An innovative business strategist and coach, Deborah Richardson has always been drawn to entrepreneurship as it gives her the opportunity for constant personal and professional growth. For the past twenty five years, she has invested her time and...

Twenty five years ago, Debbie Palmer started her career in sales knocking on doors with determination and persistence. A concrete plan and a great attitude were her keys to business success. An avid entrepreneur, she has owned and managed several successful...

Caledonia Fred has always enjoyed solving problems and assisting others. In her work with the Nuu-chah-nulth Economic Development Corporation ( NEDC), she has assisted micro and small businesses within the region offering aboriginal business financing,...

Angela O’Brien, co-owner of Esteem Lingerie Inc. is no stranger to the world of entrepreneurship. During her teen years she was always creating business ideas and tried to...

Sarah Campden could have stayed comfortably in a corporate job at a large engineering firm but she wanted to spend more time with her young daughter and also grow her own business. Three years back, she started Made to...

A passion for design encouraged Alison Ludditt to leave behind the security of a corporate career in a law firm and become an entrepreneur. Along with two partners, she purchased “The Room Collection,” an inspiring furniture and...

Michelle Kelsey showed promises of her entrepreneurial spirit even when she was very young. Always exploring different business ideas, she was clear about her goal - she wanted to be her own boss. Ten years ago, she started “Nannies...

Growing up in an entrepreneurial family, Tracey McGinnis always knew that she wanted to be her own boss.  She gained valuable experience from her self employed family which owned a chain of Window Coverings stores in Ontario. Eight...

A dynamic speaker, author and business expert with a deep knowledge of the art of human connections, Cathy Kuzel has been networking and building successful business relationships for more than 25 years and is increasingly sought after as an...

There are very few people who look at bad business practices and decide to do something about it. Jennifer Hawes and her husband, who was working in food transportation, were horrified at some of the practices in the transportation of food...

Pauline Daniel has always enjoyed making connections with others and the positive impact it has on their lives. In 2008, she turned this passion into a personal life coaching business “Coaching Connections” in Nelson. A...

What better reason to start a business than to create and realize your personal vision for your life? Elizabeth Vieira-Richard, CEO of People Dynamics Inc., feels this is the best reason of all to become an entrepreneur, and she works with...

Cathy Goddard’s first experience with self-employment coincided with her first experience receiving mentorship: a former employer saw the entrepreneurial spirit in her and encouraged her to learn all about the different aspects of running a...

Terri Knox accumulated a wealth of experience while dealing with the public in her 22 years in the airline industry. When she left that industry she took the one...

Cynthia Roney took the leap to entrepreneurship when she realized it was the only way to pursue her passion to make a difference; in doing so, she left a successful corporate career and devoted her energy and determination to launching her own...

As a young, single mother trying to support her family, Gale Anson made the tough decision to step away from the security of employment in order to become an entrepreneur; she felt it was the choice that would better benefit her family in the long run....

Once Janon Hamel got a taste of running her own business, she knew that self-employment was the only career path for her.

“I first became an entrepreneur with my husband, running a food equipment service, which was an industry he knew well...

When asked about her greatest strengths as an entrepreneur, Mary Eshenko says without hesitation that it’s her ability to establish, build and maintain positive relationships. With that response in mind, it’s no wonder she’s had such...

Mila Lansdowne is a wonderful blend of entrepreneur and artist, a combination made successful when she launched Art for Happiness: art products and supplies, and Mila’s Bed & Breakfast in Tumbler Ridge, BC, more than ten years ago...

Shirley Higgins has always found herself drawn to entrepreneurship by the challenges, the responsibility and the opportunities it presents. To put it simply, she’s just not a nine-to-five kind of person!

Located in Vernon, BC, since 2008, her...

Like many entrepreneurs before her, Sue Adams went into self-employment with no training or experience in business; in fact, she was drawn in by her energetic, independent and creative nature.
A strong interest in food and wine provided the...

For over 12 years, Trisha Miltimore has been inspiring people to find their true passions, to step “outside of the box” and to realize their own sense of greatness. As a national speaker and entrepreneur, she spreads the message that...

Throughout her career, Jill Earthy has been fortunate enough to work with many strong and successful women who have inspired her. In fact, her very first employer was a female entrepreneur who quickly became a mentor, offering her advice and guidance that would...

Sandy Herle has played many different roles in her community; from President of the Rotary Club of Parksville to Mayor of Parksville, it seems as if she’s done it all! However, when Herle speaks about her business experience, it’s easy to see that...

It might very well have been fate that led Angie Barnard and her husband Bruce to open the Painted Turtle Guesthouse in 2004.  During an extended round the world trip, they came across Nanaimo and instantly loved the city.  With an obvious gap in...

When Betty-Ann Thomson first launched her consultancy, she was excited about the prospects, but couldn’t have envisioned where the business would take her. All she knew was that she had the skills and experience to start projects, bring them to completion and be...

When small business owner, Tami Reilly was tired of using the same inefficient tactics to get through her weekly sea of paperwork, she came up with a solution. As it turned out, the solution was not just a means to an end; it was a brilliant...

Julie Breton first became an entrepreneur in 1999 when she decided that she had way too much creativity bottled up inside to be constrained by a career in forestry. She took the leap and left her job and education behind to become the owner and creative director of Trillium Soaps...

Karen C. Mason is all about the numbers. Since 1983 she’d been working in financial services in a variety of roles, including training financial...

Growing up in an entrepreneurial family meant that it was only natural for Kathline Holmes to one day become an entrepreneur herself. When the timing was...

Having the courage to care is what rests at the heart of Pauline Penner’s entrepreneurial career. Long before others focused on environmental impact, she stepped into the largely male-dominated world of waste management by founding Penner Recycling — a million-...

When an entrepreneur finds inspiration it will push them to build their business to success. Jennifer Deane found the inspiration she needed to take her...

From operating a refrigeration business, to running a real estate office to becoming a personal coach, Beth Garrish has pretty much been an entrepreneur her whole life. The only things that have stayed the same as she changed industries have been her...

Questioning the status quo has always been a way of life for Madeleine Shaw. In fact it was for that very reason that she says entrepreneurship was a natural fit for her. “I have always been a bit of a contrarian and have had issues with authority in the past, so having my own...