am using my skills within an environment that can help other people achieve their dream of being small business owners.
My proudest accomplishment is… winning a bronze medal for Canada at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
“There is just one “you” on this earth, so show the world what you can do.”
My biggest setback was… myself. As an elite athlete, we constantly try to find ways to get better, stronger, and smarter. I had never participated in the Olympics before, and at one point I began questioning my abilities as to whether I was good enough to be a significant contributor to my team. I know many entrepreneurs starting their own businesses can relate – you’re in unknown territory.
I overcame it by… choosing to be adaptable and remembering the “why” behind waking up every day to work towards making this dream a reality. I also learned it was okay to ask for help, and that having the support of my teammates and coaches helped me grow. That’s part of the reason why I enjoy working with Laser Clinics Canada. The unique 50/50 business model means we’re in it together to help make each clinic location a success.
My advice for anyone changing careers is… to give yourself credit for being courageous enough to try something new. When I accepted the role at Laser Clinics Canada in Franchise Recruitment, it wasn’t feasible to expect myself to have all the answers about the business right away. However, I could control asking good questions and being invested in my team every day. We must be open to feedback and willing to be open-minded as we pursue new opportunities.
The one piece of advice I give that I have trouble following myself is… read non-fiction books and listen to podcasts! Get inspired by others because knowledge is power. My favourite book right now is “It Takes What It Takes” by Trevor Moawad.
If I were to pick one thing that has helped me succeed, it would be… to just be yourself. There is just one “you” on this earth, so show the world what you can do.
If you googled me, you still wouldn’t know… I’m now in starting rotation in my co-ed slow-pitch league!
I stay inspired by… our Laser Clinics Canada leadership team. They encourage us to be creative, think outside the box and lean on each other to help bring this great business model to the Canadian market.
The future excites me because… what I am contributing to at LCC will help create jobs, offer more opportunities for entrepreneurs who are passionate about the advanced beauty industry and provide a space to make selfcare a greater priority for everyday Canadians.
My next step is… to build my professional relationship with Women of Influence! I follow this great network, and Laser Clinics Canada is incredibly excited to connect with other inspiring women! I will also connect with entrepreneurs who are looking to do something new with their careers and who recognize the power of being part of a trusted, award-winning brand like Laser Clinics.
In dreaming up Wander the Resort, Shannon Hunter took the nostalgia of the classic Canadian cabin, brightened the palette and let in light to create spaces that are simple yet layered, modern yet warm, luxurious yet family friendly. The Prince Edward County-based, Scandi-inspired lakeside retreat opened in December 2020, at a time when Canadians needed the respite of local travel more than ever. Wander has since had multiple consecutive sold-out seasons through 2023, hosting a distanced experience. They’ve also launched a beach club and a gift shop where guests can find many favourite locally-made items found in the cabins. Named the best new hotel in Canada by Condé Nast Traveller in 2021, Wander is one of the few resorts in Ontario to gain global recognition.
My first job ever was… In grade eight I filed documents at an insurance brokerage after school. It was a quiet task, entirely unsupervised, and an education in working independently. I learned to trust my instincts.
I decided to be an entrepreneur because… Growing up, my parents prioritized stability, working jobs with benefits and pensions, over doing something they loved. They got through Monday to Friday by dreaming of the weekend, and their two week holidays. I knew early on this wasn’t for me. I wanted to dedicate my time to something I truly enjoyed and believed in. That I found value in, both the wins AND the losses. I knew there would be challenges. But when everything is added up, the takeaway at the end of the day, everyday, is pride and joy. And I am grateful for the agency – everything I put in, every decision I make, I own. Win or lose.
My proudest accomplishment is… having Wander recognized by both Travel + Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler in our first few months of business was beyond anything we could have imagined, but we were still very new when those articles were published. Those early accolades, while incredibly flattering, also set huge expectations for our guests. We completely by-passed the early phase of a new business where you get a pass on some things because you are “new”. Guests arrived at our door expecting the “best new hotel in Canada”. Being able to actually live up to those expectations is by far my greatest accomplishment thus far.
My boldest move to date was… opening a luxury resort in the midst of a global pandemic.
I surprise people when I tell them… I have two degrees. One in Zoology, the other in Radiation Sciences. I worked as a research associate in the Medical Physics department at Princess Margaret Hospital, with a focus on lung cancer treatment.
I knew it was time to launch my business when… I went on maternity leave from my job at Princess Margaret Hospital. I was already running an Interior Design firm as a side hustle, while working full time as a research associate. I had a decision to make: take a year off and return to something that no longer excited me, or use the opportunity to build my business so that I could pursue my passion full time.
My best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is… there is no perfect time. It doesn’t exist. There will always be a million reasons NOT to do something. Do your homework, run your numbers…and get started.
If I had an extra hour in the day, I would… READ! I prefer a good book over TV, and typically read three to four every month.
I stay inspired by… surrounding myself with a team that constantly challenges me, questions me and makes me work to earn and maintain their respect.
The future excites me because… the Canadian boutique hotel scene is still very much in its infancy. In the last few years, there has been an awakening amongst Canadians that we have some incredible regions to explore in our own backyards. Thinking about how Wander grows as a brand over the next 10 years, and how we continue to foster a desire to explore Canada and beyond in a way that is authentic keeps me up at night in a good way!
My next step is… doubling our current capacity to meet the high demand. Currently, one of our biggest challenges is managing requests from our loyal guests to return to the resort. We are booked so far in advance that it can be difficult to accommodate.. This is really disheartening because I want more than anything to build a community of like-minded travelers who return time and time again. Our welcome mats actually say “wander in, wander often”! Getting our capacity to a place where that is possible, while still maintaining our private, boutique feel, is my next step on this journey.
Fadwa Mohanna is the founder and CEO of One37 ID, which delivers the building blocks of Web3 enabling businesses and users to connect, exchange and verify data. Fadwa’s vision is to usher the next iteration of digital transformation enabling businesses to be Web3-Ready in 24 hours or less by providing ready-to-deploy solutions designed to work with One37 decentralized digital wallet; a mobile application that allows the storage and sharing of verifiable credentials, such as a digital identity, medical and financial records, and others.
My first job ever was… a telecom site engineer, installing the first telecom towers and infrastructure across North African villages and cities, driving hundreds of kilometers every day, climbing many towers, and connecting people in remote areas, villages, and cities together to provide everyone with the basic human right to communicate. I would be often met with surprise and a nervous laughter for being the only woman on site and for doing “a man’s job”.
I decided to be an entrepreneur… because I am a firm believer that the bigger the challenge you solve, the deeper the impact your work will have and the more lives you can touch. Having travelled extensively, I have experienced, firsthand, the difficulty of proving your identity and getting the needed paperwork to work and travel. That led me to re-think digital identity at large and wanting to solve its current limitations and making everyone’s life easier.
My proudest accomplishment is…shattering many glass ceilings regarding what it means to be a woman in tech, in various parts of the world, opening the gates for a new generation of women engineers. Being the only woman in the room was an eye-opening, challenging, and empowering experience.
My boldest move to date was… never resting in one place, long enough, to feel comfortable or complacent and constantly seeking new challenges both on the personal and professional levels.
I surprise people when I tell them… I am a passionate collector of antique jewelry and love collecting historical pieces with great stories and creating new ways to preserve this heritage for the future generation.
I knew it was time to launch my business when… I felt it was the only way to be true to myself. I had developed the habit of evaluating what I was doing from the perspective of my “older self”. It allowed me to “zoom out” and evaluate my life with some detachment and perspective. When my assessment was not satisfactory for an extended period, I knew it was time to answer my calling and launch my own business.
My best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is… It will never be easy, will never happen as planned and will never be perfect. Plus, “The way to eat a bicycle is one piece at a time.” No matter how big the problem is, break it down into small manageable pieces and make small cumulative achievements, every single day.
My best advice from a mentor was… “Are you willing to take one hundred percent responsibility for your life?”
Some of the deepest changes in my life came after attending a retreat with my mentor “Jack Canfield”, author of “The Success Principles”. “If you want to be successful, you must take 100% responsibility for everything that you experience in your life. This includes the level of your achievements, the results you produce, the quality of your relationships, the state of your health and physical fitness, your income, your debts, your feelings-everything!”
When the going gets tough, I tell myself… “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. Success takes time, years of grind, frustration, failure, self-doubt. It also takes a lot of hard work, patience, grit, consistency, and perseverance. However, if you keep your eyes on the prize, you can make it. Be flexible and keep adapting until you figure it out.
If I had an extra hour in the day, I would… spend it with my family and my community. Their light and wisdom are all the motivation I need to keep believing and building a better world.
I stay inspired,,, by being a lifelong learner; always reading, watching documentaries, learning new skills, and taking on new challenges.
The future excites me because… I choose to believe in humanity! Despite all the negative news, there has never been a better time in history to be an entrepreneur, to have hope, a dream, a vision, and then move to execution. Every indication from the past shows that whenever we faced major hurdles, we always came together, adapted, and evolved.
My next step is… to keep figuring it out, one day at a time, breathing deeply, enjoying every day, never taking anything for granted and be very thankful and appreciative of every new day.
Tiffany Callender was named the inaugural CEO of The Federation of African Canadian Economics (FACE) in 2021. The national and bilingual Black-led non-profit organisation is focused on providing resources and information to the Black community across Canada, with the aim of accelerating wealth creation for Canadians of African descent. A community developer and social entrepreneur, Tiffany has spent her career developing and implementing programs to support Montreal’s Black community. In addition to being the youngest female Executive Director of one of the oldest Black organizations in Quebec, she was recognized by MIPAD as one of the 100 most influential person of African-descent under 40 in 2020,
My first job ever was… a day camp counselor. I volunteered at twelve years old and worked for that camp every summer until I graduated from high school.
I decided to be an entrepreneur because… launching a product or service gives me an opportunity to be creative and challenged in a unique way.
My proudest accomplishment is… being the co-founder and inaugural CEO of the Federation of African Canadian Economics with a mandate to administer Canada’s historic Black Entrepreneurship Loan Fund.
My boldest move to date was… building a national Black economic strategy during a global pandemic. The world was shrouded with uncertainty, but I was determined to work with others to find a path for Black businesses to survive and thrive beyond COVID-19.
I surprise people when I tell them… I believe everyday people have the potential to make our society more equitable and prosperous.
I knew it was time to launch my business when… the solution that was so obvious to me was not found in the market.
My best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is… take advantage of resources to support you while you develop your company. You will have many questions throughout your entrepreneurial journey, just remain determined and relentless in finding sources for the most reliable solutions.
My best advice from a mentor was… expand your concept by expanding your network. There are knowledgeable individuals that can guide you while you build your vision.
When the going gets tough, I tell myself… nothing worth achieving is without struggle.
If I had an extra hour in the day, I would… spend more time being still. A little extra time outside of my schedule would be best used by being in the moment.
I stay inspired by… my children. I have realized that my drive to evolve our society for the better is intrinsically linked to my desire for their wellness.
The future excites me because… every action I take today is building the positive future I will experience. Once I grasped this concept, optimism set in, and opportunities became abundant.
My next step is… converting my experience as a founder into a new, social purpose organization that will ensure youth have an early start and equal access to educational resources across the country. I intend to remain a woman who is one to watch.
Lisa Karandat and Alexa Monahan are Co-Founders of Good Juju Body & Home, a line of all natural and plastic-free everyday essentials. Having spent much of their careers having a direct impact on the health of Canadians, the pair came together with a mission to inspire, educate and empower people to make small, incremental changes to their daily routine — changing consumer behavior to make a measurable impact on the environment, while creating a more sustainable business model.
My first job ever was…
Lisa: Delivering newspapers.
Alexa: Cleaning grocery shelves.
I decided to be an entrepreneur because…
Lisa: I have always loved business and reached a point in my career where I was drawn to take all the experience I had accumulated and use it to make an impact in the way that I wanted vs executing someone else’s vision.
