She Built That | Get Inspired! | Weekly Interviews With Female Founders Building Their Empires On Their Own Terms!

It’s never too late to start. [...] I am a late bloomer when it comes to entrepreneurship. ~ Bonnie Foley-Wong on She Built That In 2012, Bonnie Foley-Wong had a hunch that has proven to be paying off. Investing in female founded companies is smart business. As someone who has always been very attentive to her intuition, Bonnie founded Pique Ventures and spent several years building an investment methodology that integrated analysis, emotion, body and intuition into investment decisions. It’s called Integrated Investing; Impact Investing with head, heart, body, and soul. This meant challenging the status quo and the traditional way of investing, which was rather exclusive towards women, and setting up a new type of investment standard that not only provided remarkable returns but felt good as well. Presently at Pique Fund, the fund at Pique Ventures, there are 21 investors, 19 of whom are women, representing 80% of the capital. In today’s interview you’ll learn: The three things that allowed her to transitio

It’s better to be memorable than perfect! ~ Andrea Scott on She Built That Ever since she was a young girl Andrea Scott has always been very entrepreneurial. Whether it be selling lemonade or selling her mother’s jewelry, which her mom ended up having to go and get back from her neighbors, Andrea has always considered herself to be relatively resourceful and entrepreneurial.  It was that sense of resourcefulness that allowed Andrea and her husband Chris to launch their first Skoah spa back in 2001. Since then, Skoah has grown to a total of 17 locations spanning Vancouver, Calgary, Boston and Seattle, 14 of which Andrea and Chris own themselves. And while some might think that owning your own facial business means that Andrea is regularly indulging in facials, think again. While Andrea enjoys a much-deserved Skoah facial from time to time, spending time outdoors with her four kids and two dogs is where she is happiest. In today's’ interview you’ll learn:  Why Andrea and her husband decided to go into the spa

You've got to put your time in, you've go to work hard and you've got to work for other people before you work for yourself ~ Heather Odendaal on She Built That. Like many women I have interviewed for She Built That, Heather Odendaal has a hard time “slowing down.” She’s a new mom to seven-month-old son Luke; the founder and CEO of Bluebird Strategies, an event production company she founded in 2010; and the co-founder of the WNORTH Conference, an annual gathering of global women on the rise that she launched with her husband in 2015. It’s easy to see why slowing down for Heather really isn’t an option. Since the inaugural WNORTH Conference, it has sold out both years, gained national media attention and attracted speakers from around the globe. Heather founded the WNORTH Conference when she couldn’t find a resource that brought together women aspiring to senior leadership roles and female entrepreneurs who wanted to grow their business all under one roof. So in true entrepreneurial fashion, she created her o

Raising money is like being punched in the face over and over again. You need to have a thick skin ~Manica Gautam on She Built That It is often said that business is all about relationships, and in Manica Gautam’s case, that couldn’t be more true. Her business, Campfire Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in retail companies leveraging technology to innovate, is the direct result of a friendship she developed with her current co-partner and former lululemon athletica Director of Business Development, Brooke Harley, after meeting during a job interview at the lululemon headquarters back in 2011. While Manica didn’t take the job, the two remained friends. Manica continued to build her career in the financial industry and was working as the Funds Group Director at Onex, one of the top private equity firms in the world. Over the course of the next couple years, a few girls trips and a break-up here and there, the two friends quickly realized that they shared many of the same business goals. In January 20

It’s going to be the creative people leading the next generation because you can’t automate creativity ~ Sarah Bancroft of She Built That. Sarah Bancroft has spent most of her career forecasting trends. As a buyer for international fashion brand Aritzia, and the Western editor for national publication FASHION Magazine, Sarah always had a knack for knowing what’s hot, making her the go-to resource for both family and friends visiting Vancouver. Sarah’s passion for being in the know on all things fashion, food, and lifestyle, ended up being the catalyst for Vitamin Daily, the online lifestyle magazine that Sarah co-founded and launched in 2004. In 2013, Vitamin Daily was acquired by Glacier Media Group, and this spring, Sarah stepped down as editor-in-chief at Vitamin Daily to pursue new adventures with her family and husband abroad. In today’s interview, you’ll learn: Why Sarah believes creativity will be the secret weapon to success in the future Why she believes you have to pick your partner before you pick

