Client Feature: Elaine Broe

AWE had the opportunity to catch up with Elaine Broe, an inspiring woman entrepreneur whose expertise has taken her to incredible heights. Over the years, she’s cultivated an extensive consulting practice, eventually culminating into a creative solution-oriented business called The Leadership Collaboratory. The primary focus of her business is to partner with organizations and individuals to develop purposeful, transformative leadership that can evolve with our ever-changing world. 

Elaine Broe Leadership & Learning Experiences has been around for eight years, and in that time the company has taken on a diverse list of projects and opportunities. “In one week, I might be coaching leaders, then I’m working with an in-company client to develop a tailored learning experience for their people. Some of my clients describe me as a triple threat. I'm a facilitator, an executive coach, and an experience designer.” Elaine appreciates the variety she gets through her role. 

While some people have always dreamt of becoming entrepreneurs, that wasn’t the case for Elaine. She didn’t originally start her business to be her own boss, but because she wanted to focus on doing the work that she loved, and in her own terms. After working in the leadership development and adult learning space for over 20 years, it got to a point where the work she was doing as an employee was missing what she loved.  

The usual thoughts of “what if I fail?” did cross Elaine’s mind, but she instead chose to focus on the possibility of her endeavor into entrepreneurship being a success. “It's funny, as entrepreneurs we have the innate ability to constantly imagine the worst-case scenario. When we go out on our own, we think, what if we fail? As we consider our options a rare few of us think; what happens if I'm extraordinarily successful? How will I manage that? How will I juggle all these clients? We don't consider it. Choosing to be an entrepreneur can be a really fascinating leap and I'm glad I took it.” 

In the beginning of COVID-19 here in Alberta, Elaine’s business came to a screeching halt for three months. Many entrepreneurs were forced to hit the ground running to implement the changes needed to respond to the pandemic, which involved a lot of agility and making very difficult decisions. Elaine recognized that for her it was important to take this time to recover from the pace that she’s been operating at. “The pandemic brought a bizarre relief. When you think about it, requiring a pandemic to give yourself a break—and I know that I'm not the only one —is mildly terrifying when you think of how we approach work in North America.” 

A small part of the reason why Elaine decided to take a break during the earlier months of the pandemic was that there wasn't any funding available for her type of business. For Elaine, that support didn't surface until August, through Alberta Women Entrepreneurs’ Regional Relief and Recovery Fund. “The loans helped me set up the technology that I needed, and to invest in new platforms and create online programming that I was proud of. The pandemic helped me reinvent my business and myself.” When Elaine received her funding, she quickly realized that she needed a mindset shift to make the most out of this opportunity to scale and evolve her business. 

“With the Alberta Women Entrepreneurs team, they had my back right from the start. The first six months of the pandemic were really challenging. After our initial interaction, I knew that this wasn't just a transaction, it was about the relationship. In a pandemic, any entrepreneur can learn from this organization. It’s about relationships. AWE set the stage for our partnership in how quickly they replied to my questions and their patience as I learned how to provide the reports and back-up that was needed. “ 

The past year has taught us many lessons, many of which we hope to apply as we are in the road to recovery. What stood out the most for Elaine is the care and nurturing that is required of a leader to be able to care and nurture for their people and for their business. “Honestly, I do not have a “ramp up” mentality right now. I am so fortunate that it's been a very busy year and I don't want to end up in the same spot that I did on March 13, 2020. I'm getting selective about my work over the next six months.” Elaine highlights the importance of learning from the pandemic and trying to avoid slipping back to pre-pandemic habits. “One of the lessons I keep having to relearn over and over, is that prioritizing yourself is prioritizing your business.” 

Elaine has some profound advice for entrepreneurs as we continue to navigate the new normal. “Continue to be in the dance. This last year and a half, for many of us, the playlist was not something we wanted to listen to. We didn’t know the dance steps. We wanted the party to end. We were not having fun. I love the metaphor of a dance, thinking of this as being in flow, rather than a push and a pull. That dance of trust with ourselves, with the systems at play, changing policies and rules; the dance with our clients as they figure out what they need; and the dance with our businesses and our teams where we hopefully create space to evolve, without needing a pandemic as the catalyst.” 

Bold Leadership Feature: Vered Levant

Vered Levant owns a human resources company called VimyHR. Her company helps businesses that need support with human resources, but not a full-time HR employee. With her team of consultants, she offers a variety of services from recruitment to succession planning. The solutions that VimyHR offers are customized depending on what the organization is like and what services they need.  

