Startup Canada, the national rallying community and voice for Canada’s entrepreneurs, in partnership with the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), the only Canadian bank devoted exclusively to entrepreneurs, announced yesterday the launch of THRIVE, a new podcast on the Startup Canada Podcast Network. The podcast, released on International Women’s Day, supports women entrepreneurs to start and scale their businesses by connecting them with influential experts, resources, and organizations in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Hosted by Janice McDonald, Startup Canada’s Ambassador for Women Entrepreneurs, THRIVE will air every second Thursday here at 10 a.m. EST. Influencers and industry experts at Canada’s leading organizations share their tips, best practices, their wins and their losses through engaging discussions while providing tangible resources for women entrepreneurs looking to start and scale their enterprises.

McDonald is an award-winning serial entrepreneur with expertise in the music and apparel industries. She was appointed to the Women’s Leadership Board at Harvard Kennedy School and is Chair of the International Women’s Forum Canada Ottawa Chapter. WXN recognized her as Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in 2013, 2014 and 2015. A sought after speaker on Leadership and Entrepreneurship, her TEDx talk has been viewed over 15,000 times and counting. Most recently, McDonald’s Beacon Agency and BMO released a new report, Everywhere, Everyday Innovating – Women Entrepreneurs and Innovation. On March 8, 2017, McDonald was announced as Startup Canada’s Ambassador for Women Entrepreneurship. Since then, she’s been inspiring entrepreneurs at speaking engagements across Canada and has been a voice to government and media on issues related to women entrepreneurs.

“As an entrepreneur myself, my goal in hosting this podcast is to ask experts the questions women entrepreneurs want answered and create a useful resource for women in business, whether they are just starting or are scaling up,” says McDonald. “I hope the THRIVE podcast will become the resource for women entrepreneurs to learn and be inspired by experts in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
“Connecting women entrepreneurs to the support, funding and resources to start and scale vibrant businesses helps to accelerate their success,” says Victoria Lennox, Co-Founder and CEO of Startup Canada. “The THRIVE Podcast introduces women entrepreneurs to the plethora of support providers, investors and programs to scale their businesses and the insights and inspiration from Canada’s top women in business.”

“As the only bank devoted exclusively to entrepreneurs, we recognize that women entrepreneurs represent an enormous untapped potential for Canada,” says Laura Didyk, Vice-President, Alberta South, at BDC, and national sponsor for the bank’s Women Entrepreneur Strategy. “As Canada’s development bank, it is our job to unleash that potential and the THRIVE Podcast is part of a broader strategy to do so.”

Thank you to our syndicate partner LiisBeth, the home and voice of entrepreneurial feminism and feminist entrepreneurs worldwide.

Listen here to the first episode of the THRIVE Podcast, featuring Emily Rose Antflick, Founder and CEO of Toronto-based Shecosystem, a coworking and wellness environment where women thrive.