Perfectly Unfiltered

Raquel McLaren is a Field Marketing rep with Milwaukee Tool. Her job is to inform and educate skilled tradespeople about the various tools, the innovations, the safety features as well as highlight the benefits of the Milwaukee brand.

Welcome to Episode #013 of Perfectly Unfiltered! 

In this episode, Nour talks to Rick Thurston, the General Manager with overall responsibility for both the Canadian and U.S. business at WFS Ltd.

In this episode: 
🚛 Rick talks about his takeaways working with Build a Dream
🚛 Why bravery is important to change biases
🚛 Advice he has to parents to reshape conversations they have with their daughters

Rick began his WFS journey in 1984 as a delivery driver, working his way through numerous roles in operations, sales, branch management and the board of directors until taking on the role of President in 2007. 

Throughout his career, Rick has consistently driven one simple founding vision, that there has to be a “better way”. A better way to treat customers, a better way to treat team members and a better way to treat our communities. This culture made for an extremely good fit when joining Grainger whose stated purpose is to “Keep the World Working”, with principles devoted to starting with the customer and doing the right thing. Rick holds a bachelor of arts degree with a focus in History from Western University, in London, Ontario. 

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Welcome to Episode #012 of Perfectly Unfiltered! 

In this episode, Nour talks to Lindsay Abbott, an Electrician with CUSW! 

Lindsay shares: 
🔌 What it's like working as a woman in the skilled trades
🔌 How her career journey has grown and evolved
🔌What it's like to be an electrician and the misconceptions

If you've ever thought about entering the skilled trades or becoming an electrician this is the podcast for you!

The project is funded in part by the government of Canada’s Skilled Trades Awareness and Readiness Program. The opinions and interpretations in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Government of Canada.

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Welcome to Episode 011 of Perfectly Unfiltered! 

In this episode, Nour talks to Anjalee Narenthiren a 17-year-old speaker, entrepreneur, and Program Director at Startup Dojo.

"Hi! I am a 17-year-old speaker, entrepreneur, and Program Director at Startup Dojo. My goal is to use my experiences as a high school founder to coach other young people unlock their potential. 

In high school, I founded TechExplore, a startup that has helped bring tech-education to over a thousand kids. TechExplore has been featured in prominent publications like the Toronto Star, and Thompson Reuters' HR Reporter. And our board quickly grew to include members like Shiv Venkataraman, VP of Search Ads at Google. Thanks to my work, I was invited speak at massive conferences like the AI World Forum, and a Google Conference held in Sunnyvale California. This all happened before I even turned 16. Looking back, I've noticed one common theme. My journey as a young entrepreneur was unnecessarily difficult. Entrepreneurship can be lonely at times. And, as a kid, there were so many occasions where I wanted to quit. I never knew many students who were going through the same processes as me, so I lacked a strong support system. And more importantly, I never had a coach that could help guide me through the fog. 

Through Startup Dojo, my mission is to give young students the support and education that I dreamt of."

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Welcome to Episode #010 of Perfectly Unfiltered!

In this episode, Nour talks to Regional Engineer at Enbridge Gas, Amreen Rahman!

Amreen is a passionate advocate for women in STEM, especially those among us who are most vulnerable and need our support, such as new immigrants and women of colour. She believes if women support each other, we can all advance together and close the gender and diversity gap that exists in STEM. She is an amazing woman who also hosts her own podcast called 'Count Me Too' a platform dedicated to empowering women of color pursuing careers in STEM.

Find it here:
Apple Podcast: https://lnkd.in/g7A5Qdw
Spotify: https://lnkd.in/gaFCe7b
Radio Public : https://lnkd.in/gWwPNx8

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Welcome to Episode #009 of Perfectly Unfiltered! 

In this episode, Nour talks to Aerospace Engineer, Lauren Reid! 

Lauren Reid is an Aerospace Engineer currently working for Airbus, UK as a Structures Engineering Graduate. She has also completed a 13-month internship with Airbus in Experimental Mechanics working on projects in the UK, France and Germany. Before Airbus she had two summer internships, one designing and building robotics for ATM’s, and the other as a developer for business intelligence software. Importantly – especially given she studied trumpet in a Performing Arts high school – she had zero prior knowledge or experience in robotics, coding or aerospace. Companies recruit passion not skill sets.
Lauren has valuable insights into the amazing variety of exciting opportunities that are available to anyone with a passion for aerospace.

Lauren's blog: https://www.talkingstrides.com/
Lauren's TEDx Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCEQ66g1Bzk

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Welcome to Episode #008 of Perfectly Unfiltered!

