TANcouver
When Deborah Bastow, Founder of TANcouver, first moved from Ireland to Vancouver, B.C., she was shocked to see that it was nearly impossible to find sunless tan lotions in stores. Knowing that skin cancer is the most common form of cancer, and also the most preventable, she decided to take matters into her own hands and opened her own spray tan salon.
As Deborah explains, “My mission is to promote the use of sunless products to combat skin cancer, prevent premature aging, and help people feel great about themselves. After only two years, Tancouver won the Consumer Choice Awards’ top spray tan salon in Vancouver and has gained over 500 five-star reviews. I’ve also created my own line of self tanner, became qualified in mole detection, and now educate other estheticians on how to become spray tan artists and voice the dangers of UV tanning.”
Deborah’s unwavering drive to increase the availability of sunless tanning options comes from a place of great loss. She says, “I lost my family but I found myself. My brother and father passed away from cancer, and my sister has had breast cancer twice. Due to this, many years ago we had to get genetic testing to see why all of my family were becoming ill. It turns out we have a rare gene that is affected through UV. All of this has shaped my passion in becoming THE CHANGE in a city where really no one was a spray tan artist, or ever knew quite how natural spray tans (done right) can be. There is nothing more harmful or dangerous to our skin than UV. Every person who comes to me and tells me because of me they are now using SPF, are more mindful of their sun exposure, and are embracing sunless tanning makes me feel like this is truly what I was supposed to do in my life.”
To build upon her success, Deborah has enrolled in The Forum E-Series Presented by RBC, and aims to activate and access wisdom, community, and financial capital to achieve continued growth and success.
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Africa Trade Desk
Africa Trade Desk (ATD) is a one-stop consulting firm for Canadian and international companies, investors, and entrepreneurs who are looking to do business in Africa. Founded by Susan Namulindwa, ATD is dedicated to increasing trade between Canada and Africa, while also boosting intra-African trade. From helping clients find the perfect international business partner to creating international export strategies, Africa Trade Desk is there to support them in realizing their goals.
As Susan’s team explains, “The majority of ATD's clients are Black, women-owned and operated businesses. We especially work with companies that work in the supply of clean water, clean energy, ethical supply chain management, and climate change adaptation so as to ensure the longevity of not only these companies, but the communities in which they operate.”
Having grown up as a Ugandan refugee in Kenya before coming to Canada, Susan has also founded two charities, GirlsRunPeriod, which is fighting period poverty in Kenya (and has received the support of the country’s First Lady), and Maama Watali, which supports Canadian Black women with the aim to eradicate gender-based violence.
A powerful changemaker, Susan is continuously looking for ways to make the world a better place, despite the systemic and personal barriers that have stood in her path. She’s grown her impactful business and non-profits while acting as an advisor to the federal government on their engagement with the African diaspora, and to Black Canadians where she’s provided guidance on the Africa Strategy that is currently being designed by the federal government to help increase access to affordable housing in Ottawa.
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Suzanne Barr Food
Suzanne Barr Food is “a global village committed to building connections, advocating food justice, and creating global culinary experiences.”
A former photographer, stylist, filmmaker, producer, and personal chef, Founder Suzanne Barr lasered her focus on her love for cooking when she turned 30–and later went on to become a two-time restaurateur, chef-in-residence at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto, and a judge on Food Network Canada’s Wall of Chefs.
Her love for cooking started when she was a child–but when her mother sadly passed from pancreatic cancer, she found herself again in the connection between her family’s rich cultural history, the memories she shared with her mother, and the healing power of food.
As Suzanne explains, “From our kitchen, we are joined in celebrating the worldly flavors by defining their origins, cooking with love and intention, expanding our diasporic appreciation, and advocating for cultural legacy. Together, we reshape our community by sharing traditions, discovering new customs, understanding the importance of sourcing ethical ingredients and recipe preservation techniques that disband culinary biases and realign connections to our cultural foodways. From enriching online classes to handpicked recipes, how-to videos, and inclusive events, our vibrant community invites you to embrace the power of food, love, and connection.”
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The Collective Workspace
Carly Nemtean leaped into entrepreneurship at just 26 years old alongside a business partner. Eleven years later, she’s still building upon her vision and has opened a second business alongside the same partner.
After working around the clock to help residential clients build and renovate their dream homes, they were able to double their sales after just two years. Seeing an opportunity to support the design of offices, boardrooms, libraries, and more, they opened The Collective Workspace, which recently unveiled a second location in Mississauga, O.N., that will support its growth.
Though Carly and The Collective Workspace team have seen incredible growth since launching, their progression wasn’t always linear. After seeing 300% growth after their first year, they had to cope with years of instability as pandemic regulations ran their course.
