About me

I’m a lifelong entrepreneur, the daughter of an entrepreneur, and the mother of entrepreneurs. I founded and led a manufacturing, distribution, and retail business in Montreal for almost 30 years where I learned everything from the ground up - including how to shape an organizational culture that felt dynamic and creative.

I believe in the power of good leadership to be disruptive in the best possible way, and it’s my mission to create positive social change through helping leaders to do that.

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My Story

The little company I started in my home evolved into a complex manufacturing organization with several different geographical locations, a diverse team of employees, and a worldwide market. For me it was a huge learning curve, and an entire MBA program and beyond. I learned how to design and build processes and structures, and I developed long lasting, collaborative relationships with employees, partners, retailers, distributors, suppliers, investors, and competitors.

Most importantly, I found ways to lead and inspire people that engaged and connected them to purpose. I am forever grateful to the people I practiced on, and the grace they extended to me as I learned. What we were able to accomplish together in that business was astonishing. We worked hard - all of us, and made miracles happen.

After I left my business, I worked for a decade with non-profit organizations; learning about the giant and never-ending frustrations of trying to convince and satisfy funders, and work with too-lean budgets on too-important issues. I also worked with schools, government agencies, and larger companies.

Almost everywhere I went, every story I heard was the same. Most workplaces are not happy places. People feel unappreciated, and are stressed and unhappy. Managers and executives seem to not know how to change this and make their organizations better places to work. There is a lot of blame and not too many solutions. Organizations struggle to achieve their goals because of conflict and lack of effective collaboration, high rates of employee turnover, dissatisfaction, and disengagement.

I went back to school seeking to understand what were the foundations of healthy and high functioning organizational cultures. I began with a program in Leading Sustainable Change, and then obtained a master’s in Human Systems Intervention. Together they were a very intensive study of the theory and practice of how to work with people and organizations to create positive change.

The thing is, I already knew how to do it. Now I'm even better at helping others do it too.

I know that healthy and high functioning organizational cultures have self-aware leaders at the heart of their success, and I know how to help leaders become better at taking responsibility for their actions and leading people. I believe that business (and all organizational life) can be a vehicle for positive social change. What we do at work and how we work together ripples out into our home lives, our communities, and our societies.

It all begins with those who lead us.