I don’t typically offer reflections. Mostly because I’m always thinking someone is a better writer or more eloquent than I am in expressing feelings and ideas. But today, I’ve decided to take a leap.
I woke up this morning feeling well-rested and calm as we closed out our last big event this fiscal year for the Start Now Incubator project – Radiant Voices Resilient Ventures. I made coffee and listened to the birdsong awakening to spring on my back deck. A sense of relief as all of our hard work paid off over the last few weeks for this event, but also for the all months prior and the whole previous year in launching this incubator. I decided to sit in the moment, just a little longer and watch the breeze pass through the tree tops, as the light peeked through on a wet grey day. I wanted to share a few gifts I received yesterday.
Firstly, I left our Radiant Voices Resilient Ventures event feeling hopeful, vulnerable, open to new possibilities, to tackling hard and difficult things, to imperfection, to being ready for people and community, to being ok with making mistakes, to perseverance and resilience. I am so grateful to Martina Kelades, professional actor and story teller, mental health activist, and entrepreneur for opening up to us and sharing her journey. Her willingness to let us peek behind the veneer of an actor’s life was a gift. She shared the spiralling pain, healing, and life-altering transformation that came—with a little bit of luck, and led her into becoming an unexpected entrepreneur and an actor. I also appreciated her sharing the difficult steps toward this new path, and the conviction to carry forward, even when perfectionism threatened to hold her back. Her story resonated with me, and I think many women entrepreneurs at our event experience that their journey is not usually straightforward, and typically don’t even set out to be entrepreneurs. We feel something calling to us, a need to provide a solution to the challenges we see before us, the need to provide for our families and ourselves, a way out, or to make a difference. Clamoring for self-agency and purpose, we seek out an entrepreneurial path to reflect our meaning and purpose into this tangible world.
Martina’s story left me in a reflective mood, and Keisha Turner, who I can only describe as one of the most versatile people I know, entrepreneur, athlete, wellness activator led us into a much-needed wellness break. She invited an entire room of people, most of them complete strangers, to stand up and engage our minds and our bodies; to feel proud about who we are and what we are doing, and to feel physically and mentally grounded. We had a chance to connect and move and be ok with a bit of uncertainly and discomfort, and come back to ourselves and our bodies, if only for the briefest moments. As women, as entrepreneurs, we are often burdened by stresses beyond our business ventures and the general uphill battle to realize our business aspirations. Our daily lives, responsibilities for family for parents, for loved ones, the never ending to do list, weigh us down even as we push to advance. In fact, the leading cause of death among women is not breast cancer, it is heart disease. Stress is a leading factor in heart disease. While taking time to rest, especially as a busy entrepreneur, may not seem like a priority, especially when you are just trying to pay the bills and your team, it may actually save your life. Space to connect with ourselves was a gift, at least to me.
As Radiant Voices Resilient Ventures moved into our fireside chat, I had a chance to connect with the audience as the host. I asked our audience who came to our networking event alone, and didn’t know anyone. I was surprised at how many women raised their hands. I was heartened to see that we had created an event and a space where women entrepreneurs, who might never come to business networking events, felt comfortable, welcomed and had access to this activity. We even had someone show up with one of the cutest babies I’ve ever seen! The fact that such a diverse group of women, who didn’t know anyone felt that they could come to an ONSIDE - Start Now Incubator event really moved me. Maybe we are on to something.
Our panel with Gem Roberts (Cold Foam), Elsy Maklouf (LivelyPR) and Mukisa Kakembo (Fem Entity) was energetic and insightful. I really wished I had written down more of their take aways, but I was so caught up in the conversation. A key insight that Elsy left me thinking about, especially for women entrepreneurs, is to figure out if your “side-hustle” is a scalable business or a lifestyle business. They are both valuable, but do your research, market analysis, test your solution, etc. to make sure it’s a viable path for you. How important it is to gain the skills and connections you need to make progress. And also, to protect yourself financially as well as from a wellness perspective so you can actually unlock the value of your business idea. Gem spoke about how she embeds purpose into her accessible laundry and sustainable soap business to make a difference, but one of the key things she did in her rural community was to listen to people. Talk to people before jumping to a solution. This was a good reminder to those of us who charge ahead. Validate your business idea and the market before jumping in. Mukisa talked about their digital platform to support women, as well as the power of collaboration and finding partners and financial resources that can jumpstart your business. And also, the power of hyping-up women-led businesses, which is what Fem Entity is all about.
I am grateful to our funder: ISED- Women Entrepreneur Strategy (WES)
And to all the community partners who helped us spread the word:
o Volta
o Spring
o National Public Relations - Atlantic
o BIPOC BPN
o DMZ
o Tribe
And to our event maverick, Mary, CEO & Founder of Macaw Marketing.
But especially grateful to our small, but mighty ONSIDE team - Kene and Megan who helped all of this come to fruition.
Spring is a time of renewal. As I head into the Easter Weekend, I will take time to reflect and find joy in the small moments, as we navigate our way forward to support as many Canadian women entrepreneurs, especially rural, diverse, intersectional, and underserved women as we can.
--Alex McCann, Executive Director