Alexa: Having worked for a family business my whole life, I was ready to create my own mark in the world. I like the challenge of learning something new every day and creating something that reflects my values and passions.
Our proudest accomplishment is… Creating a purpose driven company that has is already making a difference in tackling the biggest issues of our time. The climate crisis and diversity and inclusion. The climate crisis is the biggest existential threat to humanity, and we are really proud is doing something to tackle this. A portion of each and every dollar earned and spent at Good Juju goes to supporting the climate.
Our boldest move to date was… Having the courage to start Good Juju! After we left our past careers we could have taken the safe route to get another job in the same industry. But we took the look leap and as hard as it is, we wouldn’t have it any other way. Being a woman in business has opened some doors, but also closed others, and to have the courage to continue to persevere is a daily decision.
We surprise people when I tell them… We don’t want to be called Boss Babes or Mompreneurs. Words have power, we are business people and we find too often that women are defined by these labels which would never be applied to a man. We find that these terms can minimize our contributions and separate us from male entrepreneurs in a diminishing way. We want to be champions for women as leaders but to ultimately work to inspire ALL entrepreneurs regardless of how they identify.
We knew it was time to launch our business when… We looked around and we uninspired by the lack of sustainably minded businesses who offer great products. For most companies, being sustainable means purchasing carbon offsets, but the reality is that the way we do business needs to fundamentally change. Carbon offsets are not nearly enough. When we started Good juju we wanted to inspire consumers with a better way of doing things, but to also inspire businesses to do better.
Our best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is… Get a partner if you can. It’s very hard to do this on your own, and to have someone to cry with, celebrate with, and keep you going is invaluable! Having said that, if you are going to get a partner, make sure you share the same fundamental values around business. Compromises will have to be made, but if you trust your partner and know they share your values, you are more likely to bend if they feel more passionate about something than you do. It also allows you to have another perspective on things that you may not have thought about.
Our best advice from a mentor was… Being an entrepreneur is an endurance sport and you need to take care of yourself. Work out, take care of your mind, eat well, and rest. Each day is roller coaster, and you can easily ride the extreme wave of emotions going high to low within hours. To stay centered is practice and a skill that you need to cultivate to manage the stress and enjoy running your business.
When the going gets tough, I tell myself…
Lisa: Call Alexa.
Alexa: Call Lisa.
If we had an extra hour in the day, we would… Do something for me, walk, read, go into nature. As an entrepreneur it is very hard to shut off, there is always work to do. Those moments of self-care will have big returns. You cannot pour into your business if you are empty.
We stay inspired by… Other amazing companies and women founders. One of the best things about starting Good Juju is the amount of women founders that reached out to network and help. They are all doing such amazing things and keep us inspired to keep going with their success and keep us learning with the knowledge and sharing.
The future excites us because… There is so much potential to do good in this world. We are trying to change consumers’ fundamental daily habits and the potential impact of that is huge! Our goal is to remove 50 million plastic bottles from the waste stream by 2030.
Our next step is… Focus on rapid growth. We have proven our products and business model and now it’s time to scale.
Caitlyn Vanderhaeghe is President, CEO, and co-founder of KidStar Nutrients, a Canadian natural health company. A health advocate and licensed teacher, as well as a published children’s author and popular mommy blogger, her passion for all things natural health has driven her to develop nutritional supplements that are clean and pure, providing only the ingredients needed for optimal health and nothing more. When she’s not working to educate families about the importance of good nutrition and health, she can most often be found sharing her Frozen and Peppa Pig expertise or wrangling her three daughters, husband, and family dog on a local beach or neighbourhood park.
My first job ever was… My first “job” was selling flowers to our neighbours. I was about 9 years old, and I would go to my mom’s beautiful garden, make bouquets of her flowers, then go door-to-door selling the bouquets I made so that I could have some spending money at the corner store. When I was a bit older, I worked for my mom helping to pack orders and file the endless paperwork of an entrepreneur. After that, I always had something on the go.
I decided to be an entrepreneur because… After searching for an effective supplement for my own family, I came up empty-handed. I knew that other parents were in the same situation as me, looking for a great quality product that kids would want to take. I have really high standards for my family’s health, so I started my own company to formulate clean supplements.
My proudest accomplishment is… As an entrepreneur my proudest accomplishment to date is seeing my products on the shelf next to all the big brands.
My boldest move to date was… Starting my own company!
I knew it was time to launch my business when… I couldn’t find an iron supplement that wasn’t filled with sugar, fillers, and harmful ingredients, to treat my daughter’s iron deficiency. I saw there really was a need for clean, healthy, sugar-free supplements.
My best advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is… Just take that step. And keeping moving forward! Nothing good comes from going backwards or standing still.
My best advice from a mentor was… When you need help, ask for it!
When the going gets tough, I tell myself… No matter what happens, the success of my company is not a reflection of my self-worth.
I stay inspired by… My three daughters. They are my biggest fans and everywhere we go, they tell other kids and people all about KidStar and how one day they are going to run a company, too!
The future excites me because… I am already seeing companies following suit with cleaner supplements for kids and even more companies are focusing on preventing nutrient deficiencies.
My next step is… Increasing education so we can spread the word on why we need clean supplements to prevent nutrient deficiencies.
We are proud to announce the 2022 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards finalists.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the program which received over 10,000 nominations for women entrepreneurs from across the country. After an intensive judging review, 21 finalists were selected across seven categories. An additional five recipients were chosen to receive the Ones to Watch Award, which recognizes entrepreneurs who have launched businesses that have made an incredible impact in fewer than three years.
The women business owners and leaders in this shortlisted group were selected for their accomplishments in a wide range of industries including AI, Cleantech, Civil Construction, Food and Beverage and Cyber Security.
“This year as we celebrate the milestone 30th anniversary of the program, we are honoured to recognize the accomplishments of our 2022 award finalists,” says Alicia Skalin, Co-CEO, Women of Influence. “The awards celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of our country and the incredible women making it happen. Our finalists share a strong vision and a relentless passion in pursuing their dreams.”
The winners will be announced and celebrated in-person at the 30th Annual Awards Gala, on Wednesday, November 23. Women of Influence is thrilled to host this prestigious red-carpet event where nominees, corporate executives, dignitaries, and notable industry guests will come together once again for a delectable evening of inspiration, style, and meaningful connection with business leaders from across the country.
The RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards recognize women business owners from across Canada who make impressive and substantial contributions to the local, Canadian, or global economy. These awards recognize businesswomen and leaders of non-profits from three major regions across Canada: East, Central, and West.
“For over 30 years, the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneurs Awards has shone a spotlight on the incredible women business owners who are leading change in their industries, driving growth in their communities and inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs,” said Greg Grice, Executive Vice-President, Business Financial Services, RBC. “This year’s program continues this tradition, uncovering countless stories of women-led innovation and achievement among our 2022 award finalists. We’re honoured to showcase and support this growing force of women entrepreneurs in Canada, and to be a part of this 30-year journey alongside Women of Influence and the remarkable women leaders who have made up the heart of this program.”
All nominees are required to submit thorough applications, which are reviewed and judged by a panel of prominent business leaders and subject to a due diligence review performed by KPMG.
Nous sommes fiers d’annoncer les finalistes des Prix canadiens de l’entrepreneuriat féminin RBC 2022.
Cette année marque le 30e anniversaire du programme, qui a reçu plus de 10 000 candidatures d’entrepreneures de partout au pays. Après examen approfondi, 21 finalistes ont été sélectionnées dans l’ensemble des sept catégories. Cinq autres candidates ont été choisies pour recevoir le prix Entrepreneure prometteuse, qui vise à récompenser des entrepreneures qui ont lancé des entreprises ayant connu un succès étonnant en moins de trois ans.
Les femmes propriétaires d’entreprises et les dirigeantes finalistes ont été sélectionnées pour leurs réalisations dans un large éventail de secteurs, notamment l’IA, les technologies propres, l’ingénierie civile, les aliments et les boissons et la cybersécurité.
« Nous avons reçu un nombre record de demandes en cette année qui marque le 30e anniversaire du programme, et nous sommes honorées de célébrer les réalisations de nos finalistes de 2022, a affirmé Alicia Skalin, cochef de la direction de Femmes d’influence. Les prix soulignent l’esprit d’entreprise de notre pays et la contribution de femmes incroyables. Nos finalistes sont des visionnaires et font preuve d’une détermination à toute épreuve afin de concrétiser leurs rêves. »
Les gagnantes seront annoncées et célébrées en personne lors de la 30e remise annuelle des prix, le mercredi 23 novembre. Femmes d’influence est ravi de présenter ce prestigieux événement, où des candidates, des dirigeantes d’entreprise, des dignitaires et des invités de marque de l’industrie se réuniront une fois de plus pour une soirée d’inspiration, de style et de relations significatives avec des dirigeantes de partout au pays.
Les Prix canadiens de l’entrepreneuriat féminin RBC rendent hommage à des femmes propriétaires d’entreprise partout au Canada qui retiennent l’attention en raison de leur importante contribution à la vitalité des économies locale, canadienne ou mondiale. Les prix sont accordés à des femmes d’affaires et à des dirigeantes d’organisme sans but lucratif des trois grandes régions du Canada : l’Est, le Centre et l’Ouest.
« Depuis plus de 30 ans, les Prix canadiens de l’entrepreneuriat féminin RBC mettent en lumière les incroyables femmes propriétaires d’entreprise qui changent leur secteur d’activité, stimulent la croissance dans leur collectivité et inspirent la nouvelle génération des entrepreneures, a déclaré Greg Grice, vice-président directeur, Services financiers à l’entreprise, RBC. Le programme de cette année perpétue cette tradition, en dévoilant d’innombrables histoires d’innovation et de réussite par nos finalistes de 2022. Nous sommes honorés de présenter et d’appuyer cette force grandissante d’entrepreneures au Canada, et de participer à ce parcours de 30 ans aux côtés de Femmes d’influence et des dirigeantes remarquables qui ont constitué le cœur de ce programme. »
Les candidates doivent présenter un dossier de candidature étoffé. Les candidatures sont ensuite évaluées par un jury composé de chefs d’entreprise réputés, et sont soumises à un contrôle diligent effectué par KPMG.
Having worked with many women business leaders while running A Modern Way to Work these past eight years, one thing is abundantly clear: we don’t love having difficult conversations. Not only would most of us do anything to avoid them, those who claim to do them well generally take an “I just tell it like it is” approach that doesn’t always get them the outcomes they’re after.
It’s tough to feel in control of your business when struggling to carry out difficult conversations while keeping them productive. So, if your aim is to become a more effective business leader, it’s worth taking a closer look at why some discussions are so difficult and what you can do to ease the discomfort they cause.
Why do we find certain conversations so difficult?
Most difficult conversations are the result of one person wanting another person to change. Not only can it be tricky to handle such a proposition diplomatically, it almost always involves a breakdown in trust. This can make the stakes for getting the conversation right—and not breaking the relationship down even further—feel exceptionally high.
Many of the women I work with also identify as ‘people pleasers’ who don’t like the idea of upsetting others. Mix all these factors together and it’s easy to see why a simple ask that someone improve their performance can turn into a difficult conversation pretty quickly.
Is there a legitimate way to avoid having difficult conversations?
It’s not uncommon to avoid addressing an issue we have with another person the first time it happens. In fact, many of us secretly hope that by ignoring a certain situation, it will end up resolving itself. What happens in most cases, however, is that the issue persists while the conversation required to address it becomes increasingly difficult.
There is one legitimate ‘hack’ business owners and leaders can use to avoid having a difficult conversation that doesn’t involve ignoring the issue. The next time you’re faced with an uncomfortable discussion, try assuming the behaviour you want the other person to change is completely yourfault.
As leaders, it’s easy to blame others for outcomes we don’t like or want. By accepting 100% responsibility for those outcomes instead, you’ll likely discover that shifting some of your own behaviours will get you closer to the results you’re looking for.
