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My Story

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I've been coaching and mentoring women entrepreneurs for over 20 years as well as running my own businesses for 30+ - fully immersed and obsessed with the world of entrepreneurship.

I started my first real business - a knitwear line - in 1994 and quickly realized that to make it work, I would have to learn a lot about entrepreneurship and fast!

I embarked on a road of self-study, reading books, learning marketing, branding, sales and figuring out everything along the way. I opened my own shop in Kensington Market in 1998, and was known as Laura-Jean the Knitting Queen. 

As the years went by, I invested in coaches to help me get to the next level and the next.

I found I loved the "business side" of things as much as the creative, and started to expand the businessbringing other designers on board to help me run new locations, and called the stores Fresh Collective. Those new locations required systems to run smoothly, and I (along with my team) built those systems so we could offer an awesome experience to our customers. 

I also realized that the designers who joined me could use some help with their businesses, so I built in programs for them including "Business Boost" meetings which were a chance to get one-on-one coaching with me. I hosted workshops for them (dubbed Fresh Collective University) and created a variety of shared marketing opportunitiesdesigner spotlightsstudio visits and press kits to make accessible ways for them to grow their brands so we could all become stronger together.

We developed programs to help emerging designers get started off on the right foot in the industry.

We hired staff and Store Managers, invested in training and personal development for the team so we could always be growing and getting better every day

Our private label, Palette by Laura-Jean became a favourite among Toronto women. They loved our "shop local" ethos and the community we built, as well as the quality of our clothes and the awesome style advice from our wonderful staff, who we called "Style Coaches". 

We were known for photographing local women in our clothing, showcasing various sizes and ages of women in our marketing with a super successful cross-promotion series we called "Style Profiles".

That little fashion business grew to a 7-figure business with 3 locations in Toronto and an online store shipping all over the world.

When my son was a baby, I got to know the woman who ran his daycare. It was a small start-up and she was running it with only 5 children enrolled, hoping to get it licensed and up to a 20 child capacity. She confided that it was a struggle for her. She had a full-time job and this was to be a side business so that she had a place for her own daughter. 

I proposed to her becoming her partner, and with that I spent 11 years in the childcare industry while still running the fashion and retail business. That experience showed me how transferable my knowledge is, and I also learned an incredible amount more honing my skills in a new industry. 

During those years, I continued learning and growing as a coach and entrepreneur - always striving to continuously improve my businesses and gain the skills to help my coaching clients even more. 

I branched out beyond my designer network, officially launching myself as a Business Coach and starting to work with women in a variety of businesses. Financial Planners, Stylists, Interior Designers, Artists, Coaches, Professional Organizers, Web Designers, Marketers and more. 

I've spent tens of thousands of hours working with, networking with, mentoring, coaching and being friends with women entrepreneurs over 3 decades, as well as all the work I've done growing my own businesses. This is my world.

I've worked with product based businesses and a wide variety of service professionals to create an aligned business. An aligned business has everything in the right place, built out measurable systems. It creates a smooth path for your prospective client to follow directly to "Yes, I'd love to work with you." 

I'd love to chat about your business!

Get in touch for a Discovery Call today! 

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