The Brand is Female

Would you be brave enough to share your own struggles with mental health, if it meant helping just one other person? Meet Carole Dagher, VP of Legal at Loblaw Group of Companies in Toronto, as well as mental health patient at CAMH. Through her own journey, Carole has become a mental health advocate for the organization. Born and raised in Lebanon, she came to Canada at the age of 13. She started her law career practicing in the Capital Markets group at a top-tier New York law firm, then spending over a decade in progressively senior legal roles in the financial services industry. Carole’s mental health journey started when she was diagnosed with post-partum after the birth of her daughter, and you will hear her tell the rest of her story in this interview. Trigger warning: please be advised this episode includes discussions of mental distress and trauma. This episode, along with several more this month, is presented in partnership with CAMH and womenmind™, a community of philanthropists and thought leaders tackling the unique gender issues that underrepresented people face when it comes to their mental health. Women’s mental health is a challenge on two main fronts: first, we experience depression, anxiety, and trauma to a greater extent than men, and next, women in science face biases as they work to advance their careers. An initiative like womenmind™ is critical to address the gender inequities we face in this area. Find out more about CAMH and womenmind™. If you or someone you know is thinking of suicide, they can call 1-833-456-4566. If they require immediate care, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.This season of The Brand is Female is brought to you by TD Bank - Women Entrepreneurs. 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 Entrepreneurs: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business //Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Hajer Nakua is a mental health researcher and advocate for Muslim women in STEM. She uses her online platforms to share the latest research about mental health and neuroscience with her North American and Middle Eastern followers, in both English and Arabic. Currently a Ph.D. candidate studying neuroscience, her research uses brain imaging technology to get a better understanding of mental health and psychiatric conditions in patients. Through her research, Hajer hopes to uncover biological markers specific to different mental illnesses to help with treatment and diagnosis. Hajer is especially interested in the special attributes that make each of us unique, including as it relates to our brain and mental illness. You can feel the passion that Hajer has for her work in this fascinating conversation with host Eva Hartling. This episode, along with several more this month, is presented in partnership with CAMH and womenmind™, a community of philanthropists and thought leaders tackling the unique gender issues that underrepresented people face when it comes to their mental health. Women’s mental health is a challenge on two main fronts: first, we experience depression, anxiety, and trauma to a greater extent than men, and next, women in science face biases as they work to advance their careers. An initiative like womenmind™ is critical to address the gender inequities we face in this area. Find out more about CAMH and womenmind™. If you or someone you know is thinking of suicide, they can call 1-833-456-4566. If they require immediate care, call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.This season of The Brand is Female is brought to you by TD Bank - Women Entrepreneurs. 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 Entrepreneurs: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business //Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Soraya Chemaly is an award-winning journalist and author whose writing appears regularly in media around the world. Her work centres around defining what it means to be a woman in a world built by men. Her narrative skill, careful research, and humorous tone have been described by the New Yorker as "relentless and revelatory." In her book, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Anger, Soraya uses these skills to offer a critical look at the social construction of anger and its effects on women's lives. Soraya and host Eva Hartling share an invigorating conversation about why women should be angry, the 'steps backward' we have taken when it comes to gender equity, which has now been further amplified by the impact of the pandemic, and the many other nuances of living in the 'boxes' that society has created for women.This season of The Brand is Female is brought to you by TD Bank - Women Entrepreneurs. 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 Entrepreneurs: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business //Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Have you met the woman behind the vegan shoe? Meet Tina Bhojwani, co-founder and CEO of fashion brand AERA. A high-powered fashion executive for over 2 decades, her resume includes leadership roles at global fashion brands like Donna Karan, Theory and Dolce & Gabbana. Over the course of her tenure in the industry, she came to recognize the need for change as both a business imperative and a human one. That's why she created sustainable footwear brand AERA. The company's mission is to address environmental and social challenges, with a goal to redefine what we know as the status-quo. In this episode, you'll hear Tina and host Eva Hartling discuss challenges she faces as a pioneer for eco-friendly materials, how her human approach is shaking up the luxury space and what this strategy can mean in terms of impact on the planet.This season of The Brand is Female is brought to you by TD Bank - Women Entrepreneurs. 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 Entrepreneurs: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business //Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Dr. Britt Wray, PhD and post-doctoral fellow, is a globally-renowned expert on Climate Crisis Dread, studying the link between mental health and the eco-crisis. Between her newsletter, aptly named Gen Dread, her broadcasting gigs, and her books (both published and soon to be published), Dr. Wray is an authority on staying sane while facing the climate crisis. In this episode, Britt and host Eva Hartling cover the intersection of feminism and climate issues, how the pandemic has effectively reprogrammed the DNA of our global consciousness, and how racial and health inequities have been amplified by the pandemic; revealing how broken our system truly is. Want to hear more from Britt? Tune into BBC podcast's Tomorrow's World, where she co-hosts alongside Ellie Cosgrave. No stranger to science broadcasting, her resume also includes hosting CBC Radio’s national science show: Quirks and Quarks. Her production credits include the likes of numerous other programs for CBC, NPR, and celebrated podcasts such as Love and Radio. Britt is an Associate Partner at Dare Disrupt and is currently directing an interactive documentary series with the National Film Board of Canada. She has also hosted with CBC The Nature of Things on a feature TV documentary, The Nature of Invention. This season of The Brand is Female is brought to you by TD Bank - Women Entrepreneurs. 