Since then, the company has seen steady growth and continues to offer versatile spaces that streamline business and community for other entrepreneurs and professionals.
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Sarisha Beauty
Jacqueline Johal started Sarisha Beauty as a passion project on the side—making products for herself, her family, and friends while she worked full-time as a teacher.
The company now provides consumers with modern botanical beauty that draws inspiration from ancient apothecary and shares Jacqueline’s love for the raw and natural ingredients she grew up around in Punjab. Sarisha Beauty’s products highlight traditional Ayurvedic ingredients and reflect Jacqueline’s advocation for the connection between skin health, lifestyle, and nutrition.
Sarisha Beauty has collaborated with Detox Market to launch its products and has even been featured in Vogue India. You can order glow-boosting oils and more by shopping online or visiting a participating Detox Market location.
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Marlow
Nadia Ladak, Co-Founder and CEO of Marlow, works alongside the Marlow crew to create tampons for people who hate using them—helping them to have more comfortable periods.
They’re the creators of the very first lubricated tampon for smoother insertion, which their target audience of pre-teens find especially helpful when they begin menstruating. Marlow has even gone viral on TikTok, where it’s accumulated over 40 million views and 4 million likes. The company knows the importance of a good content strategy and has also been able to build a community of over 45,000 menstruators by educating readers and toppling the stigma around menstrual health. As a result, Marlow has been recognized as one of the top 29 women leading the modern menstrual movement.
On the path to achieving these successes, Nadia and the Marlow team have faced their share of barriers. As most investors are men who don’t resonate with the problems Marlow’s products solve, receiving the funding they need to scale has been a challenge. The company has also had to navigate the time-consuming world of Health Canada and FDA processes during the pandemic, which significantly delayed its next steps.
Find Marlow’s lubricant and tampons online and bundle your order to save.
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Healing Mama Co.
Rhowena Adolfo Patel started Healing Mama Co. to revolutionize the childbirth industry by raising the standard of care that birthing people and their partners receive.
The company was born from Rhowena’s frustrating and eye-opening experience as a first-time mother, which inspired her to solve the problems she saw when it came to fourth trimester and postpartum care.
Driven by the motivation to provide new and expecting moms with the care they’ve so often lacked, Rhowena has pushed her way past several barriers that stood in her path. In addition to filling the full-time role as a mother, she’s overcome cancer and nearly went bankrupt twice. As a woman founder of colour, she’s also experienced limited access to financial funding, which she describes as one of the most challenging aspects of bringing her revolution to life.
Visit the Healing Mama Co. website to build labour and postpartum bags for you or your loved ones.
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Ugly Dukling Beauty
Melissa Davis is the brand architect behind Ugly Dukling, a company that collaborates with iconic brands, blockbuster films, and celebrities to create capsule collections that are launched through memorable immersive experiences.
Since launching the company, Melissa has driven growth and profit across retail and ecommerce channels. Notable collaborations include Dwyane Wade x Godfather's 45th anniversary, Kyrie Irving x Uncle Drew, LeBron James x Space Jam, Barbie’s 60th anniversary, and Tweety Bird's 80th anniversary.
The Globe and Mail has recognized Ugly Dukling Beauty as a top 10 business in Canada. Melissa was even selected by Barbie as one of 60 role models who achieved success in their field and inspires independence, self-acceptance, and reinvention. She was also honoured with the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee award in 2022.
Check out the Ugly Dukling Beauty website to see its latest collaborative launches.
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Bowda Creative Communications
Darcy Boucher, Founder and President of Bowda Creative Communications, started her business while she was covering from a severe injury, which left her unable to walk for over six months.
She was keen to work and decided to try her hand at entrepreneurship for the first time, which enabled her to adapt her work to her physical limitations as she recovered. Well before remote work was the norm, Darcy created a digital marketing agency where work could be done from anywhere.
Darcy continues to deal with chronic pain and arthritis since her injury and is also a mother of young children—making balancing the responsibilities of a solopreneur even more difficult. As she explains, “Digital marketing is a fast-paced industry and if you get off the hamster wheel, even for a valid reason, it's hard to get back on and be top of mind again.”
However, Darcy has made incredible progress since she first set out as a solopreneur back in 2013, with Bowda Creative Communications boasting over 46 happy clients that it has provided creative marketing and communications solutions to.
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The Wise Self Psychotherapy Clinic
Noticing a need for more mental health support during the COVID-19 pandemic, Milly Feliz was driven to launch a virtual psychotherapy clinic that would help those looking to heal.
