Canada's #1 Podcast for Entrepreneurs 
Canada's #1 Podcast for EntrepreneursJustin Vaillancourt is a force to be reckoned with—he started teaching himself how to code at the age of 8 and was working as a Software Developer by the age of 14. As the Co-Founder and CTO of Dooly, Justin previously held Lead Engineer positions at several emerging tech startups.
Megan is the award-winning author of Our Interrupted Fairy Tale. She is also the co-author of a children’s book with her award-winning, 10-year-old step-daughter, Madison. After 3 years of helping writers publish their books off the side of her corporate communications career, Megan launched The Self Publishing Agency in 2017. The Agency supports indie authors in writing, publishing and marketing their self published books. Her clients have been featured in The New York Times, The Globe and Mail, CTV, and BC Business.
Merideth Schutter is an entrepreneur and mother of three from Vancouver. She is the Founder of PROtect…Smart Personal Safety. The development of PROtect came together organically. She had one too many close encounters in her professional life where she was alone with a stranger and feeling vulnerable. Born out of a need to unite mobile technology with the reassurance of personal safety, the application allows users to connect with their closest contacts and alert them when they find themselves in unfamiliar or emergency scenarios.
Ilya Brotzky is the CEO and founder of VanHack. After graduating from Cornell University with a Degree in Applied Economics and Management, Ilya spent 4 years working in the Brazilian startup scene where he joined the country’s most successful early stage accelerator. It was there he discovered a large community of talented software engineers who were interested in relocating to Canada, but didn’t always have the soft skills needed to work abroad. Upon moving back to Vancouver, he founded VanHack as a way of empowering people who wanted to have more out of life and live in Canada. VanHack now has over 170,000 members from 73 countries and has helped over 200 companies hire and relocate 446 developers across Canada and Europe. Ilya is fluent in Russian, Portuguese and English.
Brad Radover is founder of Country Club X, which is an online community exclusively for country club members. it connects club members across clubs letting them independently arrange rounds of golf at a variety of clubs.
Paul Romani is the co-founder and director of Pear Tree Elementary, a progressive K-7 elementary school in the Kitsilano neighborhood of Vancouver, and the only school to teach children through theme and project-based learning, rather than through separate school subjects. Originally from the UK, Paul lived in Spain and Germany before moving to Vancouver. Through Pear Tree, Paul is equipping Vancouver children with the practical tools and knowledge they need to be happy and successful and, ultimately, to be their best selves: academically, socio-emotionally and physically. He also hopes to inspire a new generation of entrepreneurs.
Jen Ray, Director & Owner of Dancinema. Dancinema is a Canadian and American-based company founded in Vancouver that fuses the arts and industries of Dance & Film through productions, education and events. Next up is the 3rd annual Cascadia Dance & Cinema Festival, happening June 2 and 3 in Vancouver.
Diana Pederson is the Founder and CEO of Dragonfly MedTech, an early stage startup company in Vancouver who is building clinic software to enable medical doctors to provide a treatment solution for concussions. She is originally from Seattle where she worked for Microsoft for 13 years. She moved to Vancouver in 2001 to work for the doctor who developed this medical approach.
Fergus Parkinson leads acquisitions and strategic partnerships at Glance Technologies. He has a background in strategic advising and management consulting for startups in Toronto, Vancouver and Silicon Valley. He holds a Master of Finance from the Rotman School of Management at U of T.
Melanie Ewan is Managing Partner at local startup advisory firm, Volition, where she oversees operations and communications, in addition to working with entrepreneurs on funding research and grant writing projects. As COO and Head of Research at Women in Tech World, a national grassroots organization based out of Vancouver. Melanie took to the road for two months this past fall, to provide a platform for Canadian women in tech, and their allies and advocates, to share their experiences and ideas for creating more inclusive and diverse tech communities nationwide. When Melanie isn’t working with clients, colleagues and community members, she can be found traveling.