3 Tips for tackling difficult conversations you can’t avoid.
If you’ve determined that a particular difficult conversation is unavoidable, here are a few strategies for making your discussion more rewarding.
Know your purpose. Many people initiate a difficult conversation because they’re unhappy or annoyed with someone and want an opportunity to air their grievances. It’s important that you only enter into a difficult conversation when you’re clear on its purpose and what you want to achieve.
You’ll know you’ve identified your purpose when you can articulate what you want the other person to change in a single sentence. If your ask is unclear, they’ll never be able to meet it, and your conversation will likely only increase any tension or frustration.
Focus on gathering—not giving—information. When we initiate a difficult conversation, it’s usually because we have a lot on our minds that we want to share. But what if you entered the conversation from a different place?
You could, for example, assume the other person wants to do a good job—rather than telling them how they aren’t living up to your expectations— and acknowledge that it’s your role to find out what’s getting in their way. Then you could make it a point to gather great information by asking open-ended questions, listening—and then listening some more.
The truth is that the better you can understand the other person’s situation and perspective, the more likely you are to craft your message in a way that will resonate with them.
Drop your assumptions. Most of us are very good at telling ourselves stories about why someone is acting a certain way—particularly when it’s not the way we want them to be acting! One of the many things we assume about other people’s distressing behaviour, in fact, is that it’s meant to be a personal attack.
Taking the time to identify, label, and then drop your assumptions before entering into a difficult conversation will give you an unfiltered view of what’s really going on. This open-mindedness will serve you better in turn by making it easier to see potential pathways to achieving the outcome you want.
There will always be situations where having a difficult conversation can’t be avoided. If, however, you find yourself having the same discussion with someone over and over, there’s a good chance you’re not having the real conversation that will help get the issue resolved.
In any difficult conversation, the key to communicating well is ensuring your message is clearly understood while remaining empathetic to the receiver. To help steer ritualistic exchanges in a more productive direction, make sure you go into every difficult conversation prepared to listen and armed with open-ended questions that will help the other person feel heard and acknowledged.
Amanda Hudson
Amanda Hudson is the founder of A Modern Way to Work, an HR consultancy and antidote to outdated HR that delivers forward-thinking recruitment services, manager training and fractional HR. She and her team are also the creators of the Difficult Conversations Card Deck, a leadership tool for navigating tough conversations with ease.
What do you do when you realize the person managing your company’s finances has been lying to you? Worse yet, what do you do when that person is your spouse and they’ve also been unfaithful?
That’s what happened to Dana, VP of business development at a tech company, on Easter weekend four years ago. Overnight, she became the person responsible for cleaning up a very sticky financial situation — her husband hadn’t filed her business’ taxes for several years, and she owed upwards of six figures to Revenue Canada. She also became the sole provider for two kids.
“It was a long weekend, so I gave myself a few days and allowed myself to cry and drink wine, then I realized I had to get going,” Dana says. “For the first month, I focused on getting my affairs in order: new wills, insurance beneficiaries, etc. Then, I moved to the finances. I met with my accountant and he referred me to John.”
Dana connected with John Sacke, an Investment Advisor and Portfolio Manager with BMO. His focus is on helping women step into their own as money managers.
“Dana had a lot of concerns with respect to paying her bills and keeping current with her finances. She was living with a lot of uncertainty as a result,” John says. “I have numerous clients going through marital discord. The notion of taking baby steps is very important. I told her to expect emotional turbulence.”
Dana says she and John worked together to figure out a step-by-step plan for her to not only repay the debts she inherited as a result of her marital situation, but also how to ensure she and her kids were taken care of long-term.
“The way he went about asking me what I wanted to achieve short- and long-term was never patronizing. He helped me build a new strategy for a way forward based on my goals.”
Today, through the analysis and the work they did as a team, Dana is months away from paying everything she owes in taxes and has been able to provide for both of her kids, helping her daughter achieve her dream of becoming a skateboarder with Team Canada and assisting her son in a big move to New Brunswick with his girlfriend for new jobs. She now has a holistic tax strategy that’s setting her and her family up for success.
“The way he went about asking me what I wanted to achieve short- and long-term was never patronizing,” she says. “He helped me build a new strategy for a way forward based on my goals.”
Naturally, that doesn’t mean the process was always easy.
Dana admits to being frustrated over putting too much trust in her ex-husband and for how long it took to reset her finances; John says he had to gently remind her to trust the BMO process — things take time, but they work out.
“First, I always suggest we do a financial plan, which is a core part of my services. Without cost or obligation, it sets out the vulnerabilities in one’s financial tapestry,” says John of the steps he uses when dealing with these kinds of situations and new clients. “Second, I’m a big believer in consolidation, meaning the less accounts one has, the better one can plan a strategy.” Lastly, he counsels clients to take a holistic look at their finances and to think about what that means long-term.
Dana now says she wouldn’t have been able to survive the past few years if she hadn’t been open to accepting help and finding some space to re-evaluate her life.
“Nobody anticipates that this will happen. Taking steps doesn’t make you disloyal — it makes you smart.”
“I don’t think anyone gets married thinking they’ll get divorced. You have a vision and goals and you picture yourselves in rocking chairs on the porch. When that’s taken out from under you, you need to take time to think about what you want,” she says. “When things exploded, I remember sitting there wondering what I wanted. I was so caught up in bills and working and I didn’t take enough time to take a breath and say, ‘this is your new reality. What do you want to do, where do you want to live, work, and do with your personal time?’”
To help, she began journaling, keeping a good journal for her wins and triumphs and a bad one that she now describes as an “outpouring of feelings and raging on paper.” “Both journals allowed me to get things out of my head and helped me remember and celebrate the wins,” Dana says.
Dana says her biggest learning and piece of advice is to get on top of your finances early, regardless of your marital situation.
“You should know what you need to do in any situation. If you get an inheritance from your parents, keep it in your name because then it doesn’t become co-mingled with your partner’s finances,” she says. “Literacy and knowing your rights in comparison to your obligations is key.”
She adds: “Nobody anticipates that this will happen. Taking steps doesn’t make you disloyal — it makes you smart. I wish I had taken a better beat and understood things from the outset. But hindsight is what it is. I’m so lucky I am where I am now. I’ve moved on and am looking forward to what’s next.”
What’s in a name? If you’re a small business owner—a lot. But its importance goes beyond the moniker of the company as Eleanor Lee and Angel Kho, co-founders of LOULOU LOLLIPOP, found out.
When it came time to expand their sustainable baby accessories company beyond Vancouver, BC, they ran into issues because of their intellectual property (IP)—or lack thereof.
“When we were coming up with the company name, we liked lollipop because it was like a soother, or a candy as a sucker. It was sweet and very fitting,” says Angel. “But it was too generic. We liked French style, and anything related to France, so we started looking for extra inspiration.”
The duo landed on the word LouLou, a common French term of affection for children. “The name kind of rolled off the tongue.”
The only problem was, despite the uniqueness, various individuals owned the rights to use the name in Europe and China, meaning the sisters had to “buy the branding” so they could sell internationally. What ensued was a three-year legal battle, a whopping price tag, and a key takeaway for fellow entrepreneurs: “Make sure you register your IP and the trademark early,” says Eleanor. “Do the research and dig deep. Sometimes a name can be taken in other markets. Make sure the name is protected.”
Before the sisters dealt with branding, exporting, and the legalities of intellectual property, LOULOU LOLLIPOP began as many other businesses do—with an entrepreneur trying to solve their own problem. It was in 2015, when as a first-time mother, Eleanor noticed her teething daughter enjoyed tugging and chewing on her necklaces.
“I started to realize I didn’t know what they were made of,” Eleanor explains. She began searching for teething products that were silicone and free of harmful chemicals and couldn’t find any. “Out of necessity, I started to look into creating something for myself.”
“We knew we could make an impact; we could respond to a need for all parents. So, we bought $100 worth of supplies and began beading.”
Realizing she had stumbled onto a unique business idea, she brought it to her twin sister, who immediately saw the potential in the concept. “Even though my kids were older at the time, I found the idea intriguing. When my kids were young, there was nothing like that on the market,” says Angel. “We knew we could make an impact; we could respond to a need for all parents. So, we bought $100 worth of supplies and began beading.”
The duo made their first product, a pastel-coloured doughnut teething necklace, as a sort of side hustle. Eleanor worked on LOULOU full-time, and on her days off from her part-time job, Angel worked on the business. While both women were busy juggling mom duties, they’d start their “shift” with a “Tim Hortons coffee and a doughnut” until they had enough product to start selling on Etsy and at local pop-up shops.
“It was so much fun in the beginning because we were working so hard together on traditional things, like cold calling. It all came naturally,” says Angel. And then the pair received their first big purchase from West Coast Kids. “It was unreal. We were so excited. We worked all night to fill seven large boxes for the company. Our husbands were happily forced to join in the building of everything,” laughs Eleanor.
Interest and demand for their products grew and today, LOULOU LOLLIPOP can be found in 37 countries and thousands of stores, including major retailers like Nordstrom, Anthropologie, and Crate and Barrel. Traffic on their online store has also exploded, prompting the sisters to expand their product lines with sustainable Tencel Lyocell kids apparel and eco-friendly silicone tableware.
Impressively, every item LOULOU LOLLIPOP sells is made of earth-friendly, non-toxic materials. A big part of the twin’s mission is to make sure their business has minimal impact on the planet, especially for the children who use their. They also ensure the factories that supply their items are Business Social Compliance Initiative (BSCI) compliant, ensuring fair wages, ethical business practices, and healthy and safe working conditions.
“We’ve heard from others that ‘it’s so easy and all you did was string some beads and sell products at a pop-up,’ but starting a business is more than that,” says Angel. “We may have made it seem simple, but what we achieved was not an overnight success. There were many late nights and heartaches and challenges.”
“There will be challenges and mistakes along the road, there were for us. They’re stepping-stones. Don’t dwell on them.”
Eleanor adds, as entrepreneurs, failing is a part of the process. “There will be challenges and mistakes along the road, there were for us. They’re stepping-stones. Don’t dwell on them.” The sisters maintain this mindset: “Learn from what sucks.”
They also advise entrepreneurs to tap into organizations and networks that offer resources, webinars and coaching on how to build a business from scratch. For them, that meant leaning on Small Business BC and WeBC when they were first starting, and then Export Development Canada (EDC) when they were ready to branch out into global markets.
EDC offers knowledge and financial solutions and partners with the Trade Accelerator Program (TAP), which provides a series of online workshops with trade and industry experts to help enterprises unleash their export potential.This support was essential for Eleanor and Angel to build relationships in key markets. Even today, the sisters rely on EDC for financial and knowledge support, as well as its resources such as webinars
“LOULOU LOLLIPOP is a great example of the creativity and innovation driven by Canadian women-owned and -led businesses in the retail sector,” said Catherine Beach, National Lead, Women in Trade, EDC. “To support its rapid growth, the company turned to RBC, who in turn tapped into the Trade Expansion Lending Program (TELP). This program, offered in collaboration by EDC and the company’s financial institution, helps exporters access additional working capital so they can take advantage of international opportunities. EDC is proud to partner with financial institutions including RBC, to enable high-growth companies to maintain their momentum, and to help develop Canada’s export trade.”
Their ultimate goal is to build LOULOU LOLLIPOP into a world leading baby accessories brand. They want to strengthen their position in markets by expanding their sustainable product collection even further, and they want to be a Canadian brand people recognize globally.
“Whether in the United States or Australia, we want people to recognize our children’s products as trusted, safe and sustainable,” says Eleanor. “We want to be a global children’s brand. We want our brand and name to stand out.”
Growing up in Marathon, a small community in Northern Ontario, Julia Currie-Love was acutely aware of the lack of services available to her and her family.
“When I look at the things I didn’t have access to, simple things like an optometrist or mental health support — even when I had braces, I had to drive three-plus hours to Thunder Bay to get them checked. It was so hard,” the Val Caron, Ont. Scotiabank Branch Manager says. “Those experiences have really helped shape my focus on supporting remote communities.”
Having an Indigenous family and growing up in Northern Ontario, Julia knew at an early age that she wanted to bring awareness to some of the challenges she experienced as a resident of a remote community. Through her current role, she’s had opportunities to help meet that goal — but she landed in banking by happenstance.
After taking a year off between high school and college, Julia noticed the bank across the road from her house was hiring a casual customer service representative. She got the job and eventually spent several years with the organization. She trained her way up, receiving financial licences, then moved to another financial institution where she transitioned into account management and client care roles, eventually becoming an assistant branch manager. Julia started with Scotiabank in 2019, making a strategic lateral move to become the assistant branch manager for their Elliot Lake location. She was promoted to branch manager in May 2021.
“One thing I’ve learned is that none of the banks are the same,” Julia says. “In order to succeed professionally, you have to find the bank that has the same culture and values you have.”
“In order to succeed professionally, you have to find the bank that has the same culture and values you have.”
She knew Scotiabank had the drive to improve things for its customers and her community. Julia’s time with the company serendipitously coincided with the launch of a few of its major diversity and inclusion programs, including renewed Diversity, Equity & Inclusion goals, and Effective Allyship campaign, an initiative that has seen the Bank dive deep into creating and affirming a welcoming environment for equity-deserving groups. Employees are encouraged to access the learning tools and resourcesavailable to support their ongoing journey of becoming active allies 365 days of the year.
Her goal is to help inform and educate employees about the unique needs Indigenous Peoples are facing. “Retail banking employees have specific cultural training to better understand the needs of Indigenous people, as well as team meetings that focus on Scotiabank’s enhanced advancement of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging for all equity-deserving groups. That includes strengthening our education on Indigenous Finances, such as understanding how to successfully complete credit applications for an Indigenous person who is earning income tax-free — that’s important,” Julia says.
The educating she’s doing goes beyond understanding just the financial barriers Indigenous Peoples may encounter, however. Part of her job is to remind people about the historic lack of support and resources Indigenous communities face. Access to services is still a major issue.
“Current support structures and access to necessities in remote locations aren’t really geared toward communities that need them.”
“The people who need resources outside major city centres don’t have the ability to access things, even when technological advances are involved. You still, generally, have to pay costly fees to access things in remote areas,” she says. “Current support structures and access to necessities in remote locations aren’t really geared toward communities that need them.”
But she doesn’t despair. She knows the work she’s doing from within Scotiabank is having a positive impact on her community and is valued by her team. Pride and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation are days that everyone on her team recognizes as important for acknowledgement and continued learning, for example. “The best days are the days I get to do work with Scotiabank and these groups. It’s how I can create change, and change is happening.”
Julia says her next big professional goal is to continue to expand the number of Indigenous organizations Scotiabank partners with on an external level. Personally, she wants to find time to do more volunteering now that COVID restrictions have loosened.
“I’m passionate about Northern Ontario and providing resources to my community. I am currently asking myself: ‘How can I make a bigger impact on more people and more communities?’ My drive to participate is to ensure that there are better resources, supports, and an understanding of the specific needs of Indigenous Peoples and those living in remote areas. I want my family to have what they need in order to succeed in the future.”
A tremendous change is underway in business. Technology is altering how organizations operate. COVID-19 continues to test governments, institutions and businesses. Companies are being called upon to address racial injustice and pressing societal issues like poverty and climate change.
Business needs are changing as a result. As the Dean of Smith School of Business at Queen’s University, Wanda Costen is working to ensure that organizations have access to the talent they need to succeed.
“At the end of the day, we’re providers of talent. As business needs change, talent must also evolve,” Wanda explains. “Business education must adapt its curricula, research and student experience to meet these changing needs.”
Wanda is helping to lead that change in business education. She sees three key areas in which schools must adapt.
The first is recruitment. Are schools enrolling the right students to meet global talent needs? It’s an important question. The business world is diverse and graduates can expect to work with people from many different backgrounds, countries and cultures. The classroom experience should reflect that diversity—both in its students and professors.
“It’s not enough to simply graduate good corporate citizens.”
Second, schools must rethink how they teach. “We must focus on the competencies and skills that employers need going forward,” Wanda says. Core business skills are important, but students need to learn how to navigate the world, solve problems and engage with others.
Third, business schools must become leaders in making a positive difference in society. Through research and partnerships, business schools can contribute to solving the world’s biggest issues. At the same time, they must use their considerable resources—including faculty and student expertise—to improve their own communities.
“It’s not enough to simply graduate good corporate citizens,” Wanda says. “We must prepare students to be leaders who understand their role in society regardless of the sector: business, government, entrepreneurship or not-for-profit.”
The army life.
Wanda’s life and career make her well-suited to guide Smith through this evolution.
As a child, Wanda moved every three to five years. Her dad was a U.S. soldier; her mom worked for the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the military’s retail arm. Postings took the family from Texas to Kansas to Oklahoma, and back to Texas again. The family’s first significant trek was to Germany.
“It was a very different experience for a 12-year-old with two younger brothers, but we weren’t worried because my parents—working-class people from the Northeast—were excited about it. They fell in love with Germany. They embraced the language and told us to learn the culture. I think that taught us not to be afraid of new cultures and new experiences,” she recalls.
After high school, Costen attended the United States Military Academy at West Point.
“Most people expect to hear that I grew up in a military family and followed those footsteps, but that is not what happened,” she says. It was her Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps. high school elective that inspired her to join the Army.
“I took [JROTC] and was good at it. By the time I moved into my senior year, I was the battalion commander for the entire school, and I realized that all the people ahead of me who had been in that role went to West Point,” Wanda says.
“The experience taught me a lot about the evolution of a historic, traditional institution, how people’s experiences can differ, and what it means to be welcomed, invited in and treated equally.”
She was in West Point’s seventh class that included women. “The first class entered in 1976. I graduated in ’86, so we were the 10-year anniversary of women just being at the academy.” Wanda recalls “a lot of backlash against us from male cadets, and we didn’t understand why that was happening.” But she adds: “The experience taught me a lot about the evolution of a historic, traditional institution, how people’s experiences can differ, and what it means to be welcomed, invited in and treated equally.”
After graduation, Wanda served as a platoon leader and military police officer. Following that, she moved into business, working at PacTel Paging, Xerox, Pepsi, Greyhound and Aramark. “I developed a background in sales, moved into operations and then human resources.”
Her pivot into academia came while visiting universities in her role as an HR director with Aramark. “One of my responsibilities was to recruit new talent. I would be invited into the classrooms at Washington State University where I would guest lecture and meet the students. The director of the program kept saying to me, ‘We need people like you in post-secondary,’” she recalls. “The next thing I knew, I had an offer to teach as an instructor and get my PhD.”
While earning her executive MBA from Pepperdine University, Wanda read a book called The Path that changed her life. “I’ll never forget it. It helps you write a mission statement for your life. At the end of the book, it asks: Are you living your mission statement? My answer was: kind of, but not really…so I just took a leap [into academia],” she says.
With teaching, she’d found her calling. “I fully believe this is what I’m put here to do. I loved every job I had, but when I got in the classroom, it just fit,” she says. “It’s about impact. It’s about passion. It’s about love. It’s about integrity. It’s about helping people achieve their best.”
A new vision.
Wanda joined Smith in July 2021 from MacEwan University, where she was dean of the business school. She’s now leveraging her skills from a 35-year career spanning the military, private industry and academia, and her lived experience of the challenges of lack of diversity in business and education, to contribute to Queen’s University’s strategic vision.
“I wanted to be part of an organization that is ready to do things differently, that’s ready to position itself for what I believe business education is for the 21st century,” she says.
In her first year on the job, Wanda has spent considerable time talking to business leaders locally, nationally and internationally. A common theme has emerged: the need for talent that not only possesses strong core business knowledge, but also has an understanding of the importance of a business’ societal impact. Companies want proven abilities in teamwork, communication, cultural competence and social skills.
“We have to recognize that today raw talent looks differently, presents differently, has different experiences.”
Meeting these new organizational expectations not only requires business schools to transform how and what they teach, but also broaden who is taught and who gets to teach.
“We have to recognize that today raw talent looks differently, presents differently, has different experiences,” she says. “Business education must be accessible to people from different backgrounds. In a global business world, students benefit when they learn from professors with varied experiences from around the world,” Wanda says.
Wanda notes that Smith is working from a foundation of strength, with faculty, staff and alumni who support her commitment to providing a transformative, innovative and inclusive approach to business education.
“We can impact the global business education sector, and as such, impact global business. I intend to take us there.”
Tyg Davison is a former model and founder of CITIZEN AGENCY, a full-service model and talent management agency based out of Toronto. With a modelling career spanning over a decade, Tyg has worked closely with some of the world’s most prestigious and revered designers, like Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs, and has shot campaigns for brands like Miu Miu, Maison Martin Margiela, Zara, Saint Laurent, Adidas Y-3, and Rick Owens. After gaining invaluable experience and perspective as a model, Tyg wanted to manage and empower the next generation of models and founded CITIZEN.
My first job ever was…at 15 years old, assisting the Recreational Director of a retirement home. I helped facilitate the activities for seniors living there which was so much fun. I made wise friends, always eager to impart advice, listened to Elvis CDs on repeat, and learned how to play Blackjack from a fiery group of women.
I decided to be an entrepreneur because… although starting a company comes with risks, I feel so much more secure and confident in my life and in myself by building something that I am responsible for and rely on.
As a model travelling alone internationally, I became independent very quickly at a young age. I was represented by many modeling agencies around the world, but I was self-employed. It is a misconception that models are employed by modeling agencies. When I took my first position as an agent with an agency as a full-time employee in Canada, I realized how much I missed the feeling of building something with my vision that I can shape and take ownership of — and also making my own schedule!
I founded CITIZEN AGENCY because… after having modelled for a decade and then working as an agent, I had the rare opportunity of experiencing both sides of the business. I saw so much room for change and evolution in the way models are managed in the industry. I truly believe that to properly represent models, to protect them, to empower them, and to teach them everything they need to know, you need to have lived that experience.
“I truly believe that to properly represent models, to protect them, to empower them, and to teach them everything they need to know, you need to have lived that experience.”
I’m passionate about creating opportunities for the future generation of models and talent because… I say it often, but modelling changed the course of my life. It brings me such a sense of accomplishment and joy being able to facilitate that for others. It’s a difficult industry to navigate, but with the right team of agents behind you, it teaches you so much about yourself and how to navigate the world with independence and confidence.
An international modelling career forces you outside of your comfort zone, immerses you in new cultures, challenges you with language barriers, and introduces you to talented people you would have otherwise never crossed paths with. I am so passionate about creating those special moments for others.
One of the most important things I learned about myself during my time as a model is… that I can do hard things. It’s a simple statement, but even now when I’m faced with a difficult situation, I say to myself, “you can do hard things” over and over. I will get through it — whatever it is, it will pass.
There’s so much rejection in the fashion industry that I learned not to internalize as a model, people to stand up to, uncertainties and lessons to learn, and I had to take care of myself as a self-employed teen girl travelling alone.
My proudest accomplishment is… My proudest accomplishment has been developing a roster of models and talent who really are beautiful humans — inside and out. I feel like I’ve connected with everyone I represent and am so grateful to each of them for trusting me with their management. I’m really quite proud and humbled that they chose CITIZEN so early on in the agency’s story.
My biggest setback was… My biggest setback so far has only been financial. Money does not buy happiness, but it does buy opportunity! I started modelling when I lived in a women’s shelter with my mother and sister, and it sent me across the world. I’m so passionate about what I do and am committed to making it work because I wholeheartedly believe it will. However, bootstrapping every business move on your own sometimes makes you move at a slower pace you’d like.
My advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is… Don’t give up! I think deep down, we know if it’s going to work or not. If your idea or company is all you can see yourself doing in life, then it’s worth the risk. I often ask myself, “if I don’t do this, will the 99 year old me regret not trying?” Also, surround yourself with people who inspire you and support you.
The one piece of advice I give that I have trouble following myself is… “Just relax.”
The thing I love most about what I do is… The fact that there are no two days that look alike. I’m dealing with different people every day. All creatives, all inspired to collaborate, all interesting humans I feel fortunate to meet.
“I think deep down, we know if it’s going to work or not. If your idea or company is all you can see yourself doing in life, then it’s worth the risk.”
If I were to pick one thing that has helped me succeed, it would be… The reason I am where I am today is because of the people I have in my life. My partner is so incredibly supportive and pushed me to start CITIZEN AGENCY regardless of the uncertainty. I am beyond fortunate to have had someone so encouraging enter my life. He is exactly what I — and CITIZEN — needed. My family has cheered me on at every step and celebrated my growth. My friends have loved me through every doubt and dread. I am held up by my circle, and I owe everything to them.
If you Googled me, you still wouldn’t know…If you Google me, you’ll come across interviews in several different languages and good and bad photos of me in various states of undress, so it’s hard to come up with something that can’t be Googled! I suppose there are stories behind each of them: stories of hilarity, frustration, and often, absolute chaos! Those stories definitely can’t be Googled.
I stay inspired by… Creating new opportunities and watching people grow, and it’s not just for the people I represent, but also for the community. I serve as a council member for Covenant House in Toronto, which I hold near and dear to my heart. Having stayed in a women’s shelter as a young teen myself, it’s so important for me to contribute ideas to an incredible organization like Covenant House for youth experiencing homelessness.
The future excites me because… The future excites me because I work in an industry that is constantly evolving. I have so many ideas that I want to introduce not only in my agency, but the fashion industry here in Canada as a whole — but who knows what the industry will look like, even in the next year? That’s the exciting part, the inspiring part, the scary part.
My next step is… My next step is a surprise. It’s phase two of CITIZEN AGENCY that I can’t wait to start working on when the time is right.
Dr. Shara Ally is the Founder and CEO of NEUROorganics Inc., a mental health company that incorporates Eastern approaches to care — inspired by a conversation Shara had with the Dalai Lama. She’s also Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of the Lotus Medical Community Clinic in California, and Mental Health Consultant and Strategist for RogersTV and KRS Home Care Inc. Shara sits on multiple health-focused boards, and is an accomplished researcher, lecturer, and international speaker. In addition, Shara added Ms. Canada United World 2022 to her titles and is now competing for the international crown, Ms. United World 2023.
My first job ever was… making my first cup of coffee at Tim Hortons!
I decided to be an entrepreneur because… it is an inspired space that allows for creating solutions to everyday problems that are innovative, novel, and unconventional.
I founded NEUROorganics Inc. because… I wanted to share the lessons I received from the Dalai Lama through a mental health platform that cultivates an innovative approach to education and consultation to strategically help individuals fuel their pain from their past into their future purpose.
I’m passionate about mental health because… I believe your mind is the greatest asset you have. In NEUROorganics, we teach our clients that just as you have physical health you have mental health, and it is essential to nourish it for internal wellness that is then exuded externally.
My proudest accomplishment is…helping my clients in NEUROorganics get to the other side of suffering. This achievement demonstrates the importance in the work NEUROorganics provides as it helps to shape healthier individuals, families, and communities. Mental health and wellness is not to be underestimated, nor can you ever graduate from it. The NEUROorganics methods of fueling your pain from your past into a your future purpose, allows you to live with improved self-awareness, self-worth, and confidence.
My biggest setback was… caring too much about what others thought of me. As a result, I overexerted myself and my resources to try to impress them and hope to gain their approval. This within itself will deter you from success, guaranteed.
“The quality of the relationships you have with yourself and others will determine the quality of your life.”
I overcame it by… surrounding myself with the right mindsets that fill my cup in my personal and professional lives. I tell my NEUROorganics clients all of the time that the quality of the relationships you have with yourself and others will determine the quality of your life.
My advice for aspiring entrepreneurs is… learn to love being uncomfortable. Entrepreneurship does not follow a specific methodology, nor is it linear. However, there is incredible learning and intrinsic value that comes with the entrepreneur lifestyle.
The thing I love most about what I do is… the incredible and empowering transformation my clients experience in NEUROorganics. They are no longer victims to their mind; rather they have learned how to use their mind as an asset.
If I were to pick one thing that has helped me succeed, it would be… my failures! Failures, mistakes, and setbacks create a synergetic opportunity for learning, refining, and synthesizing your idea.
If you googled me, you still wouldn’t know… I have 48 allergies!
I stay inspired by… a quote I subscribe to by Denzel Washington which is, “Ease is a greater threat to progress than hardship.” This is a great reminder to keep pushing forward when it’s hard, and not to settle when things are easy.
The future excites me because… I have the opportunity to fuse my pageant, business, medical, and entrepreneurship platforms to create solution-orientated mental health solutions for individuals and communities. The cross-pollination across these industries felt out of reach at one point, and have simultaneously come together in an effective and meaningful way.
My next step is…to optimize the mental wellness journey of my clients and empower business development to serve larger audiences to accelerate NEUROorganics. I also plan on engaging my Ms. Canada United World 2022 platform to support women and their mental wellness. If I win the Ms. United World 2023 crown, this will allow for a shift from national to international impact for women and the audiences I touch through this incredible platform.
Thembi Bheka is on a mission to empower one million women by 2025.
“Our studies have shown that if you empower one woman, they, in turn, empower those around them,” Thembi says. “And the best way to eliminate and reduce poverty is not just to educate, it’s to empower. With hard work, we will reach this goal.”
The “we” Thembi refers to is the team she’s built as the founder of Digital Marketing on Demand (DMOD), a unique organization that seeks to connect talent from developing countries with global work opportunities, specifically in the digital marketing space.
A service provider can reach out to DMOD for assistance on any number of needs, including creating high-converting landing pages to managing website updates. An assessment of the company’s needs are performed at the outset by DMOD, and the specific task is then assigned to a team member with the right set of skills to deliver the project on time and on budget. All of this is done virtually by someone in the developing world, mostly Africa.
To date, more than 4,200 services have been completed by the company’s team members.
“These women didn’t have the confidence to search for or apply to jobs, even after extensive education, so I thought, ‘I’ll connect them with opportunities.’”
The idea for DMOD came to Thembi after she immigrated to Canada as a refugee. Originally from Zimbabwe, she fled an emotionally and mentally abusive relationship, eventually settling in Montréal with her daughter. Though she studied and worked as a registered nurse, she continually felt the pull toward entrepreneurial opportunities. She dipped her toe into the entrepreneurial world as a real estate investor and even founded a course, Real Estate Real Riches, that taught women how to invest in housing. As her real estate business grew, she found herself in need of assistant-level help, and instead of hiring in-person, she turned to a virtual assistant (VA) in Kenya for help.
“At the time, no one knew what a VA was or what they did,” she says. “I found mine on Upwork and eventually returned to Zimbabwe, realizing there was an opportunity to train people to be VAs. I started to meet incredible women — lawyers, doctors — who were all unemployed and in abusive relationships, similar to my situation before I left for Canada.”
She adds: “These women didn’t have the confidence to search for or apply to jobs, even after extensive education, so I thought, ‘I’ll connect them with opportunities.’”
That’s how DMOD was born. Today, Thembi and her team have been recognized for the work they’re doing by a number of high-profile organizations, including Stanford’s Seed Transformation Program. Thembi was also selected as a Coralus (formerly SheEO) Venture in 2021, giving her access to the financial support and coaching needed to expand her business.
“I have a podcast where I interview women entrepreneurs, and one of my speakers asked me whether I had heard of SheEO and convinced me to apply,” Thembi says. “Until then I had been bootstrapping my business. I had even started to sell my real estate holdings to accelerate the growth of DMOD. Being selected as a SheEO venture not only gave me the funding I needed to build my business, but it also connected me with a community.”
That community, she says, is something she leans on regularly for support when facing challenges in her business, joking, “your friends don’t want to hear about that employee issue you have, but like-minded leaders do.”
“When you do what inspires you, you can empower people. That can help them better themselves and rise above any situation they face.”
The funding was also valuable because, as an immigrant, Thembi says she found it hard to access funding through traditional means.
“When you’ve been in Canada for a long time, you’ve learned the system, like what a credit score is or even how to register a company. Most people don’t live in cultures where business is done like it is in Canada or North America. Education is key.”
She says that until she joined SheEO, she didn’t even know that she had to pay herself a salary. “There needs to be more and greater educational supports to help immigrants and refugees learn certain systems so they can succeed.”
That’s also one of her lasting messages for women who want to dip their toes into entrepreneurial life: get educated.
“I didn’t have a business background, nobody taught me how to be a businessperson. I’ve had to learn as I’ve grown. I’ve struggled with management and leadership. I’m not a born leader, but I’m now mentoring people,” she says. “Just do it. Don’t wait. There are so many things I waited on. I look back and think about having been able to do stuff. Whatever you want to do, just do it.”
And most importantly, do something that inspires you.
“When you do what inspires you, you can empower people. That can help them better themselves and rise above any situation they face.”
When Vanessa Marshall decided to launch her now highly successful sustainable haircare company, Jack59, in 2015, she was wrapping up a degree in dentistry. After some reflection, her instincts swayed her away from this path and towards an entrepreneurial one, despite not having any formal business training.
It all started when she stumbled into the world of soap-making after watching her sister create sudsy bars in her spare time. “I started researching how to do it myself, learning the chemistry, and recorded myself making my first batch,” Marshall recalls. “It was a disaster, but it was thrilling. I was hooked.”
It was during a trip to Mexico that her “very expensive hobby” turned into something more. A fan of the sustainability of shampoo bars, she was travelling with one from an all-natural brand — but it was making her scalp so dry, itchy, and irritated that she had to go purchase a bottle of liquid shampoo. Later, while lounging on the beach, she had an aha moment: The pH level of the soap bars had to be off. If she could balance the pH, she could make and sell shampoo and conditioner bars that everyone would love.
And that’s how Jack59 was born.
When she returned home to Edmonton, AB, Marshall bought a bunch of ingredients to make her first paraben-, silicon- and cruelty-free hair care products. The company now offers a broad range of sustainable and effective hair products using unique combinations of natural proteins, oils, and extracts, all based on slight variances in the pH levels of different hair types.
“You don’t get to choose to be an entrepreneur,” Marshall jokes. “When you talk to an entrepreneur like me, they likely can’t stop talking or thinking about their business — no matter how out there their ideas may sound. And my idea may have seemed pretty out there to some.”
“Jack59 is now recognized as a unique, sustainable, and Indigenous-owned and woman-led beauty brand.”
And as for the ‘out there’ name? It’s in honour of a lost dog that wandered into the family’s yard, and was named Jack59 by her then four-year-old daughter. A year later, when Marshall was getting her company ready for launch, her daughter asked if she could call it Jack59 in remembrance of the stray. She realized the name embraced the reason she wanted to be an entrepreneur in the first place — to be able to spend more time with her family.
Jack59 is now recognized as a unique, sustainable, and Indigenous-owned and woman-led beauty brand. “Our mission is simple,” says Marshall. “Increase the number of good hair days you have while decreasing your carbon footprint. From the responses we get from our customers, to how we’re helping the environment — I know we’re having an impact.”
The proud owner says her company has prevented more than 500,000 plastic bottles from clogging landfills because of its wasteless, plastic-free packaging — their bars are so long-lasting, they can replace about three traditional liquid shampoo bottles or five liquid conditioner bottles. Jack59 also has a 100 per cent plastic-free production process, and uses 100 per cent recyclable packaging. From a social good perspective, Vanessa has built the company so it gives each employee the work-life balance she wanted when she was initially raising her kids.