Vered’s been working in human resources for about 15 years. After studying economics in school, she was hired as a Labour Market Information Manager for a not-for-profit organization. In her role, she learned about the challenges that small businesses were facing. After about two years, she changed roles to a position with the Government of Saskatchewan; this was her first human resources position. “I was asked to move into the HR department as they were blending the two areas. I had no HR exposure whatsoever, but they trained me and told me I was a natural.” 

She later on moved to Calgary and began working in a corporate environment. When there was a downturn in the economy in 2016, she wasn’t happy in her role anymore. “I didn't see a light at the end of the tunnel doing layoffs. I hadn't been exposed to that side of HR before. So, I needed a break. I was pretty burnt out.” 

After pausing her career, she started getting phone calls from old colleagues and small business owners for HR support and guidance. “About six months later, I thought, ‘wait a minute, there's something here. There's something that I can create to support small businesses that don't need full-time HR help but need some expertise to know how to pay people, how to recruit, how to manage difficult situations and coach their employees.’ Then VimyHR was born.” 

““I have never loved what I do more than I do today.””

— Vered Levant

Vered discovered AWE’s Bold Leadership Program on social media. “After I got accepted into the program, I was really excited just to learn more and have more support. It can be very lonely being an entrepreneur.” In the program, Vered could connect with like-minded female entrepreneurs. She knew she was wearing too many hats in her organization and needed to take the advice she was giving her clients about streamlining their business.  

The program’s coaches have helped Vered automate her processes so she can spend more time serving her clients and reducing non-billable hours. The coaches have also given Vered line of sight to what’s in the pipeline of her business, and where her consultants are spending their time. “We've surpassed our targets already for new client relationships in the first quarter. I need to get my back office cleaned up to be able to manage that capacity.” 

When the pandemic hit, interest in Vered’s company climbed. People started to see human resources in a new light. It also led her company to need to digitally transform faster than she had anticipated. Vered is implementing Monday.com, one of the tools she learned through the program, to assist her organization in streamlining activities and staying organized.  

With the help of a Bold Leadership Expert Advisor, Vered is currently in the initial stages of offering HR-related courses. “We're finding that we’re getting a lot of requests for interviewing support, the do's and don'ts of screening, reference checks, all those pieces. So, we’re going to put them into courses and work on that over the next several months.”  

Vered’s favourite aspect of the Bold Leadership program: 

“I loved hearing the stories of other organizations and how they're leveraging these tools and their success stories. The speakers that were brought in were really fascinating and inspiring. For them to share their digital transformation journey, how much it's helped their business and their vulnerability around that, that it's not going to be perfect. It's continually a journey and you're going to make mistakes and it's okay. I think that was the big thing for me. It was such a fear to go in the wrong direction, and now I'm realizing I know that I can do this.” 

— 

Vered completed the Bold Leadership Program with AWE. The program is designed to support women entrepreneurs who are creating new strategies and implementing technology and processes that will improve their business performance. Applications are now open for Bold Leadership, learn more and apply today. Deadline to apply is August 15! 

Client Feature: Kara Deringer

Kara Deringer is an international speaker, a best-selling author, a coach, an instructor at the University of Alberta, a consultant, and she has recently added restaurateur to that list! Her journey into entrepreneurship began when she took over Pink Gorilla Pizzeria in Edmonton last spring. And yes, that’s about exactly when our province stood still as the first wave of COVID-19 reared its ugly head.

“When I first took over, a lot of the restaurants in Edmonton were closed, because everyone was trying to figure out how to pivot, what AHS guidelines were, etc. I got my licenses as soon as I could so that we could at least stay open for takeout. We've been through openings, closures, outdoor dining, 50% indoor dining, and we've converted our parking lot in the back of the building to a patio. It really has been an adventure, but a good one.”

Despite the learning curve that comes with jumping into restaurant ownership, not to mention the challenges that arose with ever-changing restrictions, Kara says she’s always looked for ways to be creative and use those circumstances as opportunities to build her business up, rather than bring it down. 

Taking a glass-half-full approach, every obstacle was a stepping stone for her to allow certain areas of her business to flourish amidst COVID-19 limitations. “I was always asking: What is the blessing in this? So for instance, the blessing in taking over at that time was that we were open for takeout, so we focused exclusively on making our takeout business extraordinary. And then, as we opened for 50% dine-in, we focused on our dine-in service,” eventually bringing in new menu items and happy hour specials as additional offerings, describes Kara.

But, it certainly wasn’t easy. Even with utmost perseverance, there were some struggles that brought particular difficulty for Kara, including accessing the funding she needed to support her business during the pandemic. She remembers searching and searching for grants and loans her business would be eligible for, repeatedly experiencing defeats such as cut-offs they had just shyly missed by two weeks, or a young entrepreneurs’ fund she had just missed by turning 40 two months earlier. She even tried contacting AWE, but at that time, all spots had been filled for the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF).

