Run it Like a Girl

Even a quick glance Nasheen Liu's bio, would tell you that she never backs down from a challenge. At 19, she left her native China to study at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Not only was she living on her own for the very first time in her life, Nasheen had to learn a whole new language.

What lay ahead was a move to Canada, where Nasheen was offered a spot in a Germanic Languages Masters Program at the University of Alberta.  The only catch - she had to pass an English as a Second Language test within 6 months in order to qualify.  Nasheen, now fluent in German, knew no English. She passed the test. 

In 2000 Nasheen entered the tech world, talking her way into a job that was looking for 10 - 15 years of tech marketing experience, she had none.

Twenty-years and lots of tech experience later, and Nasheen is Partner & Senior Vice President of CIO program strategy at IT Media Group, a successful company that she helped to form.

Check out her company at: http://theitmediagroup.com/

At the age of 30, Misty Shearer re-joined the Canadian Forces; this time as a combat engineer. Originally from Hamilton, Ontario, Misty was an experienced member of the forces, having spent years as a Military Police Officer before her year-long departure.

Misty has won lots of medals, in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu and Kettlebell competitions, but she says her proudest accomplishment - the first female from the regular ranks to become a combat diver.

After leaving the Forces for the second time, Misty went on to become a paramedic in the City of Edmonton...and discovering her true love; Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu. Misty, now a Blackbelt, is an instructor at the school she co-owns in Edmonton, and says working with young girls is particularly rewarding.

Check out Misty's studio: Brazil 021

Growing up in the Quinte Region of southern Ontario, Erin Bury didn’t really even know what it meant to be an entrepreneur. Erin is now the CEO of Wilful, an online estate planning start-up, based out of Toronto. She was previously Managing Director at a communication firm serving tech. companies and start-ups, and she was a founding editor at a startup publication.

Erin says being willing to take risks is a must in order to be a successful entrepreneur, still, she remembers calling her mom for some advice when she made her first jump to a start-up, expecting her mom to advise caution.

On this episode of Run It Like a Girl, Erin, who was named one of Marketing Magazine’s Top 30 Under 30, talks about the importance of taking calculated risks when you're young.

And she talks about her side business, a bike wine tour company in Southern Ontario’s Prince Edward County.

Creating a will doesn't need to be difficult, and it's one of the most important things you can do. For more information check out Erin's company Willful

Mitzie Hunter would like to be the next premier of the province of Ontario.  And she may well get that chance.  Mitzie is a Liberal member of provincial parliament, representing a Toronto area riding.  She's also one of six candidates vying for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party, which culminates with the party convention in March.

Mitzie served in cabinet posts within the government of then-premier, Kathleen Wynne, which included, in 2016, becoming the first person of colour to hold the role of Minister of Education in Ontario.

On this episode of Run It Like a Girl, Mitzie tells us about her entry into politics through a 2013 by-election.  She talks about some of her past non-profit work with Goodwill, Toronto Community Housing and Civic Action.

Mitzie also reminisces about her time as a young Jamaican immigrant, growing up just outside of Toronto.

Joanna Chiu is a senior journalist for the Toronto Star based out of Vancouver......and says there is very little diversity in the leadership of Canadian newsroom, with most decision-makers being white men.

Joanna kicked off her reporting career with a newspaper in Hong Kong, before heading into mainland China and working for a couple of major publications from Beijing, where it was important to exercise caution.

Now back in Canada and working for the Toronto Star, Joanna believes Canadians are starting to realize the issues around diversity, racism and xenophobia here at home.

On this episode of Run It Like a Girl, Joanna talks about her career, including an article she wrote last year that resulted in the firing of Canada’s ambassador to China over comments on the Mung Wan zhou case.

It should be noted that when this interview was conducted, Joanna was the Vancouver Bureau Chief for the Toronto Star. Shortly after the taping, the newspaper reorganized, dropping the Bureau Chief structure for its regional newsrooms.

To learn more about Joanna check out her website: https://joannachiu.com/
Joanna on Twitter: @joannachiu

Sarah Ditmars has combined two of her passions into a career that continues to evolve. Her first love was sports.  Sarah says she played every sport growing up, and recalls when her parents, fed up with her incessant use of the recycling bins as targets, broke down and bought her a basketball net.

Sarah’s other love was science, a passion that would direct her down the road of athletic therapy...as part of her kinesiology studies at Brock University in St. Catherines, Ontario.

Following graduation, Sarah was hired as the athletic therapist and trainer for the Trenton Golden Hawks of the Ontario Junior Hockey League. Sarah says there were challenges being a woman in a male-dominated field, but they were put to rest quickly….and culminated in 2017 when Sarah was named the Ontario Junior Hockey League’s trainer of the year, the first-ever for a woman.

Never afraid of a challenge Sarah has more recently transitioned into a new role, coaching coaches who are looking to break into the online world. You can check out www.lucasrubix.com for more information. To check out what other things Sarah is up to you can follow her on Instagram @sarahditmars. 

Happy New Year! As we enter a new decade we look back at some of the remarkable women we featured in 2019. Wishing all of our listeners a happy, healthy and prosperous new year. Thank you for listening. 

Eva Wong is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Borrowell. Eva talks about the pros and cons of being a woman in the tech industry. She tells us that not all tech companies have done a great job in creating environments that encourage and welcome diversity, and need to do more. Eva also talks about different leadership styles, pointing out that you don’t have to be a loud extrovert to be an effective leader.

Check out Borrowell: www.borrowell.com
Eva on Twitter: @eva_Toronto