The Exchange

Buckle your seatbelt. It’s time for your business to takeoff.

The Exchange is the catalyst for women entrepreneurs who are ready to harness their true potential and take their businesses to the next level of growth and profitability. Offered over a three-year term, the heart of the experience begins with a tailor-made “Board”, designed to nourish your courageous spirit and bring out your very best. Boards will consist of 8-12 women entrepreneurs (also known as “Board Members”), who have been carefully selected to exchange knowledge and lessons learned along their business journey. Finally, your Board will have a “Chair” appointed (or “Growth Coach” for year 3); her wealth of experience as a successful businesswoman, combined with a passion for entrepreneurship, sets the stage for 7 months of enriched learning.

Through dynamic peer learning, retreats, advice from inspiring and well-seasoned experts, and networking opportunities, each part of this program is crafted to hone your business acumen and entrepreneurial nerve. While you are investing in your own personal growth and supporting other women owned business in your Board, you will also be positively impacting the gender gap that currently exists in the Canadian entrepreneurship ecosystem.

Applications are now closed.

More Information

Board Meetings
Open

The program will be delivered through monthly 2-hour hybrid sessions (in-person with the option to join virtually) starting in September 2022. These monthly sessions will be focused on working to complete a strategic growth plan for your business. Your Board will engage you through an exchange of stories where you share as much of your own success and strife as you are comfortable with. An expert may be invited to a session to share their knowledge with the opportunity for Q & A. Your Growth Coach will lead roundtable and accountability discussions to help you get the most from your experience in The Exchange.

Exchange Meets (Virtual Networking Event)
Open

We understand that building your network is as important as the knowledge you gain throughout the program. For this reason, we have introduced a networking component called “Exchange Meets” where you do precisely that: meet. While scheduled but not structured, enjoy virtual coffee meet ups in a relaxed atmosphere with fellow business owners who share the same zest for entrepreneurship as you do. We hope and genuinely believe that some of these new business relationships with other Board Members could last a lifetime. Exchange Meets is optional but highly encouraged and takes place virtually once a month (date and time to be determined).

Investment
Open

In consideration of all the features and benefits that defines The Exchange, we feel you will find substantial value in the program.

The cost per participant is $375 (+GST) and includes a Changemaker membership.

Retreats
Open

Infused into the program are retreats designed to inspire your journey and bring you a feeling of connection to other Exchange Board Members and the WESK community. You will hear from keynote speakers who share stories of perseverance in how they built their businesses as well as what challenges they are facing now and into the future. With riveting programming that’s sure to keep you engaged, your knowledge as an entrepreneur will be strengthen with real life case studies unmatched by any simulation.

The Exchange Manifesto
Open

The Exchange is aptly named because it’s a place to exchange knowledge.
It was designed for women entrepreneurs to feel comfortable in exchanging their stories.
By exchanging our stories, we learn and grow from each other’s success and strife.
We exchange solutions to problems we may not yet have encountered.
We also exchange problems with what we thought were solutions that didn’t work out.
When we exchange, we can feel exposed, nervous, and maybe vulnerable.
If you do feel that way, you are doing something right.
It is then and only then that The Exchange gets it power.
The same way you will learn from another woman’s experience, she will receive wisdom from you.
That exchange is rarely as powerful as when shared through real experience.
No textbook can replace that.
So bring your experiences. All of them.
Together, we will exchange success.
All because you said yes to exchanging your story.

Meet our Chairs
Open

Meet the year 3 Exchange Growth Coaches! Utilizing their experience and passion for entrepreneurship, these established and successful women entrepreneurs have been selected to guide and coach our Exchange Board Members (participants) through their entrepreneurship journey.

In year three, each Growth Coach will lead their assigned cohort of 6 – 12 women entrepreneurs, grouped by revenue range, as they navigate through the program. The Growth Coach will provide insight and guidance to each cohort Board Member by facilitating monthly sessions where participants will work to complete their strategic growth plan.

Tracey Kowalchuk, Leadership Outside of the Box

Tracey Kowalchuk is a Professional Certified Coach, an inspirational leader & speaker. Tracey uses her talents to support clients through team development and 1-on-1 coaching to generate important insights, gain clarity, focus, and make decisions to improve performance. Tracey has a unique ability to zero in on issues and utilize the coach-approach to help leaders discover their own leadership proficiencies while creating and welcoming change in their organizations. Tracey founded TK Leadership Outside of the Box where she inspires by working with individuals and teams who are eager to create a shift in thinking and being. Tracey is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), with the Co-Active Training Institute® (CTI), an Authorized Partner with The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team and Everything DiSC®, a Certified Administrator of The Leadership Circle Profile 360 and Culture Survey, a certified practitioner of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®), a graduate of the CTI CoActive Leadership Masters Program and a CTI trained Executive Coach. She is a credentialed member of the International Coaches Federation (ACC), the ICF Prairie Charter Chapter and the SK Teachers Federation.

Aimee Schulhauser, Schoolhaus Culinary Arts, Tangerine: The Food Bar, Catering by Tangerine, Slice Cafe

Aimee obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from the University of Regina in 2000, then changed careers in 2004 and went to SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary to become a professional chef. After moving back home to Regina in 2005, Aimee started her first company: Evolution Catering and Fine Foods. As the business grew, she began thinking about other complementary businesses to add to her roster. Almost 16 years later, she is the proud owner of two cafes, a cooking school, a corporate meeting space – and of course, the original catering company that started her entrepreneurial journey. Aimee was the recipient of the YWCA’s 2018 Woman of Distinction Award for Entrepreneurship and Innovation as well as the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce’s Resilience Award in 2020.

Karri Howlett, Karri Howlett Consulting

Karri has worked with businesses in corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, financial due diligence and risk analysis for over 20 years. Karri currently sits on the Boards of SaskPower (as Chair of the Safety, Environment and Social Responsibility Committee), NexGen Energy (as Chair of the ESG Committee), and Saskatchewan Trade Export Partnership (as Vice Chair). She was recently President of RESPEC Consulting Inc. (formerly North Rim Exploration Ltd.), which is a geoscience and engineering consulting company based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and led the acquisition of the company in 2009 and subsequent sale to RESPEC in 2016. After transitioning the company to RESPEC, Karri left the company in March 2019 to make way for two outstanding female geologists to lead the company into its next phase of growth and expansion. Karri has returned to her consulting practice, Karri Howlett Consulting, where she provides an independent and objective view on businesses which includes scientific and intuitive insights into their company, their industry, and the general business environment. She has a unique approach that combines strategic planning, corporate management, and personal development to guide her clients to embrace fearless curiosity and explore their businesses in a new way that will provide clarity of purpose and aligned business practices. Karri holds a bachelor of commerce (with honors) in Finance from the University of Saskatchewan and has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation and the Chartered Director designation. An active community member, Karri has previously served on several community and professional boards. In addition, Karri was previously a lecturer in the Department of Finance at the University of Saskatchewan’s Edwards School of Business, a participant in the Leadership Development Program, and a protégé in the Betty Ann Heggie Womentorship Program. Karri is married to her wonderfully supportive husband, Jeff, and has two daughters who she loves fiercely with all of her heart.

Questions?

If you have questions about The Exchange, contact us.

Stephanie Smith
Special Programs Coordinator

ssmith@wesk.ca
(306) 359-9723