OV Boss Babes

Forestry is weaved into the tapestry of the Ottawa Valley. For hundreds of years, the abundant forests in the Ottawa Valley have provided a livelihood in an industry one of the largest drivers of Renfrew County’s economy.

Not surprisingly, the Forestry Technician program is the longest-standing full-time program offered at Algonquin College’s Pembroke Campus. Since its early days, the Pembroke Campus has been among a small group of post-secondary schools in Ontario that have produced thousands of Forestry graduates.

Shinaid Eggett, a Forestry Technician Algonquin College Pembroke graduate, is doing great things in her career and recently received a prestigious award from the industry back in September from the Ontario Woodlot Association.

In this episode....

🌲 Sionaid, a Field Operations Coordinator at the Ontario Woodlot Association, reflects on how a visit to a logging museum and meeting a Forestry Technician alum influenced her career decisions

🌳 Sionaid shares her journey of leaving her previous career in child development and education to pursue a degree in Forestry at Algonquin College

🌲 This Forestry Technition alumni shares a little background into forest fires and how we can collectively prevent them from happening

🌳 Listeners learn how Algonquin College's curriculum has changed to reflect the new and future challenges that face the forestry sector, not just in Ontario but across Canada

Amanda Amyotte is a multi passionate country girl, mom of two, registered nurse, Arbonne independent consultant and one bad ass farmer behind Maple Crest Farms in Shawville. Many local makers may also remember her baby business, Maple Crest Farm Baby Division.

Amanda and her husband Andrew are regenerative beef farmers, raising and producing livestock and crops that align with the natural environment that nourishes soils, ecosystems and their community.

In this episode....

👩🏽‍🌾 Amanda discusses her journey into farming alongside her husband, sharing how she successfully manages Maple Crest Farm while balancing her healthcare career and developing her own business

🥚 Listeners discover why farm fresh eggs are better than store bought eggs and why pasture raised pork tastes better than meats purchased from your local grocery store

💁🏽‍♀️ Amanda shares what ended Maple Crest Farm’s Baby Division and explains how her venture with Arbonne has ignited a renewed sense of purpose and passion

🤍 We gain a deeper understanding of the agricultural community in Pontiac and the importance of women supporting women

✨NEW EPISODE ALERT✨

While out in Alberta, Erin Kergen had been working for large public brands, with exposure in program development, creative concepting, to project management and everything in between.

While off on maternity leave, she and a girlfriend decided to take over a former general store, naming it after their girls, Pickle and Myrrh. Relocating back to Ontario, she opened her sweet caramel shop with her husband in 2020 and has been happily brewing their delicious handmade salted caramels ever since, growing a large customer base around the world!

🍬 We learn how an initial opportunity with the Fairmont Banff, Jasper, and Lake Louise hotels ultimately set the stepping stones for Erin’s future career up for success

🍬 We hear of how Pickle & Myrrh first began in Alberta when Erin and a girlfriend took over a former General Store and how she eventually relocated back to Ontario and opened her beloved artisinal salted caramel shop

🍬Listeners discover into how Erin has effectively marketed her salted caramels, including setting price points, wholesaling strategies, and how they continue to grow in popularity across Canada

🍬Erin hints at her business model strategy, effective marketing techniques, growing her brand and her expansion into the vendor market world

One local #BossBabe that Erin shouted from the rooftops is the babe behind @wickwitchapothecary, the lovely atmospheric and shop found in the quaint and bewitched village of @merrickville_jeweloftherideau!

📲 TUNE IN NOW, BABE!

Yvonne Nobbs was a former Airbnb host with a waterfront cottage whose renters were constantly asking her where they could rent a boat in the Madawaska Valley area. With there not being any bost rental businesses in the area, Yvonne offered her renters to take her own boat out for an additional feel, when she suddenly had the idea to launch her own recreational watercraft rental business, Highlands Outfitters.

And business immediately took off, as Yvonne started to source her inventory, purchasing pontoon boats, fishing boats, canoes, standup paddleboards, and even offering fishing tours and kayak adventures.

In this episode....

🚤 This former Airbnb host shares how she went from renting her waterfront cottage to launching a watercraft and water toys rental business

🛶 Listeners learn about the effective strategies Yvonne implemented to safeguard her boat rentals from theft, as well as insurance and liability waivers in place to protect from damage

🛥️ With no other boat rental businesses in Madawaska Valley, we learned how Yvonne carried out her market research to establish rental price points

👏🏼 Yvonne offers valuable business insights, emphasizing one of the key lessons she has learned during her career:

“DON’T BE GREEDY.”

