Irfanali Moledina of Purple Frog in Calgary. Photo by Nathalie Terekhova

As a young immigrant from the U.K. growing up in Calgary, there was one thing that really bugged Irfanali Moledina about his home in Canada: mosquitoes. He used to use bug repellant pretty enthusiastically, until he noticed that the chemical-laden product caused the siding of his family home to permanently stain!

That memory stuck with him as he graduated high school and went to the University of Calgary to study commerce. While still studying, he started a small distribution business. The product? A natural bug repellent.

“I always knew I wanted to be a business guy,” says Moledina, who decided to pursue an accounting designation after university, too. Today, the Ismaili CPA is not only a partner of a busy Calgary public practice firm RMI & Associates, he is also the CEO and co-founder Natural Distributions Ltd., a.k.a. Purple Frog — the evolution of his earlier insect repellant distribution business.

An essential (oils) idea

Joining forces with a business partner, Moledina moved from merely distributing to manufacturing products. They developed their own non-toxic insect repellant with encapsulated essential oils released through squeezable patches.

“We quickly recognized that the portable technology was applicable beyond insect repellent,” says Moledina, explaining that essential oils need a release mechanism, typically a room diffuser.

“But diffusers aren’t very portable,” he adds with a chuckle. “[Patches] are very versatile; you can stick them virtually anywhere … We now have products catering to aromatherapy and air freshening.”

Purple Frog has one product to invigorate called Air Awakening, using peppermint and eucalyptus essential oils, and one for relaxation, called Snooze Button, with lavender and chamomile. There’s also the Insect Shielder, plus hanging car air fresheners and plans for non-toxic room sprays.

“People are not aware of what’s really in the products they are inhaling,” he says. “That stain on my parent’s house is still there today! If it can do that, imagine what it does to your body.”

Busy days and nights taking Purple Frog mainstream

Purple Frog products are sold primarily through the natural retail market in the United States and abroad, but Moledina wants to bring his natural products to the mainstream retail market, which means long days and nights for the busy entrepreneur, who also volunteers his expertise in his Ismaili community, most recently as the finance chair of the Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board.

“I’ll also often put an Air Awakening patch on my shirt collar. It keeps me going for late nights!”

MP Iqra Khalid. Photo by Dave Chan

Shortly after 29-year-old Iqra Khalid decided to seek the nomination to become a candidate in the last federal election, the Pakistani-born immigrant visited a community adviser along with her father. He invited them to sit down in his living room. Then, in an utterly calm, icy voice, he delivered his verdict. “Don’t run — there’s no way you’ll ever win.”

Khalid understood what he meant. She was young, female and a visible minority, and outside the establishment of typical MPs. Khalid felt momentarily defeated.

“Dad, should I be doing this?” she asked.

“If you think you can, then let’s do it,” said her father.

Buoyed by her family’s support and her own determination, Khalid ran as the Liberal candidate for the riding of Mississauga-Erin Mills. “I’m headstrong.  When I set a goal I’ll tunnel vision that goal — that keeps me going at times when I don’t want to go on,” she says. Khalid went on to win the election, unseating the incumbent, in October 2015.

Growing up in Pakistan

Khalid has always had a stubborn streak. She went to an all-girls’ school in Pakistan, where pupils were expected to be obedient, recite lessons and conform to the rules. Khalid didn’t. “I did my own thing,” she says. When she was disobedient, teachers smacked her palms with a ruler.

Khalid, a sister to three brothers, also felt gender discrimination during these times. Though her brothers got to go out and play in the park, Khalid stayed home and learned cooking and sewing. “I remember often feeling trapped,” she says.

Khalid also knew that her career opportunities in Pakistan would be limited. If she was lucky enough to attend university, society would have pushed her toward a degree in home economics and family obligations. “If I was in Pakistan, I’d be married with four kids by now,” she says.

The limitations she faced in her birth country have galvanized her to make the most of opportunities in life. “My experiences in Pakistan have pushed me to really get out there,” she says.

Immigrating to Canada

After immigrating to Canada via England, Khalid says, “I felt equal to my brothers here.” Her parents were very progressive, raising her like a son, with as much opportunity to get an education. Khalid completed a bachelor’s degree from York University later a law degree from Western Michigan University. “I’ll be forever grateful to my parents for that.”

But even with the confidence her parents gave her, Khalid faced systemic racism and gender-based discrimination. Being a Muslim, female immigrant, Khalid had trouble making friends at school. “I was the odd one out.” Later, at a clerical job following graduation from York, she discovered that she was paid considerably less than a male colleague. She confronted her boss and received a raise.

Inequity as a woman in Canada

Khalid is not alone in having faced inequity as a working woman in Canada. Despite Canada’s entrenched values of women’s equality and human rights, the day-to-day reality is that women still face barriers and challenges their male counterparts do not.

According to a recent report published by Oxfam Canada and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, women earn less and perform nearly twice as many hours of unpaid work as men. In spite of high levels of education among girls and women, the report, Making Women Count, states that the wage gap in Canada is getting bigger, not smaller. In 2009, women earned 74.4 per cent of what men earned; in 2011 it was 72 per cent. And the gap is worse for immigrant and ethno-cultural women. They also face higher rates of unemployment despite higher levels of education, according to Statistics Canada.

Spreading the message of women’s equality

For her part, Khalid is using her platform to help spread the message of women’s equality. She seconded a motion creating a day of equality for women, to highlight the challenges Canadian women still face. She also hosted a women’s empowerment event in her riding, where a panel of distinguished women, including a female police chief, discussed how they balanced home with a demanding career. Khalid is also the vice-chair of the Women’s Caucus, a group of female Liberal MPs who meet weekly to consider all the different policies and bills through a gender lens.

Khalid’s personal experiences have encouraged her to champion fairness not just for women, but all victims of discrimination. “It made me a lot more empathetic toward women’s issues, race problems, gay rights and transgender concerns because I’ve experienced what inequality feels like,” she says. “We can’t succeed if we’re not intertwined with each other, if we’re segregated by language, nationality, gender or skin colour.”

Of all her accomplishments, Khalid is most proud of being a role model for minority women. Shortly after she was elected to office, a couple of young immigrant girls came up to her and thanked her for her leadership. “We really look up to you — you’ve shown us that things can be done,” they told her.

Khalid concludes: “Hopefully I’ve contributed to a more open and inclusive Canada.”

Melona Banico’s daughter Judelyn is feeling lonely as she misses Philippine and wants to go back. Supplied photo

It was the happiest moment of Toronto single mother Melona Banico’s life when she reunited with her children after a period of eight long years. Banico, a teacher by profession, migrated from Philippines when her aunt sponsored her as a caretaker.

After settling down in the GTA, she realized that it was not so easy to sponsor her two daughters Judelyn and Jeah, son Jade and grandson Clyde (Judelyn’s son) from the Philippines to Canada for a better future. In order to match the Ministry of Immigration’s sponsorship criteria, Banico simultaneously worked three jobs for several years and finally managed to bring her family to Canada.

Amid emotional scenes, Banico and her children reunited at Toronto Pearson International Airport after being apart for eight years. But their initial excitement of reuniting in a dreamland wore off quickly as they had to face the harsh economic realities in a new competitive world.

Instead of doing odd jobs and living a lower-class life, they wanted to go back to Philippines for a better lifestyle. They suddenly thrust upon each other and started to fight. 

Due to financial crisis and unexpected family conflicts, Banico regrets sponsoring her family to Canada. On the special occasion of Canada’s 150th anniversary, TVO is releasing a documentary film that follows the Banico family on their emotional journey as they arrive in Toronto from the Philippines and reuniting after eight years.

The 58-minute film, My First 150 Days, is commissioned by TVO and produced by 90th Parallel Productions. On Thursday, Feb. 23, TVO is hosting a screening of My First 150 Daysat the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema at 6:30 p.m. The documentary makes its broadcast première on TVO on Wednesday, April 12, at 9 p.m.

“This film about an immigrant family is being released to celebrate 150th anniversary of Canada, which is a nation built by immigrants,” said Dianna Dai, director and writer of My First 150 Days. “It’s all about immigrants and their first 150 days in Canada. It sends out a message that ‘don’t give up, there is always a hope’. If you work hard, there is a hope. To adjust and settle in a completely new society, you have to work harder than local people.”

Dai, an immigrant from China, said many families often fall prey to conflict because of the cultural disconnect over a period of time. Every year, more than 250,000 people come to Canada. Most of the settle in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, Milton, Oakville, Scarborough, Richmond Hills and other big cities such as Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal. “This film is not only about the struggle and new life in Canada, but also about the conflict between a mother and her children, who want to go back to their home country because of the hardship. “It (conflict) often happens because, over a period of time, the mindset of the sponsor always changes to western style,” said Dai, adding it is very common in people coming from Asian or South Asian countries like China or India. “Early few months for every immigrant are hard, but please don’t give up,” said Dai. “Life will reward you.”

Reposted with permission from Mississauga News

Abdullah Snobar, executive director, DMZ at Ryerson University. Photo by Saajid Motala

As the U.S. tech sector blasts the recent travel bans because of the important role immigrants play in the industry, Canada is surging forward in innovation with help from a diverse bunch who are founding companies, launching apps, furthering tech education and moving the economy forward.  

“Canadian tech companies understand the power of inclusion and diversity of thought, and that talent and skill know no borders. In choosing to hire, train and mentor the best people in the world, we can build global companies that grow our economy. By embracing diversity, we can drive innovation to benefit the world …”

In response to the U.S. travel ban, this excerpt from a recent open letter signed by more than 150 technology companies in Canada — including Shopify, Google Canada, Hootsuite, Kickstarter and BlackBerry among others — proudly mirrors Canada’s policies toward immigrants and refugees — that our strength lies in our diversity.

“In order to succeed in North America, you must collaborate with talented individuals on great ideas, regardless of their religious beliefs or where they were born. And, as Canadians, our commitment to fostering an open and inclusive society has been our strength,” says Jordanian-born Abdullah Snobar, executive director of the DMZ, the tech incubator at Ryerson University in Toronto.

“We see and experience this every day with our diverse community at DMZ and in the Canadian tech sector. And as a result, we’ve become a more innovative country. And, no matter where you stand on this argument, it’s a fact that diversity is at the core of economic growth,” he adds, noting that many of the founders and employees at his tech incubator come from countries targeted by Donald Trump’s travel ban.

The letter, too, points out that many Canadian tech entrepreneurs are either immigrants or the children of immigrants, employ and/or have been employed by immigrants.

