The Brand is Female

Julietta Dexter is the Founder and CEO of The Communications Store, London’s leading agency specializing in fashion, luxury, beauty and lifestyle PR Julietta founded TCS 25 years ago, and her clients have included global and UK top brands, among them Net-a-porter, Burberry, the House of Versace, McQueen, Anya Hindmarch, Emilia Wickstead, Charlotte Tillbury, Goop, Glossier and more. Julietta and her team have played a huge role in launching and supporting growth for these brands and others. TCS recently expanded across the pond and now has offices in New York and Los Angeles. Over the years, Julietta has mentored and helped developed generations of PR professionals; she is known as an inspirational leader who puts human qualities at the top of the list— she is deeply respected and admired by anyone who has crossed her path.Julietta and host Eva Hartling spoke about the reality of being a woman at the helm of a business and the challenges that come with the job (don’t miss her sharing how she deals with mansplaining and bullies). We also spoke about career and personal growth, leadership, finding balance in life, and how success has nothing to do with money in the bank.

Vicky Milner is the co-founder and President of CAFA, the Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards. CAFA celebrates outstanding achievement and emerging talent in the Canadian fashion industry.Prior to co-founding CAFA, Vicky worked in a number of industries including fashion retail, music, entertainment, and nonprofit management. She set out to create CAFA six years ago when she realized there was a gap in the market. The platform she helped create has since recognized and awarded the country’s top established and emerging talent, making CAFA the leading Canadian recognition in the field of fashion.We’re now a month away from CAFA 2019 and we sat down with Vicky to talk about her vision for the awards, the state of Canada’s fashion industry, how we can do our part to support local designers and what it means for one’s personal balance to be a busy mom running a successful fashion award platform.

In honour of 420 and Earth Day taking place over this long weekend, we are celebrating with a bonus episode featuring the only woman to be CEO of a publicly-traded cannabis company: Alison Gordon from 48North.Alison considers 48North to be more than just a licensed cannabis producer in Canada; she sees the company as a wellness organization, bringing the benefits of cannabinoids to consumers everywhere. Listen to Eva Hartling's conversation with a woman who is definitely shattering glass ceilings.

Today is April 20, yes, that means 420. Given that Canada has recently legalized cannabis, we are celebrating with highlighting women who are doing amazing things in this growing sector, pun intended. Now, it’s important to note that the cannabis industry is still male-dominated — if you’ve attended any industry events or panels, you’ll usually notice a lineup of white men on stage.Because we want to see that change, this weekend we are featuring interviews with inspiring women in the industry - in this episode you’ll hear from Sarah Gillin, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Olli Brands, a new player in the cannabis industry that focuses on CBD-infused healthy, accessible and natural edibles. Olli Brands products are about to hit market and include everything from teas to chocolates and other delicious treats. The interview was done a little while ago and you’ll hear Sarah talk about the facility they plan on building - the good news is that construction has now taken place and Olli is just about ready to be available to consumers.

Shannon Hamblin is a scriptwriter, director and producer based in Los Angeles. Shannon co-wrote what was named the 3rd best X-Files episode of all times (that would be season 11 episode 7!).She has been working closely with Glen Morgan (Executive Producer of the X-Files) since 2013 when he discovered a feature script she wrote. Shannon worked with Morgan as writers/showrunner's assistant on Amazon's series "LORE". Prior to that, she produced two feature films after working several years in production.She is now wrapping up post-production on her debut short film "Texas 2 Step" which she wrote, directed, and produced; it’s planned to be released in the fall of 2019.Shannon spoke to host Eva Hartling about the realities of being a female writer/director/producer in Hollywood; how she finally found her voice as a director working on her latest film… and about her definition of success, which she sums up with the following: “Success is not a place that you end up at; it’s not a hotel that you check into. It’s a long, bumpy winding road that never ends. There is no place at the end of it.”Visit Shannon’s website if you’d like to know more about her and all of her exciting projects!

Brooke G., (known as @everydayexpert on Instagram) runs the Heal Hive, a platform for wellness and health advocacy which focuses on evidence-based holistic healing. Based in California, Brooke is a survivor of Lyme disease; an illness which almost claimed her life and which she cured using bee venom therapy. Today Brooke runs Heal Hive retreats to help individuals suffering from Lyme disease and other chronic illness. Brooke’s mantra? “Test, don’t guess”.Brooke now also uses bee venom as a fertility treatment, after research has proven how effective the protocol is to increase fertility and reverse hormone depletion. In her own words, “bees may be small but they sure are mighty”.

Stephanie Kersta and Carolyn Plater founded Hoame, a meditation and mindfulness space in downtown Toronto that offers dark and light rooms (where meditation workshops take place), a salt cave, an infrared sauna and more. Both founders are psychotherapists who specialize in treating addiction; they dreamed the concept for Hoame after recognizing that our modern stress-filled lifestyle was to blame for the mental health crisis our society faced today and wanted to create a space where taking care of yourself is accepted and celebrated.Stephanie and Carolyn spoke to host Eva Hartling about their experience as clinical psychologists, their path to turning their dream for Hoame into a reality and shared their tips for mindful living.The Brand is Female can enjoy a free 30 or 60-minute class at Hoame using code FEMALELEADS100.

Michelle Bilodeau is a Canadian journalist and Green Beauty Expert. She honed her editorial skills working at some of Canada’s leading lifestyle magazines including Flare and Fashion. Today she makes regular appearances on CTV and CBC, and she collaborates with different publications to provide her expertise on all things green. You can also follow her blog, The-Eco-Edit.com. Michelle realized early on that what we put on our skin can have an effect on our health. She became very aware of this when her father was diagnosed with Leukaemia, an environmental disease, in 2010.In this episode, Michelle shared some of her incredible knowledge in the field of green beauty as well as giving advice on brands she swears by. Visit us on Instagram to see a list of products recommended by Michelle.

Tiffany Sorya is the founder and CEO of Novel Education Group, a homeschooling and tutoring organization based in Los Angeles. Tiffany’s innovative business model has attracted a number of celebrities including Kris Jenner and Dr. Dre thanks to her focus on exploring youth’s creative side while balancing demanding, non-traditional schedules and academic work. She’s had quite the star-studded clientele with Kylie and Kendall Jenner as well as Hailey Baldwin among her past students.Tiffany sees her role as helping the younger generation find value and meaning in an education system that can seem bland and standardized. She aims to enrich the lives of the new generation with the true value of knowledge.She spoke to Eva Hartling about her approach to “making smart stylish again”; the powerful role that teachers have; and how she thinks the new generation of young women is growing up believing that anything is achievable when they put their mind to it.

Our guest this week is Michèle Maheux, outgoing Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Known as the “unsung hero” of what has become one of the global film circuit’s most important festivals, TIFF’s “number two” spent 30 years in leadership roles within the organization and was instrumental in its development, often working behind the scenes. Michèle championed women, both within and outside TIFF, putting a spotlight on women filmmakers and mentoring the next generation of film industry leaders. Listen to her interview where she tells Eva Hartling about her journey in the film industry, the changes she’s seen happen for women over the years — including those brought on by #MeToo; the importance of doing ‘what makes you happy’ and how you learn as much from the bad bosses as you do from the good ones.