OneBerrie
Sue-Rose Read started OneBerrie while postpartum with her first daughter out of a desire to improve the bathing experience for little ones and new parents.
Having tried everything from hooded baby towels to large apron towels, she found the then-available options just weren’t cutting it, so she set out to create something better. This led to OneBerrie’s hands-free towels, which enable parents and caregivers to transfer newborns efficiently and comfortably from the bath into a warm embrace. This is done with an innovative loop and button design, and high-quality fabrics that are made for a baby’s sensitive skin.
Based in Invermere, a small mountain town in B.C., Sue-Rose hires within the community and now provides flexible work opportunities to seven other women and men. You can find towels, baby lotion, ponchos, and more through the OneBerrie website, which are all made, sewn, formulated, and packaged in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
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Ginger Desk
Dr. Julie Durnan, Founder and Operator of Ginger Desk, created the virtual assistant service to help health and wellness practitioners build and scale their practices.
Having owned clinics, trained administrative staff, and managed office leadership teams for 20 years, Julie is able to provide practitioners with flexible monthly and daily packages for virtual support that suit their unique needs. Not only does this enable practitioners to better accommodate patients, but also helps to reduce costs.
The pandemic increased the demand for telehealth and virtual appointments, and in a post-COVID world, the convenience and accessibility of these alternatives has solidified their importance. As Julie explains, “Ginger Desk is poised to satisfy the growing demand from medical professionals to outsource administrative, communications and billing tasks to virtual assistants. This has already fueled much of the company's growth in the past year and continues to fuel our evolution.”
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Pom & Chi Pet Boutique
Julie Angeletti started Pom & Chi Pet Boutique with no experience in product development—but she didn’t let that stop her from persevering and learning all about the industry.
As she explains, “I hit roadblock after roadblock. I couldn't find a manufacturer that would be willing to work with me. When I did, communication was a big issue and the production was not up to my standards.” After over a year of searching and three failed attempts, she finally found the studio that she’s proud to work with today. Though Julie often hears she was lucky to have found a studio with such a high standard of quality, she never would have found them if she had given up when things got tough.
You can find beautiful, minimally designed pet goods on the Pom & Chi Pet Boutique website, including zero-waste beds, bandanas, and toys for small dogs.
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Sḵwálwen Botanicals
Leigh Joseph, an ethnobotanist, researcher and community activist from the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) First Nation, has prioritized the cultural knowledge renewal of Indigenous plant foods and medicines through her business, Sḵwálwen Botanicals.
Leigh draws inspiration from the teachings of her family and community members, and each of her luxury botanical skincare products has a Squamish name to honour the land that traditional Squamish plant knowledge comes from.
Her interest in the relationship between food and culture was fed by her paternal grandmother’s family from the Snuneymuxw (Nanaimo) First Nation, who she visited and learned from while growing up. She has memories of her family preparing the salmon they caught, making fresh blackberry juice, and joining them to pick vegetables from their garden.
Leigh’s paternal grandparents were part of the estimated 150,000 Indigenous children who were forced to attend residential schools. As she explains, “Much of my adult life has been spent thinking about the intergenerational effects of residential school on my family. I have early memories of visiting my grandparents at their home on the Stawamus Reserve in Squamish where I spent time with the elders who told stories of our territory and how we are connected to the land. These same elders had survived traumas that I did not yet know of. I was fortunate to have had the chance to experience a good childhood, to spend my early years learning from my parents and my extended family.”
Through Sḵwálwen Botanicals, Leigh offers ethically sourced products that are made with the utmost care, and are free of harsh chemicals, phthalates, and synthetic fragrances and colors. As a mother of two, she’s proud to share her family’s teachings and provide her children with a connection to their family’s traditional Squamish knowledge.
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Loba Wellness
Kate Bouchard is the entrepreneur behind Loba Wellness, the first wifi-connected pill and supplement organizer that helps you stay on track and looks great in your space. Tapping into the power of visual cues, the organizer lights up when it’s time to take your pills or supplements. The Loba app also allows you to receive notifications, set reminders, customize your organizer’s lights, and more. When you’re on the go, you can even remove daily compartments so you can take them with you.
Kate invented, designed, manufactured, and delivered Loba Wellness within just two years–learning as she went many of the skills she needed to succeed. When the company launched its app and delivered pre-orders for its organizers, it received more than 250 downloads and garnered many positive reviews in just 30 days.
Kate also set her sights on financing, which would enable the company’s continued growth. She was able to raise over $300,000 through investors and debt financing. Loba Wellness is now finalizing partnership agreements with multinational retailers and ecommerce wellness giants.
