Client Feature: Sonia Egey-Samu

We sat down with Sonia Egey-Samu, Partner of Clarity Wealth Counsel Inc, to learn more about her business, the journey as an entrepreneur and mother, and her experience with AWE and the PeerSpark™ program.

Sonia, tell us how your journey into entrepreneurship began.
Well, I worked at several of the big financial institutions in my 10 year corporate career and saw every aspect of what financial advice looked like. I learned all the cookie cutter tools and products being used. But all the while there was an internal conflict since I could never develop to the "mold" and constantly needed to learn more to do more for my clients whose financial lives depended on me. At the height of my corporate career my husband and I were flown to Denver to EACH be awarded as one of the top 30 advisors in Canada within the firm we worked at. It was a really cool moment, and we looked at each other and were so proud in sharing that achievement.

Then from there we went on to start our own retirement planning firm and it definitely wasn't an easy decision! Now we look back just a few years later and absolutely cannot believe the tremendous growth that we've had as a company, as individuals, as a married couple, and as parents.

What is the service you provide?
Our specialization is Tax Efficient Retirement Planning. So when somebody comes to see us, they're finished dabbling, and kind of guessing and hoping, and are now serious about not only completing a detailed retirement plan, but also ensuring that they achieve that plan. And the way we approach planning is extremely comprehensive so "no rocks are left unturned". Clients generally leave our office feeling that "weight" or "worry" being lifted about their financial future. It's what we've been doing for a long time, and we absolutely love what we do!

What would you say is the best part of having your own business?
The shaping of our business is the best part by far. I'm so deeply driven to consistently review how we provide value, and then 10x that. But sometimes as business owners we lose sight of what value really is. And it's so easy to lose sight because there's what you think your client values, and then there's taking the time to habitually ask clients what THEY value and so we've been doing this since day one and shaping our business based on their feedback and their needs.

What have you learned from working with others in the PeerSpark program?
It's definitely been one of the best experiences of my life meeting like minded women and sharing our deepest challenges to be able to work through them quickly. My growth today wouldn't be where it is had I not participated in PeerSpark, I'm very grateful to continue to be a part of it.

What are you most proud of in your business?
It was a tear jerker moment for me when we recently had a few of our long time clients volunteer to do a video testimonial. Listening to their words and what they'd experience has been made me the most proud. I had a good cry (laughing)

Would you recommend entrepreneurship to a friend?
I don't recommend entrepreneurship, just like I don’t recommend how to parent, or how to eat. These decisions should all be based on personal values in my mind. If a friend wanted to talk through the idea of it, I'm there!

How do you manage being a mom and business owner?
First things First by Stephen Covey, it's a good read! I schedule each week based on my core values. I get total fulfillment from being a Mama, a business owner, and all the other hats I wear.

Define your work life balance
Hmm, I'd probably say to maintain a level of homeostasis. To keep contributing to my family and my business, I need to make sure I keep my cup full so that I can perform at a high level, be present, feel healthy and organized in my life.

Would you recommend PeerSpark to other entrepreneurs?
I cannot speak highly enough about PeerSpark and the positive impact it has made on my life. If someone out there is thinking about it and needs to chat before making the leap I'm more than happy to share my experience.

To learn more about Sonia and Clarity Wealth Counsel Inc, visit their website at www.claritywealthcounsel.ca.

If you have questions regarding AWE or our PeerSpark™ program, visit our PeerSpark™ page to learn more. 

2018 Celebration of Achievement Award Winner Announced

Beauty tycoon, Eveline Charles, named 2018 Celebration of Achievement Award Winner

Alberta Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) is pleased to announce Eveline Charles as the
recipient of this year’s Celebration of Achievement Award, which recognizes an exceptional woman entrepreneur who has built a business in Alberta with a significant impact on the economy and the community.

The Alberta-based Founder and CEO of EvelineCharles Salons | Spas | Beauty MD will be recognized at the 2018 Celebration of Achievement award reception on April 25th at the Sutton Place Hotel in Edmonton, sponsored by ATB Financial.

“We are honoured to recognize such a deserving person with this year’s Celebration of Achievement award. Eveline is a true business leader and inspiration; she aims high and remains focused on achieving her vision,” explains Marcela Mandeville, CEO of AWE.

With six successful salons and spas across Alberta and almost 200 employees, Eveline Charles has dominated the beauty industry for over 40 years. Eveline's determination to become the market leader led to the expansion of her business in 2005 to include the EvelineCharles Academy - a state-of- the-art facility where future beauty industry leaders could harness and perfect their trade.

The next venture for Eveline was expanding into custom product manufacturing with EC Labs. Founded in 2016, EC Labs is Canada’s newest beauty, health, and wellness product manufacturer. In addition, EvelineCharles Salons | Spas | Beauty MD has now begun franchising locations as a future expansion strategy.

“I am very grateful to receive this prestigious award. It is really humbling to be a recipient of this award in the presence of so many female entrepreneurs and leaders. This honour means so much to me, as entrepreneurship runs through my veins. I am so passionate about driving, growing, and reinventing my business every day to be a leader in our industry,” Charles said of her win.

"Growing a business into a successful and sustainable enterprise requires passion, perseverance and a plan. Eveline is a trailblazing entrepreneur, whose vision and leadership has enabled her to grow her business in a lasting and meaningful way. She's an inspiration so many women, and entrepreneurs across this province and country," says Teresa Clouston, Executive Vice-President of ATB Business & Agriculture. "On behalf of the ATB team, I am pleased to congratulate Eveline and all the awards winners."