After the RRRF applications had opened up again, and opportunity arose for Pink Gorilla to receive the funding so long as Kara completed the paperwork immediately— she didn’t hesitate to accept.

After being disappointed so many times, she felt nothing but sheer gratitude when the funding  arrived. “When the loan money landed in our company bank account, I was really emotional because it felt like the first time support was out there for a new business owner like me. The business was being rewarded for the hard work that me and my team had put in - including the thousands of hours that I had volunteered to build Pink Gorilla. It was a deep sense of relief, like, we're gonna be okay.”

Over the pandemic, she’s made a strong effort to preserve her mental health, though finding some semblance of balance can certainly be a struggle in entrepreneurship. She admits that there are two sides to the coin.

The first, is that as an entrepreneur, it’s all in. “We knew that as a family going in—my kids recognized it early on in the process. Within the first few days of me taking over the restaurant, my son said to my mom (his grandma),  “I think I'm really gonna love this restaurant. And, I think I'm really gonna hate it, too.’” Kara says that in many ways, finding “balance” is extremely difficult as a new business owner. Together, her family has made some necessary adjustments in order to navigate this venture into entrepreneurship.

The second, is that entrepreneurs do need to look for strategies for protecting their mental health. “I have used a business coach myself. I have accepted help from friends and family, so whereas I tend to try to be strong and independent, I've pushed myself to say yes when people offer any kind of help.” For her, making time to get out for walks and taking a quick power nap are some of her other strategies to maintain her mental health.

Through it all, her number one objective has been focusing on people: both customers and staff. With a happy team, her employees are willing to go the extra mile to help the business in such a difficult time. And from the beginning, she says, they’ve worked on providing an extraordinary customer experience, doing everything possible to make customers happy when they, too, are struggling.

We all have our own experiences impacting the lens through which we perceive the world and how we interact with it. But, Kara adds, it’s important to bring compassion to the table.  “Behind a business are people. They're employees, they're managers, they're owners, and people just trying to do a good job and serve the public. If there's any message I'd like to deliver to the public, for the benefit of not only myself but all business owners, it's to encourage customers to have empathy for businesses.” 

Kara is certainly no stranger to challenges, and like all of us, she’s had one heck of a year. With all that she’s learned, her advice to fellow entrepreneurs is, in one word: persistence.

“I do think persistence pays off. That being said, there's a qualifier there: not blind persistence.  As entrepreneurs, we can get caught up in the passion of the business. And, at the end of the day, the balance sheet has to work.” She explains, “As much as it takes passion and persistence, I also think that we need to be realistic with our financials and our balance sheets.”

Client Feature: Christine Channer August

Christine Channer August, also known as Fab, is a multi-passionate entrepreneur. She is the CEO of Channer Consulting and Training and hosts a podcast called The Fab Collective. Hopeful optimism is what drives her day to day, always keeping the big picture in mind.

Over a year ago Christine left her previous employment. “I can't say that entrepreneurship hasn't always been a part of who I am. I've always had a side hustle of some capacity. Leaving my job was that final push. I've always taken this posture of service and doing things with integrity. When there was a misalignment of values in previous roles, it was my opportunity to do things the way that I wanted. I believe clients deserve to be treated with full transparency and true collaboration.”

Channer Consulting and Training is a customized solution to training needs for businesses because training staff is at the core of every customer-centric business. “I've been in situations where I've noticed training is not considered. I always give the example if there's this massive hotel or structure that's going up, but then once the structure is erected, who's going to work there?”

Christine’s business assists other businesses in bridging the gap between starting a business and assisting with sustainable growth. The solutions her company provides are very customized to her clients’ needs.

“I'm very client-centric in everything that I do. I make the clients a priority. It's about literally being a partner. Not to say that my business survives off of air and unicorns, obviously there's a financial component, but I just truly have the mindset of working hand in hand with clients.”

Christine places a large emphasis on making her strategies easy to follow and to helping her clients in every way she can. Often, she has several phone calls before a contract is signed so her clients can have piece of mind before investing. She also lets her clients know of what funding is available to them to assist them in paying for her services, or to keep another aspect of their business running.

“If you take care of your team, if you take care of your clients, your business will take care of itself. I strongly believe that. Not everyone does. So that's why I'm doing it my own way.”

After being turned away from federal funding because her business was relatively new, a friend referred her to AWE’s The Regional Relief and Recovery Fund. When the pandemic hit, Christine reached out to AWE for some financial help. “AWE was honestly a lifesaver for my business. Working specifically with Amber and Nicole has been a dream. I'm always anticipating a ‘no’ when it comes to asking for funding, but that wasn't the case here, AWE said ‘yes’.”