“The open letter from the Canadian tech sector proves that you don’t need to be a refugee or an immigrant Muslim like myself to feel the impact of this radical policy,” says Snobar. “You just have to understand that the more a nation marginalizes a group of people, the more socially and economically stagnant it becomes.”

And a nation that welcomes diversity will see the opposite result; the dynamic ideas and innovation coming from Canadian immigrants in the tech sector proves the case.

June Chen, of Tiny Pixels Technology.

Innovative immigrants

Fresh from launching Tiny Pixels Technologies Inc. and Tinypx, a real-time cloud solution that dynamically manages image transformations, speeds up content delivery and improves download performance, Singaporean-born June Chen is the very epitome of determination and innovation among immigrants.

“Tiny Pixels is certainly not the first to reinvent cloud and image processing technologies, but as far as I know we’re the first in Canada to put together the various angles and ideas together in this specific way. Sometimes just improving existing ideas can be just as rewarding,” says Vancouver-based Chen. “And, I think we’ve improved it further somewhat! Today’s competitive marketplace is never easy to navigate, but I think staying relevant and being adaptive will remain an intrinsic part of Tiny Pixels’ success as an innovative technology startup.”

Chen is also an excellent example of the adaptability immigrants bring with them.

Chen, who left Singapore in her high school years, spent about 10 years moving around various U.S. cities, first as an international student and later as a tech management consultant before moving to Toronto in the mid-2000s to lead a province-wide health system IT implementation for Ontario.

“Although one might think that crossing the border from the U.S. to Canada wouldn’t be that big of an adjustment, many people don’t think of the many subtle and distinct differences regionally, culturally and nationally. Constant moves made me acutely aware of how each place was different and needed adapting to, whether in mindset or the way we do things,” says Chen.

“My move to Canada also required adapting to public sector management after having been in the private sector for the most part, so it was definitely an interestingly disruptive time. I think it’s this very element of constant change that sums up the motivations I’ve built my career on — seeing things from multiple perspectives and being able to integrate the gaps to not only understand and work with the differences, but turning them into a business advantage,” she says.

The ability to adapt and fearlessly tread into lands unknown is also how 28-year-old Samarth Mod, CEO and founder of mobile application development firm FreshWorks, made his foray into the small but dynamic tech hub in Victoria, B.C. It all began when Indian-born Mod connected with tech legend and founder of ChatterBlock (a social networking and content website connecting families with local events) James DeGreef, who was asking for feedback on social media after ChatterBlock launched a mobile app. Mod offered to discuss details about bugs that he found in the application, and the pair ended up working on ChatterBlock’s app for Android devices.

Obviously impressed, DeGreef invested in what would become FreshWorks, which Mod co-founded with Rohit Boolchandani. “When Rohit and I moved here and set up our company two-and-a-half years ago, our aim was to bridge the gap between business and technology,” says Mod. “We wanted to offer well-designed software solutions that make processes more efficient. We noticed a huge demand in the public sector for this, and the big companies did not have talent in developing on apps and on mobile; they were looking for local talent and with our education and past work experience, we were just what they needed.”

Samarth Mod, CEO of Freshworks in Victoria, B.C.

Tech boom

Mod says that the tech sector in B.C. is exploding. He points to events like the popular #BCTech Summit (which occurred on March 14-15, 2017) that showcased the latest opportunities in diverse areas such as cleantech, eHealth data and aerospace, to show things are looking brighter than ever for techpreneurs.

Statistics support this claim. According to the B.C. Stats’ Profile of the British Columbia Technology Sector: 2016 Edition, technology now employs 101,700 people earning a weekly average salary of $1,590 — 75 per cent higher than the average wage in B.C. and higher than the Canadian technology sector average of $1,480 per week. The same report goes on to state that B.C.’s tech sector not only leads the country in terms of job growth, but technology now employs approximately 4.9 per cent of B.C.’s workforce and is the third-largest tech workforce in Canada.

In Ontario, too, the tech sector continues to see growth and high employment. The 14,600-plus tech establishments located in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (35 per cent of the nation’s technology businesses) employ about 159,000 people, making it Canada’s centre for technology research and development.

“Tech is one of the sectors that is growing steadily — especially the areas of web development and mobile development,” says Tammam “Tam” Kbeili, founder and lead instructor at CodeCore, a software training institute based in Vancouver that offers an intensive in-person training program in professional web development. CodeCore is known for its boot camps — high intensity and fast-paced programs that are designed to get students up to speed with the skills required and into jobs as fast as possible.

Tammam “Tam” Kbeili, founder and lead instructor at CodeCore.

Kbeili, who came to Canada as an international student from Syria, began his career in web development and built many high traffic websites for startups and larger companies such as Cisco, Citrix, Telus and BMC. But, seeing the growth in the industry, he recognized there was a need for new ways of education and training to meet the demand.

“There is a great demand for front end, back end and full stack developers right now. Our placement [of our students] for all position levels — intermediate, senior levels and junior — is at 100 per cent,” says Kbeili.

Shaping the tech industry

Looking to the future, there is a feeling of animated excitement about the role immigrants can play in shaping the future of the tech industry. And the DMZ’s Snobar is one of the first to happily welcome them to Canada and to help those shut out south of the border. “Immigrants come here with a hunger for education and success, and unparalleled ambition. And Canada reaps the benefits,” says Snobar, who offered startup space for people impacted by Trump’s travel ban. “Their linkages to their native countries help build great global connections and these powerful synergies lead to great innovations.”

The tech incubator also made its in-house legal counsel available to help businesses and individuals navigate challenges the ban could create.

Canada is now more appealing than ever as a destination for techpreneurs. “One doesn’t usually think of Canada as a hotbed for the latest ‘trendy’ tech, but there are inspiring innovative Canadian tech firms: notables might be e-commerce platforms like Shopify and social media management companies like Hootsuite,” says Chen. “I think part of the fact that U.S. players are starting to come here to Canada is that we have a strong base of tech talent and a spirit of innovation that very much aligns with the same values as our more successful counterparts elsewhere.”

An excerpt from the open letter from Canada’s tech leaders sums it up aptly: “The 21st century will be driven by pluralistic economies powered by pluralistic societies …”

Canada, with its talented, diverse tech pool, is already leading the way.

Antonio Piretti is setting off on a cycling/music tour across Canada to celebrate Canada’s 150th.

Back in his hometown of Bologna, Italy, Antonio Piretti was a consultant wearing business suits and driving a Porsche. But looking for meaning beyond material things, Piretti picked up a guitar, started singing and never looked back. After coming to Toronto in 2009, he started busking at the local TTC station and began working seriously as an Indie rock singer/songwriter. Since then, he has released three albums, demos, singles and performed at more than 350 gigs across Canada, the United States and Europe, singing in both Italian and English. His fall 2015 Canadian tour, “Roommates of the Same Planet,” was followed by his European “Unconventional Tour,” across nine countries from May to December 2016.

This year, in celebration of Canada’s 150th, he’s embarking on a new kind of tour with a bike and a guitar called “From the Roots in the Right Direction.” Piretti is setting off on April 27 from Vancouver and plans to arrive in Halifax by July 5, by cycling 120 kilometres each day, for a total of 6,600 kilometres. He will be hosting concerts along the way in Calgary May 6, Regina May 13, Winnipeg May 20, Thunder Bay May 27, Sault Ste. Marie June 3, Ottawa June 16, Montreal June 20, Moncton July 1 and Toronto July 20. He recently talked to Canadian Immigrant, pleased to be a media sponsor of his tour, about why he’s undertaking this great Canadian adventure.

What inspired you to do this?

I want to truly and naturally meet the people all over Canada and share some music with them for the country’s 150th anniversary. My inspiration derived from my belief that we should build our relationships on authenticity instead of digital realities.

Do you have a message to your music?

When I started to do music, it was a way for me to transmit messages that could have a positive impact on other people. In that spirit, I have also founded the charitable organization Art Takes Action for Charity with my wife, Maybritt. The charity will be also a significant part of the tour because we will create art events, giving meaningful art a forum for exposure and musicians to perform.

Has the music business been welcoming to you in Canada?

Yes, definitely. My personal challenge was to make a living with my music. I was really trying my best to find gigs, contacts, connections, and I spent my first months going around looking for venues when one afternoon in August 2009 a guy gave me the best advice ever: audition for the TTC subway licence for musicians.

How long were you a busker at the subway?

My average playing time was about five hours per day for about two years. In that way, I was able to make a living with my music. Since then, I have developed my music further, have played all across Canada and Europe and recorded several CDs and EPs. I can say that Canadians are very open-minded, so you have a creative environment and good opportunities to develop as an artist in Canada.

What do you hope to achieve from this cycling/music tour?

The core of the tour is my music and my messages that I would like to share with my fellow Canadians across the country. I want to raise awareness for the true way of communication and inspire people to follow their dreams: it’s about taking action, not only talking.

How can people get involved?

I am inviting everyone to follow my endeavour and to get involved. You can follow the trip on my official website antoniopirettitoz.com and join us as a biker along the path, or as an artist or a guest at our art charity events (in Vancouver, Toronto and Halifax) or attend my solo music gigs as a fan. There are many ways to be a part of the tour and I am inviting everyone, because I believe that we all are one, stronger together as “roommates of the same planet.”

Multiculturalism is on the menu in Canada, thanks to immigrants who are shaping the culinary landscape of this country. They enrich the Canadian palate with new flavours and business ideas, expressing the country’s diversity through food. From celebrated chef and visionary restaurateur Claudio Aprile, to Colombian craft brewing family, the Amayas, to Brazilian home-delivery chef Sergio Pereira, to Syrian chocolatiers the Hadhads, these immigrant foodies are serving up delicious inspiration.

Restaurateur and MasterChef Canada host Claudio Aprile.

Celebrated chef

MasterChef Canada star and Toronto restaurateur Claudio Aprile speaks about his culinary journey, including a brand-new restaurant this June, and why Canada is lucky to have a multicultural menu

Claudio Aprile speaks tenderly of his grandmother in his native Uruguay conjuring up delectable empanadas (stuffed pastry) and asados (grilling meat over coals) in the family kitchen. One of Canada’s most celebrated and visionary chefs fell in love with the art of cooking at the age of five and hasn’t looked back. “Those are my very first memories, cooking on an open grill — I remember telling my mother that I would become a chef when I grew up. I was very sure of what I wanted to do,” says Aprile.

