We’d like to congratulate our client Lourdes Gant for being selected as one of PROFIT and Chatelaine’s Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs in Canada in 2014 and 2012.  (Top 5 in 2014!)

We figured it was the perfect opportunity to share more about the amazing things she is doing as an entrepreneur…

Please tell us more about your business.

I have two hats.

First, I am presently the CFO of Manatee Holdings Ltd. and am being groomed to take over the position of CEO in the future. Manatee is an aquaculture company pioneering sustainable ways to produce Geoduck clams and sea cucumbers in British Columbia.

My second role is helping executive business owners to transform both their lives and their businesses in ways that improve the quality of both by connecting them to their core purpose. You can find out more at www.theintegratedbusinessdoctor.com

These two roles fulfill my life purpose of being a passionate mentor and visionary businesswoman.

What inspired you to join or create these companies?

I met my husband in 2007 and I joined his company in 2008. Since joining Manatee, I have helped increased their revenue by over 200%. The family enterprise we have expanded upon since 2007 allows me to use my unique skill-set to oversee the relationship between the bottom line and the culture of the company

My work within the company as the CFO and auditor, combined with my mentoring capabilities to improve the quality of life of high-end executives has transformed the company my husband originally created. The same combination of capabilities is also helping us to parent our young son. It’s an inspiration to be able to bring perspective and insight into someone’s leadership style, while intuitively guiding them through the tough decisions they face as executive business owners. And at the same time help them remember the spirit and passion behind their day-to-day lives.

What common trends do you see with your clients (needs, position, inspiration, etc.)?

The average executive spends almost 2,000 hours each year at the office. In the old business strategies, the common trend was to focus on just pursuing money. We now realize there is a greater profit to be made across the entire spectrum of life if we ensure that we are also enjoying our work environment and making it a healthy and productive experience, both professionally and personally. I refer to this as Quality of Life Audit. We have seen in our own business not only an increase in revenue and productivity in the company, but more importantly a better wellbeing.

What’s the most rewarding thing about what you do?

The most rewarding thing about what I do is to be in what Strategic Coach calls my “Unique Ability.” This means to stay focused on my vision, to do only what I am best at, and what I enjoy the most, and to find ways to delegate everything else.

What are your greatest recent accomplishments?

I was ranked by PROFIT and Chatelaine magazines as one of Canada’s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs in 2012 and in 2014.

In addition, I helped our company raise an additional $2.5 million in funding for our aquaculture operations.

How has working with DemGen benefited your business?

Working with DemGen allowed me to have a paradigm shift in terms of looking for alternatives to challenges that accomplish the vision both parties wanted as a result of our relationship.

How has ‘going virtual’ benefited your business?

It saves our companies thousands of dollars. In addition, it allows me to tap into resources with more leverage by being able to hire the best talents from the country where I was originally from which is the Philippines. Just recently, I saw an example of this when someone in North America without experience and just out of university who had an asking salary of $150,000.00 annually had her equivalent of someone from Asia who was better educated and working for $10,000 annually.

Did you have any initial reservations about ‘going virtual’? If so, what made you change your mind?

I didn’t have any reservations going virtual.

© DemGen Inc. 2014

Please tell us more about Mosaic International

MOSAIC International is an organization of entrepreneurs who coach entrepreneurs.  We specifically work with Entrepreneurial Leadership Teams that are open minded; respectful; appreciative; growth oriented; frustrated and want help taking their business to the next level.  Our ideal client has between $2-50MM in revenue with 10-250 employees.   We start with a customized needs assessment and develop an action plan around your specific success criteria to help the entrepreneur and their team grow while also living a balanced life.

What inspired you to join or create this company?

I am a serial entrepreneur.  Having started three successful businesses, I realized that each company I started was someone else’s idea and I partnered with them to make their dream come alive.  This, in essence is what makes me come alive as well.  I have the genius ability to see the possibilities in challenging situations, simplify solutions and build the confidence needed to take action in order to achieve tangible results.  I dreamed of having a business that was run completely by entrepreneurs FOR entrepreneurs and soon, MOSAIC International was birthed!  At MOSAIC, we surround ourselves with people we admire, we are all doing what we love to do, we are making a tangible difference in other people’s lives,  we are all properly compensated for the work we do and to top it all off, we still have time to pursue other passions outside of work.  This is our definition of a GREAT life and it is our desire to help other people do the same.

What common trends do you see with your clients (needs, position, inspiration, etc.)?