To anyone starting a business right now, Christine gives the following advice, “Resiliency is only developed in opposition. As long as you are aligned with what you enjoy and your purpose, just stay the course.”

Client Feature: Shirah Consults

Shirah is an online consulting firm that offers professional services to individuals who wish to study, work and live in Canada. Founded in 2018 by Bukky Abaniwonda, Shirah started as a side gig that slowly began to grow. Running the business is now her full-time job. It has grown to two divisions: Shirah Migration, a Regulated Canadian Immigration firm that handles permanent relocation and admissions to Canada,, and Shirah Tutors, which prepares clients to be able to ace their IELTS and TEF through their tutoring classes.

The idea for the tutoring division was already in the works and was put into motion when other services were put on hold due to border closures and delayed application processes during the pandemic. Bukky explains that: ”I reached out to my network and was asked if I was offered support or funding for my business during the covid period. I had looked at the requirements, but I didn't meet any of the eligibility requirements, and a friend told me about AWE.” Bukky applied for AWE’s Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF) and received funding. The RRRF, which provides financial support to women-owned businesses to address the impacts of COVID-19, helped Shirah Consults continue with the tutoring division and allowed them to bring on key staff members and market their services.

Some of the highlights Bukky has experienced as an entrepreneur has been the ability to get people to trust and say they want to work with Shirah. “We get a lot of feedback; it’s rewarding that people enjoy our services and that I feel like I have a voice.” Bukky realized early on in her career that she didn’t like the idea of being at a 9-5 job for a long time because she gets bored easily and likes to change what she’s doing from time to time.

“The thing is I’ve always wanted more out of life, and that displayed itself through entrepreneurship. In the back of my mind I want to feel like I’m doing something important, something special that contributes to society, and entrepreneurship helps me to do that.”

Bukky believes that challenges as an entrepreneur keep changing. “You find a challenge and overcome it, then a new challenge presents itself.”. One of the first challenges she overcame was sales. “We think sales tactics are for sales executives, but as a business owner, your first skill is sales. You need to get people to buy into you as a person before they even buy into your services or products.”  With that, Bukky also realized that confidence is critical:

“There’s something about confidence. No matter how good your service is, if you cannot confidently defend yourself or your services, people will look down on you, and that was one challenge I had to overcome. People will ask ‘Why should I use you? Someone else offers it cheaper or quicker.’ It took me a while to wrap my head around how to present myself and my services. I didn't know what I didn't know at the time. I had never run a business before. That confidence comes from knowledge, experience, and results.”

Setting boundaries and processes was another lesson that Bukky had to learn and adapt to. Previously, Bukky was spending some of her time reviewing people’s resumes and applications and would not charge them fees. She quickly realized that boundaries and structure are  necessary for any business, and that’s when she had her ah-ha moment. She began to take steps to implement systems and processes.. “I used to be on WhatsApp, and people could contact me whenever they wanted, and I ended up giving out free advice. I then removed myself from the app, and now people can contact my team,  but to speak to me and receive advice, they have to book a consultation then proceed to retain our services.”

When asked what advice she would give to someone building their own business, Bukky noted that as the business owner, you can’t do everything. “Spending my time answering DM’s wasn't a good use of my time. There’s a term “Don't use your valuable time for penny tasks”, so I hired a social media manager! It’s not that social media management is beneath me, it’s just not a good use of my time as a business owner. I would rather have someone who is dedicated to that, do that.” Bukky is also a proponent of working with other professionals. “When I need a service, I would rather get another small business owner to do that service for me rather than figuring it out for myself. Why? I want to expand my network and get into their space. The moment you use another small business, that’s relationship building. It also opens you up and exposes you to what they know, because they value you coming to them for support.”

To learn more about the Regional Relief and Recovery Fund (RRRF) click here. There are limited funds available.

Supporting Indigenous Women Entrepreneurs

Photo by Chic Perspective Photography Inc.

Tracy Persson launched her business, Cozy Intentions in 2018, but she’s had that entrepreneurial spark for as long as she can remember.

“I think I’ve always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I started out babysitting and cleaning for people when I was very young. I liked the idea of creating my own hours and bringing in my own income.”

In 2019, Tracy participated in AWE’s NextStep to Success Business Planning Series in Grande Prairie and says what she learned in the program continues to help her build her leisurewear and sleepwear business.

“The facilitator has been incredible; her support does not end when the program is over. She has been really supportive with fine tuning my business plan and my business projections.”