The owner and creative force behind the growing Orderfire Restaurant Group, which includes Toronto’s acclaimed Originbrand restaurants, Aprile is known for his innovative use of experimental cooking techniques and his fondness for global cuisine. “We are so lucky here in Canada and especially in Toronto to have the opportunity to experience varied cultures, cuisines, methods of cooking and presentation. I love trying out new flavours, combining different flavours, creating an element of surprise each time for my guests,” he says. “There is so much to discover, it’s all very exciting.”

Throughout his 30-plus-year career, Aprile has enjoyed immense success and has never backed down from challenging himself. His first restaurant, Colborne Lane, known for beautifully crafted, precisely plated cuisine was wildly popular with the public and critics. In 2010, he completely switched gears to launch Origin, whichoffered fast, fresh and accessible food, delivered to guests sitting right across from the chef in the open kitchen. Toronto Life magazine and Now magazine voted Origin the number 1 restaurant in Toronto.

Aprile attributes his success to his mother’s immigrant experience in Canada, emulating her work ethic and doggedness when running a successful restaurant business. “My mother came to Canada when I was four years old. She raised me as a single parent, working very hard as a seamstress not to mention being a non-English speaker in a foreign land. She took on every challenge head on because she wanted to give her children every opportunity that she did not have. I feel a sense of responsibility — of doing good and making her proud,” he says.

Aprile believes that there’s no greater unifier than food and the fact that Toronto is home to communities from all over the world makes it an advanced society. “This city has some amazing talent. Chefs and cooks from all over the world are bringing their flavours, their expertise and their techniques here and shaping the culinary landscape of this country,” he says. “For me, food is the greatest communication tool and also a source of magic. When one visits a place like Kensington Market with food from all over the world, it’s like being transported to a foreign land! What a wonderful and pleasurable experience to have right here in Toronto!”

Aprile’s culinary sensibility stems from travelling extensively and having worked at some of the most renowned kitchens around the globe. Bali Sugarin London, U.K., earned him outstanding reviews as a young executive chef, where he received local and international critical acclaim. Upon returning to Toronto in 2000, Aprile cemented that reputation at Sensesin Toronto. “My culinary style has been shaped by the varied cultures and cuisines I have experienced in my career. My native culture or where I was born does not restrict my creativity — which expands to cover every other exciting and new flavour that is out there,” he says.

Currently one of the judges on MasterChef Canada (which airs on Thursday nights on CTV), Aprile has the opportunity to sample such diverse cooking from talented home chefs in the televised competition. He also shares the limelight with fellow immigrants, Welsh-born Michael Bonacini, co-owner of popular Toronto restaurants like Jump, and British-born Alvin Leung, owner of Michelin star restaurant Bo Innovation in Hong Kong. “My role [on the show] is to inspire home cooks, but I’m inspired and astonished by their talent, so the tables have been turned on me! The show is a huge success because of these talented cooks and their stories, their convictions — all of which has been beautifully captured in the show,” he enthuses.

Presently working on a new restaurant that opens its doors in June, Aprile’s advice to aspiring chefs and newcomers who want to break into the restaurant business is simple — be true to yourself. “Be proud of who you are and where you come from. You have a superpower — that of creating something unique. So when you come to Canada, every moment counts. Don’t take anything for granted, but work hard and be humble,” he says.

But he warns that the food business is not for the faint of heart; you have to know for sure this is exactly what you want to do because it can be a tough, all-consuming business. “Have one really great place and build it up with a good team. Build your connections with your staff and your guests because they are your extended family and they will help you on your exciting culinary adventure,” he signs off.

— Baisakhi Roy

Andina Brewery in Vancouver.

Colombian brewmasters

The Amaya family opened the Andina Brewing Company this spring in Vancouver

The chance to move to a new country and start a business is a dream for many, but for the Amaya family from Colombia, the fairytale came true. About 20 years ago, two brothers, Andrés and Nicolás Amaya married two sisters, Rocio and Claudia and then immigrated to Canada.

Nicolás had always held a passion for beer and for him, living in Vancouver, in the heart of the burgeoning craft brewery scene, something just clicked. “My brother and I always wanted to get into business together and so we were looking at a lot of opportunities, like Tim Hortons’ franchises and other things, but I’ve always been a beer fanatic,” he says. “One night we were chatting and the idea just came to me, with all the breweries that are opening, we should just open our own. My brother said, ‘We don’t know anything about it!’ And I said ‘Well, we can hire people to help us. We can manage the business. We can do it.’ He thought it was an amazing idea and that’s basically how it started.”

So with the help of their wives, the brothers set about making their idea a reality.

However, as anyone who goes into business for themselves will tell you, a dream and reality are two different things, and the Amaya family quickly discovered that there were many challenges to getting their idea off the ground.

One of their biggest challenges was the time frame it took. To create and open a brewery from scratch takes a lot of work and so the Amaya family, with the help of an expert team, worked long hours putting their business together in meticulous detail. They wrote a business plan and then found the perfect site for the brewery (a stunning, bright banana yellow building in trendy East Vancouver), where they could create their unique beers.

The overriding force that drove the vision for the Andina Brewing Company was to create a craft beer experience that combined the best of their two countries — a fusion experience that combined Colombian hospitality with Vancouver’s commitment to fine ingredients, the environment and sustainability.

Despite the long road to opening the doors of their microbrewery, the family all agree that the four-year wait was worth it. In particular, Claudia (Nicholás wife), the communications and marketing director for the company, says that the support they have received in Canada is something they are all incredibly grateful for.

“For me, one of the rewards is all the help we’ve received from the government and the banking institutions in setting up our own business. All the help and advice made us feel like we were not alone. Here in Canada you can design a business proposal and if you get the right people to consult and help you, you can make it happen.”

The brewery opened its doors on March 1 of this year and is already being warmly received by craft beer aficionados and the press, something they are all blown away by, says Nicolás. “Because we have just opened, we didn’t know what to expect and so we did have uncertainties. We knew that people were interested in what we were doing, but one of the biggest rewards is that we didn’t expect such a quick response from the public. We’ve been full every weekend and we’ve even had to turn people away, which we never imagined would happen. And 99 per cent of the people who approach us tell us that we’re doing great and that the food is great, that the beer is unbelievable and they love the place.”

Their West Coast/Colombian fusion is certainly helping Andina beers gain a reputation for being high quality and unique. “We use only the finest organic South American ingredients in our craft beer recipes. For example, the base malts that we use come from Chile. We’re the first brewery in Canada to use them and that is something that we’re proud of,” says Claudia.

Nicholás says it’s a dream come true to turn his passion for beer into a business venture and he says that one of the greatest things about the industry is the camaraderie and warmth in the craft brewing community. For him it’s a no-brainer why the industry continues to be a popular movement around the world. “Up until recently, people have been used to corporate beer, which is mass produced and made thousands of miles away. So when people get the chance to go to a brewery and try a beer that has just been brewed three weeks before, it’s so fresh. Also with craft beer there are so many different style of beers and flavours, people are just so excited — it’s a whole new world.”

 — Nic Enright-Morin

Co-owner of 2 Guys With Knives, Sergio Pereira.

Knife skills

Brazilian-born chef Sergio Pereira is cooking up a storm in Canada as the chef behind a healthy meal-delivery service

Born and raised in northeastern Brazil, Sergio Pereira grew up on a steady diet of fresh seafood. His appetite for all things culinary grew over the years and, as a young man, he decided to attend cooking school. Though his skill in the kitchen was natural from the get-go, one thing soon became clear: if he wanted to take his career in the hospitality industry any further, he would need to add English to his toolkit.

“I came to Canada 11 years ago with the idea to learn English and then go back to Brazil,” Pereira says. “It was a difficult decision for me, but my entire family and my two kids were very supportive. I was very lucky to have them behind me when I took this step, to come to a new country where I couldn’t even speak the language at first.”

The chef recalls his first days in Vancouver as being “pretty tough.” Besides taking English-language courses as well as extra culinary classes to add additional world cuisines — Asian, French, Italian — to his repertoire, Pereira picked up a job as a dishwasher in a restaurant in the city’s Kitsilano neighbourhood.

“I was working 12-hour days in the restaurant industry and I would attend my English class and the teacher would comment, ‘You look really tired. Is everything OK?’” he remembers. “I was so exhausted, and some days it was really, really hard to keep going. But I kept in mind this idea that if I persevered, I would be able to make my dreams come true. Canada is that kind of country, so I refused to give up.”

Pereira’s English came along quickly, aided by the fact that he was working alongside Canadians and Australians at his job. A month after he started working, his employer promoted him to first cook based on his incredible progress and his culinary background. Rather than rinsing pots and pans and mopping the floor, Pereira was chopping vegetables and simmering sauces as part of the prep team. His language skills continued to improve and, within a year, he became head chef.

“It was a big confidence boost,” he says, smiling. “I was still missing my family like crazy, but things were going better than I had expected. I was working 80 hours a week at a great job, and this was helping me to provide a better life for my kids.”

Pereira then met fellow Vancouverite Patrick Carr, a personal-training specialist and metabolic nutritionist. The two hit it off, striking up a friendship that soon turned to love. The couple soon became famous for hosting memorable dinner parties, with Pereira’s mouthwatering creations stealing the show. When some of Carr’s clients asked him to provide healthy foods to help achieve their fitness goals, the idea to launch a meal-delivery company was born.

“My ability to cook combined with Patrick’s skills in nutrition helped us to create a range of delicious, healthy, low-carb, gluten-free, dairy-free foods — it was a natural fit,” Pereira explains. “There was a bit of a learning curve for me — sometimes I wanted to include some sauces and he would tell me no, it’s not healthy. I had to transform my recipes to suit the needs of our clientele, for example, to use coconut milk in place of cream, and avocado oil in place of other more common cooking oils. This has actually helped me to grow a lot in the kitchen, as I’ve learned that you can make very healthy food that tastes really good — it doesn’t have to be boring.”

As the buzz around their business, 2 Guys With Knives, grew, Pereira and Carr moved their operation to a larger commercial kitchen. Then, they landed a partnership with Vancouver-based sports nutrition and supplements chain the Body Energy Club. Earlier this year, they realized their dream of opening their own space, from which they continue to create nutritiously decadent meal options every week that are affordable, convenient and packed with nutrient density.

The five-year plan, Pereira says, is to expand across Canada.

“Coming to this country was one of the best decisions I ever made; I love it here,” he says. “If you go to Brazil, you get Brazilian food. In Italy, it’s Italian. In Canada, the cuisine is a reflection of its people — it’s diverse, it’s fusion.”