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 Entrepreneurs: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business //Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Erin Beatty is a well-known name in the fashion world. You may know her from the former globally successful womenswear label Suno, but do you know what really transpired after the brand’s closure? Picture this, it’s 2016, Donald Trump has just been elected President of the United States, and you’re still healing from the emotional strain of dealing with the broken system that is the fashion industry. Erin found herself at an all-time low, trying to figure out what was next and how she could contribute to the world of fashion in a meaningful way. That’s when she turned her focus to vintage garments, and her new fashion line, Rentrayage, was born. In this episode, host Eva Hartling and Erin discuss the challenges facing today’s fashion and lifestyle businesses, the pressure placed on women founders to not only be in the spotlight, but to be content creators- 24/7, and why she chose a slower life; a decision that took her from the bustling streets of Manhattan to the quiet countryside in Connecticut.This season of The Brand is Female is brought to you by TD Bank - Women Entrepreneurs. 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 Entrepreneurs: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business //Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Dr Cara Miller has held several roles in the fields of leadership, organizational change, spiritual and adult development. She has taught at the University of San Diego and for Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education; and while today she does less teaching and more consulting and coaching, she is an expert when it comes to helping leaders unlock their full potential, in the workplace and as humans in general. In this episode, Dr Miller addresses today’s often toxic corporate culture (something host Eva Hartling knows a thing or two about) and speaks of obstacles women specifically can overcome, by shifting their mindset to access the opportunities ahead of them. If you’ve wondered about what’s wrong with today’s work culture, or asked yourself how you can be a conscious leader, this episode is for you.This season of The Brand is Female is brought to you by TD Bank - Women Entrepreneurs. 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 Entrepreneurs: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business //Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Marissa Freed is the President of FREED and FREED, a Canadian garment manufacturer founded over 100 years ago. Since taking over the reins from her father, Marissa has made FREED evolve to offer an array of new products — their teddy coat has been quite the editorial favourite these past few winters, among other pieces. When facing the start of the Covid pandemic, Marissa led her team through a pivot (forgive us the use of the dreaded word) and literally started to produce PPE, including masks, for frontline workers as well as consumers. Marissa wanted to be able to give back to the community and decided to partner with Indigo Arrows, a Winnnipeg-based Anishinaabe design company. The two brands created a limited edition mask collaboration, with a portion of profits benefiting an organization offering support to Indigenous communities. Listen to Marissa’s journey as an entrepreneur and as a mom; even though she didn’t imagine she’d follow in her father’s footsteps one day and take over the reins of the family’s business, she’s definitely putting her mark on the the FREED brand today.This season of The Brand is Female is brought to you by TD Bank - Women Entrepreneurs. 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 Entrepreneurs: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business //Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Sinead Bovell made the transition from Fashion Model to Futurist, Speaker, Youth Tech Leader and Founder of WAYE, a platform that aims to bridge the gap between young entrepreneurs and the digital future. She has spoken on this topic at the UN, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on technology and the future and she’s guest-lectured at pretty impressive establishments including Cornell University, on topics ranging from entrepreneurship to the future of work. Sinead is Canadian but now calls New York City home.Sinead spoke to host Eva Hartling about the future and what opportunities lie ahead for young women while addressing the obstacles we still need to overcome.This season of The Brand is Female is brought to you by TD Bank - Women Entrepreneurs. 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 Entrepreneurs: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business //Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale

Anne Martel is the co-founder of Element AI, a Montreal-based AI startup that was deemed an almost overnight success—it was backed by some of the world’s biggest AI companies and it raised hundreds of millions of dollars from the likes of Microsoft and Intel, among others. In the fall of 2020, it was announced that Element AI had been sold to an IT services company, making it Anne’s second successful exit as an entrepreneur.The Brand is Female Host Eva Hartling speaks to Anne about what it’s like to be one of the elusive women in tech, about how the tech and the investment industries are evolving to make space for female leaders and about what still makes it so challenging for women in the startup space. This season of The Brand is Female is brought to you by TD Bank - Women Entrepreneurs. 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 Entrepreneurs: td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business //Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/thebrandisfemale