Danielle Lovell knows first hand the challenges of moving for your job. As a child, her and her family moved approximately every 3 years as a result of her father’s career as a geologist, which had Danielle and her siblings attend 9 different schools before graduating High School. She attended Yale University where she graduated with Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, before moving to Vancouver where she worked for B.C. founded company SPUD.  After two years at SPUD, she was let go, and enrolled in a self-employment course offered by the YMCA. It was in that course that she founded Lovell Relocation Solutions, a service that would help manage all aspects of an employees move from finding them a house to assisting with their children’s school enrollment, which she had for a year before Lululemon scooped her up as one of their own. After almost 3 years at Lululemon, she began to get the entrepreneurial itch and left to help her partner John scale his own video game business. However, her passion for helping compa

"I don’t think anyone knows that their idea is going to be a billion-dollar idea. That success comes with execution, and knowing the right points where you have to pivot, push harder and admit failure." Mona Akhavi on She Built That Mona Akhavi is not your typical 35 year old. An engineer by trade, she has lived and worked all over the world in places like Paris, New York and Toronto working for major organizations such as the Olympics, Walmart, Macy’s and CBC to name a few.  While she had always felt very satisfied with her career and where it had taken her, her father, an entrepreneur and businessman, had always encouraged her to explore the possibility of entrepreneurship. After years in the media buying space and the era of bloggers and social media influencers on the rise, Mona recognized that connecting brands with the right bloggers made sense, but the process was tedious and there was no way for brands to measure their return on investment. So Mona put her innate engineering skills to work and set out

"Burnout comes quick so it is important to be able to say I'm done, take time for yourself and surround yourself with good people" Sarah Goodman on She Built That From running her own personal training and nutrition business, to owning her own music management company, Sarah Goodman always knew she was going to be the boss of her own company. As she sees it, she had no choice: she was never really big on following other people’s rules. When her dad, a medical doctor, reached out for  feedback on a wellness product he had developed Sarah offered to help him refine the product before bringing it to market. She knew how hard her dad had worked on it, and she wanted it to sell. What started off as a volunteer gig quickly turned into a 24/7 venture, where Sarah was tasked with all outward facing facets of the business: from branding, marketing, product design, businesses development and customer service, Sarah was running it all. That was just under four years ago! Since then Sarah has been the CEO of Vital Sines,

"Playing poker is like telling a storing blinded. You are trying to convince your opponents that the story you are telling is true by the cards you play" Anne Ngo on She Built That. Annee Ngo is a straight-up hustler. She dropped out of law school to co-found her first company, Good Health Nutrition (GHN), at the age of 23. She had noticed an opportunity in the market for novice fitness supplement users, like herself, interested in learning more about supplements and how they worked. In three years, they have scaled their company to be in 11 locations in the Lower Mainland and have amassed a devout following of predominantly young fit-conscious males. While running GHN, Annee was introduced to the world of professional poker (a world I know absolutely NOTHING about) and has become quite well-known in the international poker scene. She has played across Canada and the US and has won up to $65K in one sitting. Earlier this year, Annee stepped away from GHN to pursue an opportunity with Protohack: a one-day hack

"Say Yes more than you say No" Mallorie Brodie on She Built That. Mallorie Brodie and Lauren Lake, both 24, are the co-founders of Bridgit, a mobile and web communication platform for construction teams. Since its launch in March 2014, Bridgit has managed the communication of over a billion dollars in construction projects, recently secured 1.7 million in funding and have already begun expansion into the states. Not surprisingly, they took home the top prize at the first ever Google Demo Day: Women’s Edition this past winter and were also the winners of former Dragon’s Den Bruce Croxon’s new show The Disruptors. In today's interview you'll learn: How they started their business without having an actual product in mind How hearing the stories of other entrepreneurs helped them have the confidence to pursue their business idea How they overcame the challenges of founding a tech company despite either of them having a technical background Why they would encourage all entrepreneurs not to wait for a BIG idea to

