My Immigrant Story

Enrique Suarez is the founder and CEO MountX Real Estate Capital. They are creating the next generation of digital financial products to enable access to International Real Estate Investing to millennials around the world. He is a world-class professional, entrepreneur and forward thinker, with a strong passion for building a better future through cutting-edge ideas, actionable methodologies and new technologies, and unlocking businesses for exponential growth.

Nino and Enrique originally met at a networking event hosted by Scale Without Borders in Toronto during the fall of 2021. Enrique had just recently relocated to Canada (April, 2021) and was looking to meet fellow immigrants professionals in the Toronto tech and startup industries.

During the episode, Enrique discusses his unique approach to Canadian immigration. He compared his immigration process to “setting a destination in the traffic app Waze”. The destination he set was Toronto and he was simply looking for the various ways to make it once he made that key decision.

Enrique’s immigration story is very unique because he’s one of the lucky recipients of the support letter from a designated organization for the Canadian startup visa program! The program his company participated in was held by Latam Ventures.

Now he’s in Toronto, building a real estate startup powered by blockchain. As many may already know, Toronto is one of the hottest real estate markets in the world right now and Enrique’s startup empowers millennials to invest in real estate without breaking the bank.

P.S. This episode was recorded during December 2021. When talking about the current year during the episode, Enrique is referencing 2021. 

P.P.S. Interested in networking with fellow immigrant professionals? Check out the VisaWire Community: https://community.visawireapp.com/

Vartika Manasvi is a 2x Tech Entrepreneur with over eleven years of experience, Human Potential Coach, Angel Investor, and a Generalist. She has domain expertise in building diverse, transparent & equitable teams, networks, and communities.

Vartika lived and worked across the U.S., Singapore, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East before moving to Canada (startup visa program pathway). In fact, she is the first woman entrepreneur to have immigrated to Canada through the Startup Visa which was supported by the Government of Alberta!

Vartika is currently the founder of a community called Stackraft. It has over seven thousand curated software engineers stacked as per skills and career interests. Additionally, she’s a mentor at the DMZ, Communitech, and Seedstars.

Vartika recently launched her own podcast called A Bit of a Gamble. During this podcast, she interviews tech entrepreneurs and uncovers the realities of fundraising for and investing in startups.

Nino and Vartika originally met through the Communitech Fierce Founders Bootcamp program (where Vartika was a mentor). During this podcast episode, they discuss what made Vartika choose Canada as her immigration destination (opposed to one of the many places she lived in) and her experience with overcoming existing immigrant perceptions and bias.

P.S. Interested in networking with fellow immigrant professionals? Check out the VisaWire Community: https://community.visawireapp.com/

Sergei Timshin is a Senior Data Analyst at Index Exchange. He completed a Master’s program in Data Analytics at the Fox School of Business at Temple University and is originally an Aerospace Engineer from Russia. Sergei has an interesting story of moving to New Zealand and the US prior to coming to Canada. He pursued the Express Entry Federal Skilled Worker immigration program to immigrate to Canada at the beginning of 2021 (right in the middle of the pandemic!).

Sergei and Nino originally met at a get-together organized by Mesto (a community for Russian-speaking entrepreneurs and IT professionals) in Canada. Mesto is an example of a wonderful community where skilled professionals from all over the world can connect and build meaningful relationships.

During the episode, Sergei talks about the importance of setting yourself up for success professionally both in Canada and in the US by making sure you have a properly formatted, up-to-date resume. In his experience, the resume format between what’s expected in North America and in other countries can differ significantly. He also goes into how he was successful at networking by reaching out to people with relevant experiences on LinkedIn and requesting informational interviews.

In the past, Sergei has been involved with a wide variety of startup and side projects while working as a data analyst professional. When this episode was being recorded (end of 2021), he was helping his girlfriend Sofia with a launch of a crepe cafe in Toronto - Sava Crepes by Yonge and Eglinton. Sofia is a Russian-Canadian immigrant entrepreneur herself and opened her cafe at the end of 2021. If you’re interested in how to start a cafe in Canada, she documented her full story of opening the business (from the very beginning up to launch) on her instagram page: sava_crepes.

Notes & Relevant Resources:

P.S. Interested in networking with fellow immigrant professionals?

Check out the VisaWire Community: https://community.visawireapp.com/

Deep Singh is the co-founder of Canada Mentors - a platform to help highly skilled software engineers across the globe connect with leading Canadian tech companies. They are on a mission to make Canada North America's most preferred destination to build ace tech teams!

Prior to working on Canada Mentors, Deep was the Head of Global Operations at Ritual (a Series C funded Canadian startup). Ritual is a social ordering app that taps networks of co-workers and colleagues for fast and easy pick up and pay at a wide variety of local restaurants and coffee shops.

During our conversation, Deep touches upon his flexibility and adaptability in terms of settling in a new country due to his background moving to various major cities back in India. He also provides very specific, actionable advice regarding the process he has in place for finding relevant employment opportunities in Canada. We discuss his immigration selection process (being between Canada and Australia) and how he eventually immigrated through the Express Entry Federal Skilled Worker Immigration program.

Deep points out some of the common mistakes he’s heard of skilled newcomer professionals make during their job search and how being more deliberate about your search (such as doing your homework on popular industries in Canada in advance, identifying companies of interest and networking) can increase your chances of being hired for a job that’ll put you on a good career track.

P.S. Interested in networking with fellow immigrant professionals? Check out the VisaWire Community: https://community.visawireapp.com/

Ayo Owodunni is a Senior Manager at the Black Professionals In Tech Network (BPTN) Inc. Since moving to Canada, he has worked as a Management Consultant, Real Estate Investor, and a Community Activist.

Ayo founded the Coalition of African Associations, a not for profit that had 15 African associations working together for the empowerment and development of Africans in the community. The coalition has now merged with the African Canadian Association of the Waterloo Region. He is also on the board of Adventure4Change, a not for profit focused on programs dedicated to developing and helping underprivileged youth in the Sunnydale community in Waterloo.

Ayo is a columnist on the CBC radio segment called How To Canada. The show runs in Kitchener, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Quebec. He also runs his own podcast called “The Immigrant View”. The goal of his podcast is to help immigrants maximize their potential in Canada. Ayo releases new episodes every week and focus on a variety of topics that are relevant and helpful to Canadian newcomers.

During this episode, we discuss Ayo’s motivation for moving to Canada and the importance of educating organizations and recruiters about people from different cultures. We also talk about how finding mentors and help through networking sets you on the path of professional success earlier on.

Relevant Resources: 

Ayo's Podcast - The Immigrant View

HBR Article about Weak Ties (mentioned during podcast)

Ayo's Personal Website (where his ebook will be published in 2022)

P.S. Interested in networking with fellow immigrant professionals? Check out the VisaWire Community: https://community.visawireapp.com/

Ron Johnson is an educator at heart, connector in spirit and a problem-solver by passion. He is an international best-selling author, entrepreneur, podcast host and startup founder. Ron is currently building a safe and supportive startup ecosystem for professionals and students entering Canada through the Wisen Up! Podcast and platform. The Wisen Up! Podcast focuses on speaking with successful Canadian immigrant professionals from various backgrounds and learning more about how they came to the country and established themselves and flourished in their careers.

In this episode, we learn about Ron’s immigration story: how he heard about Canada through his relatives and went through the skilled worker immigration process back in 2007. When talking about his career and what he believes helped him be successful, Ron focuses on the importance of networking and having a growth mindset. He also mentions his passion for climbing the corporate ladder and how taking well-timed and strategic breaks in his career helped him go further.

Relevant Resources:

Ron Johnson's LinkedIn Profile

Wisen Up! Podcast

Wisen Up! Community & Platform

Episode Quick Overview

P.S. Interested in networking with fellow immigrant professionals? Check out the VisaWire Community: https://community.visawireapp.com/

Welcome to the My Immigrant Story Podcast! During each episode, we'll be deconstructing the success stories of first generation Canadian immigrant tech entrepreneurs and professionals. We'll talk about how they discovered Canada as an immigration destination, settled, and grew their careers upon moving.

We hope that this podcast will help immigrants from all over the world learn more about pathways to Canada and opportunities to build your career upon arrival. Happy listening!