A few months ago, I wrote about the great songstress Chaka Khan, and her 1978 anthem “I'm Every Woman.” As she belts out, “I’m every woman. It’s all in me!” - and us ladies can attest. No, this isn’t a feminist manifesto (though it could be) and this is not the first time you've heard me speak of music as an influence. Heck, I channeled Eminem’s “Lose Yourself” last year as well!

As for women - we really do rock all the worlds. But especially the business world.

Female entrepreneurs contribute 148 billion dollars a year to Canada’s economy. And every single day, more and more women are launching businesses: as of 2017, 20 percent of the small to medium-sized businesses in Canada were owned by women.

Karen Hughes, professor at the UofA’s Alberta School of Business and Department of Sociology, wrote, “Canada has seen a surge of entrepreneurship in our economy over the last 20 years, and women have been at the forefront, launching businesses at rates that often outpace men.”

And Canada’s tech startup scene is on fire. In fact, it might just be the boost this country needs to help it bounce back from the Covid-19 economic squeeze.

A recent report from the Innovation Economy Council found that, “The pandemic has accelerated the pace of transformation in the workplace, in many cases from years to months or even weeks. It’s speeding up demand for new tools to help people and businesses work, bank, shop, learn and interact online — while keeping hackers at bay. As this new world of work evolves and shapes the post-pandemic economy, technology will become even more important than it is today. The tech companies that provide these tools are already deeply entwined in every facet of the Canadian economy. Our supply chains, our just-in-time manufacturers, our retail sector and our energy sector are already highly dependent on innovative, essential and enabling tech companies…For the Canadian economy to survive, these essential companies need to survive.”

Do What You Love – the Rest Will Follow

For many of us in the Self Made Nation, inspiration comes from within. We know what we love, and we set out to build upon that. That’s exactly how Shannon Ferguson Co-Founder & CEO of FanSaves, ended up starting a tech startup.

A former competitive hockey player, she and her partner, Kris McCarthy, married their love of hockey (and sports in general) as well as her passion for sponsorship sales and digital marketing and launched a sports-focused mobile couponing platform, offering discounts and deals from sponsors. I spoke to Kris last year, but I wanted to circle back and learn more about the female brain power behind their company.

So, in this week’s episode of “I’m a Millionaire! So Now What?” I spoke to Shannon about:

• The parallels between sport and business.

• Overcoming overwhelming obstacles, personal and professional.

• The entrepreneurial resilience reservoir.

• And the power of having a vivid vision for the future – even before officially launching.

Shannon has a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in communication studies from Wilfrid Laurier University and a post grad diploma in broadcast journalism from Loyalist College, and her public speaking skills have allowed her to pitch their startup to important investors on stages across the world.

Here’s a bit of what she shared.

Having a Vivid Vision

“I've always been a big dreamer. And I find a lot of people dream, but they never put their plans into action. They never set goals. And that's a big thing that we do. And I think it's also being persistent, because some people they might give up when they're manifesting and things aren't happening. They just think, ‘Alright, I'm done with this. I don't have time, like it's been a year, it hasn't happened.’ And a great example of this is yesterday, we had this amazing league call with a league that we started, like we literally started manifesting this three and a half years ago, we had a map and we put little dots of all these teams in this league on this map. And it took three and a half years, but we finally had this call and it's finally happening. I think that, you know, those little things - when even when you don't want to do it, or you don't think it's going to mean anything, sometimes those things end up being the catalyst in the future that turn everything around. And I think, you know, being grateful for those moments, and seeing them and recognizing them is really important too.”

The Parallels Between Sport and Business

“Chris and I both grew up playing hockey, competitive hockey. He played seven years pro, I stopped after I got scouted to play in university. But I find a big part of how we make our vision happen is because we grew up very competitive from a young age. It was like, you have to put in the work, you have to show up and you have to go to practice, you have to get better. And when you lose, you have to be a gracious loser, and you have to go back and you have to practice harder, so you can win again. And I think that we attribute a lot of our success to our competitive nature and to growing up playing hockey and, you know, being part of a team and, and going through losses - heartbreaking losses - where you just, it sucks, but you get up the next day at 5am and make it to practice. And I think that I can really, really attribute a lot of that to our success and our resilience and our persistence and our ability to keep going.”

Overcoming Obstacles

“It's really easy to think when you're starting out that your business is going to grow really quickly, because this is how society and how everyone tells you what's going to happen. And you watch the Social Network, and you watch Silicon Valley, and you're like, ‘Oh, yeah, I got this.’ And, you know, we went into this, so bright eyed and bushy tailed, with all these really high expectations, and not really understanding that overnight successes are often 20 years in the making. And I think that, advice that I would give to anyone starting out is to just keep going. I think that it's really easy to get caught up in those unrealistic expectations and to feel defeated, really defeated sometimes when you're not there yet. I think that more people that are starting businesses need to know that this is normal, that this is the real part of business and the real test to success is not giving up when times are tough and when times are hard. Stay committed to the vision, and just keep plugging forward, build on your resilience, and be persistent, and have that vision going forward. It is a matter of patience. If you're patient and you allow yourself to keep pushing forward, then those things that you're envisioning actually have a chance to come true.”

Elevated Conversations: Think WHO not WHAT

Before I go, I wanted to remind you of Elevated Conversations. Coming up on February 8th, we’re focused on “The Science Behind Drafting Your Company’s Dream Team - and Why it’s a KEY Component of Business Success.”

This roundtable will explore “do it all’ism” – let’s face it, most of us are guilty of it! When starting a business, entrepreneurs usually end up doing it all – myriad tasks and roles, when in reality we're likely only skilled at a few. In fact, our zone of genius may only lie in one or two.

So, it begs the questions: Are you holding yourself back? Are you holding your business back? Because you're stuck in the “how” of getting things done? And aren’t exploring the “who.”

You need to start filling those “genius gaps” with the right people and let them get to work helping you build (or improve upon) your empire.

Hope to see you there – click HERE for more information and a link to register! You can also direct message me on LinkedIn, or send me an email, and I’ll get back to you.

Plus, if you’re an entrepreneur looking to exit, or you’re at the helm of a thriving business or startup, I would love to talk with you about your stories! You can drop me a line here.

And watch this space for more details about future Elevated Conversations.