Canada’s Entrepreneur

Pete Nguyen is an Art Director at Berlin Communications, partner of Sea Change Brewing Co., and an active illustrator, muralist, designer and musician.

Je m'appelle Jeff Soucy. Au travers mon entreprise RevFocus Marketing, je joins mes 2 plus grandes passions qui sont la santé/mieux-être et le marketing. J'ai toujours été dans le milieu du sport et après mon séjour comme athlète universitaire aux États-Unis, je cherchais une façon de rester dans le domaine. J'ai alors commencé à suivre plusieurs formations sur le marketing web et j'ai appris comment aider les entreprises à acquérir des clients et augmenter leur chiffre d'affaire. J'aide principalement les entreprises et les experts dans le milieu du mieux-être, que ce soit de la PNL, nutrition, suppléments et tout ce qui touche à la santé et au mindset. Quand j'ai commencé, tout ce que je voulais était d'aider les entrepreneurs à aimer la business qu'ils avaient travailler fort à batir, mais je me suis vite rendu compte qu'en travaillant avec eux, que j'avais leur business à coeur autant qu'eux.

Dr. Rebecca Sutherns is an insightful and high energy collaborative strategist and world class facilitator who has served as a trusted advisor to hundreds of mission-driven organizations in Canada and internationally. Rebecca brings intellect, enthusiasm and varied experience in strategy development and collaborative leadership when speaking, writing and mentoring. She is a skilled communicator, with a particular gift for helping leaders make wiser decisions faster. As the founder and Principal of Sage Solutions, a consulting firm based in Guelph, Ontario, Rebecca has facilitated customized strategic processes for community benefit organizations for more than 20 years. She provides strategic coaching and planning services, with an emphasis on professional facilitation, stakeholder engagement and evidence-based decision-making.

Yuri Fulmer has been building businesses since his early twenties. Having arrived from Australia a few years earlier, it all began when he was faced with the unexpected opportunity to buy a local franchise while working for A&W. Since then, Yuri has grown that single A&W franchise into dozens, doggedly building a $60 million business portfolio by the time he was 30. In 2010, Yuri founded Fulmer Capital Partners (now Fulmer & Company) to continue doing what he does best — helping businesses grow. Currently, Fulmer & Company owns and invests in a collection of companies in the hospitality, business-to-business, manufacturing, construction, digital technology and consumer service industries. Right from the start, serving the local community has also been an important part Yuri’s work. Over the years, he’s been actively involved in local non-profit, educational and arts organizations, and serves as an accredited Director a number corporate and civic boards. In 2019, Yuri established The Fulmer Foundation to take Fulmer & Company’s community investment to the next level. One of the foundation’s biggest undertakings is the management and support of Goodly Foods Society — a social enterprise working to repurpose surplus produce from local suppliers, while creating employment opportunities for people in need. Yuri feels truly honoured to have been acknowledged for his contributions to others, including recognition by: Canada’s Top Forty Under 40 (2008), The BC Community Achievement Award (2010), The Spirit of Vancouver Award (2011), The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) and The Order of British Columbia (2010), our Province’s highest honour, for Yuri’s "dynamic entrepreneurship and committed volunteerism". Away from the office, you can often find Yuri enjoying the great outdoors near and far, fishing, diving, canoeing, kayaking, climbing and exploring. Or, you know, not find him.

Edmonton’s own Kelley Keehn (kelleykeehn.com) is an award-winning and best-selling author of nine books (and counting!) on personal finance and fraud protection. She is also a personal finance educator and the consumer advocate for FP Canada. Money is her second language and it’s her mission to make Canadians feel good about their money.

Laura Beauparlant is an award-winning international keynote speaker, an expert on branding and design and the author of Brand Chemistry. As the founder and creative director of Lab Creative, her mission is to help ambitious entrepreneurs create strong, memorable brands that consistently attract their ideal clients. For over 15 years, Laura has helped countless small business owners and entrepreneurs gain confidence and grow their businesses through unforgettable branding.

Winston Kam is a lawyer practicing at and the founder of Winright Law. Winright Law is a law firm that focuses on real estate, business and wealth preservation. Their practice is devoted to helping companies, investors, as well as individuals, with their legal issues and protecting them from legal liability. Their clients range from individuals and investors to realtors, real estate developers, entrepreneurs, small to medium enterprises. At Winright Law, Winston primarily practices in business and real estate law, dealing with both the solicitor's side as well as the litigation side of law. With what remaining time is left, Winston has the larger goal of changing the delivery of legal services through an innovative approach to legal systems and processes, streamlining services with new technology and making the customer experience a top priority. After being a member of the Pacific Club, a non-profit society founded in 1991, for the last four years, Winston now serves as the President. The Pacific Club's mission is to connect entrepreneurs and professionals with Vancouver’s business community, something that is very important to both Winston and Winright Law.

Doug Lacombe, MBA is president and founder of Communicatto Inc., a digital marketing agency. Drawing on almost 30 years of experience in media, web publishing and technology; Doug and his team work with businesses and associations to integrate traditional and digital communications, with a focus on content marketing, advertising, and social media.

Brit Garon grew up in rural Ontario. He attended Western University in London Ontario, where he received a degree in Finance & Economics. Immediately after University, Brit moved to the GTA and began work at CAA, where he helped launch the travel insurance company Orion Travel Insurance. He was lured away by the Danish insurance company software that CAA had helped develop, where he helped run operations on this side of the Atlantic. While working there, Brit and his roommate developed the idea for what would become ScholarTree. ScholarTree began life 2 years ago and officially launched in 2017. ScholarTree helps match students with scholarships, so that they can afford to pursue the career of their dreams.

Dan Belostotsky is founder of HonestDoor which is an online tool for real estate information. He's also founder of Otto Capital, his private investment company.

Tony McGrath is CEO of The GRAND Theatre.

Six years ago, Mehrnaz Bassiri made the riskiest and most rewarding decision of her professional life: she traded a career in Biotech for K-12 educational development. Now she’s an award-winning entrepreneur, a writer, speaker, progress specialist, and the founder of MyGradeBooster. She has been featured at TEDxChilliwack, on Global News radio, and in the Huffington Post.

Karen Barry is President of Barry Commercial Real Estate and founder of Beltline Cannabis Calgary.

Nicholas Raymond-Giasson est propriétaire de Cleanergy Inc. Nicholas est un préparateur physique et il effectue également des consultations en nutrition. Il possède son propre studio d’entrainement à St-Jean-sur-Richelieu nommé le Cleanergym Underground. Il a de nombreuses formations académiques : études collégiales en travail social, études universitaires en Éducation Physique et à la santé à Sherbrooke, Somatraining avec Guy Voyez à l’institut Somatraining, Kinésiologie Appliqué avec Bob Rakowski au Minnesota, Posturologie avec Annette Verpillot, Nutrition Appliqué avec Precision Nutrition (en ligne) et Bob Rakowski à Houston au Texas, etc. Son but est de pouvoir aidez un maximum de personnes à retrouver une santé optimale en identifiant les outils qu'ils seront en mesure d'intégrer dans leur quotidien.

Miranda Zechel, along with sisters Kate and Robyn, founded the retail outlet Cloud Nine Pajamas. There are four stores in Edmonton and one recently opened in the CrossIron Mills shopping centre in the Calgary area.

Kenny Wong, self proclaimed friendliest builder in the Lower Mainland, is the Co-Director of PHW Homes Inc., a family run business focusing on designing and building residential custom homes. Following his client focused experience while working at eBay, he joined the family business 10 years ago inspired to learn and with the desire to change the common perceptions of contractors within the home building industry. Since that time, PHW Homes has grown substantially and has been featured in Globe & Mail and Global News. The company prides themselves on the client experience and has been awarded Best of Houzz – Client Satisfaction from 2016-2018, and is one of Google’s top 3 rated home building contractors in Burnaby. Additionally, as a newly discovered health and fitness buff, he now is also one of the owners of Oxygen Yoga & Fitness in Yaletown.

François Lanthier Nadeau est un bâtisseur et éternel étudiant basé à Québec. Il mentore les startups du programme Apollo13 — une initiative de Spektrum Média aidant les startups à devenir profitables. Il est aussi responsable du marketing chez Snipcart, une solution de e-commerce pour développeurs, depuis plus de 5 ans. Durant cette période, l’entreprise a lentement mais sûrement grandi sa base d’utilisateurs et ses revenus grâce au contenu marketing et SEO. Maintenant stable et profitable, l’équipe expérimente avec d’autres canaux, comme la publicité FB, le vidéo, et le UX du parcours utilisateur complet. On peut le lire sur Indie Hackers, The Startup, freeCodeCamp, Baremetrics, Wishpond, GrowthHub, et d’autres publications. François a donné des présentations sur les startups dans plus de 13 événements à travers le monde (Canada, USA, France, Irlande). Il a travaillé à distance dans une demi-douzaine de pays différents.

Tenacious, vibrant and bold; Amanda Hamilton and her eponymous studio offer more than just Interior Design services. As an accomplished creative entrepreneur with an adventurous spirt, Amanda continuously strives to carve out an aspirational and unorthodox path in the industry, making her one of Canada’s most influential cultural personalities.

Linda Southern-Heathcott is President and CEO of Spruce Meadows, the sprawling equestrian facility in Calgary's deep south.

Je m'appelle Fallone Jean. Entrepreneure depuis l’âge de 19 ans, je suis une passionnée : propriétaire de 3 gyms pour femmes C30M-kickboxing, Leader en puissance et coach PNL. J’ai donné plusieurs conférences sur la puissance féminine en plus d’animer plusieurs groupes de coaching en ligne pour les entrepreneures. Je suis aussi entraineure de zumba et de kickboxing depuis plus de 10 ans! J’enseigne principalement à Sorel-Tracy et à Varennes. Avec le coaching j’offre à mes clientes plusieurs outils de PNL afin de leur permettre de reprendre le contrôle de leurs émotions, de leur style de vie et de leur bien-être. Je les guide vers une meilleure version d’elle-même afin qu’elles puissent enfin s’épanouir et vivre LEUR vie de rêves en ayant une entreprise au service de leur vie... et non d’être une femme au service de leur entreprise! Être soi-même, s’affirmer, s’aimer, se respecter et être alignée avec ses vraies valeurs c’est la base d’une vie de rêve! Ma mission : permettre à toutes les femmes de se reconnecter à leur flamme intérieure, celle qui brûle d’envie de briller à plein feu et en toute puissance!

Patricia (Tish) Conlin heads up the Global Consulting Group Inc. (GCG), a leading talent solutions company with over 25 years finding leaders for our clients in IT, Engineering, Real Estate, Finance and Healthcare companies. GCG has end to end solutions for talent acquisition, Executive coaching, wellness and transition along with Retirement transition solutions. As well as building GCG Tish is passionate about wellness. As a Registered Holistic Nutritionist, Certified Emotional and Social Intelligence Trainer and Black Belt Martial Artist, Tish has seen the difference coaching makes to improves lives and performance. Tish is a well know speaker and her first "ABCs of Food: Boost your Energy, Confidence and Success" is now available and she is writing her second book on building inner resilience.

Alex Putici (putici.com) is an entrepreneur and community builder. He is the founder of Alberta’s largest coworking community called Work Nicer, with offices in Calgary and Edmonton. He has an impressive track record of starting a number of different companies and also spends his time to make the Calgary community a better place. Alex is the founder of 100 Men Who Give A Damn in Calgary, GenYYC, and the Calgary Coworking Alliance. He is also a proud mentor with ATB X and Startup Calgary.