The NextStep to Success program was designed specifically for Indigenous women and offers guidance and expertise on starting and building a business. The program includes an eight-week business planning series focused on determining readiness for entrepreneurship, marketing research, operations planning, and financial planning.

Tracy explains that it was important for her to have the proper support before she launched her business, and she encourages others to do the same. “Whether it’s working with AWE, or talking to your local bank, do your research and get everything aligned before you launch. Then go for it!”

For Laura Asham, the Founder behind Asham Creations, NextStep to Success gave her the guidance to move her business forward.

“I am so happy to have taken the NextStep program, and it really is the next step. And still to this date we are making our puppets and making people happy,”

Since completing the program in 2018, her award-winning educational puppets have been seen in libraries across Alberta, and in schools across the country, even travelling as far as the Montana Blackfeet Nation.

The program’s small group sessions are unique in their circle delivery format and include real-life examples, success stories, and practical training in a supportive learning environment. 

Councillor Tracy McHugh helped bring NextStep to Success to Siksika Nation and credits the program with helping women in her community understand the realities of entrepreneurship, and how to create an action plan for success.

“By the time they're done, the women have a solid footing. They ask themselves ‘what is this plan going to look like, how much money do I need, who do I want on my side?’ Alberta Women Entrepreneurs does a very good job at giving that information and providing those tools.”

Together with our partners, AWE continues to develop programs that will increase entrepreneurial opportunities for Indigenous women in Alberta.

Client Feature: Allie Knull

When asked Have you always wanted to be an entrepreneur? How did you get here?, Allie Knull, Founder and CEO of ResumeFree™, gave a response that we commonly hear. “I had been in the corporate world and was struggling with being fulfilled even though I had been in different industries and different organizations.”

The opportunity arose for Allie to take the leap when she was on her second maternity leave. She started her own management consulting firm focused on recruitment and HR. From there she saw what ResumeFree™ could become, so she stepped away from that company and let her second in command run it. “It was really beneficial to have someone who could step into my shoes, number one. And number two, have the ability to do that because I know that comes from a place of privilege because not all people have the opportunity to be supported while following their passion so I was very grateful.” 

When asked what her tips are for people starting their own business, Allie said the following: 

1. Make sure you are lethal at what you do and what you want to offer to people. 

2. Do as much research as possible. 

3. Reach out to different resources. 

Allie was sent what she calls the million dollar email. It was a list of all of these different resources that she could reach out to and discuss developing her product, how to take ideas from ideation to creation, and actually getting something on the market. There were so many different resources that led her to other different resources. All it takes is just that one first step to get started. 

What Is ResumeFree™? 

ResumeFree™ is a screening as a service tool that matches employers and candidates on over 200 data points, not one of which is a resume. “People feel that they get lost in the shuffle and that’s not the approach we’re looking to take.” 

For their purposes, resumes have no place in the screening process whatsoever. “When you think about the recruitment process, people are always trying to portray their best selves, and sometimes that can fall flat. Whereas if people do our assessment and portray their best selves, which we can actually determine, as we have a validity metric so if they try to fudge our system they get kicked out.” Allie explains that when it comes to hiring some things are non-negotiables such as a person’s name and their email address and contact information. The other information is collected in three separate buckets that collect different sets of data points. The first bucket collects their preferred location of work, their salary range, how many hours they want to work, and what type of contract they want. Contract types include: employee, intern, contractor themselves, co-op. The second bucket highlights what type of work environment they prefer to be in, how they like to solve problems, how they like to communicate, how they like to work in groups, what type of leadership style they have. And finally, the third bucket asks specific questions the employers requests that ResumeFree™ vet candidates for. 

All of these data points are analyzed and then candidates are put into a top 20 list which includes a percentage of how well the candidates matched the formulas. It was really important for Allie when they were creating this to make sure it wasn’t a pass or fail system. “Popular job sites are a pass or fail, if you don’t answer their questions correctly you’re either opted out or opted in. For us, we’re gathering as much data as possible and we’re saying “hey maybe not this time but next time.” We don’t bump people out of our process, they’re still in our database, they go into the next round of hiring as long as they match within a percentage point of what we’re looking for.”

When Did You Start? 

ResumeFree™ was incorporated in April of 2019 and beta testing started in August. Beta testing involves taking an idea and running it against people to see if they like it, if they don’t get it, or where you can improve but it’s not your final outcome.

“It grew from myself to an advisor, to bringing on a Chief Technology Officer, to getting quotes for developing it beyond what I call the halloween website. I call it the halloween website because it was the complete opposite of every other job board out there, they’re all blue and white and I went with orange and black. It started as me updating that website, putting up the jobs, grabbing the matches and manually going through so I put out a request to see who could develop it beyond that and that’s where AWE came in.” 