Entrepreneurs are often very lonely.  They have huge visions for the future and they have great teams they have hired but so much of the business is still built around them which causes them to work nonstop in every aspect of the business.  Every day becomes a work day with constant strain between work and home and entrepreneurs often forget why they started the business in the first place.  We work with entrepreneurs to build their personal confidence and the confidence in their teams to achieve exponential growth and a more fulfilled life.

What’s the most rewarding thing about what you do?

I am a pioneer and a teacher and my role at MOSAIC allows me to do both of these things daily.  By working with a team of entrepreneurs and with clients who are entrepreneurs, I am able to help pioneer new ideas and some incredible growth initiatives.  I thrive when I am facilitating learning and am teaching new concepts and tools to others. Howard Thurman once said: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”  I have done just that and it is the most rewarding thing in the world to help others do the same!

What are your greatest recent accomplishments (both with DemGen and otherwise)?

For the past 4 years, I have been a participant in an incredible program called Strategic Coach.  This program has helped me in so many ways but most importantly, it has helped me build a filter to put all opportunities that come my way through to make sure MOSAIC is doing the work we are uniquely good at.  Recently, I have made strategic decisions that has allowed me to free up more of my teams time and energy for the things that we LOVE to do and which add so much more value to our clients while also multiplying our bottom line.   The idea of growth to this magnitude didn’t happen because I always thought I had to hire more and more people in the organization.   While at Strategic Coach, I learned of DemGen and their services and I was immediately SOLD.  Through the help of DemGen and my amazing Executive Assistant, Kim, I have been able to streamline so much of what I do and let go of so much of the day to day that had kept me back from realizing the future I dreamed of.

How has working with DemGen benefited your business?

Working with DemGen has given me so much more peace of mind knowing that I have a team…. an ENTIRE TEAM of support around me for anything I could possibly need.   I was literally on a call today with my Executive Assistant when I was telling her some of the projects I was working on and some of the things I was really not looking forward to doing and she said, “You know, we have some folks on our team who do just that” and the stress in the moment was gone!  The folks at DemGen GET IT.  They are so sharp, they are the best at what they do and have really built an incredible team that extends to each of their clients.  Having this peace of mind allows me to use this energy on things that I am uniquely good at and that will produce greater results.  In  essence, DemGen has freed us up to spend more time doing what we love and that generates the most returns and the greatest impact.

How has ‘going virtual’ benefited your business?

I see the possibilities and potential in people and I usually try to hire them.  I have hired several people in my business all based on their potential as opposed to their genius abilities and skill sets.  I recently went out on a limb and hired someone who seemed so promising.  I soon found myself with an employee struggling to produce results and who was quickly stressed as she did not feel as though she was able to give me the support I needed.  I had invested a lot of time and energy into this hire.   I had also invested a significant amount of cash and had very little return except for a slightly used Macbook Air I had purchased just a few months earlier.  Something was not working.  Then I found DemGen and I have been able to get the results I have been looking for, with far less of an investment and I have people who are experts in their field supporting my company and helping us to stay focused on what we do best!  It is a true WIN-WIN.

Did you have any initial reservations about ‘going virtual’?   If so, what made you change your mind?

YES! I had the usual reservations.  I had it in my mind that I needed a team full time and people who were physically here with me.  I thought there was so much I would need completed that was dependent on being physically present.  However, I was proven wrong.  I had a mentor tell me once to be proactively skeptical.  He encouraged me to be skeptical but do not let this skeptical attitude cripple me from action.  Rather, he would encourage me to try things out like an experiment and see if you get the results you want.  This is exactly what I did with “going virtual”  I had a lot of hesitations and these hesitations were all in my head and I have been able to work around them all!  Now I am paying far less than I would with hiring full time employees and have a more robust team who are all doing what they love!  This gets me JAZZED up and excited each time I get the opportunity to connect with them.

Has DemGen exceeded your expectations?

DemGen continues to exceed my expectations.  Whether it is my Executive Assistant listening to me about my upcoming week and offering to take more and more off my plate or her introducing me to new technologies that can help me streamline what I do, or a strategic introduction to someone else at DemGen who can help me with my new project I am working on…. they have consistently shown me that they have the skills, know-how, and confidence to partner with me and MOSAIC to serve our customers effectively and efficiently.    I cannot say enough good things about DemGen and the team there!

Please tell us more about your practice.

My practice is a mix of reconstructive surgery such as breast reconstruction, facial injuries and skin cancer; cosmetic surgery including face, breast and body procedures; and medical aesthetics such as Dysport and other injectable products as well as laser and other energy based technologies. I work at Trillium Health Center, my own private practice in the west end of Toronto, and am also a partner in Sanctuary International Spas, which has seven locations around Southern Ontario, including Muskoka and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

What inspired you to create this company?