— Noa Nichol

Syrian chocolatiers, Tareq and Issam Hadhad of Peace by Chocolate.

Peace by chocolate

The sweet success of a Syrian refugee family in Nova Scotia

The Hadhads could never have expected that the crisis in their native Syria would see them journey to a picturesque small town in Nova Scotia called Antigonish. The family had long operated a chocolate factory in the Syrian capital of Damascus when it was destroyed by a missile in 2012. The Hadhads fled to Lebanon, where they stayed in a refugee camp for three years until leaving for Canada in December 2015.

Nine months later, they resumed their livelihoods as chocolatiers, calling their new Canadian business Peace by Chocolate. “The name itself has a very strong message,” says Tareq Hadhad, who runs the establishment with father, Issam. “The world now needs peace, and the world now needs chocolate.”

In Damascus, Issam Hadhad had shipped his delicacies to countries all over the Middle East. Tareq remembers how it all started in Antigonish. “The community had a potluck and my father made a batch of 100 chocolates. We got such wonderful feedback — they were gone in a matter of minutes,” he says.

The resourceful family revived their business out of their home kitchen in August 2016, their first foray being the farmers’ markets in their town. “It was purely by word of mouth that we got the attention and from there the orders for our chocolates just stacked up. I remember Christmas and the holiday season was particularly stressful — we got 2,000 orders within four hours! Needless to say, we were overwhelmed, but also overjoyed,” he laughs.

The business has expanded considerably in the past year and now they have a busy online store up and running as well. Tareq credits the encouragement and love they got from their community for their resounding success.

“We didn’t face any serious challenges in Antigonish because of the way the community embraced us,” says Tareq. “In one year, we achieved so many huge things … It was not an easy mission, but we succeeded.”

The family also had a memorable encounter with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during his trip to Nova Scotia in November 2016 when he sampled their wares. “He [Trudeau] had been following the story for a while. He was so excited. When he came to visit, he knew our names, he hugged us … It was a very, very special thing for us,” says Tareq.

A video of their encounter showing Trudeau embracing both men and calling the Hadhad family “an extraordinary example of the kind of strength and leadership and engagement that comes with bringing new people to Canada,” went viral and so did orders for Peace by Chocolate.

Tareq agrees with the prime minister’s assessment. “We came here with nothing,” he says. “We are now in a very welcoming, warm-hearted country and we’re so proud to be inspiring others.”

His advice to other newcomers attempting to rebuild their lives in a new country is to make the most of every benefit and opportunity that comes their way. “Life is unpredictable —we can lose everything in a moment. One should never lose hope, always be positive in a negative world and work hard,” he says.

— With files from Toronto Star

Mohamad Fakih, CEO/president, Paramount Fine Foods, was this year’s Business person of the year in the Brampton Board of Trade’s (BBOT) 2017 Business Excellence Awards. – Claudio Cugliari/Metroland

Some nine years ago, Mohamad Fakih, CEO/president, Paramount Fine Foods, walked into a decrepit Lebanese restaurant in Mississauga looking to buy baklava (a Middle-Eastern dessert) and a few weeks later ended up becoming its owner.

Paramount Fine Food’s meteoric rise and success with more than 54 locations worldwide, including three in Brampton, has propelled Fakih into the ranks of Canada’s business heavyweights. Brampton also houses the chain’s centralized kitchen.

Fakih, feted by the Brampton Board of Trade (BBOT) as the 2017 Business Person of the Year, on Thursday, April 11, spoke of his serendipitous meeting with the owner of the crumbling eatery to whom he lent money. Some days later, the man called Fakih and asked that he take away all the equipment in lieu of his loan as the business was going belly up.

When he owner told Fakih the loss of business would put a dozen or so immigrants who worked there on the streets, he decided to jump into the deep end of the entrepreneurial pool.

“My decision was about the people (who would be out of the jobs) and their families,” said Fakih. “Over the next month or so, I did some research, hired a consultant as I did not understand anything about the food industry. I am not sure I still do …”

A former trained gemologist, Fakih came to Canada 16 years ago, but attributes the success of his operations to his people-centric approach, one that’s driven by empowering employees to buy into his vision and treating them well.

“Anyone that thinks their money is their biggest asset is mistaken,” he said. “I have met a lot of people with lots of money, yet they hired people that had no respect for the job. Here I am, someone who came to Pearson International Airport with literally nothing. I take pride in saying that I cried when I put my sign up on Yonge-Dundas Square because I never imagined that one day I would have a store besides the Mirvish Theatre and across (from the) Eaton Centre.”

BBOT’s annual Business Excellence Awards recognized several corporations — big, small and medium — as well as individuals in different categories.

“This event is special for number of reason,” said Todd Letts, chief executive officer, BBOT. “We do this annually to showcase the amazing entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to growing businesses and our community in Brampton. Few years ago we decided, we would use the example of our business person of the year and unpack what makes them successful and it’s the characteristic of excellence that we’re celebrating here today.”

Posted with permission from Metroland Media

Afghan-born actor Kane Mahon.

Eleven-year-old Kane Mahon left his childhood behind the day the Soviets left his homeland of Afghanistan, and the mujahideen took over. The guerilla fighters (forerunners of the Taliban) commandeered his parents’ house at gunpoint. His parents, like many others, lost their livelihood, had to sell their belongings and were on the brink of starvation. That’s when Mahon’s survival instincts kicked in. He and his brothers started selling water in the hot summer at the marketplace.

When others copied his idea, they, unfortunately, went out of business. He wasn’t going to give up, however. His next idea was to charge onlookers to watch him wrestle. He won every match, and his earnings helped his family eke out a living.

Mahon’s ordeals as a boy in Afghanistan have moulded him into a survivor. He learned that he could handle even the toughest challenges that life threw his way. “I never panic. I just adapt to the situation,” he says matter-of-factly.

His refuge from the destruction of war around him as a boy was an old black-and-white television he watched in secret. Films and theatres were deemed un-Islamic by the mujahideen, so Mahon and his brother attached antennae to the TV and powered it up using car batteries. Under the cover of night they would troop up to the roof and watch films from other countries. “The movies were a window to the peaceful, outside world, where people were happy and the good guys always won,” he says.

While watching these movies, Mahon also realized that acting could be a vehicle for telling his own tales, stoking his dream to become an actor one day. “So much has happened to me that I want to talk about,” he says. “Movies are a way of delivering friends I’ve lost and the childhood I’ve missed.”

Acting in Toronto

Fast forward to today in Toronto, Mahon looks every inch the actor that he dreamed of becoming. He’s dressed all in black, in a leather bomber jacket and a black fedora perched jauntily over his dark hair. His face is expressive. His brows furrow and he gazes into the distance while he ponders his remarks. When he’s collected his thoughts and begins to speak, he turns back and lights up in a mega-watt smile.

The Mahons fled to Tajikistan in 1993, where he finished high school and then completed a master’s degree in international relations. However, after 12 years in the country, the Mahons hadn’t been granted citizenship, so they decided to immigrate to Canada hoping for a brighter future. “Becoming a Canadian was a reincarnation of hope,” says Mahon.

But there were struggles, too. He spoke Dari and Russian, but his English was basic, and he supplemented his ESL classes by reading children’s books. The most difficult challenge, though, was finding a job, as no one wanted to hire him without Canadian experience.

But as Mahon proved as a young boy selling water and wrestling for money, he is not one to give up. “You’re most creative when there’s no hope left — that’s when your brain comes up with genius ideas,” he says.

He found work as a house painter through Russian-Canadian newspapers, and was later hired as a retail stock boy and then moved up to a managing position at a clothing store.

Two years later, he and his family were comfortable enough financially for him to begin taking acting classes. These sessions became his oasis in a whirl of responsibility. “Class was like a temple — you could go there, relax and forget about everything.”

Acting also helped him process his old ordeals. “You can’t get rid of your memories of war — they’re always inside you,” he says. But, as he probes his characters for their motivations, he explores his own hopes and fears, helping him to come to terms with his past.

Once Mahon completed his classes at the George Brown Theatre School, his career ramped up quickly, especially in this new era of web series. With a black beard and hint of a foreign accent, he admits he tends to be typecast as a tough Middle Eastern character. He doesn’t mind; having a niche means he has less competition at auditions. When he tries out for a character named Peter, the room is filled with baby-faced actors with identical haircuts, he says, but only a handful of actors are usually vying for a character named Abdul. “I like being in the minority,” he says.

Mahon has often been cast as a native of his homeland. He plays an Afghan kiln owner in a new animated movie, The Breadwinner, based on the Canadian youth novel of the same name. Directed by Nora Twomey and produced by Angelina Jolie, it is set to be released this summer.

Mahon feels it’s his responsibility to make these tales authentic. In one of his recurring roles in the action web series Petrol, he plays an Afghan family man who turns to illegal activities out of desperation. In one scene, Mahon’s character, Ali, was supposed to have a meltdown.  But the actor convinced the writers that an Afghan would more likely stay grounded in the face of danger. They tweaked the story.

Mahon prepares for his roles rigorously. He begins by researching his characters’ daily lives, poring over their job descriptions and schedules. He also uses art to immerse himself in the stories. Every time he begins a new film or digital series, he summarizes each scene by drawing a picture on a sticky note, placing them in order over his fireplace.

All that work has paid off. In the last two years, Mahon has been nominated for Best Actor at the Vancouver Web Fest and Best Leading Male in an Action Series at the Rio WebFest. But the highest tribute has come from Canada’s most respected institution amongst actors; the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television nominated him for Best Performance by Male in Digital Media Web Series for his role in Petrol. “I’m honoured — it’s a reassurance that you’re doing something right,” he says.

Next, Mahon stars in The Patriot, an Amazon original series, in the recurring role of Mikham Candahar. The first 10 episodes were released on Amazon Prime Video this February.

Acting is not always glamorous, though. Many auditions end in rejection.  At the start of his career, Mahon was nervous trying out for roles, but now he doesn’t sweat it when someone else wins out. “I’m just happy that he’ll get the job and help his family.”

Mahon has also had to gain and lose more than 30 pounds for different characters. Even love scenes aren’t enjoyable; once he had to kiss his co-star for five hours straight as the cameras shot the scene from different angles. “We bruised each other’s lips — we could never be friends after that,” he says in jest.