The Wise Self Psychotherapy Clinic is committed to delivering high-quality care to clients who are looking to learn effective coping strategies, enhance their recovery, and ensure the maintenance of their well-being. All clinicians are carefully selected based on their level of experience, knowledge, and their capacity to provide cultural competence in their therapeutic approach.
Registered psychotherapists are also able to offer free counselling and psychotherapy services to those covered under Mevadie Blue Cross and have refugee status. Thanks to a collaborative partnership with virtual platform Psychotherapy Matters, The Wise Self Psychotherapy Clinic is able to significantly reduce the wait times clients typically experience when seeking support, making it more accessible and less stressful.
Milly takes great pride in providing comprehensive virtual mental health support, but especially the type of support that breaks so many of the barriers that often prevent patients from getting started. Learn more about The Wise Self Psychotherapy Clinic through its website and consider booking a consultation if you’re ready to enhance your well-being.
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Monarch Tea Co.
Katie Cyr started Monarch Tea Co. as a side passion and ran it while working a full-time job for seven years. In 2021, she decided to register the business as a corporation and took the then-daunting leap into full-time entrepreneurship–and it paid off!
In the same year, Monarch Tea Co. grossed over $180,000 in sales and started to expand its partnerships with retailers. You can now find Monarch Tea Co. in more than 20 retailers across Ontario and in over 15 cafes and restaurants.
Katie has also made it a part of the Monarch Tea Co. brand mission to share her love of tea with the world through interactive workshops. The company’s tea sommeliers have led educational sessions like Tea & Chocolate, Tea 101, and Tea Blending for clients that include Google, Spotify, Facebook, and Loblaws.
You can order premium loose-leaf teas and more online, sign up for a workshop with friends, or plan a corporate event.
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Digital 55
Lauralee Sheehan runs Digital 55, an award-winning company that’s made up of designers, developers, content producers, and media experts who take pride in producing content and learning experiences that focus on critical thinking and complex storytelling.
With a diverse background that includes working on film sets, being a musician, and an indie label entrepreneur over the past two decades, Lauralee was excited to take the next step in her growth with the launch of Digital 55. The company’s commitment to purposeful digital and media-based content has enabled it to take on an impressive roster of partners, such as PowerEDTM by Athabasca University, Digital Wellness Institute (DWI), Ontario Arts Council (OAC), and Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC).
More recently, the company even started a division for original and unscripted content, along with a distribution division that will provide even more potential for scalability.
Visit the Digital 55 website to learn more about the compelling content and learning experiences Lauralee and her company are working on.
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Boardball
As managing director and partner of a Toronto-based digital marketing agency, Amanda Nguyen is widely known as a leader who’s quick to accomplish her goals.
So when she and her friends were looking to play volleyball but didn’t have access to the space or equipment that’s required, she invented Boardball, a new sport that eliminates these barriers. But she didn’t stop innovating there. Once videos of Amanda and her friends playing Boardball outside Toronto’s Harbourfront went viral, she established Boardball Inc. in response to those wondering how they could join in.
Though the company was only launched in 2021, it already provides equipment to customers in over 40 U.S. states and 10 Canadian provinces. As Amanda’s team explains, “Boardball is not only a new sport, it's a lifestyle brand and community people want to be a part of. This wouldn’t have been possible without Amanda's vision. She’s done it all, including brand and product development, go-to-market strategy, marketing, overseeing logistics and supply chain, managing sales and vendor deals, and community development.”
Head to Boardball’s site to get everything you need to play, and see why the accessible sport has caught on so quickly.
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Unparalleled Beauty
When Bilan Hassan founded Unparalleled Beauty, she was guided by a dedication to make the beauty industry more inclusive and diverse.
As she explains, “[The world] is more cognizant than ever of how proper representation and diversity is critical in all fields. The beauty industry is no different. With Black women spending nearly nine times more than our non-Black counterparts on beauty products, Unparalleled Beauty's mission is to bridge the gaps and ensure that we are represented in every single capacity.”
Though Bilan knew the industry needed to evolve, she took a huge risk in bringing her vision to fruition. Like in the beauty industry, she also noticed a clear lack of representation in the business world as a Black, Muslim woman. But despite a lack of available funding and the pressure of those who doubted her, she pushed through.
Unparalleled Beauty offers a growing range of products that help all women feel like their best selves–and all at accessible prices. Shop them online, and make sure you sign up for their rewards program to start collecting points!
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Bloom
Avery Francis, Founder and CEO of Bloom, created the full-service workplace design consultancy to help companies implement impactful and equitable hiring practices. As Avery's team explains, "Bloom is entirely bootstrapped with no outside investors or owners. [It] was created [to solve] Avery's negative experiences at work".