"Launch and learn and move it in the diretion you want to go!" Tori Holmes on She Built That Last week was part one of my two-part interview with Founder of Nectar Juicery Tori Holmes where she talked about her move to Bangladesh at 18, selling paintings door to door in Australia and rowing across the Atlantic ocean at 21. As someone that is clearly no stranger to risk, it was just a matter of time before Tori took the helm of her career and launched her own business. In today’s interview you’ll learn: - Why she believes juice is the gateway drug to healthy living - Why she encourages people to think about their health like a piggy bank - Her personal morning ritual that helps with hormone balance, stress reduction and great orgasms - And why she considers herself a “Challenge Hunter” To hear from more rad women running and building cool companies, head on over to shebuiltthat.com

"I believe everyone get’s the opportunities you ask for, butthey might not always show up in the way you expect " Tori Holmeson She Built ThatTori Holmes is one of those people you meet and secretsinstantly wish you could be part of her inner circle.  At31,she exudes ultra coolness - a combination of wisdom from havingexperienced and accomplished feats many people would thingunfathomable and a calmness and certainty about the things she hasdone and more importantly, where she is going.Having owned the title of being the youngest female to rowacross the Atlantic Ocean for the past 10 years, Tori hasexperienced first hand the power of the mind. As she states in thisinterview, “Ninety percent mental is anything you do!”. This poweris what also enabled her to overcome an early breast cancerdiagnosis as well as start and scale her own juice company,Nectar Juicery.In today’s interview you’ll learn:Why she moved to Bangladesh after High School instead of goingto UniversityHer numerous entrepreneurial endeavours at 1

When women are passionate about something, we can make an empire! - Jennifer Halinda on She Built That Today I sit down with Jennifer Halinda, Executive Director of the Vancouver chapter of international non-profit Dress For Success.  While Jennifer loved volunteering at Dress For Success and had been doing it for numerous years, she never actually thought she could get paid to run the organization. However, through a series of bittersweet events and what Jennifer calls one of the hardest years of her life, that is exactly what happened. Download the episode to learn: How feedback from a life coach helped Jennifer land her dream job Why she thinks men and women think differently when it comes to pursuing their passions Why she believes it is never too late to change your path Her secret to great skin in your 40’s Tips on how to negotiate your salary To hear from more rad women building businesses and crushing it, head on over to www.shebuiltthat.com   Follow us on Instagram and Twitter @SheBuiltThat  

Traci Costa is not your ‘average’ CEO. As the Director of Play and founder of Peekaboo Beans, Traci has built a successful business and lifestyle brand for children that focuses on creating clothing for a playful life.  After struggling for years with infertility, Traci finally gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. Blessed with the opportunity to be a mom, she became acutely aware of how inconducive her daughters clothing was to empowering her with the confidence to dress herself and enjoy a lifestyle of play. Determined to change this, Traci set out to find an apparel product for children that empowered them with healthy growth and development, and when she was unable to find what she was looking for, she decided to create it herself. Ten years later, Peekaboo Beans has grown into a national success with almost a 1000 stylists across the country, over 2 million in commission and a focus on going international. Listen to my interview with Traci to learn more about her entrepreneurial journey and her mission t

"As soon as you have the idea and you know you are going to do it, START!" Jia Wertz on She Built That. Today on the podcast I sit down with Founder and CEO of Studio 15, Jia Wertz. Having been exposed to the creativity of sewing and design as a child, Jia knew from an early age fashion was her calling. At 18, she was exposed to the business side of the industry, and knew that one day she too wanted to own her own fashion store. In 2013, Jia made that dream a reality with the launch of Studio 15, and while she acknowledges that this journey has its fair share of ups and downs, she does her best to celebrate the small wins and is grateful every day for the creative freedom, the phenomenal team she has cultivated and the ability to build a fashion business that is socially sound. In today’s interview, Jia shares the three things that finally made her realize it was time for her to take the entrepreneurial leap, the two reasons she encourages everyone with a business idea to start their business today (and not w

