Small Business Stories

Emily Leach has been a freelancer for over 25 years, organizing events like TEDtalks and building websites designed for optimal SEO. When she needed insights and support - she couldn't find any - so she founded the annual Freelancer Conference and Freelance Business Week to bring like-minded people together. She shares what she's learned along the way with Loralyn Mears.

Kristi Herold, founder of Toronto Sport & Social Club and JAM, connects people through play and builds communities in the gym, on the court and online. The pandemic forced her to pivot and make some tough calls, but she's focused on her vision of uniting 1 million people through play. She joined Loralyn Mears to share her story.

Mary D'Onofrio is every bit "Like a Boss." As the VP of high growth investments at arguably the oldest venture capital company in the world, Bessemer Venture Partners, she makes big bets for tens of millions of dollars, typically at the Series B and beyond stage. She sits on six Boards and makes critical decisions for SaaS companies with an emphasis on cloud technology. Here, she joins Loralyn Mears for some snappy insights on what to expect working with a late stage VC.

What a treat! Sally Williamson, coach, founder and podcast host of, "What's Your Story?" joined Loralyn Mears to speak candidly about communication trends, the level of self-awareness in leaders today and to offer some great tips for the next generation of women.

Sam Kamani, best-selling author of "30 Day Startup," serial entrepreneur and podcast host of "Want Money Got Money," joined Loralyn Mears to share his insights for tech founders on the development of an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). He highlighted the importance of networking and creating content.

Dr. Jenine Beekhuyzen is a STEMinist that is changing the world - one girl at a time as the founder of Tech Girls Movement. She encourages girls to think about STEM + X where X is anything that you're passionate about. "Sometimes you have to change behaviors before you can change attitudes."

Kathy Campbell aka @MrsSoup as she's known all over social media, helps female founders let go of what they believe they have to keep doing. She gives them "permission" to be free and creative. She's the hostess of the podcast, Friends in Your Ears, which is very meta - she hosts a podcast asking guests about the podcasts that they listen to. Here, she joins Loralyn Mears as we wrap up Season 1 of Like a Boss. Thanks for a great season!

Meet Jennifer Mercer, serial entrepreneur and female founder of Metazoa, a #1 tool for Salesforce.com. She shares lessons learned around fundraising, scaling too fast, equity dilution and leadership. "Entrepreneurialism has high highs and low lows."

Freelancers have been working from home for a long time. It's only been recently, in the wake of COVID, that the rest of the world left their offices for their kitchen tables and bedrooms as new places and spaces to do their work. The problem is that the long-term effects of isolation, poor ergonomics, eye-strain and so on aren't well known until they're too late to do anything about. Meet Daniel Hall, founder of Working Den, a health & wellness solution that aims to help us all.

Meet the pioneer of TatTech - Laura Schaack. Hear her founder story on how she merged tattoo artistry and tech to build one of the scrappiest startups around. She spent years learning about tech, engineering, marketing and more. Now, she's poised for tremendous success.