Founders Collective

Two Saturdays ago, I had the pleasure of being invited to attend the first Founders Collective. The organizer, Meredith Powell, asked me to design a logo for the event in exchange for a ticket (the logo didn’t end up getting used because there wasn’t quite enough time to refine it). I really wasn’t sure what to expect but it ended up being one of the most inspiring days I’ve spent in a long time. The tagline of the Founder Collective is ‘Behind every successful woman are a lot of other women.’ The conference, which was part panel discussion, part Ted talk, was on the subject of women entrepreneurs. There was nary a man in sight, except for the videographer and one of the presenters’ fathers who came to see her speak (how adorable, is that?!), but it wasn’t one of those woo-woo lady power events. It was simply about successful business women and some of the issues and differences we have in business.

Highlights of the day included Emira Mears’ talk about success and why we absolutely must celebrate it; a talk on networking by Christy Louth, who has the impressive title of Executive Director of the Clinton Giustra Initiative and Maninder Dhaliwal’s talk (Maninder is the Director at the Vancouver Board of Trade). I also met some really amazing, up-and-coming entrepreneurs, like Katie Jeans of HelenJean.

I will definitely be attending again next year. If you’re a female entrepreneur (or a male one, I don’t think it’s women-only!), I’d highly recommend the Founders Collective next year. Had I paid for my ticket this year, I would have thought that it was well worth the price (which included a delicious breakfast, lunch and Prosecco, might I add). It’s a wonderful event to inspire you!