Toronto

If You’re Going to Spend the Time, Do it Your Way, with Your Own Style

Henry Rojas is a Sheridan College graduate in Architectural Technology. He started his career as an Architectural Draftsman and continued to grew his skills in various roles in the industry. He began to work with custom homes and progressed to designing and constructing commercial spaces and apartment buildings. He extended his passion by overseeing the development of apartment units. His company Rojas Empire of Design, founded in 2018, is based in Mississauga, Ontario in 2018.


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A former high school teacher is on a mission to create a unique, inspiring, community-based learning experience for young people

Adam Robb was raised on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak and Chonnonton Nations on fertile farming lands connected with the London Township and Sombra Treaties of 1796 and the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum. After one year of university, it became clear that the learning he needed in life would be found with mountains, lakes, gardens, community centres and around campfires and not as much inside classrooms as he had once thought. He kept that realization in mind as he became a teacher himself. For the past 15 years as a high school teacher, Adam has since helped to create unique experiential education programs allowing for self-discovery for youth on Treaty 6, 7, 8 territories as well as the traditional lands of the Beaver, Cree, Ojibway, Secwépemc, Stoney, and Métis. The focus of these programs has always been about connecting youth to the land as a way of learning self-resiliency, problem-solving, risk-taking, relationship-building, history, technology, politics, science, economics and protocols from Traditional Keepers of knowledge. Adam has teamed up with other amazing educators to create learning programs that were recognized provincially (AB Education), nationally (EECOM, KF & CAGBC) and internationally (OECD & ILFI). The Howl Experience is the manifestation of all Adam’s beliefs about learning; it has to be experiential, community-based and focused on solving real problems and achieving real results. He is proud to be working alongside several past students on this project and of the many incredible past students out there making a real difference. Adam is most proud that he is able to do this work alongside his own amazingly insightful children and his inspiring partner.

Shawna Peddle is a partnership broker, collaborator, and convenor of like minds to address complex social issues. She has expertise in program design and implementation related to community resiliency, risk communication, environmental risk assessment, climate change adaptation, and disaster risk reduction. In her current role, Shawna oversees community investment programs and partnerships at Co-operators, a financial services co-operative, including corporate giving and volunteerism, the Co-operative Development Program, the Advisor Community Fund, and the Co-operators Community Funds. Shawna holds a Master of Forestry from the University of Toronto, and a Graduate Diploma in Social Responsibility and Sustainability from St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto.

Learn more about Howl Founder Adam Robb, and how he helped to develop programming that allowed youth to grow and learn more than through traditional education at https://www.experiencehowl.com


Learn more about Co-operators holistic business solutions here.


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RBC: The micro-entrepreneur economy survey

Don Ludlow, Vice-President of Small Business, Partnerships & Strategy, RBC, provides strategic oversight and leads a team that is responsible for delivering marketing-leading solutions, partnerships and client experiences that go beyond traditional banking to help Canadian entrepreneurs successfully start, manage and grow their business.

He also manages the development of RBC’s strategy for the broader Business Financial Services portfolio, including the group’s client experience, CRM, and data analytics strategies.

Don joined RBC in 2001 and has 20 years of experience within the financial services and banking sector. Prior to joining RBC, he served as an Infantry Officer in the Canadian Army where he led soldiers on a number of domestic and international operations and worked in both staff and training roles.

Overview of Key Data Points

Led by the younger millennial and Gen Z generations, a ‘micro-entrepreneur’ economy is emerging across the country, as Canadians look to adapt to a changing landscape dominated by rising inflation and digitization

  • 74 per cent of Canadian small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs are motivated to start a small business or side-hustle due to the increasing cost of living – With this number rising to 84 per cent among Gen Z respondents
  • A strong majority (77 per cent) of current and aspiring entrepreneurs report that their chief aim is to create a source of income to support themselves – Millennials (86 per cent) are even more likely to cite this as their main reason for starting a business

Key factors supporting the emergence of the micro-entrepreneurship economy.

  • Emerging technologies allow them to reach new markets and explore new ways of doing business (47 per cent)
  • Being able to conduct their business or “side-hustle” online remotely lowers the overhead costs associated with starting and running a business (47 per cent)
  • Digital solutions reduce the efforts for administration and back-office aspects of running a business (42 per cent)

A shift in customer preferences is also creating fertile ground for small and micro-businesses.

  • 89 per cent of those surveyed agree that small businesses are able to provide products and services tailored to local needs
  • Another 72 per cent stated that they believe small businesses have the ability to innovate at a more rapid rate than larger organizations
  • Moreover, 71 per cent were more likely to support businesses with an active presence in their local community
  • For current and aspiring business owners, the rising preference and increased willingness of Canadians to shop local has contributed to their overall desire to become an entrepreneur, with 39 per cent of those surveyed stating that this shift has motivated and made it easier for them to start a business.

Read more on Newswire


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Starting a Company to Influence Culture

Sherry Shannon-Vanstone is the founder and current president and CEO of Profound Impact™️️️️️️ Corporation. Profound Impact is a tech company based in the Toronto-Waterloo Corridor whose digital platform supports alumni relations and digital communities focused on careers, research and academic connections. Sherry is a leader for women pursuing STEM careers. A mathematician, entrepreneur, innovator and philanthropist, Sherry has always been an advocate for women in STEM, pushing for them to assume a greater role in Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery. Sherry is a great spokesperson to address pandemic-related challenges facing women in STEM and can offer some valuable insights into how to overcome these challenges to position women as leaders in the nation’s economic recovery.


Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on FacebookInstagramLinkedIn and Twitter.

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Profound Impact’s whose digital platform supports alumni relations and digital communities focused on careers, research and connections.

The importance of control and influence to software entrepreneurs

Dan Pronovost has 25+ years of experience in the software industry, as a developer, manager, and entrepreneur. Driven by results, tactical and pragmatic, always focused on execution: build it and ship it. Driftscape is a Canadian startup whose core product is a local discovery and travel app. More than 60 organizations use the app to share their stories and over 7000 points of interest, events, and tours across Canada.


Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on FacebookInstagramLinkedIn and Twitter.

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The power of aliveness with Renée Safrata

Over the past 30+ years Renée Safrata has worked with thousands of companies and executives throughout North America and Europe, helping them to connect, adopt new behaviors, and become confident members of highly functioning teams. As CEO and Founder, she oversees Vivo Team’s full spectrum learning experience, develops leaders and teams through live, online training, coaching, and people analytics. Leading a well connected, remote-first team, Renée has the confidence and trust to work from anywhere—taking full advantage of the WFH model.


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It takes more than one to get something off the ground

Maciej Jastrzebski innovator and entrepreneur with 15 years of experience in new technology development, project implementation, and technology commercialization in the metals and mining industries. He is co-founder and CEO of Li-Metal and is a\the named inventor on 15 patent families. Li-Metal has is addressing the growing need in advanced batteries to deliver lithium metal anodes cost effectively at scale.


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Being everything to everybody leads to burnout with Teresa Vozza

Teresa Vozza (www.teresavozza.ca)is a leadership expert, certified executive coach, and former Human Resources Executive with over 20 years of corporate experience, most recently at Allianz Partners as CHRO. She is highly skilled in leading change, building executive acumen, and communicating with impact.

She is a go-to coach for highly accomplished corporate professionals who are looking to seriously up level their impact…and love the process. As a consultant and coach, she has worked both one-on-one and in group format with senior teams and professionals from Manager to CEO.

In addition to her work with established leaders, Teresa trains up-and-coming professional women to position themselves as credible leaders that others will follow, listen to, promote, and learn from. In her corporate career, she has led hundreds of participants through leadership courses and workshops. She has been featured on Breakfast Television and several podcasts, such as Entrepreneurs on Fire, Power Presence Position and Wickedly Smart Women.

Teresa is described as bold, wise, assertive, and highly focused.

Teresa is a graduate of McMaster University, the Canada Coach Academy, and accredited with the International Coaching Federation as well as The Accredited Board of Neurolinguistic Programming (ABNLP).


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The future of fashion with Lisa Lawrence

Lisa J Lawrence – Co-founder, President and designer. Lisa has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in art and design from the University of Alberta. She has managed a variety of rapid growth retail and entertainment businesses in both the fashion and art industries. She has in depth experience in design and is the creator of all the collections for Lawrence Scott Atelier. She oversees all operations and is the heart and soul of LAWRENCE SCOTT INC. Lisa is currently located in Ottawa where she runs a remote team of predominantly of women who have complete autonomy over when and where they work.


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How an innovative tampon brand leveraged TikTok

Nadia Ladak (she/her) is passionate about the startup ecosystem and inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurial leaders. She is the founder of Marlow, a menstrual health brand that has created the first-ever lubricated tampon for smoother and more comfortable insertion. Based in Toronto, she is also the Ontario representative on the Startup Canada Women Advocacy Network where she participates in government roundtables to advocate for female founders. Nadia is committed to giving back to her community through her role as a catalyst board member at Holland Bloorview Children’s Hospital and as a mentor for the Junior Achievement Company Program where she provides weekly coaching to high school students as they operate their own small businesses. In her free time, you can find her reading, playing her guitar, or spending time outside biking & camping.


Entrepreneurs are the backbone of Canada’s economy. To support Canada’s businesses, subscribe to our YouTube channel and follow us on FacebookInstagramLinkedIn and Twitter.

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