AWE

She approached AWE and told us what she had to offer and after a few conversations we got the ball rolling. “The loan from AWE helped us hire some of our key staff and helped get some of our key marketing initiatives out as well.” Allie knew about AWE because there were a lot of women in her world, having come from the management consulting firm, who worked with AWE or had previously been supported by AWE, so it’s always been on her radar to utilize the support. 

“The tech space is a completely different beast. Humbly I went and said ‘Please, will you support me’. I was also seeing the same people relaying the same message, they understand female entrepreneurs. They get it. From a female founder perspective, it can be difficult to go into a conversation and say ‘Hey, I’m here and I'm creating this fantastic thing’ because you still get asked ‘who else is on your ownership?’”

Going into a new space that she was wholly unfamiliar with, Allie considers herself a non-tech tech founder, she understands recruitment implicitly. But when it comes to developing the tools and the algorithms that they need to make the matching happen, that was beyond her scope. With a tech startup, the faster you get to revenue, the quicker you can grow and scale as a company. Time is actually one of those key indicators of success for a technology startup. “AWE really came to the table for that timeliness. We started chatting in January and I was funded by the end of March. It was really fast especially considering the amount of funding I was loaned. The process was meaningful as well, because it helped me to focus on how I expect the business to run, where do I expect the revenue to come in, and how many people on my team do I need right away. So it was very beneficial, it was HARD, but it was beneficial.” 

Support System & Self-Care

Aside from the support from AWE, Allie has also established a support system through both a mastermind group and a group of fellow female entrepreneurs that came together after repeatedly seeing each other at networking events. “It’s an amazing quartet of individuals that do amazing things in the city. It’s very nice to check in with them and see how they’re doing or what their thoughts are on certain things. It’s been especially amazing to have this group during this pandemic time because our businesses have all been impacted by that.” 

The past twelve months have been more difficult than most for everyone, especially entrepreneurs. When asked what some of her strategies are for keeping her mental wellbeing in check, Allie shared with us that for her it’s very important to have time and space to herself. “It’s a lot of go, go, go as an entrepreneur but you need to have those moments of pause. For some people that’s exercise, for me it’s short little meditations, smudging, intentional breathing and really setting the tone for the day.”  

To learn more about ResumeFree™ visit their website: goresumefree.com

Client Feature: Yana Read

Not all entrepreneurs start off knowing that owning their own business is something that is in the cards for them. That was the case for Yana Read, Founder and CEO, of Pupper Select, an Alberta-based raw dog food delivery company. She was in the corporate world in sales and marketing for 15 years before taking the leap to start her own business. The time had come to make a career change when her now eight-year-old daughter was getting to an age where she was noticing that her mother was barely ever home and spent a lot of time travelling for work. While soul searching, as everyone does, and trying to figure out what her passions are she kept coming back to her love of dogs. 

“I grew up in Afghanistan being terrified of dogs because they’re considered wild animals. I met my husband 20 years ago and he convinced me to get a chocolate lab, how can you not love a chocolate lab? As the years went on, I absolutely loved dogs.” 

When their lab, Kona, was about nine years old she began shedding a lot and very low energy. This was partially due to age. However, every spring, like clockwork, she would need antibiotics for eye infections, ear infections, and the list goes on. 

“After doing some research, I realized it’s their diet. I never knew that the stuff that you buy from the store is filled with fillers and carbs. Once I dug into my research I learned that long before dogs were domesticated they were in the wild and they are carnivores. They eat meat! They don’t need bread, carbs and fillers so that’s where her raw diet came in. I had her on this new diet for two years and really saw a difference. It’s a little bit more expensive but when you take into account how much I was spending on vet bills, her pain, the time it takes to go to the vet, you’re actually saving in the long run.” 

This is when the idea for Pupper Select was born. “We sell raw food and also dehydrated treats. They’re completely natural, there are zero fillers in our products. Everything is locally sourced and all manufacturing happens in Alberta. We have an extreme focus on Alberta and our goal for the next year is to focus on helping grow the local economy back up again.” 

One of the challenges Yana has faced is feeling confident in her ability to be an entrepreneur. Having been in sales and marketing for 15 years, this was an area she was very confident in. It was this confidence that came through when she first started but she quickly realized that owning a business is so much more than that. As an entrepreneur, you also need to understand things such as budgeting, taxes and things that Yana was not yet well-versed in. Her biggest challenge was figuring out legal documents, how contracts work and things like that. This is when she discovered the ATBX program and decided to apply. “It’s a three-month crash course in being an entrepreneur and covers everything from taxes to legal documents and everything you need to know.” 

