Startup Women Podcast

Kelly Stewart is the Vice President of Marketing at Sampler, and one of the company’s earliest employees. With almost a decade of experience in brand strategy and communications for consumer packaged goods, Kelly joined Sampler to help build the team’s marketing foundation. 

Since joining Sampler, Kelly has helped develop and implement Sampler’s B2B2C brand voice through the creation and amplification of digital content. She has played an integral role in helping Sampler win industry awards as well as secure press coverage from top publishers like TechCrunch and Ad Age. She is also a co-founder of RetailTO, the newest events series within the TechTO family. RetailTO focuses on bringing together Toronto’s retail community to discuss top trends and innovations within the industry.

“Be extremely familiar with your metrics and numbers. Face them so you can start to improve.” 

On this week’s Startup Women Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, Kelly Stewart shares marketing advice, the importance of structuring your team and aligning your team to the goals of your organization’s projects. 

The post More Than Freebies: Consumer Insights and Structures for Success with Kelly Stewart first appeared on Startup Canada.

Wanda Deschamps is the founder and principal of Liberty Co – a consultancy focused on increasing the participation level of the Neurodiverse population in the workforce with a special emphasis on autism due to Wanda’s own diagnosis at midlife. 

A champion for inclusion, she enjoys writing and speaking under the banner of the #InclusionRevolution, a worldwide movement launched in 2018 to spearhead broader thinking about disability – especially disability employment. Wanda is also the catalyst behind the #women4women collective focused on gender equality through supporting other women. Combining these two goals provides an avenue for Wanda to be an advocate for women with autism, including as a participant in research into autistic women’s experiences in the workplace.

“If we can drop our judgments, we will have a much more dynamic, vibrant, healthier, brighter, productive workforce.”

On this week’s Startup Women Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, Wanda shares how founders and organizations can embrace neurodiversity and explains that disability is a dimension of diversity.   

The post Including Disability in Diversity with Wanda Deschamps first appeared on Startup Canada.

Dr.Liza Egbogah is a fascia and posture expert and Founder of The Fix, Toronto’s boutique clinic. Dr. Liza has a Doctor of Chiropractic, graduating with Summa Cum Laude and clinic honors from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College with a diploma in manual osteopathic practice and also holds a Pharmacology degree with distinction from the University of Alberta. She is a manual therapy expert, myofascial release provider, media contributor, certified personal trainer, and a member of Harvard’s postgraduate association. She is a highly trained and respected expert in her field. 

Dr.Liza is a Black Canadian leader and was named one of the most influential people of African descent in business and entrepreneurship for 2019 and one of 150 Extraordinary Canadians by the Transformation institute in 2018.

Along with her extensive experience consulting with senior executives, celebrities, professional athletes and political leaders on health matters, injury treatment + prevention and stress reduction strategies, she also is the founder and designer of her own chiropractor-approved shoe line, dr. Liza shoes, and ergonomic bag collection, Dr. Liza bags. 

“You have to spend the time to become an expert in your field. Your expertise needs to be felt in your product, and nobody can question it because it is solid”

On this week’s Startup Women Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, Dr.Liza shares the importance of being an expert in your field, hurdles in entrepreneurship as a Black woman, and trailblazing through the health, wellness and fashion industry. 

The post Comfort, Care and Confidence for Women with Dr. Liza Egbogah first appeared on Startup Canada.

Azadeh Dastmalchi is the CEO of VitalTracer, a medical startup that designs smart wearable medical devices. She is a Ph.D. candidate at Ottawa University, obtaining her MSc from the same university in Mechanical Engineering. In the last twelve years, her main field of research has been designing and developing medical devices, particularly vital sign monitoring ones. She is a Canadian G20 Young  Entrepreneurs’  Alliance, an experienced research assistant in the higher education industry, a skilled leader, entrepreneur, business Planner, and a successful project manager. Azadeh has raised $1M non-dilutive grants since January 2020. 

VitalTracer has been awarded several regional and national awards under her leadership, including Mitacs national entrepreneur award, CANIE regional product innovation award, a Startup Canada award, and AGE-WELL Emerging Entrepreneur Award (COVID-19 Countermeasures).

“There is no secret ingredient. Work hard, work smart. Build an incredible team.”

On this week’s Startup Women Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, we learn how what started as Azadeh’s Masters thesis is now turning into a well funded, Canadian scale-up company.

The post Vital Growth in Canada’s Health Tech Industry with Azadeh Dastmalchi first appeared on Startup Canada.

Zoey Schvan is a certified Entrepreneurship and Business Coach, and a Disabled Entrepreneur Coach leading at Zoey Schvan Business Corner. She works with disabled entrepreneurs who want to start and/or grow their businesses. She also provides content creation, copywriting, ghostwriting, editing, and blogging support for her clients and consults with other businesses. 

In addition to her coaching, she is a Business Mentor at Incubator13 where she mentors youth entrepreneurs. 

“Give yourself permission to be disabled. Being disabled isn’t new to me but this newfound acceptance of being disabled is.”

On this week’s Startup Women Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, Zoey encourages us to reimagine our world so we can have conversations that will help us to build accessible businesses. 

The post Reimagining Our World: Arriving at Accessibility with Zoey Schvan first appeared on Startup Canada.

Dolma is the CEO and Founder of Flutter Care Inc., a digital health company based in Vancouver whose technology promotes positive pregnancy experiences and outcomes. Her passions lie at the intersection of human rights and technology innovation. 

She is an alumna of UBC’s Integrated Engineering program and founded Flutter Care as an undergraduate student. During this time, she co-invented 8 assistive technologies and was the sole recipient of the Engineers Canada Gold Medal Student Award in 2020. 

