Vivian Kaye is the Founder & CEO of KinkyCurlyYaki, a premium textured hair extension brand for Black women that she bootstrapped to over $6 million in revenue as an immigrant, college dropout and single mom. 

As a self proclaimed Gary Vee meets Oprah remix, Vivian is also a business and empowerment expert, as well as a TV, radio and podcast personality. 

Through her magnetic energy, Vivian empowers, uplifts and educates her audience into taking action.

 “As an entrepreneur you want resilience and strength. Well, when you are down - that is what gives you that strength.”

On this week’s Startup Women Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, Vivian provides us with the inspiration we need to keep going and shares why solving a problem and finding a niche can be the difference for your business.

Trusting Yourself to Find What is Possible with Vivian Kaye

The Startup Women Podcast is all about supporting YOU to start and build a thriving business. On the podcast, we connect you with leading women experts, entrepreneurs, and organizations that provide capital, mentorship, training, tools and other support to help you to make your vision reality, faster.

Business

Investing

Careers

Management & Marketing

Business News

Shopping

Entrepreneurship

Guests:
Jaclyn Patterson is the Founder of Shopwise, an online sustainable fashion marketplace, making it easier for people to discover and shop smarter from more than 30 purpose driven brands that prioritize both people and the planet.

Christal Duncan Earle founded Brave Soles in 2017. Brave Soles creates handcrafted shoes with upcycled tire soles and is focused on providing opportunities for their customers and fans to love the story behind what they own.

Resources:
Connect with Jaclyn on LinkedIn
Connect with Christal on LinkedIn
Learn more about Shopwise and purpose driven brands and apparel
Get started with Ownr 
Learn more about where clothing, apparel comes from in The True Cost documentary

How To: Enter and Maintain Strong Partnerships with Jaclyn Patterson and Christal Duncan Earle

Guests:

Tia Upshaw is a dynamic, serial entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Blk Women in Excellence.

Tashauna Reid is the owner of College Creative Curations, an online stationery store which addresses common student challenges by creating purposeful stationery items.

Resources:
Learn more about BWIE 
Connect with BWIE's workshops and events 
Check out BWIE's Black Heritage Month 28 Day Campaign

How To: Funding for Black Women Entrepreneurs with Tia Upshaw and Tashauna Reid

Freelancing is a very unique style of entrepreneurship. For freelancers, they are able to achieve flexibility and do work they are great at. For founders, freelancers are key contributors to their projects and business. In this episode, we talk about the tangible tools that allow freelancers to be successful and how to develop strong, empathetic and successful relationships with them, as founders.

Guests:

Sandra Reimer is a marketing matchmaker at CoLabourNation. Sandra connects overwhelmed founders with Canadian freelancers to accelerate their success by outsourcing marketing and admin.

Jasmine Williams is a Writer, Content Marketing Consultant, and Freelance Coach at Jasmine Williams Media. Jasmine supports creative entrepreneurs, consultants, and growth-stage startups scale with strategic content marketing consulting and coaching.

Resources:

 	
Connect with Sandra on LinkedIn

 	
Connect with Jasmine on LinkedIn

 	
Register your business with Ownr

 	
Discover your strengths. Take Working Genius or Clifton’s Strengths assessments

 	Outsource your frustrations with Sandra’s guide to hiring trusted freelancers
 	
Find contracts to hire freelancers Hello Bonsai 

 	
Explore Jasmine's freelancing resources, like her business set-up checklist and rate calculator.

 	
Looking for community? Join Jasmine’s Click Worthy Creatives

 	Check out Jasmine's Freelance Curious newsletter 
 	
Check out Jasmine’s Freelance Business Checklist

How To: Build Successful Relationships with Freelancers with Jasmine Williams and Sandra Reimer

Conor Phillips is an innovator, creative problem solver and serial-entrepreneur, based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. After working in the tourism industry for several years, Conor recognized that something was missing from how small businesses promote their products and services, and how travellers discover the activities, events, festivals and accommodations around them, particularly the tourism they don't know exists. Which led Conor to build her startup, Pathfinder365.   

Natasha Peter is the mind and hands behind Kaska Dena Designs, where she creates pieces that are traditional, modern, and luxurious, including everything from clothing to jewellery. After navigating a dark time in her life, Natasha turned to creating and realized her skills were a source of healing, and gave her purpose and direction.

Resources from this episode: 
Startup Canada's SWAN Cohort for 2023. 
Check our Mitacs for innovation and research support 
Check out Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan
For entrepreneurs in the North, check out Incubate North

Support for Women-led Startups in Canada with Conor Phillips and Natasha Peter

Have you ever googled the word entrepreneur? What kind of images show up? Who kind of folks do you see represented and associated with the word ‘entrepreneur’. 
More often than not, it isn't women and we believe that needs to change because women are disrupting industries, they are making deep social impact and they are incredibly successful.

Guests:

Dr.Wendy Cukier is the Founder and Academic Director of the Diversity Institute and Academic Director of the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub. (WEKH)


Vivian Liu is the Founder of mae, Making Auto Easy.

Resources:

 	Explore WEKH's Research on The State of Women Entrepreneurship 2023
 	Learn more about WEKH's See It Be It campaign
 	Key data on women entrepreneurship from WEKH
 	Explore mae's Car Buying Guide For Women


Trusting Yourself to Find What is Possible with Vivian Kaye

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