Coal & Canary owner finalist for 2024 Women of Inspiration Awards
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 10/10/2024 (721 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Amanda Buhse didn’t plan on being a business owner and entrepreneur but, by all accounts, she’s loving it.
The energy and enthusiasm the owner and co-founder of Coal & Canary exudes was likely part of the reason she’s been chosen as a finalist for the 2024 Women of Inspiration Awards, a Calgary-based organization that will announce its winners at an event in New York City next month.
After the scented candles she made in her Winnipeg kitchen as a hobby started taking off, Buhse has fully embraced her role as a businesswoman. She was previously a finalist for the program that used to be called Mompreneur (now the RevolutionHer Awards) in 2021.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Amanda Buhse outside her candle company’s Winnipeg retail store in The Forks Market.
After a friend told her about the Women of Inspiration program, she applied and was selected. “It’s very humbling and quite an honour,” she said.
The Women of Inspiration Awards, hosted by the Universal Women’s Network, recognizes and celebrates the accomplishments of women who lead and inspire across industries.
As good a businessperson Buhse is — she bought out her former partner a couple of years ago — she also has boundless energy.
She recently did a rebrand for the company, now in its 10th year, and is the incoming chairperson of the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce.
Buhse was also one of 13 Canadian members of the Young Entrepreneur Alliance to attend the G20 summit in Milan, Italy, in 2021, and was part of a larger group of young entrepreneurs representing Canada at the 2022 G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance Summit in Hamburg, Germany, in October 2022.
“I’ve been (busy) my entire life,” she said. “I love being busy and I also love our city and any way I can be involved and try to make it a better place, that’s where I’d like to be.”
Meanwhile, the business is doing very well. Coal & Canary’s scented candles are in about 500 stores across Canada and the United States.
In addition, a couple of weeks ago, the company launched eight different room spritz fragrances with names like Bikini Strings in Palm Springs, Winter Walks and Wooly Socks and Great Complexion and No Reception.
In addition to its presence in boutiques and museum gift shops across the continent, Coal & Canary also has its own flagship retail location in Winnipeg at The Forks Market for the past seven years. “I love being at The Forks,” she said. “We meet tourists from all over the world. It’s a lot of fun.”
martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca