Read on for uplifting stories from the worlds of tech, retail, finance, hospitality and beyond
Looking for some major business inspo this International Women’s Day? You’ve come to the right place. Between our Women of the Year, our 30 Under 30 winners, the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year champs and other recent coverage, we’ve got plenty of stories of power, resilience, philanthropy and innovation from female leaders in B.C.
Hong Photography
Nisha Grewal
Founder, Ambari Beauty
Grewal has grown her Kardashian-approved skincare brand into a multimillion-dollar business. READ MORE=>
AlessiaAdora
Mirabela and Alessia Muresan
Co-founders, AlessiaAdora
During the pandemic, this mother-and-daughter duo spent a lot of time cooking together, using recipes from blogs and Youtube. They designed a tablet stand that doubles as kitchen storage. READ MORE=>
My Bambiri
Meeru Dhalwala
Founder, My Bambiri
Vancouver restaurateur Dhalwala (right) launched a brand of pay-what-you-can baby food to benefit local charities. READ MORE=>
Loba
Kate Bouchard
Founder, Loba
With her smart and stylish pill boxes, Bouchard is working to destigmatize taking meds. READ MORE=>
Sweetgrass Soap
Francesca Amine
Founder, Sweetgrass Soap
Soap-making isn’t always pretty, but Amine ensures that ugly bars don’t go to waste. READ MORE=>
Kasondra Cohen-Herrendorf
Kasondra Cohen-Herrendorf
CEO, Herrendorf Family Foundation; founder and CEO, Face of Today Foundation
This boss lady focuses her philanthropic efforts on providing mental-health resources and educational opportunities for youth in Canada and abroad. READ MORE=>
Best Buy CanadaCarol Graziani
Director of diversity and inclusion, Best Buy Canada
During her 15 years with retailer Best Buy, Graziani has always advocated for diversity and inclusion through education and other efforts, with a focus on the LGBTQ+ community. READ MORE=>
Search and Rescue Marketing
Nathalie Rees
CEO, Go Goat Sports; vice-president, North Beach Agency
A former competitive gymnast and style expert, PR-pro-turned-CEO Rees (second from left) now leads a sports-driven media startup. READ MORE=>
Vancouver is Awesome
Tamara Furgason
Co-founder, Everlasting Candle Co.
Furgason (left), who’s a doctor by day, also makes clean steel candles that are sold in more than 200 stores across North America. READ MORE=>
Tanya Goehring
Anna Sainsbury
Co-founder, GeoComply
Sainsbury proves that an unconventional career path can be a strength: she started in design and went on to launch a leading provider of geolocation services. READ MORE=>
Vancouver Airport Authority
Tamara Vrooman
President and CEO, Vancouver Airport Authority
The YVR head, who has piloted the airport through COVID, encourages aspiring leaders to focus on their soft skills. READ MORE=>
Pragilis Solutions
Mumtaz Chaudhary
Co-founder, Pragilis Solutions
Chaudhary practises what she preaches when it comes to planning change. READ MORE=>
Futurpreneur Canada
Kaleena Morrison
Co-founder, United & Free Skincare
During the pandemic, Morrison (left) took her skincare company through a full-scale rebranding, with an emphasis on inclusion and sustainability. READ MORE=>
Pocketed
Brianna Blaney
Co-founder, Pocketed; founder, Envol Strategies
Blaney (fifth from right), who has disrupted the recruitment industry, also helps smaller businesses to raise grant funding. READ MORE=>
Maturn
Sonja Baikogli Fogli and Jen Murtagh
Co-founders, Maturn
These two execs know what needs to change with maternity leave. READ MORE=>
Reusables
Anastasia Kiku
Co-founder, Reusables
In the wake of COVID, Kiku has been trying contain the problem of takeout waste. READ MORE=>
Tanya Goehring
Rebecca Bligh
Councillor, City of Vancouver
For Bligh, paddleboarding is exactly the break she needs from navigating the sometimes choppy waters of civic politics. READ MORE=>
Food Stash Foundation
Carla Pellegrini
Executive director, Food Stash Foundation
What does “waste not, want not” really mean? Pellegrini shows us with a zero-waste, pay-what-you-feel grocer in Olympic Village. READ MORE=>
Copperleaf Technologies
Judi Hess
CEO, Copperleaf Technologies
Hess, who took offer as Copperleaf CEO in 2009, built the decision analytics software firm into a global player. READ MORE=>
Jane Software
Alison Taylor
Co-founder and co-CEO, Jane Software
Taylor didn’t know what she wanted to be when she grew up, but her booking app has gone from a side hustle to a booming international business with 50,000 clients. READ MORE=>
Kombucha Brewers International
Kara Sam
Founder, Bucha Brew Kombucha
This brewer is going hard with her kombucha brand. READ MORE=>
Girl Guides of Canada
Diamond Isinger
Provincial commissioner, B.C. Council, Girl Guides of Canada
Isinger’s decidedly non-linear career has taken her everywhere from the highest office in the land to industries as diverse as forestry and law. READ MORE=>
Paige Cey
Paige Cey
Founder, Pick Her Brain podcast
Cey launched her internationally popular podcast, which interviews women in business, during her commerce studies at UVic. READ MORE=>
Wildeye BrewingSamantha Lindeman
Owner, Wildeye Brewing
Good beer and innovative thinking have helped Lindeman thrive in the beer business, where female brewers are rare. READ MORE=>
Supercrush
Courtney Peters
Co-founder and CEO, Supercrush
A former bank manager and marketing pro, Peters started her business by making hair scrunchies for friends and family. Soon everybody wanted one. READ MORE=>
Meg O'Hara Creative
Meg O’Hara
Founder and CEO, Meg O’Hara Creative
O’Hara tapped into a niche market when she started painting for the ski industry. Her work now appears at mountain resorts throughout North America, and she’s built a following with affluent collectors. READ MORE=>
Kezia Nathe
Alex Miller
Owner, Pelvic Floor Strong
U.S. customers have driven strong sales of Miller’s exercise program, which the former fitness instructor designed for women aged 40-plus. READ MORE=>
Kathleen Fisher Photography
Acacia Pangilinan
Executive director, Kamloops Chamber of Commerce
Pangilinan, who has served the community from a young age, is helping chambers of commerce here and across the country to evolve. READ MORE=>
Natalie Sky Photography. Claire McLoughlin (left) and Katie Forsyth.
Katie Forsyth and Claire McLoughlin
Co-founders and co-owners, Friendly Composting
With their passion for reducing waste from home and businesses, these Kamloops-based entrepreneurs became the friendly neighbourhood composters. READ MORE=>
Sacred Foods
Anamika Gioia
Founder, Sacred Foods
Gioia’s business, which specializes in healthy snacks, started with the seed of an idea. READ MORE=>
Vitae Apparel
Selene Dior
Founder and CEO, Vitae Apparel
For Dior, community support has been a key factor in the success of her athletic wear company. READ MORE =>
Truly Lifestyle Brand
Alexandria MacFarlane
Founder and CEO, Truly Lifestyle Brand
By harnessing her entrepreneurial spirit, MacFarlane created a fast-growing line of all-natural beauty products. READ MORE =>
Connor, Clark & Lunn Private Capital
Lauren Minogue
Vice-president, Connor, Clark & Lunn Private Capital
Women in the male-dominated wealth advisory industry take a different approach that serves their clients well, Minogue argues. READ MORE=>
Justin Chan. Mikhaela Torio (left), Bahar Moussavi and Felicia Chan
Mikhaela Torio, Bahar Moussavi and Felicia Chan
Co-founders, the C.O.D.E. Initiative
This power trio made it their mission to create tech employment opportunities for neurodiverse youth. READ MORE=>
Shobhit Sahu
Emily Davies
Partner, Linde Equity
Davies leads investment firm Linde’s flagship Equity Fund, whose assets she tripled in three years, to almost $100 million. READ MORE=>