Another resource Yana has leaned on heavily throughout her first year of business is a network of fellow female entrepreneurs that she has surrounded herself with. One of these women guided Yana to AWE. 

“Oh my gosh, AWE showed up right as I needed them! They also showed up huge financially for me. They believed in me. When an organization like that believes in you with that kind of investment it makes you feel like ‘Hey, I guess I can do this and other people think that too!’. They held my hand through all of it. Things like business planning and forecasting don’t come naturally to me so they guided me through that.” 

Outside of programs such as the ATBX and AWE, Yana leans heavily on her support network of women for support. Before COVID, this group of five women would get together at least once a month to discuss what was going on in their businesses and share advice. Yana believes that: “Surround yourself with amazing women, or men, whoever, who know what you’re going through, who know your challenges and can understand it, and can help you.” But more than anything else, Yana appreciates the support she receives from her husband. “He’s my biggest champion when I get down on myself and his confidence in me gives me my confidence.” 

Yana is a big believer in supporting the local economy. She loves the fact that she’s part of this machine, of this economy, that is building itself back up. Yana believes that what saved them over the past year is the fact that they were already set-up on an ecommerce platform. When things started shutting down they were not yet in retail locations, only online, so they didn't have to do anything to pivot. Last April was one of their best months because of the fact that no one was going out and they already had trucks and delivery systems in place. 

When it comes to keeping her mental wellbeing in check while owning a business, Yana has turned to running. She runs 4-5 times a week, and even conditioning herself to run during the winter months. “It changes how I think, it changes my mind. Some people do their best thinking in the shower, for me it’s while I run.” 

She’s also a big believer in asking for help. When she first started as an entrepreneur, she had no idea resources like AWE existed. Like many people do when they want to start a business, the first thing she did was go to a bank and ended up feeling defeated when she was declined. “Letting people know, especially women, that there are these resources available is really important. We get scared and question ourselves and financially it’s always an issue. These resources are there specifically for you.”

To learn more about Pupper Select’s products and where they deliver to, visit their website: www.pupperselect.com.

Sparking Growth

Jennifer Massig incorporated Magna Engineering in 2016 and at the time, she was running the show by herself. After what she describes as a “rough start,” she relaunched the business in 2018 and hired her first employee. In just two years, her business has expanded to include a team of ten people, the majority of whom are female.

Jennifer has been shaking up the engineering world by rethinking traditional ways of engineering. Though there have been some shifts, she says the industry looks much the same as it did 20 years ago. “Given that I'm in a highly male-dominated industry, it is really hard for me to find like-minded women.”

In 2019, AWE’s PeerSpark program came across her desk. As soon as she discovered the business accelerator program, which combines practical curriculum with the support and learning from other women entrepreneurs, she was eager to get started.

The program offers expert coaching in a safe and supportive environment where women can come together to focus on their business. For Jennifer, having a space of openness and an acceptance of vulnerability was important to creating a desirable learning environment.

“When you have a group of women together, you really understand each other because there's things that bind how we lead: trust, devotion and relationship.”

Dr. Linda Miller, President of EWI Works, enrolled in PeerSpark in 2015 and had a similar experience: “I always encourage women entrepreneurs to take some form of formal management training and business training. I was able to get that through the PeerSpark program...I absolutely believe that having a peer group of women is very, very critical in order for a female business to grow.”

Years after completing the program, many of the women continue to turn to each other for advice and support. “I’m still connected to those women today, and we support each other outside of the program.” says Lori Pecorilli, CEO of Latium Fleet Management, who participated in PeerSpark in 2015. “To me that was the most valuable part, the network and the people.” 

Jennifer describes PeerSpark as being a “perfect fit” for a company her size. She says it's much easier to find programs built for start-ups, but once you’ve become established and are looking to scale, it can be hard to find the right support and training.

PeerSpark allowed Jennifer to dedicate the necessary time to focus on growing her business, with access to guidance and resources. Her company “hugely benefited” last year from her experience: “I went into the program wanting to get as much as I could get out of it and it totally did not disappoint.”

Client Feature: Aye Myae

Finding the cultural delicacies of her home country, Myanmar, was proving difficult to Aye Myae who had moved to Canada to pursue her studies. Not only could she not find these foods readily available in local supermarkets, but she also realized not many people know much about her country or its cuisine.

She had an idea to promote her cultures' national foods to the rest of the world so she created Moe Myanmar Foods. “This was the primary idea, introducing our culture to the world. What our foods are, how we eat them, when we eat them…” says Aye.