Christianne Hayward has been educating children and adults for over forty years. She established her unique parent and youth bookclubs in 1996, and founded the Lyceum in 2007 where she now facilitates 11 bookclubs, 7 writers’ workshops and literature and art classes for young children at the Lyceum, with her talented staff. She also teaches at post-secondary institutions, works as a teacher consultant, facilitates parent groups in the ANCHOR Program at the Vancouver Child Study Centre, and is mother of two sons. She is committed to building community and inspiring a sense of social responsibility in those that she engages with Her Ph.D studies in education (UBC, 2000) focused on using select children’s literature to develop socially relevant curriculum in early childhood settings through to high school. Christianne’s M.Ed studies (Bristol, 1982) centered around the use of literary theming in nursery schools and its effect on children’s attitudes toward reading. Christianne completed her B.Ed (U of A, 1978) in Special Education and received her Diploma in Early Childhood Education in the same year. Her first year of study at the U of A was dedicated to Fine Arts which fuelled a life-long love of the arts.

With more than 25 years of sales experience, Lee Mainman has been responsible for the direct management of sales teams and client relationships for major accounts across every industry vertical. Lee gained significant management and consulting experience from working at companies like TELUS, Robert Half Technology and VCIO. Today, he is a partner at Bits in Glass, an award-winning technology consulting firm based in Edmonton.

Ryan Gill is one of the city's best-known entrepreneurs. He is CEO and Co-founder of Communo, a vetted network of marketing professionals. He's also President and Partner of Cult Collective, an agency specializing in marketing and branding.

For the past decade, Taylan Pince has been leading the talented product team at Hipo Labs and helping brilliant startups go from "a small team with a good idea" to multi billion-dollar companies. He is both artist, engineer and innovator – a startling collection of talents. Hipo is a brilliant example of a company that has grown through its own self-sustaining investment and discipline. Hipo, specializes in providing startups with two critical things: flexibility and quality. They build maintainable and scalable product solutions very quickly and efficiently, so founders can focus on growth and sales. Taylan has worked with startups like Robinhood, Moment, Keen and Fieldguide.

Anthony Giuffre is founder and CEO of Avenue Living Asset Management which has assets of more than $1 billion including more than 8000 residential rental units across Western Canada.

Robert Phelps, President of Canadian operations with SilverChef, who has teams established across Canada responsible for supporting Dealer Partners and Industry Bodies to deliver business value with flexible equipment rental and finance lease funding solutions across the hospitality sector. Focused on supporting customers and industry including Restaurants, Cafes, Motels, Hotels, Clubs, Coffee Roasters, Butchers, Bakers and Franchises. To date, Silver Chef has partnered with over 2,500 Canadian hospitality businesses.

Filomena May has her own branch of Raymond James Ltd. in Calgary and her company is named Filo Financial Solutions.

Jeff Lydell is the founder of Gasket Games, a native of Vancouver, and has a 14 year production and biz-dev background at Blackbird Interactive, Bigpoint, and Relic Entertainment. His shipped titles include Company of Heroes, Dawn of War II and expansions, and Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak.

Rob Hunter has been an entrepreneur ever since he was a kid. He had an eBay account by the time he was 12 years old, and sold Japanese professional wrestling VHS tapes and DVD's (yep!) to pay his way through university at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario. He did so well, he was able to establish a mini student real estate empire. After graduation, he sold my properties and got into the ice cream business, opening 7 Marble Slab ice cream stores by the time he was 25. Rob has had lots of tremendous high's and low's as a multi-unit franchisee, and learned a lot of lessons along the way. In 2012, he got offered a great scholarship to do his MBA at the #1 school in the world for entrepreneurship, Babson College. In Boston he met a co-founder, a wife, and immersed himself in the technology startup culture of the city. Right now he’s back in Toronto and focused on growing HigherMe - a way for retail and hourly employers to find, screen, and hire better employees faster.

Jim Button is co-founder of Village Brewery, a strategist with Evans Hunt and a member of the board of directors of Beer Canada. Jim has been on a sabbatical for a year while he deals with terminal cancer.

