Entrepreneur Panel: Rachel Paulter, Inbound Marketing at Chalk.com

Rachel Pautler is an entrepreneur at heart. With a background in Nanotechnology Engineering from the University of Waterloo, Rachel has a diverse background with startup companies that have inspired her over the years. She is currently an Inbound Marketer at Chalk.com, an app that helps teachers and schools organize their classrooms and lesson plans more quickly and efficiently. Rachel spends most of her time absorbing and creating content for blog posts, eBooks, and webinars. The rest of her time is spent analyzing how the product works and speaks with users on how to make the product even better. Rachel is also involved in an organization called Hacking Health in Kitchener-Waterloo, a community designed to connect healthcare professionals to entrepreneur’s to help create medical technology that actually works. Rachel has previously been involved in a startup company called Suncayr, where she was one of the co-founders. This has been a significant accomplishment for Rachel because of her role of Business Developer, she was also involved in the technical development of the product. Although she has moved on to different projects, the team at Suncayr is currently working on getting their product onto store shelves soon!

Rachel likes to encourage young women in business to pursue careers that they might have never thought was possible. She states, “Giving women a place to meet others pursuing business provides them with a phenomenal support system and confidence that they can pursue their dreams.”

Entrepreneur Panel: Renish Kamal, CEO at Fidget Toys

Renish Kamal is the Founder and CEO of Fidget Toys Ltd. What was once a side project, Renish’s hard work and dedication to her work has launched her business into success, and she does not take the title of CEO or Founder lightly. She has mastered all the skills needed to run a successful business including sales and marketing, Human Resources, and Public Relations. As a Waterloo graduate with a degree in Sociology and Geography, Renish took the Business Entrepreneurship course, sparking a love for designing and creating something truly her own. Some of Renish’s volunteer experiences include working as a leadership Coach for KidsNow at junior public schools. She also gets to showcase her artistic side at various events where she creates Kolums for traditional Hindu weddings. She is also a part of an all-women’s volleyball and basketball league. A significant accomplishment in Renish’s career is following her gut and quitting her corporate job to focus on Fidget Toys. She is proud to be recognized as a dynamic, strong Tamil woman affiliated with a hardware company, and has been invited to speak on various panels as a young woman entrepreneur. A platform such as Young Women in Business is important to Renish because supporting one another is vital to the success in life. Renish also states, “Culturally, I believe I've placed a responsibility on myself to be a role model to those within the South Asian communities to follow their values and dreams and not conform to the back seat in which our culture puts us in.”

Corporate Panel: Karima Shajani, Communications Project Manager at Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

Karima Shajani is a Media and Communications Graduate from Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Ryerson University along with her Master’s in Environmental Applied Science and Management. Karima is the Communications Project Manager for the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care where she develops, coordinates and manages communication products and services to ensure public understanding of ministry policies and programs that are related to health capital projects and Ontario’s Healthy Kids Strategy. Karima acts as the key point of contact between program/policy areas and the minster’s communications staff. Karima has a passion for life-long learning and sharing her knowledge with others. She volunteers her time as a writer and editor for various non-profit organizations, while also providing communications advice to various non-profit organizations. Most recently, Karima has served as a script writer and editor for a community culture show. Karima thinks it’s important to look at her accomplishments big and small. She is proud of her day-day delivery of communications products on time and effectively handling a crisis at work. These types of accomplishments are motivation for Karima to do her best. Another notable accomplishment was being able to teach at Seneca College back in 2014.

So why is an organization like Young Women in Business important to Karima? She says, “Being part of Young Women in Business means I can share my time and knowledge as well as learn from the other members of this organization. It’s important to share our experiences with each other so we can learn and grow.”

Corporate Panel: Renata Vaccaro, Technical Director at Klick Health

Renata Vaccaro is the Technical Director at Klick Health. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Ryerson University. With over 18 years of experience in the technology industry, Renata manages a team of developers and other technical staff, while providing technical solutions to business problems. Another big part of her role as a Director involves maintaining lasting client relationships, particularly with IT departments through remote and on site meetings across North America. She has proven to be a dynamic force within the tech industry, and helps motivate and inspire other female colleagues while serving as a committee member on the Women in Leadership Committee. Other volunteer activities Renata is involved in are events such as the Toronto Tech Summit and Girls in Tech. Renata looks at where she is right now in her career as one of her greatest accomplishments to date. She hopes this will always be her answer because she continuously pushes herself to grow, learn and become better. She believes Young Women in Business is important because, “Research shows that women run successful businesses, and that having a woman on the executive team is more likely to result in higher company valuations. This type of success can benefit everyone.”

Corporate Keynote: Nicole Wells, Managing Director Chequing & Lending at Tangerine

Nicole Wells joined the organization in 2004 and has been a key contributor to making Tangerine what we are today.  Nicole’s leadership across multiple fronts, including building the mortgage business, chequing account and building high performing teams are only a few of the highlights of her many contributions to Tangerine Bank.  Nicole has a passion for innovation, creativity and driving tangible results.

What to Wear to Shatter: Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Not sure what to wear to Shatter 2016? While there is no official dress code, we recommend attendees wear business casual clothing. But, we definitely want you to be comfortable for a full day of networking, learning and discussion! So, we've come up with a few outfits to give you some inspiration when it comes to finding the perfect outfit for this Saturday.

What matters most is you dress to showcase your personality, your comfort and your winning attitude! Let's get talking!

Entrepreneur Keynote: Ashlyn Bird, Co-Founder of BioSensive Technologies Inc.

Ashlyn Bird is the Co-Founder and Vice President BioSensive Technologies Inc., and has a background in Honours Bachelor of Commerce in Business Administration and her Master’s in Business Administration. As a strong, innovative woman in business, her day-to-day responsibilities include managing all marketing, external relations, and communications including events, conferences, social media presence and more. She also manages company strategy, dealing with stakeholders and legal, leading all B2B negotiations. When she’s not dominating the work world, Ashlyn is spending time with her 5 year old son, and sharing her story with other women who are balancing the entrepreneur- single mother lifestyle. In fact, Ashlyn attributes her son as her greatest accomplishment to date, because she believes in being a strong role model for him. She’s a firm believer in taking pride in leading by example, and that there is no greater accomplishment than being really happy with your life and feeling the joy of watching your son grow up into a well-rounded person. Before all of her success with BioSensive, Ashlyn found out she was pregnant during the second year of her undergraduate studies and decided raise him on her own while competing both her degrees and working full time. There were a lot of failures in the work world in the beginning, then a few big successes. What’s important to know is the strength and courage it takes to tackle motherhood and entrepreneurship all on your own and strive to be the best role model for someone who looks up to you. As to what makes Young Women in Business so important to Ashlyn, she says, “I have learned a lot and gained a wealth of experience over the past few years and if any bit of my experience or knowledge can help even one woman out there to keep going and achieve her goals, it is so worth it to me!”