We all know that running a business is a lot of work...and naturally, you want to keep as much of what you make as possible, get your taxes filed without any penalties or late fees, and PRAY that you don't get audited.

Laura Stevens from Valley Accounting & Tax is here to help! She and her business partner opened up their biz two years ago in Madawaska Valley and they have business and corporate clients across Ontario, Montreal and even Calgary, offering virtual appointments and safe and secure tax filing.

Laura's nuggets of financial wisdom will help you make make better financial decisions as she provides some ✨important✨ tax tips and deadline dates so you can feel confident and financially empowered.

You'll want to tune in because....

❌ Laura shares valuable business insights with my listeners, including her reasoning as to why small businesses should NOT incorporate their biz

🌐 If you use Shopify, Etsy, Eventbrite, or another e-commerce website... you'll want to listen up - because Laura gets into all various Points of Sale!

🚗 We discover key secrets in tracking your mileage, business expenses and how to save money at tax time!

💰You might have UNCASHED cheques from the CRA (which means more money for you!) - and Laura shares how you can find that out NOW!

In the historical town of Perth, you will find a casual fine dining experience like no other. With a rotating menu offering a modern take on traditional dishes and fresh, local ingredients guests, the Stone Cellar invites you to come eat, drink and visit. And Lindsay Mason, who is one half of this young family owned business, chats with me about the the ins and outs about what it's like managing a busy restaurant and how she came into owning this establishment.

🍽️ Lindsay explains the journey of acquiring the Stone Cellar Restaurant with her husband and transforming it into a thriving family enterprise

😵 Lindsay shares horrifying customer experiences that she has encountered, and how customers' behaviour continues to shock Lindsay and her staff

😮‍💨 We learn how Lindsay oversees and manages her team when they aren’t at the restaurant, especially when problems arise

🙄 We hear of comments and stereotypes that Lindsay has encountered as a "young business owner" of a well-established restaurant, and how she responds to these remarks

In today's business world, efficiency is key and being able to access services remotely helps to reduce driving time, in-person appointments, and other unnecessary fees, especially around property and real estate.

Amanda McMullen launched Ontario Law Clerk Services, a virtual solution for clients looking for assistance from experienced real estate law clerks, providing top-quality, and professional freelance real estate law clerking services, saving clients’ time and money by outsourcing their files through their experienced and trusted team.

In this episode....

💼 Amanda shares why she decided to enter into the law field and how she made the switch to real estate law

💼 Amanda outlines the steps she needed to take in order to pursue her business venture in a virtual setting

💼 We learn how real estate law clerks can assist home owners in the buying and selling process and if a real estate lawyer is still required

💼 We learn more about the Small Business Advisory Centre and how the Starter Company Plus Program helped Amanda make some smart business decisions

Our vision is crucial for the movements we make, tasks we accomplish, and interactions we have. It even impacts our sleep patterns based on the light we are exposed to during the day. Despite the importance of sight, it is often taken for granted until our vision begins to blur, prompting us to schedule an appointment with our optometrist.

Dr. Morgan Welburn, Optometrist and Partner at the Renfrew Eye Clinic, along with her business partner, are strong advocates for eye health. They urge individuals to undergo regular eye examinations and are incorporating advanced tools and technology to enhance vision care for their patients.

Dr. Welburn has been featured in Women in Optometry, actively supports her community by sponsoring events and initiatives and is committed to raising awareness about the increasing number of female optometrists.

In this episode, we discuss:

🤓 Dr. Morgan Welburn emphasizes the significance of eye health and advises against buying prescription glasses and contacts online without consulting with an eye care professional

👓 If your vision is already 20/20, does this mean you have perfect vision... and do you still require glasses?

👀 Dr. Welburn shares how often you should be getting your eyes checked, common eye health conditions, and how eye perscriptions are calculated

💁🏼‍♀️ Dr. Welburn discusses gender imbalance in the eye care industry and how she is advocating for more women to consider optometry as a career

Celissa Vipond and Melissa Lindstro m we're hustling two colleagues working at a mental health care centre when COVID hit and more and more therapists started moving their practices online - and found that their clients much preferred receiving therapy virtually. 

And in 2021, Celissa and Melissa launched Virtual CBT, providing structured psychotherapy to individuals struggling with symptoms of anxiety, depression, OCD, panic disorder, health anxiety, and various phobias. 

In this episode, we discuss:

🤍 What cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is and what a therapy session looks like

🤍 Why these babes wanted to focus on mental health and how they assist their clients with everything from anxiety to vomit-phobias!

🤍 How Melissa and Celissa have virtually grown their multi-disciplinary team and what that dynamic looks like 

🤍 How these babes deal with chasing unpaid therapy session invoices and the awkward conversations that stem from them