In this episode, Nour talks to Teghan Ellis, a mechanical engineer in training! 

🚂 What it's like being the only female in a university class
🚂 Why she chose Mechanical Engineering 
🚂 How her high school tech teacher helped her on her path
🚂 Confidence is key in developing a thick skin

Teghan Ellis is a mechanical EIT at AECOM’s Buildings and Places business line, located in the Markham office. She has a strong aptitude for solving complex problems and collaborating on a team, in addition to her attention to detail and technical skills. Teghan has over 3 years of experience designing and drafting HVAC and plumbing systems in a variety of applications,
and has a solid background in fluid dynamics, heat transfer and thermal systems design. She is proficient at drafting both in 2D and 3D on AutoCAD, MicroStation, Revit, and AECOSim as well as mathematical modelling (MATLAB, EES, HAP, XFOIL).

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Welcome back to Episode #007 of Perfectly Unfiltered! 

In this episode, Nour talks to Stephanie Thompson, the Founder of Light Up The Dark. 

No matter what event has taken place in Stephanie's life, whether positive or negative, she sees a lesson in it and uses it as an opportunity to grow. She has an unbelievable amount of insight to share! 

She shares: 
💡 The important  role a mentor can play
💡 Networking: Builds confidence and courage
💡 How playing sports can prep you for the real world
💡 How and why she turned an unfortunate situation into an inspiring cause

As a celebration of what this year has been, Build a Dream is celebrating ✨𝟏𝟐 𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐂𝐓✨. Each day we will be showcasing come of the amazing ways we have positively impacted the lives of young students across Canada! ⠀

As you will hear in this episode, in lieu of purchasing gifts for all of our speakers at our first online event held earlier this year in May, Build a Dream donated to the Canadian Mental Health Association on Stephanie's behalf!

Stephanie was an NCAA All American soccer player in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. She began her career in the sports world working with the Pittsburgh Pirates. After returning to Canada, she spent a summer travelling with the Pan Am Torch relay team, managing the Games title partners. Next, Steph took on the auto industry with the Canadian International AutoShow. Her high energy and hunger advanced her to lead the team to execute Canada’s largest consumer show for the last five years. Now as the General Manager with The Gathering, Steph leads a marketing engagement firm and executes a Forbes top-rated business summit that unites c-suite executives to learn from some of the world’s bravest brands. 

Over the past three years, Stephanie has turned her trauma into triumph. She shared her story with the world in a unique way by running races blindfolded, so she is in the complete dark. Last year Stephanie and her guide runner completed multiple 10km races AND finished a half marathon completely blindfolded, all to raise awareness for Mental Health. With this mission, she launched her own initiative called Light Up The Dark, to help others through their Mental Health journey. Stephanie is a Mental Health advocate with many organizations and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Mental Health Association.

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Welcome to Episode #006 of Perfectly Unfiltered!

In this episode, Nour talks to CEO of Simplify Supply Chain Solutions, Jennifer Seberras. 

Jennifer is truly a trailblazer and a courageous women, breaking molds and barriers. A member of our #HerPower Council, Jennifer is a champion of challenging the norm. 

She talks about:
🚚 advice for young women in the discovery stage of career journey
🚚 what she thinks needs to be done to encourage women in underrepresented fields 
🚚 why it's important for women to lift other women up - it's not a competition! 
🚚 how representation motivated her to switch career paths

Jennifer discovered supply chain and logistics 15 years ago. As she rose through the ranks of different companies she noticed there were not many women occupying significant roles in transportation, operations and supply chain. Jennifer decided to create the change that she wanted to see and Simplify Supply Chain Solutions was born. Two years later, Simplify provides consulting and asset-based transportation services and is one of the only companies of its kind in Canada owned and operated by a woman.

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Welcome to Episode #005 of Perfectly Unfiltered!

In this episode, Nour talks to Anu Bidani, the CEO and Founder of STEM Minds. 

Anu is an amazing, intelligent women that offers so many insights during this episode:
👩‍💻 How to find your passion
👩‍💻 Creativity and STEM are not separate 
👩‍💻 Advice to parents in a changing world


Anu Bidani is the CEO of STEM MINDS, a company that focuses on
empowering youth to become fearless leaders by developing agility and a
love of learning through STEM (science, technology, engineering, math).
STEM MINDS’ mission is to bring the best in learning experiences to youth
to create #Fearless Learners. She believes in creating our future leaders, game
changers and problem solvers to build a better, more agile society for future
generations. With a dedicated teaching staff, a state-of-the art learning
environment and a network of strategic partnerships, she has built a business
that is successfully expanding the reach and impact of education to all
children!

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