More than acting

Luckily, Mahon knows how to de-stress. “Life is too important to be upset over little things.” He escapes from reality through writing and filming his own productions. He recently finished a five-minute film, Ambiguity, with the theme of Canada’s 150th birthday, for the ACTRA Toronto 24-hour film challenge. His film won. Now he is creating a one-man play about the war in Afghanistan.

An amateur astrophotographer, Mahon also finds perspective when he gazes at the sky through his telescope. “We think we’re the centre of the universe, but compared to what’s in the vast space, our planet is just a speck of dust.”

Passionate about fostering the next generation, Mahon created a Facebook group for Afghan actors around the world, and uses the forum to give them guidance. “United together we’re stronger.”

Mahon’s advice for newcomers — actors or otherwise — captures the motto he lives by: “Don’t just dream. Predict your own future, then go and get it.”

Isabel Kanaan will debut on Air Farce for its Canada 150 special on July 1 on CBC.

When Isabel Kanaan first arrived in Canada as a 16-year-old from busy and tropical Manila, Philippines, she found her new Toronto suburban home quiet and cold — despite landing in the middle of August. “I refused to take my sweater off because I was cold,” she says with a laugh. It took time for her to adjust, but her natural talents as a performer and comedienne helped her through. She is a Seneca College Acting for Camera and Voice alumna and Second City graduate, and now is the newest face on the very Canadian show Air Farce, making her debut on the show’s Air Farce Canada 150 special on July 1, 2017, on CBC.

What was your initial transition to Canadian life like?

Coming from an overpopulated city like Manila, I found the quiet deafening in the Toronto suburbs. I really only started getting used to Canada when I went to university in Toronto. The diversity, the busy life, the noise — they felt like home. I haven’t adjusted to the cold though.

Did you always dream of becoming an actor? A comedienne?

I was always a performer. I was practically singing when I came out the womb and caught the acting bug in high school. I knew I had to be a performer.

As for being a comedienne? Making people laugh came naturally to me and my acting teachers would comment on how I could find the comedy in anything. I took their notes to heart and started taking comedy seriously — ironically.

Has performing helped you in your immigration journey?

Definitely. I wasn’t truly myself until I started pursuing comedy and acting. I would meet people and hide behind the facade of what I thought a “good assimilated immigrant” was. When I started performing regularly, I became comfortable in my own skin and in myself.

Canada isn’t known for its large movie and TV industry. What are opportunities like for a performer of Filipina heritage?

I’m not going to lie, it’s tough. There’s not much content out there written with Filipinos in mind. That’s why we create communities where we can showcase our stories and skills. I, for example, am part of the new collective creation unit of a Filipino-Canadian theatre company, Carlos Bulosan Theatre, and recently co-wrote and performed in our debut piece, Anak. We are constantly creating new stories and expanding our network so that we can keep working as Filipino-Canadian performers.

What does it mean to you to be part of such a Canadian show as Air Farce? And especially for the Canada 150 special?

When I initially moved to Canada, it took me a while to get comfortable being myself in a new environment. Being part of Air Farce Canada 150, I get to be my goofy self in front of the whole country! Canada prides itself in its multiculturalism and I am living proof of that. I am so grateful to be on Air Farce — and that Canada has accepted me.

Dirk McLean signing a copy of his book Tournament Fugee.

Following the release of refugee soccer story Team Fugee last May, Toronto-based author Dirk McLean will be releasing a sequel, Tournament Fugee, later this summer.

Readers can follow 13-year-old Syrian refugee Victor Bayazid, whom they met in Team Fugee, as he embarks on new personal and athletic adventures.

“Over the years, I have known refugees who came here from all different countries,” says Trinidad and Tobago-born author McLean on what inspired him to write his books. “I was not fleeing a situation,” he says of his own immigration experience, but he says that his interactions with refugees have helped him in his writing.

Tournament Fugee book

In the upcoming book, Victor travels with his soccer team, the GTA Gazelles, to Vancouver to participate in Thank You Canada, a soccer tournament featuring teams of Syrian refugees. The experience is meant to be a fun one, but on his journey the young goaltender is plagued with the guilt of leaving his family, the drama of teammate issues and the memories of his homeland and the loved ones left behind.

Tournament Fugee is part of James Lorimer and Company’s Refugee Soccer set, which includes David Starr’s Golden Goal and Golden Game (set to come out on the same day as Tournament Fugee). Interestingly, despite the different authors, the books feature interconnected characters and the shared goal of shedding light on the refugee experience.

From reading these books, McLean hopes to give “children an understanding of refugee immigrants who share a lot of the same human complexities as natural-born Canadians.”

McLean’s Tournament Fugee and Starr’s Golden Game will be available for purchase on Aug. 1.

Nazreena Anwar-Travas.

On the second day of June in the year 2011, a WestJet airplane began its descent to Calgary, oblivious that a worried immigrant onboard (me) was looking at the landscape below warily. An immigrant who had left behind a well-paying job, her home, her family and everything behind just because she had chosen to make Canada her home.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have arrived into Calgary International Airport,” the flight attendant announced.

You have just arrived into your new home, a voice inside my head said meekly.

The jetlag mercifully kept me away from the reality that was yet to embrace me. Reality meant accepting that you were now in a foreign land and it was all up to me to make that land my home. After all, wasn’t that a choice I made when I had chosen to immigrate? I now needed to totally accept that choice and live with it. Or leave it. But I was no quitter and I firmly resolved to live this journey out and make it worth living.

First few weeks

I must admit that my first few weeks were depressing indeed. I travelled a lot using public transportation and, each day, I kept wondering when I would ever travel for work instead of looking for work.

It was hard for me to accept that the same educational qualifications and work experience that had qualified me to immigrate to Canada were not accepted in Canada after I immigrated. Equally hard was to understand why most people advised me that I needed to start at the bottom of the corporate ladder when I had spent 13 years of my life already climbing it? I understand that every country has a different work culture, but surely, one doesn’t expect someone to start at the very bottom just because the work culture was different?

Third week running and still no job, I l began to despair. Strangely, though, even if I had not still mentally accepted Canada, Canada had somehow accepted me. I was slowly beginning to blend in. Nothing seemed like a new experience anymore. Everything seemed routine. Even the sunlight that streamed down until the late evening hours seemed normal.

First job woes

I got my first job a day before Canada Day; still a far cry from my last corporate job, but at least it gave me somewhere to start from. I left my first job one month later and my second job three months later. And so it went on, until I got into a company where I eventually found strong footing. Many months later I had popped into my first place of work hoping to see a familiar face. Apart from the owner-manager, there was nobody I knew. Everyone had moved on.

Who am I?

I was all alone in Canada and bored; my parents were in India and I was yet to make friends outside work. In a desperate attempt to break up the boredom, I resorted to cooking new dishes and learning how to crochet with the help of YouTube. Two months later, I had crocheted coasters, a scarf and little motifs from leftover yarn. I also learned how to make cranberry sauce, make Mexican meatloaf and moussaka. It’s so true: it’s when you are alone that you discover yourself the best! Today, crochet and cooking are the two hobbies that I love the most.

By the time 2011 drew to a close, I had braved my first winter in Canada. Yes, winter in Canada may be hard and brutal, but not truly impossible.

Four-and-a-half years after arriving, as I took my oath of citizenship, I realized how quickly time had flown. From a nervous nail-biting immigrant, I had grown to be the person whom I was. From the very first job, to the first Tim Hortons coffee to the first snowfall … yes, everything had played an important role in shaping me as a person.

Coming home to Canada

The first thing I did after getting my Canadian passport was to apply for a visitor visa to India. It seemed so ironic; I now needed a visa to travel to my own homeland!

My journey to Chennai, my hometown, was nothing short of an emotional rollercoaster. Chennai had changed. Everything seemed different. However, as I walked around my family’s house later, I realized nothing had changed there. And that was when the truth finally hit me — I had changed. All the while in Canada, I felt like an Indian with a Canadian passport, but, once in India, I felt more like a Canadian with an Indian soul. Which one of the two was I? All I know is that I love both countries equally. If it weren’t for what India had taught me, I would have never managed all those lonely years by myself; and if it weren’t for what Canada has shaped me into, I would have never reached where I am right now.

My mind goes to one of my favourite quotations:  “For everything you have missed; you have gained something else, and for everything you gain; you lose something else. It is about your outlook toward life; you can either regret or rejoice.”

I choose to rejoice — because, somewhere in these six years in Canada, I have actually found my way home!

Paola Gomez is co-founder of Sick Muse Projects.

The formative years of Colombian-born human rights activist and writer Paola Gomez were steeped in silence. She grew up a survivor of domestic violence, witnessing her father lash out verbally and physically at her mother. During the worst of the abuse, Gomez would hide in her bedroom, sad and scared, covering her ears. Only one thing was certain: there was to be no spilling of the family secrets to authorities. “I wasn’t able to speak about it — violence was considered a private issue in my culture,” she says.

So, from a very young age, Gomez poured her pain into words, tapping away on an old typewriter of her father’s. “Writing was my saviour — a way to keep my sanity,” Gomez says. She funnelled her despair into poetry and short stories. “I was too shy to speak, so writing was the perfect way to be able to put all the feelings I had inside.”

By adolescence, Gomez had begun to vocalize her convictions, often challenging her teachers. She also became attuned to the problems of the people around her. “I wanted to change the world that has violence, where kids live on streets, and where women are treated as less.” At age 15, she entered university and studied to be a lawyer. While still a student, she opened a shelter for street children, where she continued to work after graduation. Her job was to assess risk, remove children from dangerous situations and put them into temporary protection. She identified with many of them, especially those fleeing domestic violence. Speaking out about violence against women was therapeutic for Gomez. “I never went to therapy. I found so much healing by giving voice to others not as fortunate as me.”

But, eventually, the self-described “shit disturber” went too far. One of her street kids was killed by Colombian authorities in their “cleanup operation,” a murderous practice targeting anyone considered “disposable.” When Gomez asked the authorities to hold the responsible party accountable, she began receiving death threats. One day, a pair of policemen smashed into her car and raped her in front of her boyfriend. Fearing for the continuing safety of herself and her newly adopted toddler, she fled Colombia for the United States in 2001, applying for temporary protection status. When that process fizzled out, she came to Canada in 2004.

Adjusting to Canada

It was a tough adjustment. Her English wasn’t strong enough to express her basic needs, and people would make faces at her broad accent. “I felt very dumb because I couldn’t communicate,” she says.

As well, Gomez didn’t have the credentials to practise law in Canada. It was as if she had regressed back to being a timid child. “To save my life, I had become invisible and voiceless again.” She fell into a deep, dark depression.

