Startup Canada Podcast

“At the heart of it, I love gathering. To Kula, we say.” Prepared with love, Asha Wheeldon is the Founder of Kula Foods, where she creates delicious, nourishing, and culturally relevant plant-based foods that connect people back to their roots. Kula Foods is afro veganism for the next generation where East African flavours are at the center of every dish, from Ginger Beef, Goat Curry to BBQ chicken and ribs.  Based in Vancouver BC, Asha’s products can be found at local farmers’ markets, ordered through Doordash, and at various retailers across Vancouver and Toronto.The post Creating Community Through Food with Asha Wheeldon first appeared on Startup Canada.

What a year we have had! Kayla Isabelle, CEO of Startup Canada, takes the mic on the Startup Canada Podcast to reflect on the key events and programs of 2022. Tune in for Kayla’s favourite moments and get a glimpse of what we are planning for 2023.The post 2022 Reflections: A Message From Our CEO first appeared on Startup Canada.

Julia St.Amand is a graduate of the University of Calgary with a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Kinesiology in 2022. She has worked as a pharmacy assistant, strategic sourcing specialist, and Teachers Assistant and currently, is the co-founder of RetinaLogik Inc.  RetinaLogik Inc is based in Calgary Alberta, and is on a mission to make vision screening and care more accessible for everyone. Julia was our first-place winner of our Startup Global pitch competition in October 2022.  “Canada is one of the best places to build a startup. There are so many resources, funding programs, and opportunities to test your idea.” In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Scotiabank, Julia talks about her vision for RetinaLogik, her advice for managing teams, and how she maintains a strong relationship with her co-founder.The post Empathetic Leadership with Julia St.Amand first appeared on Startup Canada.

David Gaylord is the current Chief Executive Officer at Bushbalm, a skincare and technology brand focused solely on the bikini line. After spending 7+ years at Shopify he took his ecommerce expertise to launch Bushbalm direct-to-consumer where they grew rapidly, launching in Indigo, Whole Foods, Holt Renfrew and more. The brand is now expanding its channel strategy with over 1,000 waxing salons already carrying the product, and will be launching in a major retailer. Rachel Kerr is the Director of Brand and Sales at Bushbalm Skincare and the company’s first employee. Rachel honed her PR and marketing skills at both Giant Tiger and Hyatt Hotels and since joining Bushbalm overhauled the brand while fostering a community that normalizes common skin irritations that are often ignored by mainstream beauty. “If we see something is working, we will try it five more times. Shorter clip, different caption, different image.” In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Scotiabank, Rachel & David dive into how they’ve built their DTC brand, how they lean in to talking about taboo topics, and how they’re leveraging TikTok in their marketing strategy.The post Taboo Topics Make For Viral Products with Rachel Kerr and David Gaylord first appeared on Startup Canada.

“You have to connect with people on an emotional level – that is the business of music” Vel Omazic co-founded Canada’s Music Incubator in 2011 and has been CMI’s executive director ever since. Canada’s Music Incubator provides customized professional development, live performance opportunities and ongoing mentorship to emerging artists, managers and industry professionals across all genres of music. Vel has worked in the Canadian music industry for three decades, which has included roles such as Vice-President of National Promotion and Media Relations for Sony Music Canada. Vel is also on the Advisory Board for Toronto Metropolitan University’s Music Den, a hub for music tech and next generation music companies, and an advisor for Platform’s Music Tech Accelerator program (Reverb) in Calgary. Vel is also on the Advisory Board for Gatecrash Music’s AMPLIFY Incubator in Mumbai, India, which is modelled after CMI.  In this week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Scotiabank, Vel dives into his multi-decade career within the corporate side of music, his transition into non-profit and entrepreneurship, and his advice for artists.The post Investing in Artists with Vel Omazic first appeared on Startup Canada.

“If employees feel unseen or under-appreciated, it can have devastating effects.” With over 20 years of experience as a founder, leader, and innovator, Muni is passionate about pushing the boundaries of technology to advance the human experience. Kudos allows teams to provide peer-to-peer recognition to acknowledge contributions, accomplishments, and behaviours that align with their culture and values. In 2022, Kudos was named the best place to work in Canada by Human Resources Director (HRD) Canada. Prior to Kudos, Muni led the creation of award-winning technology and design solutions for clients throughout Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and Mexico. Muni has been listed as the lead inventor on numerous international patents, including the Digital Vinyl® CD that was acquired by Verbatim. A background in architecture was the spark that ignited Muni’s professional career specializing in product, user experience, brand, and strategy. His dedication to creating innovations and models, which embrace diversity; foster unity and culture; and enhance human performance, has led Kudos to be a disruptive force in the employee engagement industry. This week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Scotiabank, is part of our mental health takeover for mental health awareness month. In this episode, we discuss employee engagement, empowering your team, and how to recognize and celebrate your teams to prevent burn out.The post Empowered Teams are Motivated Teams with Muni Boga first appeared on Startup Canada.

