Jessica Natale Woollard

Telus Ocean is a shark’s buffet for heritage defenders in Victoria. The building’s modern glass-and-metal exterior and tiered patio spaces are facing criticism for eschewing the traditional Victorian architecture of the downtown core. But development partner Aryze says the design is deliberately...

Life Story: Other than making dresses for school fashion shows, Jess Sternberg had no technical sewing or design skills before founding Free Label Clothing, a made-in-Canada, ethical apparel brand. With a BA in English literature from McGill University, Sternberg taught in...

Life Story: As captain of the UBC women’s soccer team, Madison Guy led the Thunderbirds to the 2015 national championship while laying the foundation for her business. She’d won a scholarship to play for the T-Birds, a prize that covered...

Life Story: Saskatoon-born Kaylee Astle spent her formative years being homeschooled in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Her entrepreneurial parents–dad was a financial planner, mom an interior designer–retired early and moved Astle and her sister to the Baja Peninsula. An internship...

Life Story: Entrepreneurship is ingrained in Erin Josephy’s life story. Her grandparents immigrated to Canada from Europe–grandpa from Germany, grandma from Holland– and started a small family farm in Quesnel. With her parents’ help, the business grew into a plant...

Life Story: While doing a master’s degree in biomedical engineering at UBC, Lawrence Buchan took a class called Engineers in Scrubs, which connects engineers with health-care providers to develop technologies to transform the medical field. Orthopedic surgeons at Vancouver General...

Life Story: Having lived in seven countries on four continents, Arushi Raina, born in India and raised mostly in South Africa, attributes her fearlessness to being an outsider. She earned a BA in economics and English literature at Vassar College in...

President and CEO, Astra Smart Systems and i4C Innovation Pilar Portela has founded nine companies, three of which have been acquired. Though she didn’t begin her formal post-secondary education until her late 30s, she’s been employed in the tech industry for most of her...

Founder and president, Excel Career College When Pauline Stevenson hears employers say they can’t find skilled labour, she sees an opportunity: “How can we find them the people who could be their next employees?” Since 1989, Stevenson has run Excel Career College, an...

Co-founder and CEO, Gillespie’s Fine Spirits; founder and CEO, Boozewitch Brands; founder and CEO, State B Cannabis Beverage Co.; founder, Squamish Craft Beverage Association Ancestry research confirmed that Kelly Ann Woods’s pioneering spirit and love of formulating was literally in her DNA: some of...

Galvanizing steel or iron involves applying a coat of zinc to protect the metal against rust. In modern usage, the verb also refers to shocking or exciting someone into taking action. The word was a fitting choice for the new name of audit analytics software company ACL Services, which rebranded...

Jack Nicholson’s first job in the co-operative business was frying doughnuts at the Drumheller Co-op in 1990. He became a certified baker and took advantage of educational opportunities provided to him by the co-op system. Today, Nicholson is CEO of Otter Farm and Home Co-operative, the seventh largest co-op in...