Erin Maynes – Founder, Shopmakers
Erin Maynes is a passionate brand strategist, marketer and entrepreneur. She is the founder of experiential retail agency Shopmakers, as well as the online gifting business foodiepages.ca. A graduate of the Queen’s School of Business, Erin spent many years leading national strategy and marketing initiatives for Canada’s largest restaurant group prior to founding foodiepages in 2013. Erin founded Toronto-based experiential retail agency Shopmakers in 2018, in partnership with BRIKA, where she specializes in recognizing opportunities for strategic retail development and pop-up programming. She has produced over 50 pop-up retail experiences across Canada. Clients include Cadillac Fairview, Oxford Properties, First Capital Realty, QuadReal, Riocan, Toronto Life, blogTO, Elte and more. She is an advisor and champion for emerging food and beverage entrepreneurs and sits on the board of Toronto’s Food Business Incubator. She lives in Leslieville with her husband and two daughters.
“We all know the troubling stats about the number of venture-backed women-owned startups, and female founders are only facing more hurdles amid the pandemic. However, in the last 24 months, we’ve also seen a positive change. When women work together, the opportunities are endless. Kindness, tolerance, understanding, learning from each other – women are doing it and making practical steps towards the world being a better place.”