”University of Toronto is where Insulin was discovered. I believe we can find the same discoveries for the brain too! Why not?”  Dr. Daphne Voineskos is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and is a Clinician Scientist and psychiatrist at the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention at CAMH. She also is the Medical Lead of the rTMS Clinic at the Poul Hansen Family Depression Centre at UHN. Dr. Voineskos’ scientific impact is advancing and personalizing investigational and therapeutic brain stimulation techniques in treatment-refractory psychiatric disorders.   Dr. Voineskos has recently been named the Labatt Family Professor in Depression Biology at the University of Toronto. Her early international reputation for her research and scientific potential has been recognized locally, by the Department of Psychiatry, provincially by the prestigious John C. Polanyi Prize in Physiology/Medicine, and internationally by the American Psychiatric Association. She is principal investigator or co-investigator on multiple federally and philanthropically funded studies to optimize and personalize brain stimulation delivery and is a committed mentor and supervisor to graduate students and medical trainees. Dr. Voineskos’ research program is focused on the neurobiological mechanisms and abnormalities in depression, with the translational goal of integrating these scientific findings into clinical care   This week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Scotiabank, is part of our mental health takeover for mental health awareness month. In this episode, we discuss Dr. Voineskos’ work and research in mental health and how she sees the mental health landscape evolving in the coming years for Canadians.The post Powerful Mental Health Discoveries with Dr. Daphne Voineskos first appeared on Startup Canada.

“Once I realized that music was such a healing force for myself, I dug into that. Our goal and dream are to unlock every benefit that music can bring to the mental health space.” Aaron Labbé is the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of LUCID, an AI digital music therapy startup. He is a Canada Council award-winning artist with a background in psychoacoustics research & audio engineering. After facing severe mental health battles in his youth, Aaron developed the initial concept for LUCID during his thesis in New Media and Computational Art at Ryerson University. LUCID is working to revolutionize mental health through the power of music and machine learning. Their mission is to transform music into medicine, and create a more empathetic approach to mental health care through personalized music-based interventions. Aaron is the recipient of several Canada Council awards. He has guest lectured at Ryerson University, and spoken at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto, Dutch Design Week, Toronto Interior Design Show, and Wallifornia Music Tech. This week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Scotiabank,  is part of our mental health takeover for mental health awareness month! In this episode, we discuss unlocking the power of music to achieve positive mental health outcomes. The post Softening the Mental Health Space Through Music with Aaron Labbé first appeared on Startup Canada.

“When it comes to mental health and entrepreneurship, the people you surround yourself with are critical. Are they positive influences?” Purdeep Sangha is a business and personal advisor to top CEOs and entrepreneurs around the world. He’s considered a top authority in business and personal performance enhancement as he shares his expertise as the cohost of the newest TV show “Mind Your Own Business.” Ryan Benoit is the owner of The Positive Inception, a clothing brand he created to allow people to be more positive and to help them gain a different perspective on life. The goal and mission of The Positive Inception is to remind people about the amazing things in life and to try and make the world we live in easier for people and more positive.  This week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Scotiabank, is part of our mental health takeover for mental health awareness month! In this episode we discuss how both of their businesses are opening up the conversation around mental health and their advice for entrepreneurs when navigating mental health.The post Mindsets Influence Mental Health with Purdeep Sangha and Ryan Benoit first appeared on Startup Canada.

“I did not want to be tokenized. I wanted to be utilized for my brain, my capacity, and my experiences. I wanted to help him achieve the agenda we had set for Canadians.”  Celina Caesar-Chavannes is a business consultant, coach and international speaker, who currently serves part time as the Senior Advisor of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives and Adjunct Lecturer at Queen’s University. Celina is an author and her memoir ‘Can You Hear Me Now?” was selected as a finalist for the 2021 Shaughnessy Cohen prize for political writing and a book award finalist for the Speaker of Ontario Legislature. Celina was the former Member of Parliament for Whitby, Parliamentary Secretary to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Parliamentary Secretary for International Development. During her term as a Member of Parliament, Celina was awarded several distinctions including a feature in the April 2018 edition of O (Oprah Winfrey) Magazine entitled, “What would you stand up for and named Chatelaine Magazine’s Woman of the Year (2019).  Celina has a Bachelor of Science, an MBA in Healthcare Management, an Executive MBA from the Rotman School of Management and is currently enrolled in a neuroscience PhD program at Queen’s University exploring the intersection of empathy, leadership and equity.  This week’s episode of the #StartupCanadaPodcast, sponsored by Mastercard and Scotiabank,  is part of our mental health takeover for mental health awareness month! We will discuss Celina’s journey with mental health, her passion for diversity and inclusion, and experience working in politics and writing her book.The post Spearheading Change Through Passion with Celina Caesar-Chavannes first appeared on Startup Canada.