Introducing Isabelle Mercier-Turcotte, brand performance catalyst (a.k.a jet fuel) at LeapZone Strategies. As a brand builder, business performance catalyst, TEDx speaker with more than 2 Million views, and one of the best selling authors of the business and marketing book titled, The Next Big Thing: Top Trends From Today's Leading Experts to Help You Dominate the New Economy; Isabelle's sole purpose is to empower change and growth. "Momentum Generator" is her middle name and she has a relentless passion for helping entrepreneurs and small business owners raise the bar and expand their comfort zone to create outstanding brand experiences. Isabelle's biggest strength is her no BS approach and ability to tell it like it is. She has the "Simon Cowell" edge and is not afraid to tell people what to do and how to do it. She is an inspirational speaker, a captivating storyteller, and has an unquenchable enthusiasm for life. She is consistently leading-edge in facilitating change, and her undeniable track record and authentic connection with people, has gained her worldwide influence and recognition.

Jennifer Carlson is founder and president of Thirsty Naturals. She's also co-founder of Baby Gourmet and Chair of Innovation and New Ventures at SAIT.

Sandra Nomoto is a writer and aspiring world traveller. After earning her University degree and working in public relations, at the age of 25 she launched Conscious Public Relations Inc., a virtual communications firm. Over the 10 years in business, Nomoto was awarded the 2009 Volunteer of the Year by Women In Film & Television Vancouver, earned B Corporation® certification, and contributed to eWomenNetwork Vancouver earning the Best Social Media and Community Engagement Award in 2016. She also founded and grew the Vancouver Short Film Festival from 2005 to 2015. Nomoto is also the author of newly-published book, The Only Public Relations Guide You’ll Ever Need, blogs at SandraNomoto.com and for Cold Tea Collective, and serves on the board of the Vancouver Mural Festival. She practices Transcendental Meditation daily, sells a line of bold journals, and has been eating vegan since 2018.

Robin Smith Co-Owner and Co-Founder of VL OMNI – which he has built over the past twenty-five years. He is also founder of genealogyman.com. VL OMNI provides a platform for agile and scalable iPaaS ecommerce integration. It is used by global multichannel to move data seamlessly through their infrastructure as they grow, expand, and accelerate their business. VL OMNI is headquartered in Oakville and has offices in the UK as well.

PJ L'Heureux is a well-known Calgary businessman who owns and operates several bars and restaurants in the city including CRAFT Beer Market, Trolley 5, St. James Corner, Home & Away and Rodney's Oyster House.

Greg Hadubiak is an executive coach, consultant, facilitator, speaker and author who believes that the impossible is possible if human potential is unleashed. He brings extensive, broad-ranging, senior level experience and insight to leaders, especially those involved in significant change management initiatives. Greg’s client list is extensive and encompasses both public sector and private sector organizations and leaders. Greg's company, Breakpoint Solutions, is headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta.

Clive Goodinson, aka The Jokester, is the mastermind behind Pixton. It all started when he imagined a website where people could share and collaborate on ideas and stories. Combining his love of comics like Tintin, The Far Side, and Calvin & Hobbes, with his skills in computer programming, Clive struck upon the idea of a new kind of comic, where anyone could be its author. An expert in the full spectrum of interactive technologies, Clive has a M.Sc. degree from the University of British Columbia and over a decade's experience building interactive content for some of Canada's leading brands and design agencies. Originally from England, Clive loves listening to and playing music, word games, and the right brand of chocolate-mint ice cream. Clive’s family moved to Canada from England when he was small and moved to Ontario. From Ontario, Clive moved to Vancouver for 14 years, and ultimately moved from an interurban 600 square foot apartment downtown Vancouver to Vancouver Island nine years ago, and fell in love with the space of Vancouver Island – being close to nature and out of the noisy city. Above all, Clive believes in nurturing the creative spirit, that we have the unique ability to imagine something and then make it a physical reality

Nicola Kozmyk Jones is the owner and executive director of Pure Motion Dance Company, a company she started in 2008 at the age of 21 that quickly grew into one of Calgary’s largest and most successful commercial dance companies. Pure Motion provides Nicola with the opportunity to work with some of Calgary’s top dance professionals and share her love of dance with young children. She has a bachelors degree in sport and recreation management from Mount Royal University. She is an MRU Distinguished Alumna, winning the university’s prestigious Horizon Award which is presented annually to a recent graduate for outstanding achievement early in their career.Both Nicola and Pure Motion have been nominated for and have won a number of awards including the Calgary Chamber of Commerce’s Customer Service Award in 2017. In addition to Pure Motion Dance company, Nicola works as a business coach helping dance industry professionals throughout North America achieve their full business potential. Nicola’s personal motto, which she shares with everyone she meets, is "You are PURE potential".

Emilee-Mae Feely, 26, began teaching piano in Waterloo four years ago to earn cash on the side. She went on to develop a web-based business called Feely Piano School that lets you book a piano teacher to come to your home. In 2014 Emilee-Mae founded Feely Music, which has been called the "Uber of Music Lessons." Since then, it has grown from a small startup to a three-province, 10-city enterprise. Currently, Feely, a "self-taught entrepreneur," is associated with three incubators at the University of Toronto Mississauga, Sheridan College, and Carleton University, which are helping support her journey. Lately, she has been focusing on the business side of the company and is no longer teaching. Over 10 cities in Alberta, Ontario and Nova Scotia are served by Feely Piano School.

Justus Parmar is the Founder and Managing Director of Fortuna Investments, a Vancouver-based private capital firm specializing in venture capital investments. It has raised more than $300 million for 125 early stage companies and facilitated the IPO of 24 companies in areas including: Blockchain, Renewable energy, and Lithium exploration. A strong believer in giving back, Justus is an active board member and fundraiser for Face of Today, and Youth Education Farms and The Justus Parmar Group Scholarship Foundation.

Lesley-Anne Scorgie is founder of MeVest, Canada’s leading edge money school offering unbiased one-on-one money coaching and workplace financial education. She is a best-selling personal finance author, corporate communications strategist and sought after often by the media for comment. Originally from Calgary, Lesley-Anne is now based in Toronto.

Saher Ghattas immigrated to Canada in 2005 from Cario, Egypt. He is a natural entrepreneur being involved in two startups since 2012 prior to founding Flawless Inbound. His organization is now one of the fastest growing companies in Alberta which has helped over 70 B2B companies with sales and marketing enablement across North America. Saher is also an in-demand speaker and in 2018, published his book on Amazon "Journey to the Summit" that speaks to CEO/Founders on how Marketing should work for growing their B2B organizations.

Christian Mena is a well-known restaurateur and former lead singer of 90's latin pop funk band MARACUJAH. He also starred on Broadway touring as Roger in RENT alongside Neil Patrick Harris. He’s partner in SABOR, BODEGA Tapas and Wine Bars and Urbano Pizza Co.

Michael Koral leads customer acquisition and operations at Needls. He is a sales and marketing expert who has excelled both as an employee and an entrepreneur. As an Account Executive with Xerox, Michael gained valuable skills that helped him close deals with small business owners and C-level executives alike. Michael parlayed his experience at Xerox to establish and lead the sales team at online advertising startup Menu Palace. In his own words on Twitter he likes long walks on the beach, a glass of champagne... but he fronts that by being an analytics junkie that loves data!

Since fleeing the traffic & expense of Vancouver in 2007, John Cooper has worked to build one of the Island’s best-known real estate brands, the John Cooper Group. Centered around technological innovation and providing help not hype, John’s core purpose is to celebrate & share the rare kind of lifestyle he found on the Island, one that is affordable, community-minded and close to spectacular natural beauty.

Kathy Yuen is president of Phase One Design with offices in Calgary and Vancouver. It’s a residential design firm specializing in custom luxury homes for acreage estates, inner-city developments and large-scale renovations.

Ken Vinge is the President and Co-founder of Equation Staffing Employment Solutions, a Calgary-based firm offering staffing and recruitment services and connecting candidates with temporary, contract, project and permanent employment opportunities. Ken has a 32+ year career in the Alberta staffing industry, having worked in both Edmonton and Calgary.

Tony Spoletini is a co-founder and co-owner of Spolumbo's - a very popular Italian restaurant and deli. He's also a former Canadian Football League player.