The Finance Cafe

In this episode of The Finance Cafe Podcast, host Shannon delves into the world of bookkeeping and financial education with special guest Jami Monte. Jami shares her journey from a successful career as a CPA in the Advertising industry to becoming an entrepreneur and launching Chillbooks™, a dynamic financial education platform designed to empower business owners with essential financial skills. L...

Welcome to another insightful episode of the Finance Cafe Podcast! In this episode, our host Shauna Frederick is joined by Faye Pang, Country Manager at Xero, to explore the transformative power of integrating bookkeeping software into business operations, with a special focus on Xero’s innovative platform. Xero, renowned for its user-friendly, cloud-based accounting software, has expanded to offe...

It is extraordinarily common for entrepreneurs to wear many hats, but at what point is it taking you away from your strengths and draining you of the energy required to run your business? On this episode of The Finance Cafe Podcast, we are excited to dive into a conversation with Glenda Plews from Payworks, an amazing Canadian company designed to do the heavy lifting of payroll, HR, benefits and m...

We are so excited to welcome this week’s guest, Dr. Wendy Cukier, Founder & Academic Director of the Diversity Institute, Academic Director of the Women Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hub, and Research Lead of the Future Skills Centre onto The Finance Cafe podcast this week with your host, Shannon Pestun. Tune in as they discuss the recently released, 2024 State of Women’s Entrepreneurship in Cana...

We took this opportunity to interview Co-Founders Shannon Pestun and Shauna Frederick for an inside discussion on the women who inspired them to lead with integrity and contributed to their passion for supporting women in entrepreneurship. Over the last four years, Shannon and Shauna have been devoted to supporting women entrepreneurs through meaningful conversations about how financial knowledge...

In this enlightening episode, we delve into the remarkable journey of Tiffany Callender, a trailblazer in Canada's Black community. With a profound commitment to social entrepreneurship and community development, Tiffany has dedicated decades to crafting and implementing programs that uplift Canada's Black population. Notably, her leadership played a pivotal role in the co-development of T...

Join your host, Shauna Frederick, for this insightful conversation with Shilpa Mishra, Partner, Capital Advisory Leader, and Leader of Women Driving Growth with BDO Canada. Shilpa sheds light on what it takes to support women entrepreneurs and help them find the money. Hear how financial advisors and companies like BDO Canada support business owners in gaining access to capital and lend their expe...

Join host, Shannon Pestun for this insightful conversation with Melodie Gringas, Director of Programs & Community at The Forum, as they delve into the vital role of creating community for women entrepreneurs and the transformative impact of financial literacy on their entrepreneurial journeys. We are excited to share that The Finance Cafe is teaming up with The Forum to deliver a free course o...

EPISODE DESCRIPTION:  Welcome back to The Finance Cafe podcast season 4!   In this episode, we dive deep into the realms of burnout with the remarkable CEO of The Burnout Lab, Tevi Legge. Join us for a candid conversation about the cost of burnout, particularly its impact on women entrepreneurs. Tevi Legge opens up about her journey with burnout, offering insights that resonate with the challenges...

In this episode, Shannon and Shauna sit down to reflect in a year-end recap of The Finance Cafe and reintroduce themselves to new listeners gained in 2023. Together they reminisce on the past 3 successful years of The Finance Cafe and revisit why they started in the first place - to empower female entrepreneurs by taking the mystery out of the numbers, helping women understand their business finan...

EPISODE DESCRIPTION:   In this episode, Shauna sits down with the President and CEO of Sky Planning group, Tracy Duff to discuss the importance of life insurance policies for business owners, an overview of policy options, and give an understanding of the importance of sound insurance products that serve you and your loved ones best. Tracy is a heartfelt business owner herself and shares important...

In this episode, financial advisor Elke Rubach demystifies what it means to work with a financial advisor and encourages us to get comfortable talking about the uncomfortable. She walks us through what meeting with a financial advisor should look like, 4 pillars of financial planning, and the benefits and importance of finding a good fit in a financial advisor. When it comes to financials, she str...

In this episode Shannon sits down with Carlyn Loncaric, the founder and CEO of VodaSafe, and an engineer with over ten years of lifeguarding experience. Witnessing first-hand the trials and tribulations of water rescue led Carlyn to envision a sonar equipment as a simple tool in hand that would help save lives, VodaSafe and its AquaEye® were born. Carlyn believes that VodaSafe’s AquaEye® will be t...

In this episode Shannon sits down with Heather Sadowy, Loan Manager at the Women's Enterprise Organizations of Canada (WEOC), to discuss the WEOC National loan program.  With experience in business banking and lending, Heather brings a natural curiosity and strong critical-thinking skills to her role as loan manager at WEOC. Together with her loans team, she is working to increase access to mu...

In this episode, Shannon sits down with Gretchen (she/her), who leads the AFIA DEI Index at The Forum, a First of its Kind nationwide initiative to Accelerate Financial Inclusion and Access to business capital for women entrepreneurs in all their diversity. AFIA provides funders with a package of evidence-based resources and services to assess, accelerate and amplify Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (...

In this episode Shauna sits down with Sheena Brady, Founder of Tease, award-winning Social Entrepreneur, and Angel Investor to discuss the lessons she’s learned from having a banker advocate for her and her business.  Sheena's personal story is a testament to the transformative power of embracing natural health and healing after a decade-long career deeply entrenched in the 'hustle' me...

In this episode Shauna sits down with Hayat Kirameddine, Partner at Tax Ernst & Young LLP to discuss tax planning. Tax, tax, tax! Usually, a topic that can put folks to sleep or invoke panic and thoughts of the Canada Revenue Agency, when faced with the topic, Hayat Kirameddine, Partner in Ernst & Young’s Private Client Tax Practice, strategy, planning and… perhaps a bit of excitement come...

In this episode Shauna sits down with Déborah Cherenfant, Regional Manager, Women in Enterprise, Quebec, to discuss determining how to pay yourself as an entrepreneur.  Déborah joined TD Bank Group in 2020 and is the regional manager, Women in Enterprise, for the Quebec region. With a degree both in international economics and entrepreneurship, Déborah has applied her strategic skills as a busines...

In this episode Shauna sits down with Billie Fortier, Partner, MLT Aikins, to discuss if you should incorporate your business, and if so, tips on how to incorporate your business successfully. Billie advises First Nations and Métis communities on matters related to economic development, commercial leasing, industry partnerships and community governance. She advises the leadership of Indigenous com...

In this episode Shannon sits down with Chantel Chapman, the CEO and co-founder of the Trauma of Money, to discuss how trauma affects the mind and in turn affects our relationship with money and financial wealth. The Trauma of Money is an accredited course certifying professionals in trauma-aware and trauma-informed approaches to finance. Drawing influence from 14 years of experience as a mortgage...

In this episode Shauna sits down with Shalini Dharna Kibsey, CPA, to discuss budgets, including her 5 essential tips for preparing your budget as an entrepreneur. Shalini is an exceptional coach who helps entrepreneurs understand and feel confident about their business future with a solid grasp of finances. She has helped hundreds of CEOs, small business owners and individuals level-up their finan...

In this episode Shauna sits down with Alison Kirkland, CEO, of the Women's Enterprise Organizations of Canada/Organisations d'enterprises de femmes du Canada, to discuss the perceptions of debt, and the key findings from the ‘Bootstrap vs Borrow’ research conducted by WEOC.  A leader in the women’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, Alison was named the inaugural CEO of WEOC in September 2019. Sin...

In this episode Shauna sits down with Kayla Isabelle, Chief Executive Officer at Startup Canada, the gateway to Canada’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, to discuss the top 5 indicators your startup is ready to go global. Startup Canada's mission is to connect Canada’s entrepreneurs with the tools, community, and support they need to start and build their businesses. They discuss what it means to go...

In this episode Shauna sits down with Maya Oreibi, a Financial Empowerment Consultant & Coach to discuss the three key ingredients to finding your voice in finance. Maya shares her journey into the entrepreneurship world and what two turning points led her there, key insights into the gender pay gap, how mindset plays into finaincial independance, and more. Maya is a career coach and mentor wh...

In this episode Shannon sits down with Xina Cowan, Co-director, EntrepreNorth to discuss what it means to be culturally grounded as an organization, how we can close the wealth gap and empower Indigenous women entrepreneurs, challenges faced by Indigenous women entrepreneurs in the North, the need for relationship-based patient capital that aligns with Indigenous values, and how indigenous women a...