

The Brand is Female
The Brand is Female
Hosted by Eva Hartling, The Brand is Female Podcast delves into the narratives of women entrepreneurs, leaders, and trailblazers redefining limits within their respective fields. Our featured guests unveil their unique business odysseys and personal encounters with each episode, igniting inspiration for fellow women as they navigate their journeys toward advancement and achievement. Presented by TD Women in Enterprise.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Mar 21, 2023 • 35min
Tanya Taylor | CEO and Creative Director | The Inclusive Fashion Go-Getter
This week, on the podcast, host Eva Hartling speaks with Tanya Taylor — Founder, Creative Director and CEO of the independent, New York-based fashion label by the same name, which you may very well have spotted at retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom, or on celebrities like Lady Gaga, Michelle Obama, Beyonce and more. Hailing from Toronto, Tanya launched her brand in 2012 after graduating from the Parsons School of Design. At the time, the line was described as “the fashion girl’s answer to Lilly Pulitzer.” In 2017, the brand started offering sizes up to a 22, and still focuses on size inclusivity to this day. Tanya Taylor quickly became a fashion editors’ favourite, and celebrity buy-in followed. If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to start a fashion house from scratch, and what it takes to keep it going and growing in a highly competitive and ever-changing market, you’ll enjoy hearing Tanya’s journey.........This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Mar 14, 2023 • 37min
Kristen Gale | CEO, THE TEN SPOT | Combining Exceptional Service and Efficiency At Fastest Growing One-Stop Beauty Bar
This week, on the podcast, host Eva Hartling speaks with Kristen Gale, CEO of THE TEN SPOT, Canada’s largest and fastest growing beauty bar and retail company. Kristen is the recipient of multiple awards, including Top 40 under 40, Growth 500’s fastest growing companies by Canadian Business and Maclean’s, and PROFIT 500’s fastest growing companies in Canada for numerous years. Over 15 years ago, Kristen saw an opportunity to close the gap existing in the beauty market between lower-end nail shops, and the expensive and often over-the-top spas. She dreamed up an offering that combined the efficiency of the former, with the service excellence of the latter. Kristen successfully targeted the demographic of women aged 18 to 65 with a goal to deliver what all busy women want: a one-stop-shop for getting all of our beauty maintenance services in one “spot”. Today, the rest is history: THE TEN SPOT is now a successful network of beautifully designed studios, both company-owned and franchised, in which customers receive a range of exceptional nail, waxing, eyebrow + eyelash, as well as facial services, and where teams receive a living wage and commissions, benefits, exceptional training, and ongoing educational opportunities.........This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Mar 8, 2023 • 33min
Peggy Whitson | Ex-NASA Astronaut & Ax-2 Space Mission Commander | Give Her Space
Today, on the podcast, to highlight International Women’s Day, host Eva Hartling speaks with Peggy Whitson, the NASA astronaut who has achieved the most days in space for any man or woman in the world. With a total of 665 days in space, Whitson also holds the record for the oldest woman spacewalker and the most spacewalks by a woman. Whitson is a biochemistry researcher and retired NASA astronaut; she is a consultant for Axiom Space, the company building the next International Space Station for which she has been selected to be commander of Axiom Mission 2, the second all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, set to launch in May of this year. On her next space mission, she will become the first female commander of a private space mission, adding to her accomplishment as the first female commander of the ISS, the only woman to serve as ISS commander twice, and the first woman, nonmilitary chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office. Peggy was recognized as TIME 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2018. Please note this episode was recorded before the Ax-2 mission was announced.........This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Mar 7, 2023 • 44min
Anie Rouleau | Founder and CEO, The Unscented Company | The B Corp Entrepreneur Committed to True Purpose
This week, on the podcast, Eva Hartling speaks with Anie Rouleau, Founder and CEO of The Unscented Company, a line of natural, unscented home and body care products that is redefining the notion of clean. As a Certified B Corp, The Unscented Company has been recognized by leading wellness giants from Goop to Whole Foods, and has made it twice onto The Globe and Mail’s list of fastest-growing Canadian companies. Anie Rouleau is an ambassador and pioneer of the B Corp movement in North America’s cleaning products industry and shares her vision of sustainable business by focusing on local sourcing, ethical and female-led management, as well as equal opportunity employment, making her a true changemaker in the business community. In this conversation, you’ll hear why Anie believes a company cannot exist without purpose, and how building a network of die-hard supporters and allies can be easier than we think.........This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Feb 28, 2023 • 33min
Jaime Leverton | CEO, Hut 8 | Women Leaders in Cryptocurrency
