What does it really take to scale a food brand when your standards make everything harder?

In this episode, Eva sits down with Tara and Megan, the founders behind Canadian functional food company Rawcology. What started in a family kitchen with a dehydrator and a mission to remove inflammatory ingredients from everyday snacks has grown into a nationally distributed brand now carried by retailers including Whole Foods, Bulk Barn and Costco.

But growth didn’t follow the typical startup playbook. They chose to self-manufacture instead of co-packing, prioritized ingredient integrity over margins, and navigated fundraising as a women-led company in a category dominated by massive incumbents.

They share the realities behind building a CPG business — the economics of distribution, why the system favours cheap food, the bias they encountered raising capital, and how staying close to customers shaped their product strategy.

This is a conversation about entrepreneurship, resilience, and defining success on your own terms when your values come first.

This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Please find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Canada is facing a women’s health crisis: three in four women over 40 experience menopausal symptoms that disrupt their daily lives — yet access to care is inconsistent, fragmented, and often out of reach.

In this episode of The Brand is Female, originally recorded during World Menopause Month, Eva Hartling speaks with Dr. Michelle Jacobson, a leading OBGYN who decided to take her expertise beyond the clinic and into entrepreneurship. As co-founder of Coven Women’s Health, she is transforming how women access hormonal health support in Ontario with a virtual platform offering expert, continuous, and personalized care.

Dr. Jacobson is joined by her co-founder and CEO, Jennifer Patterson — a seasoned business builder with experience at Google and TD, who, after her own frustrating experience of feeling unwell, became passionate about making women’s health solutions easier to access.

Together, they discuss why hormonal health remains stigmatized and overlooked in Canada, what’s missing from our current system, and how Coven is reshaping the future of women’s healthcare through integrated programs that support women navigating menopause, perimenopause, PCOS, postpartum recovery, PMDD, and more.

This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Please find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Hi! Eva here.
This episode is a little different.

In the first part, I take you behind the scenes of my work and share what has always driven me — an obsession with precision when it comes to messaging, thought leadership, and reputation. I talk about why I’m launching Hartling Communications as a sister agency to The Brand is Female, and why this isn’t a pivot, but a clarification.

I reflect on the experiences that shaped how I think about communication — from my time as Chief Marketing Officer, to working alongside founders, executives, and institutions. I also spend time on a topic that comes up constantly in my work and in this community: imposter syndrome — how it shows up, why it persists, and how clarity in communication can be a powerful tool for confidence and credibility.

In the second part of the episode, you’ll hear a live conversation recorded at The Brand is Female Conversation Series in Vancouver with Carlyn Loncaric, founder and CEO of AquaEye / VodaSafe. Carlyn shares her journey from lifeguard and engineer to building a life-saving technology company, and we talk candidly about fear, resilience, leadership, and what it takes to scale a business in spaces where women are still underrepresented.

This episode is about clarity — of message, of purpose, and of direction — and about the conversations that shape how we lead.

This season of our podcast is brought to you by our sponsor, TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/wie // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

This conversation originally aired on Women Are Players Too, where it quickly became our most popular episode of the season. Recorded at the end of the Northern Super League’s inaugural season, this episode captures a defining moment for women’s professional sports in Canada, when the scale of what had been built was coming clearly into focus.

This episode features a conversation with Lara Murphy, CEO and co-owner of Calgary Wild FC, Alberta’s first professional women’s soccer team, and the co-founder of Calgary’s only female-run commercial construction company. 

Long before stepping into professional sport, Lara had already established herself as a respected business leader, board member, and community builder in Calgary, known for her hands-on leadership and commitment to creating opportunity.

In this conversation, Lara reflects on a path shaped by sport, construction, and entrepreneurship, and on the journey from volunteer to CEO at a pivotal moment for women’s sports. She shares what it means to build something that didn’t exist for the generation before her, the responsibility that comes with being first, and the influence of visibility on the next generation of girls who can now see a future in professional sport.

This episode is about leadership, community, and legacy, and why women-led movements in sport are reshaping not just the game, but culture itself.

This season of our podcast is brought to you by our sponsor, TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/wie // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

This is part 2 of last week’s conversation. To kick off the year, host Eva Hartling sits down with Sophie Boulanger — founder and former CEO of BonLook; advisor and investor — for a season-opening conversation about what retail transformation really means in 2026.

Because this is not the year for surface-level change. Brands will either evolve at the core… or fall behind.

In this episode, Sophie shares the lessons behind building one of Canada’s rare modern retail success stories — and what she believes today’s brands need to understand about changing consumer expectations, experience design, and the return to proximity and independent retail.

Eva and Sophie also zoom out to unpack what legacy retail can teach us right now: what the Hudson’s Bay fallout reveals about adding digital to a broken model, why Simons continues to win, and how smart operators are building resilience in a shifting market.

And finally, they look ahead — to what AI and technology integration can genuinely unlock for modern companies, and why the opportunity isn’t about gimmicks, but about becoming faster, smarter, and more connected to the customer.

A must-listen for founders, marketers, and business leaders navigating the next era of retail.

This season of our podcast is brought to you by our sponsor, TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/wie // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

To kick off the first episode of the year, host Eva Hartling sits down with Sophie Boulanger — founder and former CEO of BonLook; advisor and investor — for a season-opening conversation about what retail transformation really means in 2026.

