“Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world.” – Hillary Clinton
Even in the 21st century, women entrepreneurs’ potential and the impact their contribution can make are never explored nor acknowledged. Their journey of building successful businesses is inspirational and are stories that must be celebrated. Their definition of success is multifaceted. Along with their monetary profit, they contribute to the economic, social, ecological and health benefits of the society around them. Here are three Canadian women entrepreneurs who are redefining success.
Jillian Mariani
Jillian Mariani has been a practitioner of yoga for two decades. Yoga became a part of her routine when she started her career in natural health products in Canada, and the physical and emotional benefits inspired her. She never gave up yoga, even when balancing an incredible sales, marketing, and innovation career with some of Canada’s best natural health brands and the responsibilities of caring for her family.
When she left her corporate role as Vice President of Marketing at Jamieson Wellness in 2017, she knew she needed to figure out a new path. So she decided to explore her interest in learning the Yoga Teacher Training course, not necessarily to teach but to deepen her practice.
The coursework was physically demanding. She soon realized the combination of supplements and nutrients she took to maintain her health and support her needs before and after yoga was rare knowledge. In addition, many active yoga practitioners and teachers follow a plant-based lifestyle, making their protein needs more challenging.
As a Diploma holder in Nutritional Management from George Brown, Jillian decided to combine her love for yoga with her passion and knowledge of natural health. She founded Niyama Wellness which supports self-care from head to toe, supporting an active lifestyle and nourishing your overall well-being. All Niyama wellness products are vegan, non-GMO and made in Canada. Free from gluten, soy and sugar with no artificial colours, flavours, sweeteners or preservatives.
Dionne Laslo-Baker
Dr. Dionne’s children were busy in the kitchen one day, one making tea and the other making popsicles. There was a disagreement on who their mother should help when the eldest exclaimed, “Mommy, let’s make testicles!”
As a mother and a Ph.D. medical scientist, Dionne Laslo-Baker was fascinated by this simple idea. She realized there weren’t many nutritious organic snacks without chemicals, toxins, or preservatives in the market. She had a lighting moment and realized that the years she had spent researching the impacts of chemicals and toxins on child development led to the founding of a company dedicated to providing every family with healthy, clean-label, organic sweets to enjoy together.
Through DeeBee’s Organics, Dr. Dionne is on a mission to reimagine classic treats using natural ingredients you can pronounce and trust. Their yummy SuperFruit Freezies make the world a little brighter by creating moments of everyday delight with the goodness of real fruit. They are health-conscious parents who believe in feeding families well and using their small business as a force for good.
Dionne founded DeeBee’s Organics to feed families, do business differently, and create a legacy that will impact future generations. They ensure organic, delicious products with no artificial anything. Today, DeeBee’s Organics transforms “treats” by making versions with clean, real food ingredients you’ll feel great about snacking on.
Miryam Lazarte
Miryam is a pioneer in connecting the Canadian and Latin American innovation markets. She is the co-founder and CEO of LatAm Startups and Vice President of Business Development at Go South! Consulting Inc. With over twenty years of business development experience, she focuses on Latin American markets and is passionate about connecting the Canadian and Latin American startup ecosystems.
Miryam founded LatAm Startups, a Toronto-based accelerator that brings startups from Latin America to Canada and scales them globally. Since her childhood in Colombia, Miryam has been a serial entrepreneur passionate about building stronger economic ties between Canada and Latin America and tapping the untapped market of 800 million consumers.
She is a member of the Program Advisory Committee for Business Administration, Entrepreneurship, and Small Business at Seneca College. In addition, she works closely with Canadian and Latin American angel investors to pursue cross-border investment opportunities.
LatAm startups in one designated incubator under the Canadian startup visa program. Based in Toronto, they offer programs to help international startups scale. Their non-profit accelerator is supported by the City of Toronto and the federal government through FedDev Ontario. LatAm Startups is also a member of the National Angel Capital Organization in Canada.
Women entrepreneurs’ success stories empower fellow aspiring entrepreneurs who dream of building a business of their own and wish to explore the possibilities of entrepreneurship. Women must not shy away from the opportunities that await them and take risks to grab what is rightfully theirs. Only through such determined decisions will they progress and contribute to the betterment of the economy.
Small business offers a lot of opportunities for women. To read more about these possibilities, subscribe to CanadianSME Small Business Magazine https://lnkd.in/dbqmSKN. For the latest updates, visit our Twitter page at @canadian_sme.