This week, on the podcast, host Eva Hartling speaks with Jaime Leverton, CEO of Hut 8 Mining Corp., a digital asset miner launched in 2018, and one of North America’s oldest and largest companies in the crypto mining space with more self-mined bitcoin than any crypto miner or publicly-traded company. Over the past 20 plus years, Jaime has been the driving force behind the operational evolution of some of the most important technology companies, with leadership roles at BlackBerry, Bell Canada, National Bank and IBM Canada. A community leader and changemaker, she is committed to closing the tech gap and increasing leadership opportunities for women in technology. In this conversation, we talk about what it means to be one of the only women at the helm of a cryptocurrency company, and how Jaime has paved her way to leadership since the start of her career.........This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Feb 21, 2023 • 33min
Kate Swanson | Founder and CEO, ENSEMBL | Daring to Disrupt the Cookware Industry
This week, on the podcast, host Eva Hartling speaks with Kate Swanson, a lawyer and entrepreneur and more recently, the founder and CEO of ENSEMBL, a design-forward, modern housewares brand that has disrupted its category and received accolades from the likes of Architectural Digest. With her strong business acumen and background in corporate law, Kate literally bootstrapped ENSEMBL from concept to launch. Before launching her own company, Kate worked as legal counsel and head of policy at FAIR Canada, an organization dedicated to protecting minority investor rights and addressing corporate governance matters of public interest, and worked for a leading global law firm. Kate’s legal experience advising on both transactional and governance matters helped prepare her for her jump to entrepreneurship. If you’re interested in purchasing ENSEMBL for yourself, check out getensembl.com and use code FEMALE15 for 15% off your purchase.........This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Feb 14, 2023 • 46min
Jan Frolic | Co-Founder, Captains & Poets | Building Authentic Curriculums
This week, on the podcast, host Eva Hartling speaks with Jan Frolic, a social entrepreneur who has spent the last decade working in gender diversity, equity, and inclusion. Formerly an executive at Women of Influence, Jan is now applying her experience and learnings to her new global education company. Jan’s new venture, Captains & Poets, is a global education platform for Kindergarten to Grade 12. It empowers young people with an inner compass for navigating the world around them, and fosters a sense of connection and belonging and a positive sense of agency in the world.........This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Feb 7, 2023 • 41min
Jen Govier | Founder, HUX | The Camel Toe Gap
This week, Eva Hartling speaks with Jen Govier, founder of HUX, an underwear brand with the mission to end the dreaded camel toe, and provide women with a level of comfort never matched before. When founder Jen caught sight of her camel toe while working out, her own embarrassment put her on a mission to solve this problem for all women. After searching the market Jen realized that the perfect camel toe concealing underwear just didn’t exist. HUX is the evolution in women’s undies, proudly designed in Canada with a patent pending. HUX is proud to have been recognized as TechAlliance Limitless People’s Choice Award winner honouring a standout entrepreneur in the innovation space. To build her brand, Jen has drawn from her experience as a Senior Regional Manager at TD Wealth Financial Planning, a position where she leads a team of passionate and dedicated Financial Planners.........This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Jan 31, 2023 • 34min
Marilyne Gagné | President, Dermapure | Achieving Growth Responsibly
Welcome to a new season of The Brand is Female podcast! This week, host Eva Hartling welcomes Marilyne Gagné, Founder and President of Dermapure, Canada’s leading network of high-end aesthetic medicine clinics. Marilyne launched Dermapure 13 years ago, growing the brand from a single clinic in Sherbrooke, Quebec to a network of 68 clinics coast to coast, partly through a recent merger. An industry pioneer who leads by example, Marilyne is aiming to redefine industry standards, challenging how we approach non-surgical practices and how these services get promoted to women, all the while favouring responsibility and education, around her concept of “gym for the skin”. Marilyne Gagné founded Dermapure in 2009, drawing from her significant experience in the non-surgical aesthetic medicine market. Marilyne’s venture, along with her partners, has attracted the attention of power players including L’Oreal and the LVMH-backed L Catterton Fund, who have both invested in Dermapure’s recent partnership.........This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Dec 20, 2022 • 44min
Ara Katz | Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Seed Health | Exploring the Importance and Impact of Microbes on Our Health
This week on the podcast, we are re-airing our episode with Ara Katz, co-founder and co-CEO of Seed Health. Seed Health pioneers applications of microbes for our health and is known for their probiotic products for gut health. At Seed Health, Ara wears many hats from fundraising, design thinking, brand, insights and more, and she is at the helm of the company’s work when it comes to science, communication and storytelling. It was Ara’s breastfeeding experience that led her to explore the importance and impact of microbes. Ara was a fellow at the MIT Media Lab’s Centre for Future Storytelling and was listed in Marie Claire’s “The New Guard: The 50 Most Influential Women in America”, as well as Business Insider’s “Silicon Alley Top 100” and “36 Rockstar Women in NYC Tech.” She is also the author of A Kids Book About Your Microbiome.........This season of our podcast is brought to you by TD Canada Women in Enterprise. TD is proud to support women entrepreneurs and help them achieve success and growth through its program of educational workshops, financing and mentorship opportunities! Find out how you can benefit from their support! Visit: TBIF: thebrandisfemale.com // TD Women in Enterprise: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business // Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale