Honouring the best in business

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This article was published 10/11/2023 (690 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Side hustles, racialized communities and rural entrepreneurs have taken a new spotlight in Manitoba’s women’s business sphere.

The Women Business Owners of Manitoba (WBOM) scrapped and replaced nearly all categories in its decades-old Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.

This year’s event happened Thursday evening, flush with new prizes.

“We had recognized that the awards maybe didn’t capture a large enough group of the women business community,” said Lindsay Sinclair, WBOM’s chair.

She joined the board in 2020. The 37-year-old association was looking to rebrand; its awards, which began in 1992, were part of the makeover.

Past award ceremonies would recognize entrepreneurs for their company’s longevity and contributions to community, among other things.

It likely left a swath of women feeling unsuitable for nomination, Sinclair said.

WBOM took a break last year, opting to not host its awards. Instead, it took “a look at what the business community for women in Manitoba needed to look and feel like,” according to Sinclair.

Four award categories emerged.

The classic overall Woman Entrepreneur of the Year remained the same. Everything else was cut — nine categories, when looking at 2014 — in favour of recognition for racialized, gig economy and rural business owners.

“By breaking it out this way, it was really able to open the door,” Sinclair stated.

WBOM received more than 100 nominations this year, she said. A panel of judges whittled the number down to 20 finalists.

“When you see something ‘rural,’ it changes your focus a little bit,” said Katie McInnes, winner of the WEYA rural prize.

She was one of four nominees in the category, and one of two farm owners nominated. The Dogs Run Farm, which McInnes co-helms, hasn’t been recommended for an award before.

“I think the inclusion of these new categories is a great way to get people thinking differently about who owns these businesses and where they’re operating,” McInnes said.

She grew up in Winnipeg, switching to country living and farming in adulthood. Now her Clearwater farm encompasses 200 acres and more than 1,000 animals, including chickens, cows and ewes, she said.

“If I’m an (award) finalist, I can think of 10 businesses that deserve it more than me,” she quipped before the ceremony. “It’s just resulted in me thinking about other rural women business owners that I could nominate next year.”

The change in categories has exposed WBOM to a plethora of businesses it hadn’t previously come across, Sinclair said.

Jeshveenia Kaur is happy side hustles — businesses done alongside full-time jobs — have entered the mix.

“We usually don’t get recognized for having a side business,” said Kaur, the owner of JVY Candles Co. “It does take a lot of my time, sleepless nights, but it’s something I really enjoy.”

The candle maker was one of two finalists in the gig economy category. She called it an honour.

“But also, such a strange feeling because I just got started. There’s so many talented and inspiring women entrepreneurs in Manitoba, and to be nominated is absolutely incredible,” she said.

Somia Sadiq, founder of Narratives Inc., praised the creation of a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of colour) category.

“It’s really important to have categories like that because we often forget whose voices are missing at the table,” said Sadiq, who’s Punjabi and Kashmiri.

Her business works predominantly with Indigenous communities on territorial planning and impact assessments, among other things.

“People can’t be what they can’t see,” she stated. “We need to see more and more women of colour in these positions of leadership and in places where they’re recognized.”

Sadiq wasn’t among the BIPOC category contenders. Instead, she won the Woman Entrepreneur of the Year award.

She spoke to the Free Press about her nomination before the ceremony, and before learning of her win.

“This recognition alone, for me, is recognition of my ancestors and recognition of all the women of colour around me, and everyone who’s going to come after me,” she said.

“It just really means a lot.”

Jessie Pruden, the owner of Bead n Butter, won the BIPOC prize.

Pruden sells Métis beadwork; she began beading during pandemic-era lockdowns, according to her website. She identifies as a queer, disabled Métis woman, a statement on her website reads.

Meghan Greenlay took home the gig economy award. She works as a hairstylist; her side hustle, Meg Does Pottery, has taken a “more than part-time” role in her life. She also runs Petit Magasin, a biannual art show, which is on now until Nov. 18 at furniture store Hut K on Grant Avenue.

“This is just such a celebration of that type of work, of making a commitment to do something very different,” Greenlay said of being a finalist.

She spoke fondly of Petit Magasin, which is designed to support artists. Reading referral letters for her award nomination reminded her of the work she and her team have done, she noted.

Entrepreneurs were nominated by others for the awards. Once nominated, they sent packages describing their businesses to WBOM; a panel of judges then used scoring sheets to choose finalists, Sinclair said.

The award ceremony took place at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

gabrielle.piche@winnipegfreepress.com