Previously, Aye was depending on friends and family back home to send over boxes of a traditional fish soup known as Moh Hin Gar to her. This is a traditional fish soup that the people of Myanmar eat every day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s also very common at special events and is widely available throughout the cities, so much so that Aye didn’t know how to cook it at home. By the time it arrived from Myanmar she didn't trust the quality of the product and sometimes it had already expired.

This is what inspired Aye to start creating Moh Hin Gar on her own. She first started by cooking it herself for her family and then gradually started offering it to others. According to Aye, “It takes about 2-3 hours to achieve the perfect taste and smells.”

Whenever they were hosting parties or events at home, they would cook Moh Hin Gar for their friends and family. Over time, friends started asking if she could create a paste so that they could cook and eat it anytime they wanted. This reaffirmed her observations that there was a lack of Myanmar food in the market and that it was very difficult to find the freshness and quality of the foods for those who want to feel at home while away from home. It would also appeal to those who want to explore Asian flavours or have travelled and spent time searching for it in North America.

The leap of becoming an entrepreneur and bringing traditional Myanmar foods to Canada was a big one for Aye. Previously she worked for the government back home as well as here, and was uncertain how to move forward with her goals. She knew she was destined to do more, and wanted to spend some time figuring herself out. Then she went to AWE and found a session: “Are you ready for entrepreneurship?”

“I didn’t know myself to be an entrepreneur, but since a young age I’ve been interested in businesses. Always interested in how they work behind the scenes, how they’re building the business, how the financials work, how they get to this stage.” Aye’s background in agriculture which led to her becoming an agricultural economist has been a huge help on her journey, as a result she is very familiar with the agri-food systems. She became more and more interested in how businesses ran and studied consumer behaviour here, where she gained more insight from both the industry side and the government side into the regulations and policies such as food safety and traceability. Aye was now specialized in consumer behaviour and food safety protocols, but had no clue how these businesses operated.

“My desire to showcase our foods to the western world combined with my knowledge of these areas is what ultimately started the business.” Aye admits that it was a big jump and that entrepreneurship is completely different from academia, which she was most familiar with. Entrepreneurship includes everything and she loves it. “Making mistakes and then figuring out how to stop some of them quickly, how to handle them and how to move them around. You have to think on your own feet and take advantage of all resources available to you.”

One of the most significant resources Aye has taken advantage of is AWE. She saw her products as a need in the market and was able to start in her basement. Aye quickly had to evolve her business plan and received lots of help and support from AWE on how to write the business plan. “It’s very different than writing a thesis!” Writing the business plan brought to light where she wanted to go and grow with her business.

“They provided me with my first loan to start my business. This allowed me to set up my commercial kitchen in my basement.”

She is also in the midst of developing a new product in the Food Processing Development Centre in Leduc, AB. The trial run began in October for the ready-eat Chicken Coconut Noodles (well-known in Burmese as Ohn no khao swe). Without AWE’s help and the help of the Food Processing Development Centre to overcome the difficulties of the regulations, Aye says she wouldn’t be able to get her products into the market. Aye has also received a grant from CAP, the Canada Agriculture Partnership. This is a product to market grant that will help her get more products into the market.

“Before receiving support from AWE I was using personal lines of credit as well as financial support from friends and family.”

Aye says that one of the most important things she has learned as an entrepreneur is to utilize all of the resources available to you.

“AWE has an awesome advising program. When I reach out they share their experiences with me which makes me feel much better and less alone. I can schedule time with advisors when I need it. There’s so much support! Both emotionally and with everything along the way.”

In terms of emotional and mental support, her husband is her greatest supporter. There are a lot of ups and downs in the life of an entrepreneur, and he is able to help Aye navigate the challenging times. She is thankful that her husband is able to support their family with his full-time job, and doesn’t hesitate to put him to work helping her once he gets home.

Aye’s mission is to put her country and their delicacies on the global radar, and encourage the people of Myanmar to take the leap into entrepreneurship as well.

“I'm not doing this only as a business but as a project. I would like to showcase our foods to the Western World and European countries and have them associate them with our country, similar to how Kimchi is to Korea and Sushi is to Japan. I’d like to promote this, so by raising the food safety bar and introducing our food to other cultures it’s helpful for those who are hoping to become entrepreneurs in this space and allows those who are already in the business back home to raise their quality standards and be able to reach global consumers.”

Aye would love for everyone to try their products. If you’re someone who has been to Myanmar and tried their delicacies, she would also encourage you to provide feedback on what foods you’d like to see brought over here. “We’re very familiar with our foods so maybe there are some we haven't thought about bringing over.”

Their products are available on amazon.ca and in local shops in Alberta. To learn more about Aye and Moe Myanmar Foods visit their website.