Some people dream. Others help weave those dreams. This episode is about two women who refuse to separate the two.

It begins with Karla Briones. Raised in an entrepreneurial family in Chihuahua, Mexico, her first business was a schoolyard candy empire at six years old. Then the drug cartels arrived. Threats followed. Friends disappeared. At eighteen, her family dismantled their entire life and drove nearly four thousand kilometres to Canada with no safety net, no jobs, no guarantees.

What followed was survival. Credentials did not transfer. Her parents fell into depression. Karla became a provider before she had finished becoming a student. Three jobs. A new language. University. Failure. Grit. Then entrepreneurship again. Pet stores. Restaurants. Retail. Some worked. Some collapsed. All of them taught her the same lesson: everyone can use and benefit from a helping hand.

That lesson eventually became Immigrant Entrepreneur Canada to help weave the dreams of others.

One of the many who benefited is Lina Asmah, the Hot Pepper Lady. From Ghana to Canada, Lina carried fire in both food and spirit. She works full-time. She farms. She grows over 160 varieties of peppers. Her turning point came at a last-minute event she almost skipped. Karla spoke. Lina applied. She entered Immigrant Entrepreneur Canada and found something rare, a system that did not talk about immigrants as numbers, but as builders. She found mentors. She found clarity. She found momentum. She found her dream.

Lina also named something most people feel but rarely say out loud: we listen to accents before we listen to ideas. Inside that community, she found her voice again.

Immigration Entrepreneur Canada and Karla Briones are helping newcomers weave their dreams.

To find out more about Immigration Entrepreneur Canada: https://www.immigrantentrepreneurcanada.ca