The Brand is Female

In this special series we speak to inspiring women role models from different backgrounds who share their views and advice for dealing with the period of anxiety and uncertainty we currently find ourselves in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Stephanie Kersta opened the meditation studio Hoame with her business partner Carolyn Plater a little over a year ago. In this time that triggers a lot of dark f...

In this special series we speak to inspiring women role models from different backgrounds who share their views and advice for dealing with the period of anxiety and uncertainty we currently find ourselves in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fitness expert and celebrity trainer Lauren Boggi is the founder of Studio LB . She is a 20-year industry veteran who has gained notoriety across the US and beyo...

In this special series we speak to inspiring women role models from different backgrounds who share their views and advice for dealing with the period of anxiety and uncertainty we currently find ourselves in due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first guest on our special feature, Kasey Crown is a psychotherapist, wellness educator and writer. Her work challenges old mental health paradigms and sugge...

One could easily say Mungi Ngomane grew up with activism and social justice in her blood. The granddaughter of Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mungi realized at a young age she wanted to help make the world a better place. Graduating in International Studies and Diplomacy, her time has been spent between South Africa, the UK and North America, where she has been working in Middle East conflict resolution...

Coly Den Haan has always been involved with the hospitality industry, working at a number of famous local spots after she moved from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles, including Fred Segal’s Mauro’s Cafe, Farfalla and Barney Greengrass. She eventually decided to give entrepreneurship a go and opened The Must in downtown LA, and later Perch, with both spots garnering accolades and becoming go-to destina...

SheEO Founder Vicki Saunders describes herself as an entrepreneur, mentor and advisor to the next generation of changemakers. Through her experience running several ventures in Europe, Toronto and Silicon Valley, Vicki realized that fundamental change was needed in order to see the barriers preventing women entrepreneurs to tap into financing resources and overall support be lifted. To help make t...

In 2012, Montreal native Florence Gagnon created a platform to provide resources to the lesbian and queer communities, LezSpreadTheWord , the first bilingual website of its kind in Canada. Two years later, she launched the FÉMININ/FÉMININ fiction series, along with director Chloé Robichaud, a filmmaker known for several award-winning productions including Sarah Préfère la Course and Boundaries . T...

A true globetrotter who has lived around the world before settling in Toronto, Elle AyoubZadeh launched Zvelle in 2015 for women who are global citizen themselves. She wanted to create a brand known for its quality — but not while selling at unattainable prices; and she wanted to lead a company that would be aligned with the social values that matter to her as a founder. Her line of shoes and hand...

Jennifer Brodeur , or JB Skin Guru as she is called on Instagram is well known for the celebrity clientele she services, with devotees who include Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama and Gwyneth Paltrow. Now if these women come back to her you know her facials and products are next level. But Jennifer’s real superpower is her passion for wellness, health and improving women’s skin everywhere, which she...

This bonus episode features an interview with Chantal Pitre who heads TD’s brand new Women Entrepreneurs program as well as Camille Beaudoin from UN Women. Listen to a conversation about the challenges faced by women in business, especially as it relates to banking and financing and learn more about WE EMPOWER — an initiative from UN Women, the European Union and the ILO as well as the #FlexForEmp...

The New York-based duo has been getting buzz in part because of its famous family connections, namely Neely and Chloe’s aunt, Tory Burch. But the two sisters have built an empire all of their own: Neely & Chloe is a successful line of affordable yet sustainable bags, footwear and accessories that aims to fill the void between fast fashion and luxury without sacrificing quality. You can find th...

Connie Lo and Laura Burget are the co-founders of Niu Body , a natural skincare brand they launched in 2017 after being frustrated with the lack of clean beauty options on the market. Starting their company at 23 and with just $4,000 in their pockets, their grit and determination has definitely paid off as today the brand can be found in over 350 retailers across North America, including The Bay i...

Our first guest of the third season of The Brand is Female is Salima Visram, founder of Samara , a brand of vegan leather goods based in Toronto, founded in 2017. The company is a favourite among influencers and fashion editors and it grew to sell over 70,000 vegan bags last year which were shipped to more than 22 countries. Made of 100% cruelty-free materials, Samara is a spin-off which also help...

This week, our guest is Stephanie Kersta, co-founder of Hoame , The Brand is Female’s favourite meditation studio in downtown Toronto. Stephanie is a registered psychotherapist who holds a Masters in Psychology. She pursued additional certifications, including post-grad studies in Addictions and Mental Health Counselling, and she has incorporated additional evidence-based holistic practices to her...

Mary Alice Malone is the founder of New-York and London-based Malone Souliers . Mary Alice’s eponymous brand of elevated women’s shoes was founded in 2014 in London, and quickly rose to become a leading name in International luxury footwear. Picked up by leading e-comm fashion retailers such as Net-a-Porter and Matches shortly after the brand was launched, Malone started appearing on every cool gi...

Tracy Moore is the award-nominated host of Cityline, the longest running lifestyle program for women in Canada. She is the first black woman at the helm of a Canadian lifestyle TV show and has broken multiple glass ceilings throughout her career in media! Listen to our interview and hear about the obstacles she has faced and the risks she has taken (hint: they all paid off!) and learn about her im...

Sabrina Maddeaux is a Toronto-based journalist specializing in fashion, lifestyle, beauty and more… she is the current Society editor and arts/style columnist for the National Post; she also contributes to a number of other publications in addition to being a style and beauty expert on the air for shows such as CityLine. Sabrina has carved her own path in the current, challenging media landscape a...

Jacqueline Leung is the Founder and CEO of Pressed News , a digital media company that makes the news easy to understand. With a daily email newsletter, online explainers, and social media community, Pressed brings its subscribers a recap of world issues straight to their mailbox every morning, always from a Canadian perspective - and minus the bias. Before launching Pressed, Jacqueline spent seve...

This week, in keeping with our theme of women in the arts following Art Toronto held at the end of October, our guest is Maryam Keyhani. There are several words that can be used to describe Maryam — she is a painter, sculptor, designer, wife, mother, surrealist and hat enthusiast. She spends her time between Toronto and Berlin, and for anyone who follows her on social media, she appears to live in...

Art Toronto , Canada’s international contemporary and modern art fair, is being held this weekend, and to highlight this important event we sat down with a few women artists for a special showcase. The art industry continues to be marked by inequality: as of the first half of 2018, there were only 5 women on Artnet’s list of the 100 best-selling artists at auction. The number of women on this list...

Jeanne Beker is a Canadian journalist, media personality, and fashion entrepreneur. But more than all of this, she is an icon and a trailblazer, who has deeply influenced Canadian broadcasting, and the Canadian fashion industry overall. Jeanne started her career as an actress, but moved into radio and then TV. She became host of Fashion Television (FT), which aired for 27 years and had viewers in...

Ruby Brown is the founder of Montreal-based Ruby Brown Perfume House . Ruby fell in love with perfume when she was working as a model in Paris and visited the town of Grasse. After studying the art of perfumery and coming back home to take entrepreneurship classes, she decided to launch her own company in 2012, first by offering custom perfume workshops, and eventually creating her own branded pro...

Kimberley Newport-Mimran is a fashion legend in Canada. She is President and Design Director of Pink Tartan, the womenswear brand that she founded in 2002 and which has since grown into an international brand known for understated luxury and sophisticated sportswear. At Toronto Fashion Week this year Kim presented a brand new collection of evening wear, or “Canadian couture” as she called it, unde...

Fashion Week recently wrapped up in Toronto, and we recorded a special episode of the Brand is Female at an event held by Canadian outerwear brand Sentaler in honour of their partnership with SickKids, The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. The Brand is Female’s Eva Hartling hosted a panel with the brand’s founder, Bojana Sentaler, Molly Fitzpatrick, chair of the Scrubs event held every year f...

This is Fashion Week season; Toronto Fashion Week wrapped up this week and New York is in full swing. To celebrate the many talented women in the field of fashion and design, we’re kicking off season 2 with an interview featuring Katie Kolondiski, founder and creative director of Silk Laundry, a wonderful line of silk slip dresses, camisoles, blouses and more. Silk Laundry began as a side project...