Guests: Jaclyn Patterson is the Founder of Shopwise, an online sustainable fashion marketplace, making it easier for people to discover and shop smarter from more than 30 purpose driven brands that prioritize both people and the planet. Christal Duncan Earle founded Brave Soles in 2017. Brave Soles creates handcrafted shoes with upcycled tire soles and is focused on providing opportunities for their customers and fans to love the story behind what they own. Resources: Connect with...

Guests: Tia Upshaw is a dynamic, serial entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Blk Women in Excellence. Tashauna Reid is the owner of College Creative Curations, an online stationery store which addresses common student challenges by creating purposeful stationery items. Resources: Learn more about BWIE  Connect with BWIE's workshops and events  Check out BWIE's Black Heritage Month 28 Day Campaign

Freelancing is a very unique style of entrepreneurship. For freelancers, they are able to achieve flexibility and do work they are great at. For founders, freelancers are key contributors to their projects and business. In this episode, we talk about the tangible tools that allow freelancers to be successful and how to develop strong, empathetic and successful relationships with them, as founders. Guests: Sandra Reimer is a marketing matchmaker at CoLabourNation. Sandra connects...

Conor Phillips is an innovator, creative problem solver and serial-entrepreneur, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. After working in the tourism industry for several years, Conor recognized that something was missing from how small businesses promote their products and services, and how travellers discover the activities, events, festivals and accommodations around them, particularly the tourism they don't know exists. Which led Conor to build her startup, Pathfinder365.    Natasha Peter is...

Have you ever googled the word entrepreneur? What kind of images show up? Who kind of folks do you see represented and associated with the word ‘entrepreneur’.  More often than not, it isn't women and we believe that needs to change because women are disrupting industries, they are making deep social impact and they are incredibly successful. Guests: Dr.Wendy Cukier is the Founder and Academic Director of the Diversity Institute and Academic Director of the Women Entrepreneurship...

The world is your oyster, its full of opportunities. But what about trade agreements, laws, market research, and shipping costs?  For entrepreneurs who want to go global, opportunities for growth can quickly feel risky, unclear and even out of reach. For Black and racialized entrepreneurs, these feelings are often amplified. Evelyne Nyairo is the Founder of Ellie Bianca, a natural and luxury skin care line made in Canada with organic and sustainable ingredients. Myriam Francisque is the...

In this episode, we will explore Brood’s story, one that came to be through a passion for babies, friendship, and families. Emma Devin and Lizzy Karp have developed a language of care and through this conversation we are able to learn how the words we use affect the experience people can have. This conversation reminds us to look at parents and caretakers as whole beings, highlights the need for better education around setting up parental leave systems and brings awareness to creating...

Ivy Wong is the Founder of Ripple Foundation, a non-profit created to inspire imaginations,  and foster creativity and literacy for children in Canada. Today, Ripple Foundation serves communities across the country and children and youth at various stages of their writing journeys. Megan Poole is the Manager of Community and Community Relations at The 519 in Toronto. The 519 is a registered charity dedicated to the health, happiness and full participation of 2SLGBTQI+...

Money matters for entrepreneurs and for business owners. It can also be a source of stress, shame and overwhelm. Chris and Melissa have advice for you to feel more comfortable with making and managing money as a women entrepreneur. Guests: Chris McMartin is our Topic Expert. Chris leads The Scotiabank Women Initiative Small Business Strategy across Canada. In this role, Chris is committed to building a program that helps women overcome the challenges they face on their path to success...

Chelsea Howard is the Founder of Drift Employer Brand Consulting. Chelsea is a workforce strategist, partnering with companies from a range of industries to build human-centric culture and employee experience strategies. Mary Wildman is a First Nations Indigenous woman from Curve Lake First Nation. Mary is a vibrant warrior who works to build relationships and form connections, is a motivational speaker and and Indigenous influencer with a mission to advocate for Indigenous People and also...

Your venture needs funding, how you get there can be up to you. In this episode, Kailey shares NONA Vegan's fundraising journey while Shelley chimes in with insight and advice for funding your business so you can grow. "Founders should put themselves first. I want to understand their judgment, I need to see that they are coachable. I love companies who marry a social impact to their business and it isn't a trade off." Guests: Shelley Kuipers is Co-CEO, General Partner and Growth...

Entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster, with high highs and low lows. Add in navigating a new country and all of the emotions and learnings that come along with it, that is a whole new rollercoaster. In this episode, we hear from two women entrepreneurs who left home and came to Canada for a new life. Through their journeys, we quickly learn that newcomer entrepreneurs are the biggest risk takers of all. Guests:  Karla Briones is a proud Mexican-Canadian entrepreneur with retail, food...