In addition to her role at Flutter Care, Dolma is a certified birth worker, a SheEO activator, and she has been coaching women with intellectual disabilities for 10 years. Furthermore, in 2020 Dolma was announced as one of four winners of Startup Canada’s SDG Pitch Competition.  She enjoys being actively involved in her community and dreaming of new futures by the ocean.

“If you are going to offer something that is of immense value to people, it will take patience and understanding”.

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The post Monitoring Movements: Elevating Maternal Care with Dolma Tsundu first appeared on Startup Canada.

Michael Wood has become the face and voice of small businesses throughout Ontario. After the government-regulated shutdowns in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Michael watched the gross sales of his event rental company decline by ninety-seven percent compared to the previous year, resulting in losses of more than three million ($3,000,000.00) dollars. Michael’s previous clients included the National Hockey League, the FIFA, Cirque Du Soleil, the Canadian Football League, and many local fairs, festivals, conferences, and trade shows.

After a conversation with a city councillor in March 2020, Michael began to appeal to elected officials and set up virtual round tables where other small business owners could express their concerns directly to the federal, provincial and municipal governments. Elected officials who have met Michael included Minister Catherine McKenna, Minister Mona Fortier, Chair of the Federal Finance Committee MP Wayne Easter, Minister Prabmeet Sarkaria, Parliamentary Assistant, MPP Stan Cho, and dozens more. Along with a handful of other small business leaders, Michael met with Erin O’Toole (Leader of the Official Opposition) and the Federal Finance Critic Pierre Poilievre. Michael has also met with top officials from the PMO and the Ontario Premier’s Office.

“Businesses are people’s identities, it is what they do and how people know them. And people are so brave for opening businesses, I hope they hang on and do their best” on the challenges of the pandemic”. 

On this week’s Startup Women Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, Michael shares how he gave a voice to Canadian entrepreneurs at a time that they needed it most.

The post The Pandemic Podium: Speaking Up for Women Entrepreneurs with Michael Wood first appeared on Startup Canada.

Where there is a problem, entrepreneurs find a solution. Elizabeth Audette-Bourdeau, CEO and Co-Founder of Welbi knew the lifestyle and wellness of those in retirement homes and communities could be improved, so that’s what she did.

Elizabeth started her first business at 17 years old and as of today has founded 3 businesses. Her first venture was inspired by her passion for ringette. After being selected for Team Canada for the World Championship in the Czech Republic, she started Camp Pulsion, a specialized ringette goalie school. She also started a second company while studying at University, AmbiZion, which builds marketing strategies surrounding promotional products. 

Over the past years, she has been working on her latest startup: Welbi. Welbi allows senior living communities to deliver their residents a personalized and unique life experience to improve their health and wellness.

“I don’t believe in starting a business just to make money. There will be ups and there will be downs, and that is why you need passion and a reason for your company”. 

On this week’s Startup Women Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, Elizabeth dives into the sacrifices of entrepreneurship and how execution and iteration allow you to do entrepreneurship well. 

The post Doing Entrepreneurship Well with Elizabeth Audette-Bourdeau first appeared on Startup Canada.

Maternal health and advocacy for mothers is crucial to the pregnancy process. Julia Slanina, CEO of Treehouse Medical is revolutionizing women’s health with technology and raising awareness amongst the maternal health community. 

Julia Slanina is the CEO of Treehouse Medical, Canada’s first and only care management software specifically designed for the maternal health community. They are the only two-way platform that gives providers like midwives, doulas, and lactation consultants a digital toolkit to manage their clinic operations while connecting with their patients and clients. 

Prior to medical school, Julia Slanina is a graduate of the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs and has experience in bilateral relations from Global Affairs working directly in diplomacy in northern Europe. Treehouse Medical stemmed from halting her MD studies due to a family emergency. That is where she saw a real need for attention in maternal health and decided to focus her medical knowledge on developing technology to improve patient and industry outcomes. 

“Supporting women throughout pregnancy really allows us to build strong futures for babies and children. That future allows those individuals to become resilient leaders for our community.”

In this week’s Startup Women Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, Julia discusses bridging gaps in the maternal health industry, advocating for marginalized mothers, and creating better futures for babies and children. 

The post Advocating for Maternal Health Through Tech with Julia Slanina first appeared on Startup Canada.

Long gone is the idea that women can’t be good mothers while also being career-driven. Anna Sinclair, Founder and CEO of Total Mom Inc., is leading the way and empowering women and moms through entrepreneurship. 

Business transformation fuels Anna’s fire! Her full-service firm Sinclair Creative Agency supports celebrity clients and brands of all sizes through private consultation, creative direction, and asset development. Advancing professionally as an entrepreneur after having children made the uphill journey remarkably harder. Aware of the value of networking and mentorship, Anna realized a significant deficit in communal support for moms. This ignited a desire to find ways to change that reality for mothers across the globe. 

Founded in 2017, Total Mom Inc. has grown to support over 6,000 mothers to advance their personal and professional lives. Beginning as a large-scale festival, Anna focused on building a strong eco-system of diverse, inclusive, and like-minded women. Now, its far reach has extended to include digital summits, a professional membership network, an eCommerce shop as well as an annual initiative called Canada’s Total Mom Pitch, which hosts a digital business conference and business Pitch competition for busy moms.

“Entrepreneurship is the ultimate business ropes course. Although business skills are important,  soft skills, emotional intelligence, and integrity are also an important aspect.”

On this week’s Startup Women Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, Anna discusses pivoting in the face of the pandemic and advocating for mother entrepreneurs. 

The post Empowering Mothers Through Entrepreneurship with Anna Sinclair first appeared on Startup Canada.