“When you’re a child, you’re given the ability to dream. And there are no limitations to that. Whatever you saw yourself being, you believed you could do it, you believed in daydreams,” she says. “And at some point in our lives, there are fears and expectations that get instilled. There’s self-sabotage. If you can fight your way through that, you can do anything. You can make a dream a reality. I have.”
Access to capital is one of the main barriers to growth of women-owned and -led businesses. To level the playing field, targeted programs and support exist for women entrepreneurs to address the unique needs of their businesses.
Selected as a 2022 Coralus Venture, the honour came with a zero per cent interest loan, coaching, and access to a global community of support. Coralus connected her with a network of “radically generous” women and non-binary people, who helped her with resources to grow her company — from finding the right accountant to supporting distribution and marketing.
Organizations such as Coralus, EDC, and the TCS exist to help entrepreneurs realize their potential — the key is gaining awareness of the available resources and tapping into them.
“At a certain point, I realized I wasn’t going to be good at that stuff. It was essential I put the right people in place to do those things for me, so I could focus my attention elsewhere.”
Today, Marshall helps other entrepreneurs narrow down their company’s philosophy, so they can focus on generating results and solving problems quickly. She also suggests they figure out their weaknesses early on in the start-up process, so they can outsource tasks that eat up their time and mental capacity.
“I have no managerial experience, for example, and I don’t have business experience,” Marshall says. “Before I built my team, everything was about putting out fires, learning how to do taxes, etc., and at a certain point, I realized I wasn’t going to be good at that stuff. It was essential I put the right people in place to do those things for me, so I could focus my attention elsewhere.”
Today, Marshall and her team of 10, including her sister who’s the company’s chief operating officer, are working hard to make Jack59 a household name. In addition to their own storefront in Edmonton, they are in various boutiques and retail locations across Canada and into the United States, and they ship globally through their online store.They’re focused on creating new products and looking to expand the business into more countries.
Marshall says she knows there’s an incredible opportunity for the products they make given the current concerns about the climate and sustainability. By expanding more, not only will she be able to help others and educate them about how to choose environmentally sustainable products, she can employ more people on a local level and expand economic growth in her community.
“We already sell internationally through e-commerce. We’ve had orders in Oman and Europe. I want to break into South America next — largely because I love the people and culture. It’s very exciting.”
When reflecting on her journey, Marshall offers up this piece of advice to entrepreneurs: “If your dream scares you, it’s probably worth doing. Especially, too, if it scares other people when you tell them about your idea. Trust the journey and the road you’re on. It’s always worth it.”
Dr. Jackie Bouvier Copeland is an award-winning multidisciplinary innovator, educator, artist, and activist. She is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of The Women Invested to Save Earth Fund (WISE), an organization that facilitates a network and connects donors and social financiers to underfunded activists, technological innovators and other stakeholders invested in finding solutions to the environmental crisis. In addition to her work with WISE, Dr. Copeland has also founded Black Philanthropy Month, an initiative dedicated to celebrating and raising awareness around Black giving and philanthropic efforts. Recognized as a HistoryMaker and included in the Congressional Record for her civic contributions, Dr. Copeland has been working in the social and environmental justice space for 40 years, with her work efforts reaching at least 20 million people.
My first job ever was…My very first job was as an administrative assistant with the Navy in the Naval Aviation Engineering Services Unit at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, specifically in its Equal Employment Opportunity Compliance Unit. It was a great introduction to the good, bad, and ugly of the work world, and it was part of the Mayor’s summer youth employment program.
I became interested in pursuing social and environmental justice as part of my work because… I lived through many injustices starting in childhood. I always wanted to do what I could so that people in my community, the nation, and the world did not have to suffer these same challenges.
My hope with The Women Invested to Save Earth Fund is that we can create a new model for how all innovators, regardless of background, can be supported for their merit, qualifications, and the potential their innovations have to address social issues and the climate change challenge facing our entire world.
I created Black Philanthropy Month because… I created Black Philanthropy Month 20 years ago for several reasons: to celebrate and raise public awareness that giving is written into the DNA of every Black culture worldwide; to educate about innovative, diverse forms of Black giving; to build global Black unity and community impact through collective giving; and lastly, especially as of 2020, to promote fair access to all forms of private capital for economic justice — the last frontier of Black civil, racial, liberation movements.
Black Philanthropy Month advances a global movement to advance Black giving and social finance innovation in all forms for the betterment of our communities everywhere and the planet we share for all people.
“I have absolutely no doubt that I have done my best to be good in the world.”
My proudest accomplishment is… Being a mother and supporting the development of my now 32-year-old child, an accomplished artist and activist. Also, I’m proud of my leadership role in my family and my community. I am blessed to be recognized as a HistoryMaker for my 40 years of civic contributions, including my early contributions to Barack Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Alliance initiative, as well as Black Philanthropy Month, Reunity, and now WISE founder. It is also a miracle that, with much support, I launched my first album, Blachant, as both executive producer and singer-songwriter — an almost lost personal goal.
My biggest setback was… There have been many setbacks, but I think of life in terms of overcoming. Poverty, dramatic family troubles, workplace discrimination, and health challenges are a part of my story, but I’ve been blessed to overcome these challenges and grow through difficult experiences too. I’m still here, thriving, leading, and serving with my joy and faith intact, stronger than ever.
The one piece of advice I give that I have trouble following myself is… I’m much better at it now, but the one piece of advice I definitely have trouble following is to care for myself while caring for others. I work harder now to live with “radical self-care,” although that’s still a work in progress. Becoming a master life coach now helps, as it encourages me to be a better self-care role model.
If I had an extra hour in the day, I would… If I had an extra hour in a day, I’d spend it hiking, praying, meditating in nature, catching up with loved ones, writing fiction, poetry, and songs, or creating my wellness movement practice.
The thing I love most about what I do is… I have absolutely no doubt that I have done my best to be good in the world. I can document it. I can almost count the number of communities and people I’ve touched. What motivates me and partly why I think I’m on the planet is to do my utmost to heal people, society, the planet we share, and in the process, myself.
If you googled me, you still wouldn’t know…I’m a certified Zumba instructor and a global Black home chef. I’ve even won awards for my African Soul Collard Greens, mixing how I learned to cook low country cuisine with West African cooking. Dancing and cooking for friends are two of my favorite social activities.
The future excites me because…Even in the midst of struggle, we all need to find ways to hold on to joy. I stay inspired by the challenges we face and the prospect of making life better for many people today and for future generations. My faith, life purpose, and stories of past and present social justice leaders gives me inspiration and strength. The future is daunting but inspiring because we have many opportunities to create a better world for all — together.
Traditional systems for funding a business, from bank lending to venture capital, weren’t built with women or Indigenous business owners in mind. But dig a little deeper and you’ll see tides are turning within the financial industry, especially here in Canada. Paving the way is Shannon Pestun, a former banker turned entrepreneur, financial educator, social justice advocate, and senior advisor to the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub (WEKH).
Shannon, a Métis woman who grew up in the Treaty 7 area of Alberta, says she stumbled upon her career as a financial barrier breaker by happenstance. In fact, she has a vivid memory of a junior high school guidance counsellor telling her to avoid doing anything with math because she “wasn’t good at it” — an experience which understandably left her fearful of numbers.
Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, Shannon pursued a career in marketing. Ironically, her marketing career led her to work at an Alberta-based financial institution, where she was encouraged to start a new career as a business banker. It was during that time that she began to see the cracks in the financial system’s approach to the funding of women- and Indigenous-owned businesses.
“A woman was trying to buy a daycare, and I remember seeing all of the hoops she had to go through to prove her business case and thinking things would never have been as hard if she was a man.” Shannon also noticed there were no women in the portfolio of entrepreneurs she managed.
“That was a moment of awakening for me. When you see something, you can’t unsee it. I became relentless about understanding the gender gap in entrepreneurship and seeking meaningful ways to close it,” she says.
Shannon began to educate herself by looking at the research — and going deeper into the frontlines. Under an anonymous twitter handle, A Girl’s Biz Banker, Shannon started new conversations with women entrepreneurs and innovators to better understand their needs as entrepreneurs. She also looked to banks from around the world to identify best practices for meeting the needs of women entrepreneurs. The deeper she went, the more she saw how and where the financial system was failing women.
“Canada’s banking system was never designed with women in mind. Today, women remain the single largest underserved group of customers in the financial services sector.”
Working inside the financial system, Shannon knew that there was opportunity for change. The challenge, however, was finding a way to drive that change forward. “Canada’s banking system was never designed with women in mind. Today, women remain the single largest underserved group of customers in the financial services sector.”
Shannon’s passion for change led her to be one of the first women in the country to lead a women’s banking strategy. “It was a role I lobbied for,” says Shannon. ”Not everyone was supportive of the work I was leading.” But tenacity and a desire for change kept Shannon on her path to reimagine banking for women, which included helping women access the financial capital they needed to start and grow their business, connecting them to networks and professionals, and building learning opportunities to support them in their journey.
While Shannon’s work included creating new funding models, such as introducing a cohort-based, rewards-based crowdfunding initiative, she also introduced a new training for frontline team members to better understand the gendered differences in money and entrepreneurship, and brought together team members from across the bank to create a holistic value proposition that was centred on breaking barriers and closing the entrepreneurial gender gap.
“The most cited barrier for women entrepreneurs is financial capital,” says Shannon, adding that on a funding level, more needs to be done to address the way risk is assessed and how that shapes lending and investing decisions. Her lived experience was validated by much of the research led by the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub. According to The State of Women’s Entrepreneurship in Canada 2022 from WEKH, the processes used to make decisions about financing — the “five C’s” (capacity, collateral, capital, character, and conditions) — are based, to a large extent, on historical patterns that disadvantage women and other underestimated groups.
In 2018, Shannon was appointed to serve on a panel supporting Canada’s women entrepreneurship strategy. In 2020, she became an entrepreneur herself, with a focus to deepen her work in closing the entrepreneurial gap as a financial consultant. From there, she became WEKH’s Senior Advisor – Business and Finance, where she has helped the organization develop research and networks to improve women’s access to financial, social, and entrepreneurial capital. Shannon notes that her lived experience not only enables her to inform research, policies, and practices, but also helps her connect with other entrepreneurs.
“On an individual level, many women entrepreneurs are socialized, just like I was, to believe they aren’t good with money or numbers.”
She has also brought her skills and experience to a new venture — co-founding The Finance Cafe, Canada’s first gender-focused business financial learning program designed to help women entrepreneurs — and those who support them — explore what’s behind the numbers to find greater confidence and build greater capacity in financial decision making. Over 200 women entrepreneurs and advisors have gone through the program.
“On an individual level, many women entrepreneurs are socialized, just like I was, to believe they aren’t good with money or numbers,” so they shirk responsibility for the monetary management of their businesses to someone else, Shannon says.”But that’s not true. If you can understand the numbers better and beyond just reading a financial statement, you can shape your own financial story.”
Recent reports from WEKH show that while there are societal and organizational barriers, one of the individual level barriers to success for women with small businesses is financial literacy and confidence. Organizations like The Finance Cafe and WEKH are expanding how they support these groups. New bursaries (including one created by Shannon for Indigenous women entrepreneurs) and funding opportunities are being granted by the government, and financial institutions are waking up to the gender gap within the entrepreneurial space.
There’s still work to be done, but Shannon is optimistic. “A lot has changed since I started this work. Things are still changing. But there’s more ahead,” she says. “I care deeply about this work, and I’ll continue working towards a more inclusive financial system — and building new ways for women to navigate a system that wasn’t designed by them, or for them.”
Karen Collins is the Chief Talent Officer for BMO Financial Group, the 8th largest bank (by assets) in North America — with 12 million customers, and over 43,000 employees. Joining the bank in 2005, she held progressively more senior leadership roles across the organization, and now has enterprise accountability for Talent Management; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Leadership & Succession Planning; Executive Development; and Organization Design & Effectiveness. Karen serves on the Perimeter Institute Board of Directors and as a member of the Boulevard Club’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee. She is a proud wife and mother, has two beloved Labrador retrievers, and enjoys travelling with her family and staying active.
My first job ever was… babysitting for kids in my neighbourhood.
I decided on a career in human resources because… I’m passionate about helping leaders achieve their potential and I love to unlock tough issues related to human and team dynamics and change.
I’m passionate about my current role because… I have had a chance to impact BMO’s culture, talent, focus on inclusion and people ecosystem during one of the most interesting periods in history!
My proudest accomplishment is… most recently, how BMO supported our people during the pandemic — we kept people safe and working and feeling personally cared for. Over my career my proudest accomplishment has been helping other leaders grow, thrive and achieve their goals.
My biggest setback was… working for a company where I realized the values of the organization did not align with my personal values.
I overcame it by… seeking a change to move to a new company (BMO!) that did align with my values and learning a lot from the experience — it was one of the most formative learning experiences in my career.
“As we come through the pandemic into the next chapter there is so much new and bold thinking about the new ways of working.”
My advice for aspiring HR professionals is… think of yourself as a business person first; while you may be focused on human capital most of the time, it’s really important to understand how the business works — focus on products, technology, systems, revenue as well as people.
The one piece of advice I give that I have trouble following myself is… create work-life balance and take real breaks from work… I am getting better at this, I think!
The thing I love most about what I do is… working alongside my team, my colleagues and the bank’s leadership team.
If I were to pick one thing that has helped me succeed, it would be… learning agility — being excited by new things, taking in feedback and learning from it, seeking out new perspectives and being resilient.
If you googled me, you still wouldn’t know… I am an introvert.
I stay inspired by… surrounding myself with mentors, leaders, colleagues and team members who inspire me on a regular basis.
The future excites me because… as we come through the pandemic into the next chapter there is so much new and bold thinking about the new ways of working.
By Kathryn Hollinrake | Photos by Kathryn Hollinrake
As a professional photographer, I’ve learned there are so many little things that can impact the success of a portrait. Fortunately, some of these things are fully in your control.
No, I don’t mean with Photoshop. It’s true almost anything can be fixed in post-production — with a certain budget. Not only is that budget rarely available for difficult problems in corporate portrait-land (my current specialty), I think it’s a waste of time and money to fix something that could have been avoided in the first place with some care and planning.
To help you prepare for and get the most out of a professional portrait session, I’m sharing guidelines based on what I’ve encountered over 25+ years as a photographer and retoucher. I am sure some will seem, and in fact are, relevant only to some — and I hope nobody feels excluded or offended. (If you’d like a broader range of tips, you can find them on my LinkedIn and my blog.)
I also know, from the many times I’ve been the one in the photo, that it’s not easy to just wear the right clothes, have the perfect hair and makeup, and project nothing but confidence with your pose. But with a bit of prep (and help from the right photographer) getting a shot you want to share with the world is possible. I know you will look great for your next shoot — especially if you follow all of my suggestions!
Tip #1: Breathe
Once you arrive at your photo session, breathe. Why would I say this? Because people filled with dread hold their breath. I work with people all the time who come to portrait shoots geared up for what they anticipate will be a fairly short but painful nightmare, “knowing” they are unphotogenic and they will probably hate the results. Determined to get this thing over with (and make it count!), they stop breathing.
Remember it’s your photographer’s job to help you find your way through and past this first and very real obstacle. I encourage you to embrace the idea that you are in good hands, take a deep breath or twenty, and keep breathing. Slow down, listen, and trust. When people stop breathing they tend to tense up, their shoulders go up, their neck tendons flex, and they positively, silently scream “uncomfortable!” Nothing can suck the power out of a portrait faster than the appearance of overwhelming and unmitigable discomfort.
Tip #2: If you wear a suit, make sure that it fits.
A portrait in which the suit fits perfectly will outshine a portrait featuring a lumpy suit every time. This might seem obvious, but for many of us it can be incredibly difficult to find a jacket that doesn’t bunch and pull in various spots. I have photographed myself to illustrate blog posts and articles for years now, and I always start with a jacket I’m pretty sure fits fine — but often discover it does something in a photograph that I consider distracting and unacceptably imperfect. You can try posing and pinning to mitigate wrinkles, but sometimes it is impossible to get rid of them. They make successful retouching too difficult and time consuming to be practical, especially if the suit fabric is textured or patterned.
How do you know if it fits? Make sure you can comfortably do up a button. You will look more polished and pulled together with a neatly closed jacket. You will feel more confident if you are comfortable and you know you look good. And if your portrait is cropped as a head and shoulders image, your face will be nicely framed by the ‘v’ of the neckline. If you are not sure what works best, and time allows, bring options for your shoot.
Tip #3: Higher necklines are always the safer option.
Ideally a neckline will be fully contained within the frame of a portrait. This way your wardrobe helps to frame your face and the viewers eyes aren’t pulled off the edge of the frame. It is not terribly unusual to find that the neckline of a top that seems business appropriate in real life disappears off the bottom edge of a typical head and shoulders portrait crop. This can catch people by surprise, as can the apparent disappearance of the top under a jacket when that jacket is closed; we generally want the jacket closed to make a nice ‘v’ to frame the face.
My advice is to play it safe and opt for a higher neckline, and remember, you can think beyond tops. If you have a dress that works — even if it’s one you’d never wear to work — try wearing that. With a head and shoulders portrait nobody cares what’s going on below the crop.
Tip #4: Wear long sleeves for head and shoulders portraits.
If you plan to wear a dress or top without a jacket, avoid short sleeves for head and shoulders portraits. Why? The crop is probably going to be somewhere above your elbow. As such, it can be a bit distracting for viewers if the bottom left and right corners feature the skin of your arms, especially if your skin is noticeably lighter or darker than your clothing.
As for sleeveless dresses or tops, it’s pretty universally advised to avoid them for business portraits. Some companies’ corporate photo guidelines even expressly forbid them. Long sleeves will almost always be the most flattering and most professional looking option.
Tip #5: Work with a professional makeup artist.
There are typically three options for portrait makeup: DIY (free), department store makeup counter (token product purchase), and professional makeup artist (professional fee). Whichever option your budget allows, remember what you are trying to do: Show your best authentic self to the world, refreshed and maybe a bit enhanced. You don’t want to end up looking unrecognizable.
In my experience, a professional is worth the investment to meet that goal. A good make-up artist (paired with good moisturizer and communication!) can help you show up as your best self while still looking like yourself. That means wearing just the right amount of make-up for you, wherever that is on the spectrum — from full glam to practically none.
With the same goal of authenticity in mind, try to avoid getting a haircut from a new stylist right before you get a new portrait done. A professional make-up artist may be able to rescue you, but if not, I think most people know the potential for distress and disappointment here. I have seen it!
Tip #6: Keep jewellery simple.
Unless you are a jeweller looking to advertise your work via your business portrait, then the general guideline is to stick to more understated jewellery. I acknowledge the welcome movement towards people bringing their whole, unique, authentic selves to work, personal style and all. But the most consistently you part of you is your face. So to a large extent that’s where you want people’s focus. The added advantage of wearing subtler jewellery is that it will be less likely to date your portrait when styles change. While Fashion magazine’s May 2022 issue said that “statement necklaces are back in style,” I suggest that this be considered less relevant to us in business portrait world. Avoiding wearing trendy jewellery or wardrobe is one good way to stave off having to do a new professional portrait every year.
Tip #7: Lean in.
Yes, this one’s really simple. Particularly when someone is really not excited or is, more accurately, filled with dread at the idea of being photographed, but is also committed to doing their best to get through it. Their default posture can be rigid, back straight up and down, chin sucked in, at attention! But this stance can make people look timid, uptight, and freaked out. You may be all these things, but you don’t want to look like it!
You can make great headway towards appearing to be the total opposite by merely leaning in. You want to look relaxed, confident, and engaged, and step one to appearing to be those things is a bit of a tilt forward, back still straight, shoulders back, hinging from the hips, allowing the chin to come forward a wee bit so the angles of your jawline will be nicely defined above your tension-free and extra-chinless neck.
Tip #7: Lean in.
Yes, this one’s really simple. Particularly when someone is really not excited or is, more accurately, filled with dread at the idea of being photographed, but is also committed to doing their best to get through it. Their default posture can be rigid, back straight up and down, chin sucked in, at attention! But this stance can make people look timid, uptight, and freaked out. You may be all these things, but you don’t want to look like it!
You can make great headway towards appearing to be the total opposite by merely leaning in. You want to look relaxed, confident, and engaged, and step one to appearing to be those things is a bit of a tilt forward, back still straight, shoulders back, hinging from the hips, allowing the chin to come forward a wee bit so the angles of your jawline will be nicely defined above your tension-free and extra-chinless neck.
Kathryn Hollinrake
Kathryn Hollinrake has been “making people and things look pretty” as a professional photographer for over twenty-five years after graduating at the top of her class with a Bachelor of Technology in photography from TMU (then Ryerson). During her long and diverse career she worked briefly for Kodak, then started her business as a commercial and editorial photographer shooting everything from food to dogs to people, shot weddings, produced and exhibited fine art, acted in TV commercials and finally found her tribe in corporate and portrait photography where she collaborates with businesses and individuals to make their branding imagery shine. To learn more about Kathryn’s work, connect with her on LinkedIn or find her online at hollinrake.com.
When Katherine Hay was a teenager, her mother recertified her nursing credentials so she could continue supporting Katherine and her younger sister as a single mother. Katherine’s older brother had just died in a car accident at the age of 19.
“My mom was and is the epitome of strength, courage, and grit without ever losing her warmth or ability to cast a safe and loving family net,” she says.
Katherine remembers volunteering with her sister in the chronic care ward where her mother worked. “Those were good early experiences that were anchored on some tough family times,” she says. “Young, early experiences shape a bit of the mettle you might take into your adulthood.”
Volunteering was something they always did as a family, which Katherine carried on through her own family with her two children. When Katherine decided to make a career in non-profit, “It felt deeply satisfying for me,” she says. “I knew that I was going to move the needle in some way, shape, or form.”
For more than two decades, Katherine has been driving social change. As President and CEO of Women’s College Hospital Foundation, she led record-breaking fundraising efforts to support women’s health. In her current role as President and CEO of Kids Help Phone, Katherine is advancing Canada’s mental health service for youth as a virtual health innovator that connects with young people online, by phone, and text. Katherine is an inspiring and passionate leader, and she is being recognized for her achievements.
Katherine was the 2021 winner of the Social Change Award, National Impact, a category of the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards that honours an exceptional leader of a registered charity, social enterprise, or not-for-profit who is dedicated to their unique brand of social change.
“I knew that I was going to move the needle in some way, shape, or form.”
Katherine describes her journey toward her current work as a very wavy line — “I was amassing experiences,” she says — and she didn’t start out with a vision to work in the not-for-profit sector. Katherine left university and got a job as a bank teller. She worked her way up in the bank, taking on a management role and running branches. “I learned so much in those early days in banking about customer service and team experiences that I put into play, day in and day out,” she says.
In the mid-nineties, Katherine’s journey took a different turn when she moved with her family to São Paulo, Brazil. With her kids at school and husband at work, Katherine thought about what to do next. She finished her BA in psychology and economics remotely from the University of Waterloo. Katherine approached the Consul General in São Paolo, offering to volunteer. They created the Canadian Foundation and Katherine was appointed president of the fundraising volunteer organization. The goal was to raise approximately $25,000 for HIV/AIDS. At the time, mortality rates were high and there wasn’t fundraising to help families impacted by the condition. Katherine approached multinational corporations doing business in São Paolo. The foundation raised hundreds of thousands of dollars. “It was incredible,” says Katherine, who describes her experiences in São Paolo as “transformational.”
In 1999, Katherine and her family returned to Canada. After many years of volunteering, sitting on non-profit boards, and doing fundraising events, Katherine realized that she wanted to make a career of it, “knowing that the work I would do could very well enable something so much bigger than me or my world,” she says.
Katherine began doing strategy work with Big Brothers Big Sisters. She remembers making $17 an hour and thinking, I am a paid professional in this sector. “I was very proud of that,” she says. Katherine gained experience working with Families and Children Experiencing AIDS (FACE AIDS) and University of Toronto Mississauga. In 2004, Katherine was appointed Director of Advancement at the University of Toronto. Then in 2014, she became President and CEO of Women’s College Hospital Foundation.
“If you make decisions outside your values, outside your place, and it doesn’t work out, those are your mistakes.”
Reflecting on her journey, Katherine says that while there wasn’t a specific end result in sight, she had a clear feeling that she was taking the right steps for herself while also helping others, which was important to her.
Katherine’s mother used to tell her, “Stand in the right place, and you’ll be ok.” If Katherine aligned herself with her values, then she would find her way. “If you make decisions outside your values, outside your place, and it doesn’t work out, those are your mistakes,” she says. If you get back to your values, says Katherine, most things will find their path. Don’t be afraid if you don’t know fully what you want, she says. But you should work hard to know who you are.
Katherine has explored the values that are integral to who she is. “If I didn’t have them, I couldn’t be me,” she says. Katherine writes her values on the inside of every notebook and looks at them often, including before she goes into a tough meeting.
Working in the not-for-profit sector requires a steadfast belief in what you are trying to accomplish. “This is not a job,” she says. “It has to be authentic and genuinely inside you.” When Katherine was appointed President and CEO of Kids Help Phone in 2017, she was compelled by the meaningful work of the organization, which was a pioneer in virtual health, as well as the youth mental health crisis. While there is an often-cited statistic that one in five youth face mental health challenges, Katherine believes that one in one young people are impacted, whether it be personally or through a friend or family member.
When Katherine joined Kids Help Phone, it was a well-loved organization with a solid foundation. Yet maintaining a steady state was not an option. “We’d be the Kodak of the not-for-profit sector because we have innovation and technology right in our hands,” says Katherine of Canada’s 24/7 virtual mental health service for youth. The organization needed to evolve along with technology and the fast-paced world in which youth were navigating.
“We will continue to evolve and grow, and that’s what drives us.”
Katherine drove a new strategic direction for Kids Help Phone, positioning it as an innovation technology driven charity with a razor-sharp focus on youth mental health. Kids Help Phone connects with young people where they are, including gaming sites, social media, online chat and peer-to-peer forums, as well as by phone with professional counsellors, and text with crisis responders.
When the COVID-19 global pandemic hit, Kids Help Phone was ready. “The world shut down,” remembers Katherine. “We did not go dark or silent. Not for one minute.” The organization went from 708 crisis responders to more than 2,230 responders active on the platform monthly. During COVID-19, Kids Help Phone trained more than 5,000 crisis responders, enabling the high number of crisis responders to be on the e-front lines. Since January 2020, Kids Help Phone has interacted more than 11.3 million times with young people in every province and territory in both official languages; a dramatic increase from its 1.9 million interactions with young people in 2019. Wait times remain on average five minutes.
While COVID-19 has exacerbated young people’s anxiety and mental health challenges, there is a youth mental health crisis beyond the pandemic. Canada has the third highest youth suicide rate in the industrialized world and suicide is the second leading cause of death for young people in Canada. The silver lining is Kids Help Phone, says Katherine. “Not only are we here,” she says, “they’re reaching out.”
In the future, Kids Help Phone will continue to find innovative ways to connect with young people and provide mental health support. “We will continue to evolve and grow,” says Katherine, “and that’s what drives us.”
I’ve had a love of fashion since I was a teenager. I grew up watching Jeanne Bekker from Fashion Television interview the original 90’s Supermodels, trailblazing designers, and household names backstage during fashion week — New York, Paris, Milan, London — every week on CityTV.
She would have access to the most coveted runway shows, and intimate conversations with everyone and anyone in the industry. Apart from watching FT, I collected numerous fashion magazines like Mademoiselle and Glamour. I especially liked the before & after photos and fashion do’s and don’ts.
Fast forward 25 years to March 2020, and I found myself laid off from my full-time job for a global training & development company. It was a time to reflect and reinvent myself and start over. I’d worked in several industries, from IT to health and wellness, but nothing came close to what I wanted in a truly fulfilling career. I wanted to have a real work-life balance and a job where I could make a lasting difference with people.
“It didn’t take too long to realize that the thing that I always wanted to do was create a career in fashion — specifically personal styling.”
While I was decluttering at the start of the pandemic, I found a black and white picture of my dad in my photo album. I was struck by memories of my dad, who passed away in December 2001. It was a photo of him sitting on a bench, probably at the time when he worked for the Jamaican Customs. He sat crossed legs, his pants starched and crisp, his black shoes polished and shined.
I remembered his clothes, his closets. He always kept his clothes in immaculate condition even though he wore a uniform to work. On his days off, he always looked sharp. When we first moved to Canada, he took us to the Eaton Centre to go shopping. It didn’t take too long to realize that the thing that I always wanted to do was create a career in fashion — specifically personal styling. My dad significantly influenced my decision to embark on my new journey.
Getting Started as a Stylist.
Starting my business, Uncover Your Style, during the pandemic meant that marketing and networking would look very different from my past business as a holistic nutritionist ten years ago. I made it my goal to share what I was up to with the people in my life — family, friends, past work colleagues, and my connections on social media. I attended weekly networking events over Zoom and had coffee Zoom meetings with other business owners and female entrepreneurs. Last year I joined an online organization for Black stylists called Black Women Who Style. Although I’m the only member from Canada, the group’s organizer, who’s been styling for five years, is very gracious. She’s created a platform where stylists help each other, not bring each other down.
As the pandemic meant moving back and forth between lockdowns and re-openings, the most realistic way to conduct my business was virtual. The handful of clients that I had was through word-of-mouth. To gain experience, I practiced with family and friends doing consultations over Zoom, including closet/wardrobe edits. I had a few inquiries from my website, but nothing significant.
“How I looked and how I sounded became critically important. I never had to contend with this when I worked in the corporate world as an employee.”
I also had to learn to navigate and use social media, like Instagram. Because what I do is visual, I had to learn how to present myself to people. How I looked and how I sounded became critically important. I never had to contend with this when I worked in the corporate world as an employee. I was always the one working behind the scenes in my job. There were opportunities for me to speak in front of large groups of people and present myself as someone professional and knowledgeable, but being out there and having people ‘watch and judge you’ anywhere in the world was very unfamiliar and uncomfortable.
I’m still not 100% confident and used to putting myself out there. I sometimes overthink what I will create on Instagram and TikTok and how I come across on camera. Is what I’m presenting educational, informative, and fun? Will people get it? Imposter Syndrome comes up a lot. Another pitfall is that I automatically compare myself to other stylists and how many ‘likes’ they get and how great their content is compared to mine.
My Lessons Learned.
One of the biggest mistakes in my first year in business was signing up to advertise for a Yelp promo account. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I registered to use several hundred dollars in (Yelp credits) to advertise personal shopping for the holiday season. After six weeks of ad promos, there were no new clients or leads. I cancelled right away when I saw my bill the following month. Sometimes things may sound enticing, but it doesn’t automatically lead to success for your business. I learned this the hard way financially. I still get solicited to advertise, and I politely decline the offer.
I made the other mistake of saying “yes” to everybody for styling. There were times when I said yes to working with a client who was very difficult. Early indications were that the client wouldn’t be fully ‘coachable’ or agreeable, but I ignored my inner voice. I now know the importance of vetting and interviewing potential clients before we agree to work together.
My Goals For The Future.
One of my goals for the future is to create a one-stop-shop experience for clients — like a boutique image consulting service with other stylists, designers, make-up artists, and photographers.
Sometimes, I pinch myself and wonder how I got here. I’ve spent the past 18 months hustling — giving away my time, knowledge, and expertise to get somewhere. There are many times that I’ve been disappointed about not booking that client, not getting that opportunity on a grand scale. There are also days when I feel like giving up on my dreams. The conversation in my head is that “It’s too hard, nothing is working, nobody wants what I have to give.” The biggest challenge is having that winning mindset and keeping it going, no matter what. I belong to a Mastermind group and a meditation group that helps during those difficult times.
The truth is that I haven’t yet achieved the publicity, notoriety, and good client base that I want to commit to being financially and personally fulfilled yet. I’ve created action plans and revised my business plans and goals for 2022, and I continue to plant the seeds for the next chapter — and I’m looking forward to what I will harvest in the next few months.
Cheryl Nomdarkhon
Cheryl Nomdarkhon is a Certified Personal Stylist and founder of Uncover Your Style, a Toronto-based style consultancy offering both in-person and virtual services. After 10 years as a Training & Development Manager, Cheryl was inspired by her late father’s style sense and her own love of fashion to pursue her new career, launching her business in 2020. Believing it is never too late to reinvent yourself, her aim is to help people discover their style sensibility, and dress easily and confidently. Connect with her on Instagram and uncoveryourstyle.ca for style advice and to book a personal session.
If you’re like most people, when you see a cloud of fog rolling in, you probably think about waterproofing your wardrobe for the day. But if you’re someone like Tatiana Estevez Carlucci, all you see is possibility.
“It was right after graduation and it was my dream to go backpacking in California, so I landed in San Francisco,” she says, arriving at a time when the state was going through a historic drought, costing the economy billions and devastating the mental health of farmers. “I was looking out the window of my Airbnb, and as I watched the fog roll in, it hit me: fog is a huge source of water. What if that water could be harnessed to solve problems like drought?”
The result of that brainwave is Permalution: a revolutionary cleantech organization devoted to creating and leveraging technology to harvest water droplets from fog. Tatiana’s goal is to support local ecosystems and contribute to environmental conservation.
“By definition, fog or clouds are made up of tiny particles of water that are suspended in the air, so we developed technology that allows us to predict where fog will occur, the amount of water one can yield from a specific fog patch, and collect water droplets from fog as it passes over one of our units,” Tatiana says.
“We want to democratize fog as a new water source, and we need to introduce the technology in a way that allows everyone to access it.”
The fireproof, ready to assemble modules have an integrated IoT system and allow her team to collect 150 to 400 litres of water per day — or an amount that can support a family of four to six.
“We want to democratize fog as a new water source, and we need to introduce the technology in a way that allows everyone to access it while abiding by the water regulations in each state, province, and country,” she says.
Based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, the first-of-its-kind fog organization has received several recognitions and grants since launching in 2015, including one of BMO‘s Celebrating Women Grants in 2021.
Tatiana says she’s eternally grateful for the support and recognition, especially because she had no formal business or engineering education when starting her company. She took some electives in environmental engineering in university and went on to teach herself about all things sustainability; what she knew was that she ultimately wanted to work with water and in the cleantech space.
“I started little by little,” Tatiana says, adding that every small step has led her to the road she’s currently on, from landing in Silicon Valley for a period of time to working with the Canadian Government on environmental matters.
“The support of others, patience, and tenacity has been key to getting Permalution where it is today,” she says. Believing in the end result of what the technology can offer the world has also been key. “All entrepreneurs need to believe what they’re bringing to the table is very important and worth taking the risk and chance on.”
“What we’re doing really has the power to change the world.”
Tatiana keeps a book of accomplishments to flip through when she feels she or her organization have hit a wall; this empowers her to move forward when it feels like the universe is against her.
“Women need to get rid of the fear of failing in order to get to where we need to go. We have to fail fast and hard, but keep going,” she says.
Up next for Tatiana and Permalution is a new website so the organization can make more noise (a dream would be to attract attention from the likes of Greta Thunberg) and an advancement of plans to commercialize their products. Tatiana and her team want to increase output and recently started working with the University of Toronto to develop and launch a backpack-sized module that will, hopefully, bring water to displaced populations.
“We’re working on so many cool innovations that will help us bring this technology to where there is no fog or even few clouds so we can address the climate and water challenges of today,” she says. “What we’re doing really has the power to change the world.”
