Now…

I had an idea that I could help Calgary restart its economy by focusing on start-ups and entrepreneurs, and that was when oil crashed.  Now, we have Covid.  We have Black Lives Matter. The world is changing. Customers are changing. Business is changing.

My story is all about working hard to get where you are supposed to go. Daughter of immigrant parents from Spain, education was paramount. So, I studied. I worked hard and I got degrees and professional accreditations, I won global business case competitions, I worked for a top 5 strategy firm, worked internationally, was promoted quickly through the ranks. My parents proud, success.

Only no one told me that as a woman, consulting firms and partner tracks are only for you until you want to have a family (at the time, I hear things are improving). So I left the career I’d been groomed for and started fresh. I had this idea that I wanted to make an impact with my hard earned private sector expertise (and fly less), so I took a public sector job at a college, then at the City, and the Calgary Board of Education. We had brilliant moments, we had frustrating ones. I worked harder than I ever did because the mountains to summit were that much higher when the change window is sparsely funded.

I have been going from transformational role to role in the public sector - so its managed more like a business. Perhaps, I was naive in my attempts, yet also proud to have left every organization and team functioning more like a business than when I started. And then, a gig I had for an AI start-up venture sparked something in me…

What I realized is a love for enterepreneurial thinking and that accelerating Calgary’s economic transformation is something I am perfectly suited to take on. Did you know 70% of all jobs in Canada are generated by small businesses and that 98% of the economy are small and medium-sized businesses?

I started my own business for three reasons: one, to show folks like me, and for my girls, its ok to take a business owner track vs a corporate job; two, to be a resource for business owners that are great at what they do and need some support leading the business side; and three, to do my part to put Calgary back on the global map.

Calgarians are ready, smart, ambitious and full of ideas for the future. I want to be a part of Calgary’s potential. The time is now and I am ready for it, are you?