You can order your Loba Wellness organizer today from shoploba.com.
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Dicky's Dumps
Dicky's Dumps is a Vancouver-based small-batch dumpling business that's co-owned by Pearl Lam and Dickson Li.
As a Chinese-Canadian woman entrepreneur and the daughter of immigrant parents, the path to launching Dicky’s Dumps came with its challenges. It's a bootstrapped business and is run out of Pearl’s apartment, which is the HQ for packaging, labelling, organizing orders, content creation, podcasts, and even Zoom workshops.
As Pearl’s team explains, “Pearl built a business around a comfort food item that's so iconic in Chinese culture. She's managed to attract a lot of first-time tasters who are now big-time dumpling fans. Pearl also participates in a lot of local community events and is a longtime supporter of the Chinatown community.”
The delicious Chinese-style dumplings come in four flavours and are sold at local grocers and restaurants, including Juice Truck, Gourmet Warehouse, The Drive Canteen, South China Seas Trading, Sing Sing, as well as through Legend's Haul. If you’re in the area, try them for yourself!
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Polar Peak Popcorn
When Paula Vera registered for E-Series Spring 2022, she was ready to establish Polar Peak Popcorn as the go-to snack for adventurers.
Not only did the branding and marketing seminars help her build Polar Peak Popcorn's personality, but she was able to connect with another program participant from the Elk Valley, BC, Charné Baird Photography. Together, they worked to further develop the brand's presence. Just take a look at the mouth-watering website to see the outcome!
As Paula explains, "[E-Series] enabled me to connect with other entrepreneurs in British Columbia [and] was a great way to get new ideas from established professionals."
Make sure you try out the locally made gourmet popcorn if you’re in the Fernie BC area!
Paula took part in The Forum E-Series Presented by RBC with the support of a bursary generously provided by Teck.
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Peko
While Sang Le and Arielle Lok were full-time students juggling jobs and internships, they were also bootstrapping Peko, Western Canada’s first delivery service for “peculiar” and surplus food.
Wanting to make healthy, affordable food accessible to everyone, Sang and Arielle took a chance on launching the impactful company during the pandemic with no industry connections. They went to all the farmers markets they could and knocked on the doors of produce warehouses until they were able to establish the connections they needed. Meanwhile, they also took part in over 20 pitch and start-up competitions. This enabled them to raise funds and spread the word about their company, which is helping to reduce the $3.1 billion in food that’s rejected every year for cosmetic reasons.
If you want to play a part in saving quality food from landfills while cutting down on grocery costs, order your Peko Box now.
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Switchboard Public Relations
Kathleen Reid, Founder & Chief Communications Officer of Switchboard Public Relations, supplies communication strategies that drive impressive results in the community development, technology, and impact sectors.
Though Kathleen's vision has been significantly impacted by three genetic eye diseases, she's continued to grow the leading PR firm since she launched it in 2013. At the same time, she’s also balanced the many hats that come with starting a family and raising two young kids.
While Kathleen’s vision loss has undoubtedly made her journey a more difficult one, she hasn't let it stand in the way of her success. Instead, she’s used her experiences to bring attention to the importance of accessibility. As her team points out, “This makes her an exceptional communicator and is one of the reasons she is great at what she does.”
Learn more about the impact of Switchboard’s services online and connect with their team if you’re ready to collaborate!
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Citrus + Sage Co.
Nikki Riddler created Citrus + Sage Co. to bring luxurious, hand-crafted and sustainable products to her customers.
Having always dreamed of becoming an entrepreneur, Nikki got started on building her business from the ground up when she was in her mid-twenties. With limited access to capital, it hasn't been easy navigating a product-based handmade business in today's competitive climate. Though each day comes with new challenges, it also comes with new rewards. Today, Nikki continues to craft beautiful natural coconut soy candles with wooden wicks, vegan bar soap made with all-natural scents and colourants, and more.
You can shop all products from the Métis-owned company online.
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7th Laurel Immigration Consulting
The vision for 7th Laurel Immigration Consulting Inc. was conceived not long after Olaitan arrived in Canada as a student with two toddlers in tow.
She saw firsthand that support systems were not readily available to her, so she decided to create a solution. Since launching her business in 2021, she has helped 100 people make Canada their home. From assisting students with their Visa applications and admission into school, to helping newcomers find accommodation, Olaitan provides her clients with the affordable support she needed when she was in their shoes.
She's self-funded her business to get here and continues to identify more opportunities where she can lend the compassionate, reliable, and effective support her clients so deeply appreciate.
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