But Gomez has always been a fighter. She began volunteering at a refugee centre and, by 2007, found permanent work at the YWCA in Toronto. She became an immigration and refugee specialist, supporting women in shelters with precarious residency status. Gomez coped with her own life by throwing herself into her cases. Each win temporarily revived her lagging self-esteem. “I worked my pants off on these cases — every time I won, it validated me.”

Though she enjoyed a high success rate in her applications, her creative voice continued to be muzzled. “There was so much on my mind that I was stuck — inspiration didn’t come,” she says. She had never fully dealt with the traumas of her youth, and they nipped away at the edges of her consciousness. She had nightmares of death. For years she slept by the wall, with her son beside her, terrified that bullets might pierce through and kill him. Even when she did manage to write, her pieces were dark and painful.

It was love that helped put the demons at bay. Overcoming her writer’s block, Gomez managed to compile a book of poems by 2012. She began looking for a graphic designer to illustrate her cover, and reconnected with Colombian-based Alex Usquiano, a visual artist, photographer and teacher. The two began to collaborate on a new project, to provide a day of arts to 100 kids in poor areas of her hometown of Quimbaya. As they bandied ideas over the long-distance phone lines, Gomez felt her creative juices flowing once more. “Alex had so much positive energy — he helped me dream.” By the time they had successfully completed their first joint community program, they were a couple. Gomez sponsored Usquiano to come to Canada, and they married in 2013.

Launching Sick Muse Projects

Back in Toronto, the couple wanted to continue empowering disadvantaged people through the arts, so they partnered to launch Sick Muse Art Projects. The organization attempts to revive the imagination of oppressed communities, giving them a voice to speak out against social injustice. Gomez is the program director, while Usquiano serves as the artistic director.

One of their projects is the Colours of Hope, which aims to boost the self-esteem of refugee children staying at temporary reception centres. Each session begins with a talk celebrating identity, acknowledging the beauty of their different skin tones and the uniqueness of their accents. Afterward, children paint their self-portraits from photos and share them with the group. “We talk about how special each piece is, hoping to enhance their self-love,” Gomez says.

Sick Muse also runs a creative writing group for women who are survivors of violence. They find it cathartic to put their painful experiences into writing. “It gives them an outlet for their feelings and experiences,” says Gomez. “That opens a new door leading to a healing journey.” Gomez has witnessed life-altering transformations amongst the women in the program. “Knowing they’re not alone removes a heavy weight from their shoulders.”

Gomez’s work with Sick Muse (most of which is unpaid) has helped her to further heal from her own painful memories. Bringing joy to people’s lives is comforting. “That lifts me up and gives me hope.”

Today, Gomez is unstoppable. She is expanding Sick Muse to Latin America and the Caribbean. This year, she’s bringing painting, drawing and print making to Cuban children living in rural areas. She will also travel to Argentina this year, as the Canada Council for the Arts’ delegate at a global conference on community arts and the experience of refugees. She also serves on PEN Canada’s writers in exile committee, where she helps support writers who are at risk abroad and welcomes new arrivals to this country.

Gomez is also a current member of the Toronto Arts Council’s Cultural Leaders Lab, a year-long program that provides arts leaders with training and opportunities to lead change in the arts sector. Gomez hopes to promote more diversity amongst community arts facilitators.

Gomez is also a leader on the homefront, as a mom. She’s raised both her sons to be thoughtful, peaceful people. When they were children playing with Star Wars characters, Gomez would remove the guns from the toy figurines. Though her kids were annoyed at her ruining the fun of war games, she’s pleased with how they turned out. Both are confident, unafraid to speak their minds. And her oldest son has already volunteered with refugee children. “They’re good citizens, good human beings,” she says with pride.

Gomez’s creativity is flourishing. She is working on another book of poetry, about identity and female power. Her husband inspires her when anxiety resurfaces. “He encourages the continuous wandering of my mind,” she says.

Advice to newcomers

Her advice to other newcomers stems from her own creative revival. “Don’t let your dreams go. When you’re facing adversity, it’s easy to give up, but your dreams will keep you going.”

Eman Shahab Bachani of Meraki Design House.

Originally from Pakistan, Eman Shahab Bachani has always been inspired by the cultural crafts of her heritage, so in a bid to share them and offer the Canadian fashion scene something truly original, she set up Meraki Design House in 2015. Bachani, who came to Canada six years ago to study at the University of Toronto, wanted her brand to reinterpret Eastern designs for a Western audience. What this has translated into is an online boutique of ethnically inspired shoes and accessories that have developed a loyal following amongst Canadian fashion bloggers and shoppers.

Did you always want to work in fashion or was your foray into the industry spontaneous? 

I don’t think I work in fashion per se, because I don’t view my products as fashion items. Fashion items change with trends and seasons, whereas my products are born out of preserving cultural crafts and redesigning them for the modern woman. It was a bit spontaneous to get into it as deep as I have, but I always knew I wanted to have something of my own.

How did you come up with the idea for your designs?

I had people constantly asking me about my personal collection of handcrafted shoes. After quite a bit of research, I found that there was some untapped potential in the Canadian market for international artisan-made products. Lots of hard work later, the idea formulated into Meraki.

Has it been difficult to set up your business?

Just like any business, the first year was nothing but bumps and learning curves. However, I think I have learned so many things that I would have never ever learned working for someone else: from handling the e-commerce aspect to production to managing the finances (still tons of learning left here), but, most importantly, just getting through the hard parts. I think most people get so caught up in the difficulty of things that they barely look at the bigger picture; I’ve tried to never lose sight of it!

From Meraki Design House.

Why is working with artisans important to you?

With Meraki, we have always intended to have a two-fold effect: one, providing consumers the choices they won’t find at a mall and, two, in the process, creating demand for crafts and artisan-made products that [help] preserve these practices and create opportunities for work and growth within communities that specialize in such practices.

I feel these practices are crucial to the values and purpose of the brand, and luckily our customers also appreciate that each piece we create is made out of love and passion of a craft, as indicated by the word Meraki itself [a Greek word that means putting your soul, creativity and love into doing something].

What has been your biggest achievement so far?

I feel a bit more accomplished every time I come across someone who already knows about Meraki; it’s all about the small wins.

And where do you want to go from here? 

Even though there are new trends every day that draw on cultures of other countries, we are going to keep working on products that preserve the authenticity of the craft and ensure these products make their way to those who appreciate these pieces of wearable art.

When the Toronto Fashion Week (TFW) kicked off earlier this month, Romanian-born Canadian Lucian Matis saw his romantic Flight collection — complete with elegant butterflies, Swarovski crystals and, most notably, full-coverage face masks — opening the runway portion of the three-day event.

Romanian-born Canadian fashion designer Lucian Matis.

“I wanted to show that the face doesn’t really matter [in fashion],” Matis says of his eye-catching face wear. “It’s more about the art and the craftsmanship of the garments; it doesn’t really matter who wears the garments.”

Matis says that with social media, the fashion world has become so interested in the people who wear the clothes. But, at events like TFW, he says he wants his creative designs and intricate work to be what’s capturing the audience’s attention.

While the 35-year-old emphasizes the importance of art as opposed to the models during shows, off the runway, the people who wear his clothes have played a big role in raising awareness about the Canadian’s work.

Most notably Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, the spouse of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, has been spotted wearing Lucian Matis pieces on multiple occasions.

“She’s gorgeous, and very easy to make look beautiful,” Matis says of Grégoire Trudeau. “I feel like she’s doing a great job being a fashion ambassador in Canada … She’s doing the best she can to support Canadian talent and to show it globally.”

From having Canada’s leading lady sporting his garments to kicking off TFW, Matis has come a long way from when he was a child learning to sew at his mother’s shop in his birth country of Romania.

“Things were difficult in Romania; there was a lot of poverty,” he told Canadian Immigrant in 2011. “My first impression of Canada was that it kind of seemed like heaven.”

Fashion forward with Lucian Matis

Today, Matis says things have continued to change and flourish.

“My life is absolutely, completely, 180 per cent different. I moved out of the city, and I live in the country,” he says. “The label has grown so much. We’ve already expanded in five to six countries since the [last interview with Canadian Immigrant].”

Matis’ consistent growth, both personally and as a designer, has a similar theme to the collection he showed at this year’s TFW.

“Everything had to do with takeoff and flying,” he says of his Flight collection. “We had a lot of wings, a lot of butterflies, a lot of petals that were actually going upwards instead of downwards, so fighting the gravity a little bit.”

In defying the weight of the obstacles he’s had to face personally, he says it’s hard work that’s allowed him to overcome trials like the stresses of growing his business or handling big changes like moving countries.

What’s also helped is his mindset about work and life in general.

“I don’t really look at myself as an immigrant. I don’t really think the world belongs to anybody. I have a very different view when it comes to countries and borders,” he says. “I’ve never looked at myself as being any lesser or any more than anybody. I’ve always lived with integrity anywhere I went and anywhere I did work.”

Learn more about Matis and his work on his website: https://lucianmatis.com.

Aziz Bootwala

Many immigrants come to Canada to pursue new opportunities and strive for personal success. But Aziz Bootwala, an architect who moved to North America from Mumbai, India, when he was 21 years old, says achieving your own success is only part of your immigrant story.

According to Bootwala, to consider yourself truly victorious, you should give back to the country that gave you your opportunities, especially to new immigrants facing the same challenges you once did.

A young Bootwala worked hard to achieve his own story of professional success in Canada, and today he is managing principal, Edmonton, and vice president of business development, at Kasian, one of Canada’s largest architecture and engineering firms. He says it is a can-do attitude of hard work that is the secret to success for all immigrants. “You have to make sure that whatever you do, you’re doing it, not only the best that you can, but the best that there is,” he says. “I think whatever we take on, whether it’s a professional position or a volunteer position, we need to make sure that we are the best that best can be.”

This mantra has guided Bootwala’s career in architecture, starting with graduating from the Raheja School of Architecture in Mumbai and continuing his studies with a master’s in architecture at Kansas State University. Then Bootwala moved to Los Angeles, where he spent 10 years working with two prestigious architectural firms. But, while Bootwala was living in the United States, the rest of his family moved from Mumbai to Edmonton.

So, in the early 1990s, Bootwala was faced with a life-changing decision: the sunshine state or a hockey town?

Choosing Canada

Choosing Canada was an easy decision for him. And he hasn’t looked back since.

“The quality of life in Canada versus America was very promising. The access to facilities, the freedom to follow your faith and just be a part of the pluralistic society made Canada feel a lot more promising for the future,” he says.