I believe that the standard surgical practice is limited in the breadth and quality of service that it can provide. A single surgeon running an isolated practice is comparable to a single pilot owning a plane and trying to run an airline – nobody would expect a pilot to have the ability to manage all the business aspects of an airline, nor to have time to both fly and handle the business. My vision is one where physicians and surgeons can work together offering comprehensive and integrated services in the areas of health, wellness and beauty.

What common trends do you see with your clients?

Both the non-surgical and surgical cosmetic industries are growing. The trends I see are a growing market both from baby-boomers as well as under 40 segment, and more people wanting non-invasive ways of addressing their aesthetic concerns.

What’s the most rewarding thing about what you do?

The popular image of the over-privileged, over-operated Plastic Surgery junkie is simply not the norm. The vast majority of people having cosmetic procedures are ordinary people, with specific personal aesthetic goals. Many people live with a feeling of dissatisfaction in their appearance, which can profoundly affect how they feel about themselves as a whole, and how they interact with the world. I find immense satisfaction in helping people overcome these issues, and seeing the positive impact it has on them; it is truly a life altering transformation, and I am fortunate to be a part of that.

What are your greatest recent accomplishments (both with DemGen and otherwise)?

My greatest accomplishment in the business to this point has been the creation of the necessary components to assemble and expand into my vision of a multi-disciplinary multi-center network that can deliver the cutting edge of health, wellness and beauty. DemGen has helped me to solidify these components, and give me direction on how to use them. I continue to enjoy daily successes with individual patients, which fuels my passion for this industry.

How has working with DemGen benefited your business?

The Future Vision Map process with DemGen really helped me to evaluate my business finding the strengths and weaknesses, and solidifying a plan around these. Demgen has also allowed me to investigate and initiate many other related business projects. I consider myself both a surgeon and an entrepreneur, and DemGen has given me the tools to explore my entrepreneurial interests.

How has ‘going virtual’ benefited your business?

Virtual business has meant access to a variety of experts in an efficient manner. My strategic adviser oversees all aspects of the team, which allows me to focus on my business. Other than the direct personal doctor-patient interactions inherent in my industry, most other aspects of the business can be done virtually. I have even converted some of my own staff to working virtually part time. I am surprised how much can be done this way, and how much efficiency it can provide.

Did you have any initial reservations about ‘going virtual’?   If so, what made you change your mind? 

I always held the belief that a traditional office with staff physically present was the only way to run a business, especially something like cosmetic surgery. However, seeing the flexibility that i have gained by tapping into skills and resources that i could never access from my own in-house staff, and the efficient way the virtual resources are managed by DemGen has convinced me that virtual business is beneficial even in my industry.

Has DemGen exceeded your expectations?

The executive and “genius abilities” team have met or exceeded my expectations consistently.

Cory Goldberg

Please tell us more about Redefining Success?

Redefining Success is aimed at the “successful business woman/entrepreneur” – someone like me.  I’ve been the primary breadwinner and the sole support of my family.  I have enjoyed a lot of conventional success in the eyes of others.  I’ve also been rather unconventional in my life.

Like many, I confused external validation in the work place with being successful.  However, I think that there’s a time and a place where, as we age, we look at what we really think of our life and “success”.  Sometimes it falls short – or we would prefer to expand into our heart – try new things, let go of things as well.   We can sometimes get hung up on what others will think or whether society will see us as successful if we live life more on our own terms…

The long and the short of it for me  is  balance – and bringing a spiritual component into everything that I do.  It’s about working from the heart instead of from the business intellect.

I’ve always been a very creative person and have brought that creativity into everything that I do.  But it’s easy, especially in the investment business, to get carried away with numbers and performance as the typical markers of success in the corporate world.

Redefining Success is for women who are ready to look at how they can build more satisfaction and more spirituality into their lives.  As a woman who’s been there before, and as a successful investment advisor, I can help them not only with their investment assets but to explore resources in the community that will help them explore territory that they may not be as familiar with.   I want to really help women “redefine success”.

What inspired you to create this company?

Quite frankly it was simply a process for my business.  I have always reflected on where I am in my life and my journey.  As a woman that’s moving through my 50s into my 60s, naturally I’m looking back at my life, my family, my children, my career and  asking myself “What do I want from my life now that I’ve been successful? Now that I have done all the things that everybody says you’re supposed to do to make you happy, am I really happy?”

Over the course of the last six or seven years I have really focused exclusively and directly on my life and how I wanted to change.  Whenever you change you have to let go of things and make some choices that may be difficult.  I would have liked the type of assistance that I am now offering.

