Canada’s Entrepreneur

Pavel Bains is the CEO of Bluzelle - the decentralized database for the new internet. He is an expert in digital media having worked with Disney, Microsoft, Warners Bros, and DreamWorks. Pavel is also a frequent contributor to Forbes, Huffington Post and Fast Company, writing articles in the areas of finance and digital media. In less than one year he led Bluzelle to doing projects with the world’...

Zeeshan Hayat is the CEO and Co-founder of Prizm Media Inc. , a digital health agency that services some of the fastest growing mail-order pharmacies and durable medical equipment providers in North America. His new start-up, Kudo Technologies, is developing mobile applications that integrate both healthcare product delivery and IT tools for patients to manage and transform their chronic condition...

Troy Assoignon has been an entrepreneur for 10 years, starting off as an interior contractor in Winnipeg to working in the technology scene in Vancouver. Now he is a full time strategic marketing and business advisor for business owners & corporations alike. Last year him and his girlfriend spent 8 months in Bali, and this year they are living full time in Thailand. Troy's satisfaction comes from...

Spencer Sheinin , a CPA, CA, has a unique background with over 15 years as an Entrepreneur combined with extensive financial experience as an investment banker. He is the Founder and CEO of Shift Financial Insights , providing ridiculously simple accounting and financial insights for businesses on the rise. Spencer has previously owned businesses in manufacturing, construction, cold storage and Re...

Steve Beatty is the founder of cultureONE which in In May 2015 merged with Front Row Insurance Brokers and created Canada’s largest insurance brokerage specializing in entertainment & media, arts & culture having offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Los Angeles, Steve has over 25 years of experience in arts and entertainment and insurance - everything from the performance arts to tv and fil...

Anthony DeCristofaro is currently President and CEO of Qnext Corp. and has over 25 years of computer industry experience. In his entrepreneurial career he has driven three M&A transactions valued at more than $600 Million. Previously he was President and CEO of iseemedia Inc. which merged with Synchronica in 2010. Anthony was also Founder and CEO of MGI Software Corp. He brought Intel in as an inv...

Izzie Egan is the founder of BLANKSLATE  Partners. In 2015 Izzie started her company to allow SMBs and scaleups access to enterprise-level management HR services - supporting growing companies with a unique blend of HR, training, recruitment, and immigration expertise. She has extensive experience building fast-paced, high-yield management teams, paying particular attention to the strategic needs...

Aliya Amershi is the CEO and Founder of AskaTechie.com , a tech talent 2.0 marketplace that intelligently matches companies with a supply of vetted technical contractors specializing in Web 3.0 and advanced technologies, such as Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence and complex App Development. Since they launched in 2017, AskaTechie has bootstrapped their way to six figures in sales, which only the...

At 35, Karen Magill was forced onto disability due to MS. Taking a 30% cut in pay, caused her to file for bankruptcy. Karen is disabled by MS but every day she sees people diabling themselves with debt. Now she tackles that issue with the 90 Day Turnaround, 90 Days To Financial Stability coaching program.

Jesse Barruch is the founder of Avanta Consulting in Vancouver . The company partners with companies to find the right people for high-performance cultures, by focusing on creating access to candidates not looking for work, in a market where job boards fail to deliver top quality candidates. Born and raised in Toronto Jesse moved to Vancouver back in 2006 and can be found hanging with his family (...

Irene Strong was born in Nakusp, BC, a small village in the West Kootenayregion along the Upper Arrow Lakes. She has since worked with NBC Olympics, TED Conferences and Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver, among many other organizations. These great organizations have all influenced Irene’s mortgage business model. A model built on a foundation of perseverance, education and belief in the power...

Alecia Repp is a small town girl from Alberta who moved to the big city of Vancouver at the age of 17 to start a new life for herself. She became a professional makeup artist running her own business. During that time she was also creating side projects like business trainings and online courses. Now she is living full time in Thailand running a full time coaching and consulting business. She also...

Kris Hartvigsen is the CEO & Co-Founder of  Dooly  and a leader in the tech industry with over twenty years of experience. Before founding  Dooly , he held senior consulting and management positions in sales for companies like Mobify and led Vision Critical as their EVP Sales from its early startup days to revenues in excess of $100 million.

Justin Vaillancourt  is a force to be reckoned with—he started teaching himself how to code at the age of 8 and was working as a Software Developer by the age of 14. As the Co-Founder and CTO of Dooly , Justin previously held Lead Engineer positions at several emerging tech startups.

Megan is the award-winning author of Our Interrupted Fairy Tale. She is also the co-author of a children’s book with her award-winning, 10-year-old step-daughter, Madison. After 3 years of helping writers publish their books off the side of her corporate communications career, Megan launched The Self Publishing Agency in 2017. The Agency supports indie authors in writing, publishing and marketing...

Merideth is an entrepreneur and mother of three from Vancouver. She is the Founder of PROtect…Smart Personal Safety . The development of PROtect came together organically. She had one too many close encounters in her professional life where she was alone with a stranger and feeling vulnerable. Born out of a need to unite mobile technology with the reassurance of personal safety, the application al...

Ilya is the CEO and founder of VanHack . After graduating from Cornell University with a Degree in Applied Economics and Management, Ilya spent 4 years working in the Brazilian startup scene where he joined the country’s most successful early stage accelerator. It was there he discovered a large community of talented software engineers who were interested in relocating to Canada, but didn’t always...

Paul Romani is the co-founder and director of Pear Tree Elementary , a progressive K-7 elementary school in the Kitsilano neighborhood of Vancouver, and the only school to teach children through theme and project-based learning, rather than through separate school subjects. Originally from the UK, Paul lived in Spain and Germany before moving to Vancouver. Through Pear Tree, Paul is equipping Vanc...

Jen Ray, Director & Owner of Dancinema. Dancinema is a Canadian and American-based company founded in Vancouver that fuses the arts and industries of Dance & Film through productions, education and events. Next up is the 3rd annual Cascadia Dance & Cinema Festival, happening June 2 and 3 in Vancouver.