Canada’s Entrepreneur

Michael DeVenney, President of Halifax-based WorkInsights, began researching entrepreneurial mental health after his own depression and anxiety forced him to sell two businesses. His research led to him founding ‘The Mindset Project’ which empowers entrepreneurs to talk about and manage their mental health as well as provides tools to support founders in the growth of their business. Though he knows the warning signs, he says he’s been affected by the stress of the pandemic and has had to make it a priority to use coping strategies and manage his mental health. DeVenney says entrepreneurs feel the weight of their personal and business stresses combined and it’s hard to separate the two. He hopes to challenge stigma and promote open conversation about the mental health struggles many entrepreneurs face.

Click here to download a free copy of the BDC report on entrepreneur mental health and well-being.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Marie Chevrier, is the Founder and CEO of Sampler, the leading platform helping brands like L'Oréal and Nestlé deliver samples online and gather the insight they need to build one-to-one relationships with their customers. Sampler has reached over 50 million consumers globally in 24 different countries and its most notable clients include CPG industry giants Unilever, Pepsi, and Henkel. Marie is also a dedicated advisor to Technology and CPG startups including ScoutCanning, member of the RetailTomorrow advisory board, and Co-Founder of RetailTO – a community dedicated to growing and strengthening Toronto’s Retail ecosystem.

Click here to download a free copy of the BDC report on entrepreneur mental health and well-being.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Want to stay up-to-date on the latest #entrepreneurial podcasts and news? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter.

A recent study by BDC Canada shows there are many concerns keeping entrepreneurs awake at night, but according to the report their biggest worries are generating enough revenue to make a profit (43%) and covering expenses (40%). To help cope with these stresses, entrepreneurs most often take time out or go for a walk (47%), exercise (41%) or talk to someone (29%).

Annie Marsolais, Chief Marketing Officer and Mental Health Advocate at BDC commented, "by examining this topic and collaborating with experts and partners we can help break the stigma associated with mental health issues, ensure business owners feel more at ease discussing it, and know where to turn for help." Our interview special with Annie covers many of the reports key findings.

Click here to download a free copy of the report.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

Want to stay up-to-date on the latest #entrepreneurial podcasts and news? Subscribe to our bi-weekly newsletter.

Augustine Wong (www.augustine-wong.com) grew up in Vancouver, BC and worked as a computer engineer for almost 10 years. 6 years ago, he started investing in real estate after attending a Keyspire real estate investing seminar. Over time, he built up a portfolio of 3 income properties and used different real estate investing strategies to generate 5-figure passive income annually. At the same time, he slowly realized that all of the hard work and dedication to his full time job translated very often into being passed over for promotions and long nights spent staring at a laptop. He realized that being smart and hard working meant little in the corporate world. But being smart and hard working when investing your own money translated into success.

Because of his bitter experience working as an employee for someone else and his success being a real estate investor, Augustine is on a mission to show people that they too can be real estate investors so that they do not need to feel so dependent on their full time jobs to survive. When working with his clients, his goal is not to help them earn more money but to help them make investments which will empower them to pursue the lives that they truly desire.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Teresa Powanda is owner of Unleash Sports Business and Athlete Consulting in Edmonton, Alberta.

She works with athletes, sport organizations, teams, corporate businesses and non-profit by building relationships, representation, managing sponsors, developing key messages, writing scripts/ads, media/public relations, creating promotional items/materials, marketing, budget planning, consulting and much more.

Her goal is to represent amateur and Olympic athletes; finding them sponsors, speaking engagements and endorsements to provide financial assistance in order for them to focus on all aspects of their training.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Amanda Munday is the founder and CEO of The Workaround and author of the best selling memoir Day Nine: a postpartum depression memoir. She advocates for childcare at all orders of government, and sits on the Board of Directors for Creative Preschool of East Toronto and the Danforth Mosaic Business Improvement Area. She also is a speaker in the upcoming TedX Toronto 2020 series: Uncharted.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Jessica Schacht is an artist and entrepreneur based on Vancouver Island in the Cowichan Valley. As a co-founder of Ampersand Distilling Company she manages sales and communications and has helped develop the award winning recipes that make Ampersand one of the top craft distilleries in British Columbia. Jessica has found many ways to combine her passion for art & entrepreneurship. In 2017 she started a cocktail column for the Cowichan Valley Voice called "History Glass" exploring the origins of classic cocktails. Jessica is also a public speaker on transferrable skills and entrepreneurship and has spoken at the University of Victoria, Pacific Opera Victoria's Artist Development Program, and the Vancouver Island Economic Alliance Summit.

Ampersand Distilling Co. is owned and operated by the Schacht family, whose five-acre organic farm and craft distillery is situated in the Cowichan Valley, British Columbia. The company was born out of Jeremy and Jessica Schacht’s love for craft cocktails and sparked to life when Jeremy and his father Stephen – both trained engineers – combined their knowledge of science and traditional distilling techniques to produce hand-crafted spirits with exceptional flavours. Together with Jeremy’s mother Ramona Froehle-Schacht – an avid organic farmer – the family fuse their individual passions into a thriving business whose high-quality organic spirits have become staples in the industry and home bars across North America.

Ampersand’s name pays homage to the grammatical logogram that forges connections across vast concepts. The subtle symbol signifies a powerful collaboration between the Schacht family, each of whom lends their personal passion and skills to the business. Ampersand brings together science and art, representing the craft of distilling spirits; technology and tradition, uniting innovative methods and old-world distilling styles; ingredients and techniques, allowing pure wild-harvested botanicals and B.C.-grown wheat to shine; and family and friends, who can share the simple joy of sipping a well-made spirit.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Tugreofia (Tugs) Smith is the Vice President of Operations at A&T Ascension Consulting (ATAC), a virtual staffing company she co-founded with her husband Adrian, where she manages hundreds of remote workers across North America. Having successfully led virtual teams for over 10 years, she is passionate about the opportunities that remote work provides to individuals, rural communities, and evolving businesses. As the mother of five children, Tugs fully appreciates the challenge of balancing work and family. Part of her mission is to offer better work-life balance to thousands of working moms throughout the country. Tugs is based in the Toronto area.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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Jane Stoller is a Swiss-Canadian life-biz organizer, speaker, author and university instructor whose passion is in decluttering spaces and organizing business processes. Jane wrote her first book in 2016 to help friends get more organized. It ultimately gained international attention, and this allowed Jane to turn her passion into a profitable business, Organized Jane.

Stoller’s global reach has helped thousands gain clarity and get organized with her critically acclaimed books, Organizing For Your Lifestyle and Decluttering for Dummies (Wiley Publishing). Additionally, Stoller has created a sought-after Business Booster course that helps business owners cut through the clutter and gain back their time, and has been featured on numerous talk shows, podcasts and magazines.

With a proven track record in both the corporate and entrepreneurial realms, Jane has spent the last decade helping unprofitable businesses become profitable. Not only do Jane’s strategies impact her clients’ work environments, but their personal lives as well, as all organizing processes start with the closet. Her mantra? "The closet sets the mood for the entire day. It’s also an ideal place to practice and hone organizing skills that can transfer over to the rest of your organizing goals. Choosing clothes from a laser-focused closet, you’re well on your way to a structured, system-driven office space."

When Stoller sets down her pen and paper, she puts on her teaching hat. Stoller lectures at Vancouver Island University in Canada for part of the year, helping students learn management skills.

Jane also aims to give back to businesses and organizations in her local communities through her passion for education. She is doing pro-bono work for ONE TO ONE, A Children’s Literacy Program, and assisting indigenous children with their schooling on Vancouver Island and the Sea to Sky corridor.

Stoller currently resides in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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G. Scott Paterson is a Toronto-based technology and media venture capitalist who has been active for 28 years in the investment banking industry.

Paterson received his start in the investment industry in 1985 at Dominion Securities Pitfield working at the firm as a retail broker. Paterson quickly ranked #1 in commissions of all the brokers with three years or less of service at the Firm. Paterson was recruited by Richardson Greenshields in 1987 and in 1990 was invited to the then recently formed Midland Walwyn where he cut his teeth as a senior investment banker for four years.

Paterson focused on banking technology and media companies while at Midland Walwyn becoming the firm's most productive banker (as measured by fees generated). In April 1995, Paterson was recruited to Yorkton Securities where he led the firm's transformation from a mining-focused brokerage firm to Canada's leading technology investment bank focused on technology, internet, biotechnology and film & television. Paterson served as CEO of Yorkton Securities from 1998 to 2001.

Paterson now focuses his business attention on his Board and leadership roles at FutureVault (https://www.futurevault.com), Symbility Solutions, Lionsgate Entertainment and The QYOU.

Paterson also takes time to contribute to philanthropic endeavors. In 1997, he co-founded the Merry Go Round Children’s Foundation which launched its Kids, Cops & Computers program which provides brand new laptop computers to financially disadvantaged children in Toronto. Paterson serves as Chairman for the Merry Go Round Children’s Foundation.

Paterson has also established several bursaries at each of Ridley College and Western University. In addition, in 2000, Paterson donated $1 million to Western to build the G Scott Paterson Biotechnology Wing at the medical school.

Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.

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