Life is a transition that’s a process.  I want to be there to help other women go through that transition process.  I want them to feel that there’s a place that they can not only have their investment assets and  retirement planning taken care of, but they also feel, in partnering with me, that  they have guide ,  in me,  to resources and services that will help them to explore new areas in their lives .

What common trends do you see with your client’s needs, position, inspiration etc?

I think the common trend is – the aging population. Through the aging process we look back and engage in a new decision-making process about how we want to live the rest of our lives. It’s the natural evolution of moving into one’s middle-age.   In doing so, many of us reach a place where we want to want more and recognize that in order to have more we have to change.  So that would be the common trend in the clients that I see who also worked very hard and achieved a very high level of success.  They are financially well-off but may not feel like they’re well off financially.  We’ve all heard about a common fear amongst women of ending up as “bag ladies”.  This is all about helping women move to a place where they feel increasingly fulfilled and satisfied with their lives, with their accomplishments and see the choices that they are going to make for their future are the most prudent thing.

What’s the most rewarding thing about what you do?

Well, it’s helping people discover new interests, helping them take first steps in directions that feel very foreign to them, helping them move into increasingly satisfied lives.  It’s a real joy to watch the process of blossoming and the happiness in women when they are moving in a direction that is more fulfilling to their experience.

What are your greatest recent accomplishments?

Transitioning out of the corporate brokerage environment at Raymond James into their more entrepreneurial arm and establishing my own offices on Front Street at Church. The new company is Redefining Success, which is really, what is success to you? This is an idea that I’ve had probably since I was born. I’ve always been in a place where I’m interested in reframing things and most of my life has been centered around learning how to do that – moving into something that is expressive of me and isn’t  necessarily the same message as the investment community as a whole.

The message I want to give is very organic – very emotional and spiritual. Most people would ask, “How does that mix with the investment practice?”   I see a more organic and spiritual direction as the way that the world is moving.   Again, it comes back to the fact that as we age us we start to make hard choices about what matter to us in our hearts.

Yes, the creation of a caring investment practice focused on women like me would be my biggest accomplishment. It’s taken courage for me to meet the challenge of doing so, as well as meeting the obstacles and practicing what I preach.

How has working with DemGen been a benefit to your business? 

I remembered when I left the corporate branch office, I did consider using virtual assistants because they would give me access to skills and talents that I couldn’t hire myself and because what I was doing was radically different from what would normally be presented by the investment support community. It was important for me to have access to outside resources to create some of the marketing and to create the look and feel of a Redefining Success!  It had to “feel and look” different than a typical brokerage firm site.  www.redefiningsuccess.ca

DemGen certainly has helped in providing those kinds of resources, as well as utilizing tools like Infusionsoft.    They help put together and execute marketing campaigns and have copywriters available.  I have access to  social media consultants, all of whom have a lot of expertise that I couldn’t ever hope to have and would have a very difficult time assessing and hiring if I had to go out into the community and look for it myself. They are helpful in that regard.

How has going virtual benefited your business?

Again my time is well spent because I have at my fingertips a team of professionals who are well-trained in their specific interests and expertise that I can take my ideas and concepts to, and know that there’s somebody there that is able to pull it all together for me. It’s like having this one person working for you that can do, you know, 10 different things. They are all different people but because of the company it makes it very handy, easy and effective.

Did you have any initial reservations about going virtual and, if so, what made you change your mind?

Sure I had some, but I guess if I had reservations about going virtual it was the same issue I have about anything, which is how do I know who’s the right fit and how much does it cost and this is reasonable – the usual sorts of questions.  I also think that because I’m in a very highly regulated environment that there’s some concern about how to manage the huge compliance issues that face financial services and integrate virtual assistants into it. But you know,  that’s fairly readily resolved because the virtual assistants are really dealing with the marketing and it’s not the nitty-gritty back-office investment side of my practice that DemGen is responsible for –  that’s handled in house. In my offices I have a very capable team that know their stuff on the investment side

Has DemGen exceeded your expectations? 

DemGen has some really capable people working for them and it’s always about learning how to work with the tools that you are given.  There’s been a learning curve for sure, learning how to use the assets of DemGen and their virtual assistants.  We are working through the process of really fitting well together and it’s a rewarding process.  We’re starting to hit our stride now.  I feel that each month we will build on the success of the month before and work to have a very effective relationship. I’m enjoying the process of doing that.  I feel that DemGen is responsive to my needs and my concerns and we are developing an excellent rapport that I expect to stand me in good stead going forward.

Web –   www.redefiningsuccess.ca

Facebook – Redefining Success

LinkedIn – Pamela Johnston