Because this is not the year for surface-level change. Brands will either evolve at the core… or fall behind.

In this episode, Sophie shares the lessons behind building one of Canada’s rare modern retail success stories — and what she believes today’s brands need to understand about changing consumer expectations, experience design, and the return to proximity and independent retail.

Eva and Sophie also zoom out to unpack what legacy retail can teach us right now: what the Hudson’s Bay fallout reveals about adding digital to a broken model, why Simons continues to win, and how smart operators are building resilience in a shifting market.

And finally, they look ahead — to what AI and technology integration can genuinely unlock for modern companies, and why the opportunity isn’t about gimmicks, but about becoming faster, smarter, and more connected to the customer.

A must-listen for founders, marketers, and business leaders navigating the next era of retail.

This is part one of this conversation, to be continued next week.

This season of our podcast is brought to you by our sponsor, TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/wie // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

What does it really take to help women entrepreneurs scale in Canada — and where are we still falling short?

In this episode, Eva Hartling sits down with Julie Dimitri, National Manager, Women in Enterprise at TD, for an in-depth conversation on the realities women founders face when navigating financing, growth, and long-term sustainability.

Drawing on TD’s recent research with the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, Julie unpacks why access to capital remains a persistent barrier, why Canada has a scale-up problem — not a start-up problem, and how confidence, timing, and banking relationships can make or break a business’s growth trajectory.

Together, Eva and Julie explore:

Why women entrepreneurs tend to wait too long to seek funding — and the cost of that delay

What women actually want from their banking relationships

How bias and confidence gaps still show up in financial decision-making

The importance of relationship-based banking and integrated financial support

Why ecosystems, mentorship, and intentional connections matter as much as capital

This episode offers practical insights for women founders at every stage, as well as a candid look at what financial institutions must do differently to truly support women-led businesses.

A must-listen for entrepreneurs, advisors, and anyone committed to unlocking the full economic potential of women in Canada.

This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

In this special live episode recorded at the Poppy Barley boutique in Calgary, host Eva Hartling sits down with co-founder Kendall Barber for an unfiltered conversation about building — and sustaining — one of Canada’s most beloved women-founded footwear brands.

Kendall shares the real story behind Poppy Barley’s 13-year journey, from the early days of selling custom boots and dreaming in wildly optimistic spreadsheets, to becoming a B Corp–certified brand rooted in purpose, craftsmanship, and comfort.

Together, we explore what it really takes to scale a retail business in Canada: balancing purpose with profit, navigating volatility in fashion and supply chains, building community-driven design, and learning how to take care of yourself while you take care of the business. Kendall also opens up about co-founding with her sister Justine, the evolution of their leadership, and the realities of risk, financing, and longevity for women entrepreneurs.

Recorded live as part of The Brand is Female Conversation Series — presented in partnership with TD Women in Enterprise — this episode brings you honest insights, hard-earned lessons, and a thoughtful look at what it means to build something meaningful that can truly last.

A must-listen for founders, creatives, and anyone building a brand with heart and staying power

This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

For more than a decade, best friends and business partners Dani Kagan and Victoria Marshman have been building community and empowering women through entrepreneurship. From their early days as co-founders of City MOGULS and Stratus Events — connecting thousands of entrepreneurs and raising over $250,000 for Canadian charities — to launching Mave & Chez, the women-founded slipper brand featured on Dragon’s Den, their journey is one of purpose, creativity, and resilience.

In this episode, they join Eva Hartling to talk about growing together through multiple ventures, what it takes to build brands with impact, and how confidence, community, and courage can shape the legacy women leave behind.

This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

En collaboration avec Gestion FÉRIQUE, nous présentons une édition spéciale de la série « Les femmes ont du génie », enregistrée en direct à Montréal devant public.

Animée par Eva Hartling, cette table ronde réunit quatre ingénieures d’exception :

Hélène Brisebois, ingénieure associée, vice-présidente et chargée de projet chez SDK, experte reconnue en ingénierie structurale

Suzanne Demeules, associée et première vice-présidente, Transport chez CIMA+

Caterina Milioto, présidente et fondatrice d’Intervia, une entreprise pionnière en ingénierie de transport et gestion de la mobilité

Catherine Tremblay, vice-présidente, Agences de transport chez AtkinsRéalis, où elle dirige de grands projets d’infrastructure

Elles partagent leurs parcours inspirants dans un domaine encore majoritairement masculin, des chantiers de construction aux projets d’envergure qu’elles dirigent. Ensemble, elles discutent de confiance, de mentorat et de visibilité, mais aussi des obstacles systémiques qui freinent encore la progression des femmes dans les professions techniques.

Une conversation franche et inspirante sur la représentation, la collaboration et l’importance d’intégrer les perspectives féminines pour bâtir un futur plus inclusif et durable — un futur véritablement conçu par et pour toutes et tous.

Cet épisode fait partie de notre mini-série portant sur le parcours de femmes inspirantes qui ont du génie, et qui vous est offerte par Gestion FÉRIQUE et Services d'investissement FÉRIQUE. Gestion FÉRIQUE est un gestionnaire de fonds communs de placement qui sont offerts exclusivement aux professionnels en génie, ainsi qu'à leurs familles et leurs entreprises, par le biais de Services d'investissement FÉRIQUE. Visitez ferique.com.

This episode is airing in French.

Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale