Scaling New Heights

I'm finally getting around to posting about the 9th Annual Inspiring Leadership Forum that took place at the beginning of March this year. I meant to post about it forever ago, but there was a lot to reflect on that was presented at the forum.

The idea behind the forum is to take female leaders in various industries and have them speak to their failures and success and how they got to where they are now. It's about inspiring other women to take those scary leaps, urge them to follow their dreams and most of all to not let themselves get discouraged by obstacles and find ways to overcome them.

The ILF is hosted and organized by the University of Regina and has numerous sponsors from the community. This year's theme was Scaling New Heights and featured three women who are making waves and taking things to the next level for themselves and their companies in already highly-competitive industries: beer and spirits, fragrance and fashion.

The first speaker was Manjit Minhas, co-founder of Minhas Breweries & Distillery.

In her early 30s, Manjit Minhas, the petroleum-engineering-student-turned-beer-baroness, is one of North America’s most exciting entrepreneurs. Minhas has been able to do what few ever thought possible—start from nothing and successfully enter the beer and spirits industry, undoubtedly one of the most competitive markets around, all as a young female entrepreneur. She is a highly sought-after speaker and a judge of the current season of CBC’s Dragons’ Den. (Read full bio.)

Manjit's presentation was about how she took her business from Alberta-based to expanding to different parts of Canada, specifically Ontario. She explained that trying to break into the Ontario beer and spirits market is very hard, but she didn't let it get her down and she persevered. She discussed her success and failures and wasn't afraid to point out that from the start she was a young woman working, and being successful, in a male dominated industry.

Our second speaker was Barb Stegemann, creator of the The 7 Virtues Beauty Inc.

Barbara Stegemann’s entrepreneurial vision was formed after her best friend—a soldier—was severely wounded in Afghanistan. Understanding that supporting Afghanistan’s economy was key to building stability for its people, Stegemann created The 7 Virtues, a company that sources organic, fair trade essential oils from countries experiencing turmoil (such as Afghanistan, Haiti, the Middle East and Rwanda). (Read full bio.)

Barb spoke a lot about how she got to where she is in her industry. What inspired her to get there and all the hardships she endured before finding her calling. Barb explained how she came to the decision to work with farmers in war-torn countries (there was a great story she told about 'opium brides'), and how the products and oils she buys for her company are ethically sourced from these farmers. She also went into detail about her 7 Virtues of a Philosopher Queen book and how to apply them to your daily life and especially your dreams.

After the break for lunch and networking, there was a panel involving some of Regina's own leading female entrepreneurs: Becki Bitternose, Pam Klein and Aimee Schulhauser. The panelists answered questions about how they got started, what inspires them, how they deal with obstacles in their chosen fields and what advice they have for other women looking to follow their dreams.

The third and final speaker of the day was Bonnie Brooks, most famously known for her role as CEO of the Hudson's Bay Company.

Bonnie Brooks is known internationally as one of the leading fashion merchants in the industry having worked with the best retailers in Europe, Asia, the UK and North America responsible for buying, editing, marketing and selling the world’s leading designers and brands. (Read full bio.)

Bonnie talked a lot about her time with the Hudson's Bay Company, but also a little about how she came up through the fashion industry to get her position with them. I was most excited to hear Bonnie talk, as I worked for the The Bay in Regina for a period of time during my post-secondary education. However, I, along with many in the audience, found her talk a little lack-luster and many people kept asking why our Bay store was never updated the way she kept showing photos in her presentation of other stores.

Overall, the forum was very engaging and it made me think a lot about my own dreams I have for my future and career. I even took some time in the last few months to write out a six-page outline for an idea I had for a novel. (Don't get too excited, I doubt I will post about it on here. Or at least not any time soon I don't think.) That was something I had always wanted to do, and the forum inspired me to finally get it done.

The 10th Annual Inspiring Leadership Forum will be held in 2019 and I am anticipating my opportunity to attend it as well. The theme is Defying the Odds and there are already two exceptional women slated to speak: Cheryl Strayed, author of the best-selling memoir Wild, which has been made into a movie starring Reese Witherspoon, and Elizabeth Smart, author of the best-seller My Story, which details her experience of being kidnapped at age 14 and held in captivity for 9 months. The stories these women will tell will be beyond extraordinary.

*Disclaimer: Bios for the speakers above were not written by me and are copyrighted to the University of Regina's ILF website to which the full bios are linked.