However, when Bootwala first settled in Canada, he admits there were challenges. “Life in the early 1990s was a lot different than it is today,” he says. “Today, the U.S. and Canada are far more advanced in their approach to accepting people from different cultures and communities than they were back then.”

There was little support for him and he had to make his own way. Fortunately, he found a job in his field with a very welcoming company in 1994; in fact, he says that being a part of the Kasian team has been intrinsic to his immigrant journey. “I feel I owe a large part of my success to the vision and the welcoming nature of Kasian,” says Bootwala, who moved up from employee to principal partner.

Benefiting from his international background, Bootwala represented Kasian in the Middle East in 2007, opening their offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Mumbai. In 2011, still based in Dubai, Bootwala moved on to an opportunity as managing principal for Stantec Middle East, expanding his expertise in master planning for large-scale mixed-use developments and hospitals. But he was more than happy to return to Canada and Kasian. “It’s always felt like home and that’s why when I moved back to Edmonton in 2015, it wasn’t just a homecoming to my family, it was also a homecoming to the company who I warmly respect and who also respected me for who I am.”

And his love for architecture itself has never wavered either. Bootwala says he feels fortunate to work in a field that is not only rewarding for him professionally, but one that creates a better life for everyone. “The key thing about architecture is that a good design will help enhance people’s lives. More than anything else, architecture is a profession that allows you to realize people’s dreams,” he says. “When clients have a dream, we listen to that and make it happen. It’s among very few professions that blend art and science, and it allows you to look into the past and learn from it; what has been done what has not been done and see the impact of various cultures on the design of buildings.”

Bootwala adds that he has worked on some tremendous ventures — such as the South Edmonton Common shopping space and the federal building near the Alberta legislature — but says ones that benefit the community, such as his recent focus on seniors’ homes and assisted living projects, are particularly rewarding.

Mentoring other immigrants

For Bootwala, a passion to help others is central to who he is, and he is particularly enthusiastic about mentoring immigrant architects. This May, Bootwala was awarded a fellowship from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, not only for his work, but for his commitment to mentoring. “The fellowship is an acknowledgement from my colleagues and peers who believe I have the best interests at heart of moving the profession of architecture along and, more importantly, of helping young architects achieve their dreams,” he says.

Bootwala is humbled on a personal level, particularly as an immigrant, to receive the fellowship. “A lot of people may not know the struggles and challenges I faced to move to North America; to be able to support myself through university and then support myself and my family. It is an accomplishment and I’m really thankful that people believed that I have the skills and passion to be able to represent architecture at that level.”

Helping others so they don’t face the same challenges he did is the driving force behind his passion for mentoring. “I swore to myself, that every opportunity that I would get, I would make sure I would help others so they don’t have to go through what I went through,” Bootwala says.

“There are a lot of new immigrants moving to Canada who are in the architectural profession and I like helping them understand the immigration process and challenges they may face before getting approved. For example, it’s important to make sure that they have the right qualifications, because it’s very difficult when a qualified architect moves to Canada, only to then realize they will not be able to practise because the school that they went to is not recognized in Canada.”

Advice for newcomers

To newcomers, he advises, to keep going and remember to ask for help when you feel alone. “Always keep your head high and do not underestimate your power — you will be amazed at what you can do yourself. You have to be willing to work hard, have commitment and dedication to what you are doing, and have faith in yourself,” Bootwala says.

“Once you believe in yourself, it’s amazing how much the world around you will rally for you. Always seek a mentor, because there are always others like myself who are truly invested in helping others be successful. And then, when you become successful, make sure that you find opportunities to give back to your community, too.”

Come hear Aziz Bootwala speak at our Edmonton Career, Education and Settlement Immigrant Fair on October 30, 2017, at the Shaw Conference Centre. Learn more about the fair here.

Kayla A. Greaves

Growing up in a Jamaican immigrant household in Montreal, Kayla A. Greaves has done a lot of soul searching about what it means to be Caribbean, a Black woman and a Canadian. Luckily, she’s a journalist and has the platform to talk about these issues in forums such as the Huffington Post, where she’s currently an editor. Most recently, she’s been writing on the issue of natural hair for Black women, including newcomers from the Caribbean and Africa.

For those who don’t know much about the issues around natural hair among Black women, can you provide us with a little education?

For Black women, our relationship with hair is so complicated. A lot of us were never taught how to take care of it and embrace our hair in its natural state, but rather we’ve been conditioned by society and even our loved ones to use chemicals to straighten it. Or to put in a weave. Or find some other way to hide it.

When you’ve been told all your life that what grows out of your scalp naturally is “bad” or “ugly,” you internalize it. And you start to believe that in order to be acceptable or attractive, you need to mould yourself into something you’re not.

So, it’s an issue of discrimination?

No other race has hair like Black people — and we’re very aware of that. But, instead of embracing our differences, society has made it loud and clear that we’re the “other.” And, until we started to really push back, society wanted us to force our hair to do something it doesn’t do naturally (be straight) in order to make everyone else comfortable.

It’s 2017 and people are still dealing with being sent home from work because they have their hair in braids, little girls are being harassed by teachers for having afros, and people can’t find work because they’ve chosen to lock their hair. It’s insane.

You wear your hair naturally now … what’s the reaction you have received?
When I first went natural I was terrified. All I ever heard growing up was negative things about my hair. So I really had to do a lot of unlearning before I mustered up the confidence to rock it.

And when I was wearing my hair in twists and braids to help grow it out, I got told I had gone from Halle Berry to Bob Marley. People even touched my hair without asking. The folks I worked with at the time acted like they’d never seen a Black person before (and, honestly, maybe that was the case).

But, once I finally went natural and walked outside with my curls out, I didn’t care about the rude comments anymore. I was just happy to be me.

Does the discrimination ever go back the other way — women with natural hair judging those who still choose to straighten?
This is a really great question. I wouldn’t necessarily call it discrimination, but I think more natural women ask women who use relaxers why they haven’t gone natural yet. Or see it as them hating themselves. In my opinion, I think it’s fine for Black women to wear their hair however makes them feel most beautiful — so long as it’s beauty on their own terms.

Ajay Virmani, president of CargoJet.

Ajay Virmani has always been an entrepreneur at heart and has had the career journey to prove it. When he first arrived in Canada from New Delhi, he had humble beginnings as a window washer, then a brief stint as a life insurance salesman before eventually switching gears to work in transport. This move took him to new heights and set him on his path to eventually becoming the CEO of Canada’s largest cargo airline, Cargojet.  At the root of it all has been his drive and entrepreneurial spirit.

Virmani was recently recognized as a winner in the RBC Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards of 2017 — an award that celebrates the outstanding accomplishments made by Canadian newcomers. He also won an additional distinction as the winner of the Entrepreneur Award for his contributions as a Canadian entrepreneur.

His perseverance to forge his own path in Canada — a country unfamiliar to everything he knew — is a story that resonates with so many new Canadians. I had the chance to hear more about him journey, what the award means to him and life as an immigrant.

IVY CHIU: Tell me about the challenges that newcomers face?

AJAY VIRMANI: Newcomers face a lot of challenges when they move to a new country: language barriers, professional degrees not being accepted, and an unfamiliar job market to name a few. But what I quickly learned is that you cannot let these challenges stop you. Find a way to turn them into opportunities and let them motivate you to excel.

IC: What advice do you have for other entrepreneurs?

AV: My strongest piece of advice is to not follow the crowd — let the crowd follow you. Entrepreneurs are made, not born — it is a matter of your thinking. Believe in your vision, forge ahead and be stubborn. And don’t let hiccups get in your way — including finances. A lot of people may think they do not have the capital to start a business. But the truth is if your ideas are visionary, capital will follow.

If you are thinking of starting a business, here are three ways you can stand out:

1. Be the first one to introduce a new product into the market.
2. If you are not the first, then be the best in market. Improve on a product or service that already exists, which may help you gain market share.
3. If you are not the first or the best, then be different! Find ways to truly differentiate yourself and look for unique opportunities. The market is always changing, so keep a pulse on what’s out there and recognize where the opportunities are and go for it!

IC: What does winning the award mean to you?

AV: Winning the award is a great honour that I humbly accept on behalf of my entire team. It shows that Canada is a great country filled with opportunity, acceptance, tolerance and diversity — and winning during Canada 150 was the icing on the cake.

IC: What does being Canadian mean to you?

AV: To me, being Canadian means that we are all different — we come from different places, and have different languages, food and culture, but, at the end of the day, it all blends together and becomes one. Canada is all about so many different things, but we share the common goals of humanity and opportunity. There is nothing better than our entire country supporting this vision for Canada.

IC: What motivates you to go higher and push yourself?

AV: Above everything else, my employees motivate me. We started out with 40 people when we bought a bankrupt airline and now have 1,200 employees. I feel responsible in helping them grow, be challenged and have a bright future at Cargojet. That is a huge responsibility and a huge motivator.

IC: What’s next for you?

AV: Like many entrepreneurs, I don’t have a set plan. I am keeping my eyes and ears open, but I would like to grow the international side of our business and double the size of our company in the next five years.

 Ivy Chiu is the senior director, cultural markets, at RBC. Once a newcomer herself, Chiu is interested in helping newcomers integrate to life in Canada. Are you new to Canada or know someone who is? Visit rbc.com/newcomers for more advice. 

Want to know what it takes to succeed in business? Who better to ask than Canadian immigrant business leaders who have overcome their own challenges as immigrant entrepreneurs to make it big? For Small Business Month this October,  business success stories like Maninder Dhaliwal, Robert Herjavec, Karim Hakimi and others share their business wisdom.

Maninder Dhaliwal. Photo by Tiffany Cooper

Maninder Dhaliwal

CEO, Lions Gate International

Maninder Dhaliwal came to Vancouver in 1999 to study engineering at UBC. With a master’s degree in hand, she found work in her field, but something didn’t quite fit for her. She then tried her hand in the non-profit sector as executive director of Tradeworks Training Society before turning to entrepreneurship. She co-founded Lions Gate in 2013, which today specializes in India-focused international venture projects in technology, manufacturing and innovation applications in health care.

A Top 40 under 40 winner, Dhaliwal’s expertise is highly sought as a speaker and corporate director. Here’s what she has to share about the challenges she has faced and how she has overcome them.

BIGGEST CHALLENGE
“Not having access to local business networks and resources was definitely a challenge. Opportunities do not float like clouds. They are firmly attached to individuals.  As a new arrival to Canada, I found it a challenge that I did not know enough people to succeed in business.”