At the reception on April 25, Alberta Women Entrepreneurs will honour Charles and her role as a leader in female entrepreneurship, as well as announce the recipients of three other award categories including Emerging Innovator Award, Emerging Award and Upsurge Award.

Anyone wishing to celebrate the outstanding women entrepreneurs in our province is invited to attend the reception. Tickets for the can be reserved here.

Community Round-Up

Many members of the AWE community share useful and interesting things online, and we like to draw your attention to these posts from time to time on the blog. Enjoy!

• Flatter:Me Belts Founder, Claire Theaker-Brown recently re-branded her company to Unbelts. Check out their re-brand video here.
• Stacy Nehring, Tara Persson and the UTV Canada team are expanding their business into new markets with a new website launching very soon. Stay tuned!
• The Alberta Podcast Network, powered by ATB successfully launched in September. Congratulations to Karen Unland on this great accomplishment.
• Shannon Lenstra, President of Kon-strux Developments was recently awarded with an International Design and Architecture Award with Design Et Al for best Lighting Scheme.
• Ashley Janssen, PeerSpark™ alumnus was recently awarded with an Avenue Magazine Top 40 Under 40 Award. Congratulations!

Do you have exciting things happening in your business that you would like us to feature? Be sure to share them with us on social media or send us a note to external.relations@awebusiness.com. 

Celebration of Achievement Reception Re-Cap

We were thrilled to celebrate with some amazing women entrepreneurs, community partners, sponsors, friends and family on May 18, 2017 at our Celebration of Achievement Reception. 

This year we hosted the event at the beautiful Oasis Centre in Edmonton. The room was filled with joy, excitement and buzz. With over 200 people in the room, we were honoured to receive greetings from the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, The Honuorable Navdeep Bains and hear MLA for Edmonton-Meadowlark Jon Carson share his welcome from the Government of Alberta.

The event was dedicated to not only celebrating our 2017 Celebration of Achievement recipient, Jeanette DeBruin, but also announcing the recipients of our Emerging Entrepreneur Award, Emerging Innovator Award and Upsurge Award.

The anticipation built as a video of the finalists in each category appeared on the screen (to view these videos, please click here). We also had a surge of social media which had #AWECelebrates trending on Twitter. Check out our favourite tweets here.

We were thrilled to announce the following as our 2017 Award Recipients:

Jeanette DeBruin, AltaPro Electric, 2017 Celebration of Achievement Award Recipient

Kristi Stuart and Jill Belland, Barre Belle YYC, 2017 AWE Emerging Entrepreneur Award Recipient

Lane Edwards, Pura Botanicals, 2017 AWE Emerging Innovator Award Recipient

Nancy Klensch, Summit Kids, 2017 AWE Upsurge Award Recipient

From Left to Right: Jeannette DeBruin, Lane Edwards, Nancy Klensch, Kristi Stuart

We were very excited to celebrate with these amazing women. We would also like to extend a huge congratulations to all of our nominees and finalists. You are all doing amazing things for our communities and local economies.

A special thanks goes out to our presenting sponsor, ATB Business. We could not do this event without you! Thank you for recognizing the importance of entrepreneurship and making it a focus for your business. We would also like to thank Grant Thornton for your help with our nominee selection process. Thank you to Hillberg and Berk for the beautiful gifts for our recipients and generous gifts for all attendees of the awards program. And last, but certainly not least we would like to thank Quinn Ohler from Global Edmonton for volunteering her time to emcee this year's program.

Our awards program will open again in 2018. If you know someone who would be deserving of one of our four awards, let us know! We can't wait to celebrate with you all next year.

Learning Day Re-Cap

It's hard to believe Learning Day has already come and gone for another year. We had an amazing time hosting some new and familiar faces for a day of networking, education and fun. Being an entrepreneur can sometimes be lonely, but it doesn't have to be.

At AWE one of our mandates is to bring women together. Whether it is through events such as this, workshops throughout the year or business advising. We believe our communities and economies are stronger when women are full participants in entrepreneurship!

We would like to extend a special thank-you to our presenting sponsor, ATB Business. This event would have not been possible without you! We would also like to thank all of our partners, speakers, and experts for carving time out of their busy lives to share their knowledge with our event attendees. Last, but certainly not least we want to thank the entrepreneurs or aspiring entrepreneurs for taking time away from their business and spending it with us! 

While there were many highlights of the day, here are some takeaways that we want to share!

1. Know Your Customer Base! Wean Green CEO, Melissa Gunning did an amazing job explaining why customer relationship management tools (CRMs) are vital to relationship building with not only current, but prospective clients! Melissa emphasized the importance of finding the right buyers and utilizing LinkedIn to play a roll in your sales cycle.

2. Your Financial Toolkit Should Be Stocked With Resources! Judy Perdomo of Liquid Capital Corporation lead an amazing panel during the lunch hour that discussed the variety of resources available to entrepreneurs. Whether it is venture capital or a traditional bank loan, know your options to help grow your business to the next level. Cash flow is key!

3. Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail. Linda Hoang from Calder Bateman facilitated an amazing session on the basics of social media for business. Linda emphasized the importance of creating regular content calendars that tie into key business initiatives. Staying organized and on-top of your social media will breed success.

These are just some of the amazing takeaways from Learning Day. Did you attend the event? What was your favourite part? Let us know in the comment section below!

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