When entrepreneurs hear Make Lemonade, they likely think of Rachel Kelly - but what is the secret to achieving this and how do you do it? Reagan Bradley, is a personal brand strategist, or in her words ‘a part time investigator, and part time storyteller’, guiding entrepreneurs to find their authenticity, and curate the right story so they can clearly express who they are, what they do, and how they do it.   Rachel’s Make Lemonade began as a vibrant co-working space in Toronto, and...

Expressing our emotions at work is not always easy, but what if paying more attention to our behaviours and emotional needs made us better leaders? Leaders who could hire according to their emotional inventory, operate in a more self aware state and create emotionally in tuned and strong teams that support business growth. Daisy Wright, who supports folks as they transition in their careers and guides them as they enter leadership roles, discusses how emotions show up at work for first...

Monique Hutson is the Founder and Lead Content Producer of Dom Productions. After running the business for 6 years, her mindset and missions have changed and evolved, they have had to. Cheryl Sutherland is the Founder of PleaseNotes, a business she has built to help women step into their power by building confidence, clarity, and creativity. Together, we talk about the mindsets we must adopt to integrate new things into business, and practise being the person we want to become for ourselves,...

Is diversity, equity and inclusion a destination or a journey? Jess Dassanayake is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of BinoBooks. BinoBooks exists to help children understand important topics like the COVID-19 pandemic, gender, body image, and more,  through personalized e-books. With representation at its center, BinoBooks is reinventing reading. Camille Dundas is a Racial Equity Educator at The IDEA Practice, and also is the Co-Founder and Editor in Chief of Canada's largest...

Impact isn’t always a number or a dollar amount. Often it is a story. Jacqueline Sofia and Noora Sharrab are the founders of SITTI Social Enterprise, a venture that exists to improve the lives of refugees and displaced communities. Sagal Dualeh is the Senior Director of the Investment Readiness Program at Canada’s Women Foundation, supporting women and gender-diverse entrepreneurs to fund their impact-first businesses. Together, we discuss how to navigate operating as a social enterprise...

Entrepreneurship is a world of opportunity, of brilliance, of hard work. It’s also a world of loneliness, of sacrifice and of deep challenge and we must include these experiences in our conversations about entrepreneurship. Komal Minhas is the Founder of Karseva, a company focused on building individual and societal resilience through training programs, media productions and investing. Elaisha Jade is the Founder of Your Mindful, mental health advocate and certified meditation coach....

Demand for your product or service in a new market is exciting but it doesn’t make the ins and outs of exporting and operating globally any easier.   BE Alink is the Founder and Inventor of the Alinker, a bright yellow, radically different walking bike and vehicle for change. With support from Tamaïka Jumelle, Regional Director of Quebec for Invest in Canada, we capture the Alinker’s global journey and showcase resources and support organizations that exist to support you to become...

It is through growth and scaling that founders continue to give their businesses life and it is how they reach the milestones they have always dreamed of. But these things can’t happen without asking yourself what you truly want and finding a sustainable pace to get there. Jenn Harper is the Founder and CEO of Cheekbone Beauty Cosmetics Inc, a digitally native direct-to-consumer brand that is helping Indigenous youth see themselves in the beauty industry that has lacked this...

When founders think about marketing, they often begin to visualize their websites, and social media pages but it is equally important to think about who you are, who you want to be and how you will show up for customers once they find you.  Meaghan and Marie Wright are twin sisters and co-founders of Mirror Image Media, a full-service video production company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. They wear many hats as directors, cinematographers and editors and know that their brand and customer...

When we sell a product or service, what we are really selling is an experience, feeling, or the desired outcome. Selling is a skill built on listening, emotional intelligence, and being of service to your clients and connections. Sheen Brady is the Founder and Tea Sommelier of Tease, a well-loved line of natural and botanical wellness teas that benefit the planet and those who drink them while funding entrepreneurship and mentorship programs for ambitious women. Sheena and Tease recently...

The topic of funding is one commonly associated with stress and anxiety for founders - but it doesn’t need to be. Financing your business is an exercise rooted in patience, planning, and purpose. It’s a unique opportunity to imagine, and reimagine, what our ventures can and should look like in the future.   Richa Gupta is the Founder of Good Food For Good - a CPG venture focused on crafting organic and refined sugar, soy, corn syrup, gluten, dairy, and preservative-free products and has...

Hiring is so important for a venture’s success, yet the search for talent is a gargantuan challenge for most founders. Business owners need strong processes and a map to make sure their teams survive and thrive. Entrepreneurs must think of culture as a code, one that is built with intention while leaving room for behaviours and methods to reveal themselves organically. Erin Stephenson, COO and CMO  of DOZR makes sure she hires for culture and includes folks who believe in the work DOZR...