Entrepreneur of the Year, presented by Canada Post

Natasha Wilch, Symphony Rehabilitation

A multi-disciplinary rehabilitation clinic who provides client-centred care. They offer their services both in clinic, mobile (they drive to you), and Telehealth (servicing BC, Alberta and the Northwest Territories).

“My business has grown significantly in the two years it has been open. I am also pushing the boundaries of physiotherapy in the mode of private practice service delivery. I demonstrate to other leaders that it's okay to dream big - in fact I will share my vision for my business with anyone whom asks - it's what makes it REAL!! I show other entrepreneurs that if you are striving and the purpose is to serve and you are doing it for the right reasons it can and will happen!” - Natasha Wilch

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Disruption Award

Marie-Eve Lachance, Clinique de Soins Infirmiers de Lévis

A medical clinic entirely managed by registered nurses, offering faster health services in a more relaxed, laid-back atmosphere and with opening hours more in tune with the everyday person's work schedule. The facility deals with minor health issues, thus minimizing waiting time for the patients. The clinic has become Lévis' main reference in regards to travel-related health services.

"When we first launched the business in 2013, there were no nursing care clinics. Some services were available but were offered in different places. For example, you'd be able to find specimen collection centres or travel clinics. We decided to reunite all these services under the same roof as well as adding others, all without having a doctor on our premises. We established partnerships that would allow us to prescribe certain medications based on specific criteria, after the nurse's assessment. We created a new concept, where the nurse can exercise her autonomy." - Marie-Eve Lachance

Grit Award

Byanca Neveu, Byanca Neveu - Adjointe administrative virtuelle

As the owner of Byanca Neveu – Adjointe administrative virtuelle, I specialize in small-business and independent-worker administrative support. I take care of all of the clients' administrative duties so that the entrepreneur can focus more productively on his or her business development. I also assist in the growth of their outfit so that it can reach new heights through innovative services and structuring of operational and follow-up procedures.

"A few weeks after I launched my business – before having any clients yet, we learnt that my mother was diagnosed with an incurable cancer and that she only had a few months left to live. In the same week, my 4 and a half year old nephew was diagnosed with a rare and incurable type of brain cancer. I therefore decided to care my mother and my nephew for the last few months they had left and to put my business on semi-hold. It was a difficult time to start my business and get myself known quickly without being able to be present every day." - Byanca Neveu

Growing Strong

Sheena Brady, Tease Tea

Tease was built on a dream and vision to create modern tea blends for your every desire while supporting women's empowerment around the world. Certified Tea Sommelier Sheena Brady turned this vision into reality building her tea femme-pire one sip at a time. Over the past year, Tease has expanded its reach to customers in over 50 countries, while also opening two successful popups in NYC. With every order you purchase, Tease proudly donates proceeds to organizations dedicated to the empowerment of women through its Chari'tea program, as it is a core part of Tease Tea's DNA to celebrate modern feminism, successes and the achievements of women around the globe.

“Tease Teas' biggest success in expanding was launching [our] first pop up in NYC. With no capital to invest, and only an opportunity, the Tease Team made the decision to dive in, commit to the pop up and get scrappy to figure out how to afford the popup. With that, [we] launched a crowdfunding campaign to bring the tease experience to the big city, successfully capturing 22k dollars in funding in only 26 days to put towards the start-up costs of the US popup.” - Sheena Brady

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Mentor of the Year

Donald Hache

“Don's mentoring has impacted our business in so many positive ways. The single biggest way is the feeling of confidence that comes with knowing an expert entrepreneur is only a phone call away - a man who not only has a huge breadth of knowledge and hands-on experience in starting and scaling successful companies, but someone who understands our business intimately, and is rooting for us. Having access to that kind of support goes a long way in helping a new company such as ours move through the necessary steps in business with the confidence and courage we couldn't possibly have without Don's guidance.” - Don's mentee

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