Driven by Avery's commitment to change, Bloom's revenue and operations have doubled year over year—which even captured the attention of GirlBoss, who invited Avery to host the latest season of its popular podcast, GirlBoss Radio. Avery's also been featured in Forbes and was named one of Betakit's Top 40 Women in Tech.
Guided by the idea that "work should work for all of us," she leads Bloom and its clients with a human-centered approach—reinvesting in her team and their growth, and putting their well-being above the company's bottom line. For Bloom's internal structure, this includes a four-day work week, "right to rest" leave, as well as a menstrual budget that team members are welcome to utilize.
Connect with Bloom to build a workplace that puts its people first and tune in to GirlBoss Radio's latest episodes.
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Zuleeats
Before launching Zuleeats, Zule Ankamah arrived in Canada from Ghana and was working midnights as a table games manager at a casino to support her four children and ensure she could be available for her daughter with a disability.
When pandemic lockdowns put her job on hold, Zule’s kids encouraged her to start an “Instagram business” to share her Ghanaian meat pies, which were a family favourite. At first, she planned to sell the pies to family and friends while awaiting the casino to reopen, but as time went on and lockdowns continued, the word spread and Zule was asked to be a vendor at a local farmers market. As her business continued to grow, she decided to register it, began renting space in a commercial kitchen, and started marketing.
Zule has since been the recipient of the She Inspires award by the University of Windsor Epicentre, has won Best African Food in Windsor through multiple media outlets, and was recognized as one of the Top 100 Black Women in Canada to Watch.
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Rabbittown Beverage Co.
When Stefanie Loukes was asked to share the story of Rabbittown Beverage Co. on Dragon’s Den, she panicked. She wasn’t sure where to start, so she told the “easy story,” not the difficult one.
In reality, Stefanie was navigating a whole new world with her partner, who was battling stage III colon cancer. While balancing medical appointments, raising two twin girls, maintaining a home, and going to work exhausted, she was starting a company from the ground up during the pandemic.
Despite the rollercoaster she’s been on, Stefanie continues to expand the alcohol- and sugar-free functional beverage brand while ensuring her business always reflects her values – even donating proceeds to The Canadian Cancer Society. Rabbittown Beverage Co.’s beverages are available online and in select stores in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.
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Hop Skip Media
Ameet Khabra’s Hop Skip Media is an online marketing agency that specializes in pay per click advertising and works alongside small and medium-sized businesses to grow their revenue through lead generation and direct sales through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Google.
Though she now receives messages almost daily from other women who say she’s the reason they decided to continue to pursue their passion in the industry, it wasn’t easy for Ameet to break into it. As she explains, “I am a woman of colour in an extremely white and male-dominated industry. When I first began freelancing, I was laughed out of rooms and told that there was no way that I could do this. Oftentimes, I would go up against other agencies for contracts and lose them, only to end up white labelling for that agency and working on the account that should have been mine.”
The small but mighty team at Hop Skip Media combines over 55 years of marketing experience, 23 of which are specifically dedicated to paid advertising.
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Field Notes
Faaiza Ramji founded Field Notes to connect the hidden gems of Alberta’s agriculture to the world. Calling upon her South Asian heritage and her love of Canadian culture, Faaiza shares her appreciation for all the good that can come from our own backyards.
Field Notes’ first product, Don’t Call Me Sweet Pea, is an amaro that’s made with distilled field peas and flavoured by botanicals grown in Edmonton–making it the first company in North America to use peas as a primary distillate in a flavoured liqueur.
Like so many entrepreneurs, one of the greatest obstacles Faaiza faced was overcoming her own self-doubt and vulnerability. And though she’s also had difficulty finding funding and partnerships as a young woman of colour in the Canadian prairies, she’s set on achieving her vision–even when that means redirecting her strategies and accepting that growth takes time.
Pick up a bottle at your neighbourhood shop if you’re in Alberta or show support by snagging some Field Notes merch!
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Siempre Eco
Rabia Dhanani founded Siempre Eco to bridge the gap between affordability and sustainability in home goods and wellness.
With just $500 in her savings account when she immigrated to Canada, she created her first beeswax wraps to provide an eco-friendly solution to the plastic wraps that continuously fill our landfills. After months of experimenting, she perfected the product, captured some shots to showcase it, and set up a website with the help of YouTube tutorials. If that wasn't challenging enough, she also launched her bootstrapped business at the peak of the pandemic—which required her to pivot her strategy multiple times as she learned to navigate these challenges.
All that work paid off, and Siempre Eco now offers dozens of sustainable products that help its customers lead sustainable lifestyles. You can find them online and in over 50 stores across North America.
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