BEST TIP
“Immigrants are risk takers. We leave behind everyone and everything we know to start a life in a new country. We take such a huge risk because we believe in a better future. Yet, I find that moving to a new country, most people stick with the familiar — they spend most of their time with people of their own ethnic group. I would recommend that newcomers move out of this comfort zone. Growth and comfort do not coexist. Embracing Canada as a whole not only connects you in your local community, it allows you access to all types business resources and networks that you need to succeed.”

Robert Herjavec.

Robert Herjavec

CEO, Herjavec Group

Robert Herjavec is one of North America’s most recognizable business leaders, best known as an investor on ABC’s Shark Tank and prior to that on CBC’s Dragons’ Den. Born in Eastern Europe, he arrived to North America on a boat with his parents after escaping communism, dreaming of success and a better life. From delivering newspapers and waiting tables, to launching a computer company from his basement, his drive to achieve has led him to the fulfillment of a better life for himself and his family.

A dynamic entrepreneur, Herjavec has built and sold several IT companies. In 2003, he founded Herjavec Group, and it quickly became one of North America’s fastest-growing technology companies. Today, Herjavec Group is a global leader in information security, ranked number 1 on the Cybersecurity 500 as the world’s most innovative cyber firm.

How did Herjavec go from the proverbial rags to riches? When asked, he’s quite modest about his achievements, attributing his success to simply being driven to succeed and getting the job done.

BIGGEST CHALLENGE
“I didn’t know what I didn’t know. And while I thought that would be my biggest challenge, it ended up being my biggest asset when starting my business. I was blissfully unaware of the huge hurdles ahead of me, and it worked in my favour. All first-time entrepreneurs should be a little naïve — if they were truly aware of all the dangers and setbacks facing them, they might forget the whole idea! You simply cannot anticipate every hidden trap between here and whatever goal you set for yourself when launching a business. The best thing you can do is believe in yourself, be resilient and remain convinced that you can handle anything this opportunity throws at you.”

BEST TIP
“Know your strengths, and find a customer. You can’t build a successful business out of thin air. It must be built on tangible differences and draw the attention of the people you want to sell to. You’ve got to solve a problem that someone has, so, number 1 make sure you are able to deliver and, number 2, find yourself a customer! There’s a saying — burn the ships! It means go all in and risk it all, no turning back! Surprisingly, I don’t recommend that in business. I recommend entrepreneurs test the waters, find a customer and build their businesses practically.”

Dimitrios “Jimmy” Antonopoulos.

Dimitrios “Jimmy” Antonopoulos
Owner, Jimmy the Greek

Everyone’s favourite go-to lunch spot at the mall food court, Jimmy the Greek was founded by Dimitrios “Jimmy” Antonopoulos, nearly 20 years after he first immigrated from Nafplio, Greece, in 1963. Arriving in Montreal, Antonopoulos learned the ins and outs of the fast-paced restaurant industry, before he relocated to Toronto. In 1985, he opened the first of many Jimmy the Greek locations. Previously, he already had opened two restaurants — Epikourion and Penelope — but when a food court space opened up at First Canadian Place, the restaurateur decided to transpose his Greek cuisine to the fast-food market.

Rooted in family and tradition, Antonopoulos, along with his two daughters, Tina and Toula, oversee all areas of the business, which has grown from a single location into a thriving enterprise with more than 55 locations nationwide. His advice is as authentic as his cuisine.

 BIGGEST CHALLENGE
“As an immigrant entrepreneur, my biggest challenge was finding enough capital to fund my culinary vision. I worked hard at multiple jobs to provide for my family and save enough money to invest in my business, and after establishing some roots and friendships which provided some assistance, I was able to realize my dream of owning my own restaurant.”

 BEST TIP
“Always strive to provide the best-quality product and exemplary customer service.”

Shahrzad Rafati.

Shahrzad Rafati

CEO, BroadbandTV (BBTV)

Shahrzad Rafati story began in Tehran, Iran, growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, but she had no idea that one day she’d start and lead one of the world’s most innovative technology companies. Back home, she didn’t even own a computer or have an email account! But after studying computer science at UBC in Vancouver, she founded BroadbandTV (BBTV) in 2005, a multi-channel network for online video creators. For the last 12 years, Rafati has built her business into the third-largest video property in the world in terms of unique viewers, and is continually looking for new ways to advance and redefine entertainment, from how content is produced to how it’s distributed and monetized. Is there any surprise then that she has established herself as a sought-after technology thought leader in the process?

 BIGGEST CHALLENGE
“Our space is rapidly evolving and as a pioneer in the market we need to make sure we stay ahead of the curve, and continuously innovate. [But] that’s one of the reasons why I love what I do, it’s always exciting!”

BEST TIP
“Although this may sound easier said than done, you should fully immerse yourself into new cultures and be completely open to new experiences. It can be truly enlightening, and you’ll likely learn more about yourself in the process. It’s really important to try to learn and adopt quickly by being proactive in your approach.”

V. Prem Watsa.

V. Prem Watsa

Chairman and CEO, Fairfax Financial Holdings

V. Prem Watsa, founder, chairman and CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings in Toronto, is known as the “Canadian Warren Buffet.” An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology Madras where he graduated with a degree in chemical engineering, Watsa moved to Ontario and went to the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario where he earned an MBA.

Little known fact? Watsa left Indian with only 8 rupees in his pocket; he sold furnaces and air conditioners to financially support his university education. After graduating, Watsa worked for an insurance company and, in 1984, he co-founded an investment firm called Hamblin Watsa Investment Counsel. In 1985, Watsa took over Markel Financial, a small Canadian trucking insurance company that was verging on bankruptcy, and renamed it Fairfax Financial Holdings. Watsa helped grow the company, where it reached annual revenues of $8 billion a year in 2012. From 8 rupees to $8 billion, Watsa most certainly has business wisdom to share.

BIGGEST CHALLENGE
“I was a poor immigrant in Canada with very little money for even basic expenses. I used to spend only 50 cents or so on lunch, and felt that people around me, who spent $3-4, were extremely rich in comparison. Also, I was a new immigrant, while everyone else around me were well established Canadians. I sold air conditioners and furnaces door to door to pay for my MBA. It is under these circumstances that I discovered opportunity — you tend to discover skills you never knew you had before. You tend to work harder, because you’re at the bottom and the only way to go is up.” — As told to Chennai 36

 BEST TIP
“The phrase ‘what the mind can conceive, the mind can achieve’ convinced me that if you really want to be successful — in any field you might choose — then you surely will be.”

Karim Hakimi.

Karim Hakimi
Founder, Hakim Optical

Having lost his father as a child, Karim Hakimi became the man of the house, helping to support his mother and his siblings in Iran. At 10 years old, he started grinding magnifying glass out of discarded windows. He developed a professional talent in lens crafting and, after immigrating to Canada in 1967, he decided to open his own business. Setting up operations on Elm Street in Toronto with old equipment from a closed-down lab, he launched the first Hakim Optical. Now, 50 years later, Hakim Optical has more than 160 showrooms and 120 factory outlets in Canada. Today, Hakimi continues to run his privately held optical operation almost full time, though he is past the traditional retirement age. He devotes legendary work hours to his still-growing 40-year-old enterprise, one of Canada’s best-known corporate brands.

BIGGEST CHALLENGE
“The biggest challenge I faced as an immigrant entrepreneur was finding my way and gaining recognition.”

BEST TIP
“My best tip for other newcomers who want to start a business in Canada is to not get discouraged and to stay focused. Don’t let obstacles in your way discourage you. Mistakes are a source of education.”

Serge Bohec

Serge Bohec
Co-founder, La Petite Bretonne

Serge Bohec’s first job after immigrating to Laval, Quebec, from France was as a dishwasher in a pastry shop. Eventually, his talent for making madeleines spurred him to start his own pastry business, La Petite Bretonne. In 1970, the company created its first industrial micro croissant, which quickly became the star product. Bohec moved his company to Blainville, also in Quebec, and, in 2001, expanded operations first into Ontario, then the U.S.A, the Caribbean and Mexico. Now with more than 180 employees, La Petite Bretonne creates 1.2 million micro croissants daily, for distribution throughout North America! Bon appétit!
— Noa Glouberman

BIGGEST CHALLENGE
To try to forget that I was an immigrant and to blend as much as I could with the Canadian population to gain credibility with consumers. This was an enormous challenge in terms of product supply. For example, in France, madeleines were very popular, and not here. It was more than 50 years ago, a different product that Quebec consumers were not used to. I had to take time to analyze the society and the culture, to offer products that consumers knew. It is only after nearly 50 years, with a strong notoriety, that madeleines are now recognized. Basically, it is important to know the population in which we are doing business and, while trying to offer a new product that consumers will love, still keep its origins.

BEST TIP
“Find a partner — a retired businessperson or a young, ambitious professional — who has  great knowledge of the laws of the province or the country you plan on building your company in, and treat him or her like a shareholder, with or without shares.”

Tobias Lutke.

Tobias Lütke

CEO, Shopify

It’s no surprise that the German-born CEO of e-commerce company Shopify was a programming prodigy. Tobias Lütke moved to Canada at age 22 and is now one of the most well-known CEOs in the world. Lütke became a programmer straight after Grade 10 completing an innovative apprenticeship program designed to produce Germany’s next generation of computer programmers. In 2004, Lütke launched Snowdevil, an online snowboard shop from his garage with his partners, Daniel Weinand and Scott Lake. Soon after, the Snowdevil founders decided to shift their focus from snowboards to e-commerce and, Shopify was officially launched in 2006. The Globe and Mail named Lütke CEO of the Year in November 2014. By September 2016, more than 300,000 merchants were using Shopify and there’s been more than $20 billion worth of gross merchandise on the company’s platforms since 2006.
— Files from Toronto Star

BIGGEST CHALLENGE
When asked what his biggest challenge was in building Shopify to where it is today, Lütke admits it was actually knowing what Shopify was, and what he wanted it to be. For a time, it was a solution to sell a stockpile of snowboards lined up in his garage. But at a point Lütke asked himself, was it going to be a lifestyle business with 20 employees? Or could this be a growth company that could really shake up the world of e-commerce?

BEST TIP
“All of us in Canada have to be better at making a dollar count, because we have fewer dollars … You have to be a little bit more frugal, and that’s just being smart. You have to put more of a well-rounded company together to make it in Canada.”