"To build something great the will last forever, you really have to believe in what you are saying and doing!" Lauren Foundos on She Built That. I have had the opportunity to meet several amazing people in my life, however very few maintain the drive, focus and discipline of two-time all-American athlete, investment banker and founder and CEO of FORTË, Lauren Foundos. At 31, she has accomplished more than most people do in a lifetime. As the founder of FORTË, a company that is revolutionizing the boutique fitness industry by streaming live and on demand fitness classes, think Netflix for boutique fitness classes, you will not only be able to have the option to work out at any boutique fitness gym via your smartphone, your wearables will track your endurance, letting you know where you rank in comparison to the rest of the people in the class, perfect for competitive individuals like me:) and not surprisingly, Lauren. While FORTË is still in beta and is less than a year old, Lauren has already attracted the at

"You cannot put your destiny in someone else’s hands. People will work on something when it fulfils them." Mita Carriman on She Built That. Today on the show, I sit down with attorney, entrepreneur and CEO and co-founder of the solo adventure travel app, Adventurely, Mita Carriman. Like many start-ups, Mita founded Adventurely out of necessity however, this evolution is a little more unique than most. Mita actually came up with the concept of Adventurely as a result of a break-up which I will let her explain in more detail on the show. Seriously, I wish my break-ups were as worthwhile as this. Usually, all I leave breakups with is a broken heart, uncertainty about my direction in life and a healthy extra 15 lbs. Just Joking! In today’s interview, Mita shares how she overcame the devastation of losing her first co-founder and how being truly honest about what she needed in that role by writing it down helped her to attract her second and current co-founder,  how the solo travel industry is growing at an expone

"She who controls the money has a lot of power!" Beth Polish on She Built That. Today on the show I sit down with Serial Entrepreneur, Visionary, Leader, Producer and Harvard Business school alum Beth Polish. Born and raised in New York, Beth is a serial entrepreneur who started her first tech company with her brother at the age of 20. From there, Beth went onto hold COO and CFO positions at media companies such as Rabbit Ears Productions, iVillage, Inc., and investment banking firm Goldman Sachs Ventures before launching her own company The Critical Junctures Group in 2001, which eventually led to a role as SVP at Hearst Corporate Innovation in 2008. Throughout her career, Beth acknowledges she feels very lucky to have had some valuable mentors along the way, and as a result is passionate about helping women understand money and business models, because, as she states in our interview, if you have big dreams, you have to be conversant in money. In today’s episode, Beth shares why a solid understanding of mon

"If your dreams aren’t big enough to scare you, they aren’t big enough" Emily Chambers on She Built That. With music readily accessible for free these days, artists and musicians are having to get more and more creative about how they make MONEY doing what they love (myself included). Today’s guest is artist and musician Emily Chambers. If you know anything about being an artist and building a brand, the hustle is very similar to that of building a business. I have known Emily for a couple years and had the opportunity to sit down with her last summer while she shared with me her vision for where she wanted to be in 2016.  Three months into 2016, and I am excited to share that Emily’s plans of quitting her day job at an insurance company, buying a van and committing to music full-time have actually happened and I couldn’t be prouder of her.  So I invited her on the show, to learn more about her musical journey, a journey that started at the tender age of 3, and her plans for making money doing what she loves

"My dad always taught my to treat the janitor and the CEO exactly the same" Jennifer Li on She Built That.   Today I am very excited to be sitting down with an incredible young woman, the CEO and Co-founder of Musefind, Jennifer Li. Jennifer is a serial entrepreneur and a woman I would not want to mess with, both in the boardroom or in a push-up competition for that matter (she used to do 100 sit-ups and push-ups each day plus a run).  The only child of two immigrant parents, Jennifer watched as her parents immigrated from China with nothing, and were able to build two very successful careers for themselves with nothing but determination and hard work.  After enrolling in the army at 17, she started several businesses over the course of her 28 years and is very familiar with the benefits of discipline, self-confidence and the importance of having trustworthy reliable partners when it comes to launching a business (and going into combat). In today’s interview, Jennifer shares how her tenure in the army helped