04 Dec 2017

Meet: Anie Rouleau

How long since founding/running your business? A nice 5 years

Mission of your firms: Redefine the notion of clean by offering a fragrance free natural Home + Body care line smartly design for conscious living.

Why the entrepreneurial path? To use my business as a force for “Good”. Being an Entrepreneur gives me the ability to encourage my community, to give local business some of my business, to select better ingredients and materials of each of my product and reduce my environmental footprint; to give opportunity to create jobs and to influence positively with ethical governance.

Lesson(s) learned? Creating a business with an eco-friendly mission can be profitable.

Advice?  Our responsibility as an entrepreneur does not stop at the gate of our office. We must be responsible upstream and downstream of our products or service we supply to market.

Fun/interesting fact about you within your industry/career?   (This answer is added by the curator of the page – not by Anie herself.)  Anie has held several senior executive positions, and Baléco Inc is not the first business she founded.

Anything else you’d like to add? The entrepreneur of tomorrow must manage with kindness in a more inclusive way. Businesses with only growing-shareholders value as a mission is perceived as old fashioned and irresponsible. Along with stakeholders in mind, we must incorporate all of our values.

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Industries: Health, Wellness, Productivity, Coaching

16 Nov 2017

Meet: Claudine Larivière

How long since founding/running your business? 10 years

Mission of your firms: Serve, inspire and motivate people to reach their full potential through health and nutrition.

Why the entrepreneurial path? Being an entrepreneur and building my branding brought me so much freedom with my life and my business!

Lesson(s) learned? So many! The main one is that nobody will realize your dream but you! You're the only person you can count on!

Advice?  Trust your gut feeling and do what makes you happy!

Fun/interesting fact about you within your industry/career?  My friend hired me to do PR mandates in the fields of programming and physics! He's now a pre-approved NASA partner to test his theory on the spaceship...! I do television and was selected as one of the most innovative young entrepreneur on the show "Le goût des affaires" on MaTV.

Anything else you’d like to add? It doesn't matter what other people say about your dreams and your projects. You must follow your heart and never settle for less! 

Industries: Management Consulting & Online Service Provider in Individual Coaching

03 Nov 2017

Meet: Dr. Mirella De Civita

How long since founding/running your business? Papillion MDC in 2010 & Grand Heron International (GHI) in 2015

Mission of your firms: Being great coaches/insightful psychologists by practicing mindfulness and effectiveness

Why the entrepreneurial path? I never saw myself as an entrepreneur in the way we consider it in the business world. I now realize that my time in academia served as the perfect training ground for entrepreneurship.

Lesson(s) learned? 1) I learned the importance of driving profits. When your company is doing well, it buys you time. Time allows you to make good decisions. And, making better decisions benefits everyone around you. 2) I learned not to look at what my competitors are doing, but to think “blue ocean”.

Advice?  1) Be kind. 2) Give your business a sense of purpose; the "why" of your business. 3) You are enough.

Fun/interesting fact about you within your industry/career?  I graduated from hairdressing school and was on my way to pursue a career in theatre and cinema. But, my plans were halted when tragedy struck my family. I decided to stay in Montreal and to go back to school. In 2002, I earned a PhD. in Psychology, graduating on the Dean’s List and my thesis, which dealt with poverty, was ranked among the top 5% of the Arts & Science Faculty.

Anything else you’d like to add? Today, I bring all of this knowledge and experience in how I lead and serve people as well as engage in the creative process that results in new business lines.

The message in this article is to never give up, and aim high.  Only parts of the interview was highlighted here.  To read full version, please click on the Share button below.

Industry: Natural Skincare Products

25 Sep 2017

Meet: Ruchy Khurana

How long since founding/running your business? about 2 years

Mission of your firm: To create value. I want to offer something that works, that is affordable and that doesn’t harm anyone or anything. 

Why the entrepreneurial path? It's in my blood - literally. Actually, when I started working for my father 10 years ago, I was the first Khurana to get a “job”. Now I am the first FEMALE Khurana with her own business!

Lesson(s) learned? It takes a village. From my super supportive family to my super supportive friends and network - everyone pitches in. Whether it's to announce a product on Facebook, hit “like” on a blog, tell a friend about my serum or roll up their sleeves to start pouring, everyone helps and everyone feels invested. I have learned that I could never have done this on my own. 

Advice?  Be generous with information, with praise and with support for other entrepreneurs. We need each other, lean on each other and learn from each other. Good people win in the end. And stay curious! 

Fun/interesting fact about you within your industry/career?  Whenever someone asks me how I started on this crazy skincare journey, they end up getting an earful about my fragrance allergy and the burns I got under my arms. I'm sure they never expect an armpit story - especially the one I tell in graphic detail!

Anything else you’d like to add? Do it! You might feel tempted to keep your idea quiet and safe - maybe out of fear of rejection. Have faith. Tell people, and watch the idea bloom.

To read full interview version of this, please click on the Share button below.

Industry: Healthcare

23 Aug 2017

Meet: Marina Staingart

How long since founding/running your business? Since Feb. 2014

Mission of your firm: To empower patients to take better care of their health by providing the best price and the best home service for diagnostic tests.

Why the entrepreneurial path? By accident or more precisely by conviction. I didn't think I had it in me, I always thought I needed a genius idea to start a business. But my values directed me in life so that I've met my right business partner and together we created a business that makes us both happy to pursue. I do feel that I make a difference in many people's lives. And I love the liberty to make my own schedule.

Lesson(s) learned? As en entrepreneur, I work more, but it doesn't feel like work because I have a sense of purpose.

Advice? Focus, focus, focus (do not waste time on small details).

Fun/interesting fact about you within your industry/career? I am a computer engineer by trade and my title is the CTO, while my business partner has medical background. It is always funny to see people's reaction when they realize that I am the technical one, and not my business partner (breaking the stereotypes here.) :)

Anything else you’d like to add? Just start and be ready to hang in there... It's tougher than you originally hope.

Industry: Marketing and technology

28 Jul 2017

Meet: Nathalie Azoulay

How long since founding/running your business? 14 years, since 2003.

Mission of your firm: our mission at Eye-In Media is to constantly strive to enhance the customer experience with our knowledge of marketing and technology. We’re innovators.

Why the entrepreneurial path? Building strong and authentic relationships with our clients is always worth it. Entrepreneurship is in my DNA - since the age of 12, I’ve wanted to build a better world. I’ve always wanted to see more, do more, and test my limits. My challenges are my accomplishments.

Lesson(s) learned? Persistence is key. When someone tells you you can’t do something, that’s when you know you will. Girl power!

Advice? You can never have too many ideas. Believe in yourself and stay true to who you are. Your instinct is a measure of your IQ - listen to it.

Fun/interesting fact about you within your industry/career? I have 4 kids. Behind every great female leader there’s a team - a family - that bring her success.

Anything else you’d like to add? I dream of creating a world where women have the same opportunities as men. Women, there’s no limit to what we can accomplish while still being a good mother, friend, wife, and boss.