Canada’s Entrepreneur

Ryan Petrimoulx is the founder & principal at Bang the Drum, a boutique retail agency focusing on Retail, e-commerce and Growth Marketing.

After having worked his way up from the front lines of the Retail sector since 2004, Ryan’s path has brought him through every aspect of the Retail industry, eventually leading him to begin working in Retail e-commerce in 2008.

Founding his agency in 2013, Ryan has focused on working with both SMEs and Enterprise retailers who are looking to grow customers, build relationships, increase revenues & profitability.

Imagine a 10th century Viking TED Talk.

Warrior, leader, motivational speaker, Ingrid Larsdöttir, reveals the untold truth of Viking shield maidens and what it takes to go to battle. Her presentation is a clarion call that that spans the centuries. She empowers women to claim their inner warrior and invites men to be allies in the battle for equality.

Melanie Teichroeb wrote this solo show during the birth of the #MeToo movement. Shield Maiden addresses sexism, gender bias, sexual freedom, and trauma. It does so with irreverence, empathy and humour. The dance between strength and vulnerability is explored as the warrior character Ingrid works to recruit new warriors while inadvertently revealing her own dark and violent personal history.

Melanie lives and works on Gabriola Island, British Columbia. Her day job is Chalk It Up Signs. The business, co-owned with husband and artist in his own right, Dave Teichroeb, creates hand drawn chalkboard art that ships worldwide.

Shield Maiden is Melanie's first solo show. In addition to performing to sold out crowds in Canada, she has been honoured to perform in Austin, Texas and off Broadway in New York City. Canadian tour coming soon (once the pandemic ends and theatre lives again).

Diplômé en communication graphique de l’Université Laval, Francis Drolet est un entrepreneur en série. Il a fondé Click Contact en 2003, et est également le cofondateur de l’entreprise Slow Cow, qui distribue à l’international la boisson relaxante du même nom. Débordant d’énergie et d’idées, Francis Drolet est un leader naturel, mais surtout un créateur de génie depuis plus de quinze ans. Il exploite son talent au sein de l’entreprise Yankee Média dont il est le cofondateur.

Dr. Laura Hambley is a Workplace Psychologist, Speaker and Author. She describes herself as a serial entrepreneur with businesses including Calgary Career Counselling, Canada Career Counselling, Synthesis Psychology and WorkEvOHlution. Hambley talks about being an entrepreneur and how to cope with the COVID-19 crisis.

Coming to Canada from Iran for post secondary studies, Meti Basiri, Co-Founder and CMO of ApplyBoard, Massi, and their eldest brother Martin, experienced the challenges international students face trying to access education. ApplyBoard was founded—out of these shared experiences—to streamline the student application process. The three brothers were featured on three Forbes Top 30 Under 30 Lists. Since ApplyBoard’s founding in 2015, the staff has grown to nearly 300, raised USD $54 million (CAD $72 million) and last month was named Canada’s fastest-growing technology company. They have helped over 70,000 students around the world with their academic journey, and have grown to become the world’s largest platform for international student recruitment to Canada and the United States.

Responsible for leading Edgewater Wireless, Andrew Skafel's broad strategic perspective comes from his work with both multinational equipment vendors and a number of start-up network operators. Andrew has significant multinational experience. He was based in Asia for seven years where he worked for Newbridge Networks/Alcatel; Silicon Valley-based, InterWAVE Communications and the Commercial Division of the Canadian High Commission (Malaysia). His roles included strategic marketing, international business development, and business planning. A proven telecom innovator and leader, Andrew founded an innovative GSM operator in Brasil, taking the project from concept to fundraising, license acquisition and launch phases. Mr. Skafel holds an MBA from INSEEC (Paris), a graduate diploma from the McRae Institute of International Management (Vancouver) and a BA in Economics & Politics from the University of Western Ontario.

Andrew is a Senior level international business development and strategic marketing executive with multi-faceted telecommunications experience. Demonstrated innovative and results-oriented approach to start-up and listed companies on both vendor and service provider aspects of the telecom industry.

Specialties: International business development; strategic marketing; telecommunications; data communications; contract negotiations; channel management; strategic planning; GSM; CDMA; IP; VoIP; hosted key systems

Brett Wilson is a well-known Canadian entrepreneur and former dragon on Dragons' Den on CBC TV. He is an investor, owner of several businesses and a part owner of the Nashville team in the National Hockey League. He talks about the impact COVID-19 has had and will have on the economy.