Featured Entertainment : Emma Elena Grace

We are just 4 days away from our Holiday Party at Henderson Brewery, taking place this Saturday December 10th from 6:30 PM to 10:30 PM . It's going to be an unforgettable night celebrating the completion of our first year filled with good company, holiday cheer, Henderson Brewery beer and entertainment from local talent! Did you buy your tickets yet?! Hurry, before they sell out! Our second entertainment for the night is Emma Elena Grace. Twenty-two year old, Emma Elena Grace, is a folk singer and songwriter with an artistic, distinctive sound from Hamilton, Ontario. She grew up listening to traditional country music her father used to play to her, which influenced her to produce music. Emma Elena Grace released her debut album, This Side of the Room in August, 2015.

We had a chance to sit down with her and discuss her career and why she chose to get into the music industry. Check out our interview with her below:

Why did you decide to become a singer/songwriter?

I grew up in a musical family so I've been surrounded by music my whole life. I've always taken special interest in the singing and songwriting aspect of it, and I dabbled a bit in both growing up. It wasn't until I learned guitar at the age of 16 that I started to really write, and it naturally progressed from there.

Which song that you wrote is your favourite and why?

I have a song that I wrote called "Bricks Of Blue" where the writing process was unlike any of the others. This line popped into my head one night when I was trying to sleep, so I picked up my guitar and started playing, and the song flowed so easily it kind of wrote itself. This has never happened since, so I hold it pretty dear.

What is your favourite moment about the Holidays?

I love that everything is lit up with twinkle lights! I think they should stay up year-round. Also, I love the food!

Do you have any advice of young women who are aspiring to become a singer/songwriter?

My advice would be to write and perform as often as you can to develop yourself. Go after it without hesitation. The Music Industry Arts program at Fanshawe College is definitely worth checking out. It's a wonderful place to grow and I wouldn't be where I am without the help from people I met in that program.

Check out Emma Grace on Facebook, Twitter & YouTube! We can't wait to see her perform Saturday!

Celebrate Our One Year This Saturday!

Join Young Women in Business Toronto in Celebrating the Success of our First Year! 365 Days, 9 Events and Over 150 Members

For Immediate Release December 5, 2016

Toronto, ON - Vancouver based non-profit organization, Young Women in Business, opened it’s Toronto chapter this year. Four young professional women, Miranda McKie, Victoria Stacey, Olivia Kitevski and Laura Downing, started the Toronto chapter because they felt there was a lack of support, network and resources available to young women to thrive in their professional career and personal lives.

Join us in wrapping up the success of our first year, the friends we’ve made and partners we’ve worked with at our Holiday at Henderson’s Party, Saturday December 10th at Henderson Brewery from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. We are also collecting donations for The Shoebox Project, which distributes gifts to women who are homeless or at-risk of homelessness in communities across Canada. Young Women in Business Toronto (YWiB TO) would like to celebrate some of our biggest partners who have partnered with us in the different events we’ve hosted this year: Tangerine, Oracle, RL Solutions, Camp Tech, Wave, Workplace One and Rock-it Promotions among others!

Get your tickets and celebrate a year of reflection, good friends and holiday cheer with us!

-30-

About Young Women in Business Toronto

Young Women in Business Toronto (YWiB TO) is a non-profit organization connecting ambitious, like-minded women across educational fields, careers and industries. Our events provide leadership skills, and networking opportunities that allow women to achieve success, reach their full potential and be engaged with members in their communities.

If you have any media inquiries or would like to schedule an interview with the YWiB TO Founders, please contact Nathalie Sehgal, nathaliesehgal@gmail.com. If you have any sponsorship inquiries, would like to be a vendor, or entertainment for this event, please contact toronto@ywib.ca

Featured Entertainment: Mermaids Exist

Happy December 1st! Can you believe there are only 23 days until Christmas Eve and only 3 weekends left of shopping? To get you in the holiday spirit and to celebrate the completion of our first year- we are having our Holiday Party at Henderson Brewing Company Saturday December 10th from 6:30PM to 10:30 PM! It’s a time of reflection by bringing together the community we have formed and celebrating the friends we’ve made and we would love for you to join us to celebrate this special time!

We wanted to give you a sneak peek of one of our entertainment performers that will be at our Holiday Party. Check out Geoff and Jason of Mermaids Exist! They are a local five-piece ensemble from Toronto who has won an independent music award and has performed at notable venues such as  The Horseshoe Tavern and The Home County Music Festival. Their live performances are filled with energy and beautiful vocal harmonies, which will be captured in their first full length album, set for release in the summer of 2016.

Image via Mermaids Exist Facebook Page

Check out Geoff and Jason of Mermaids Exist on Youtube for a taste of their music. Their charm, moves and grooves have us begging for more! We can't wait to see them perform at our Holiday Party!

Get your

tickets

before they sell out!

Check out Mermaids Exist on

Facebook

 and give them a like on

Twitter

!

League of Extraordinary Young Women: Carly Silberstein

Carly is the CEO and driving force behind Redstone Agency Inc. She is a devoted entrepreneur, focusing on her passion for connecting with others. Her ongoing commitment to client experience has set a precedent for the quality of service that Redstone clients have come to expect. She has years of experience leading marketing and event teams that service corporate clients, not-for-profit organizations and professional associations in a variety of industries. Carly is a self-proclaimed foodie, enjoys a full body of red wine and when not working, she is jet setting, trying to see as much of the world as possible.

Describe what you do, why it's important to you I am the co-founder of Redstone Agency, a full-service event and association management company. I find that most people know what event management is, but as an industry, I believe we still need to educate people on what association management is.

Essentially, we provide management services for membership-based organizations that are predominately run by volunteers. Redstone manages the day-to-day operations and reports directly to the Board of Directors. We provide the professional staff, administrative support, office space, technology, and equipment an association needs to operate efficiently. We work with different associations from our physical office here in Toronto, providing a wide range of benefits to our clients including shared technology systems, access to specialized staff, and shared purchasing power.

How does your role empower you? The most empowering part of being my own boss is being able to put ideas into action. Some ideas have been incredibly successful, while others have needed to be fine-tuned. I think the process is incredibly rewarding especially because you learn so much along the way.

What advice do you have to other young women looking to get involved in your field of work? The advice that I would give to any young person is to start building your network! I strongly recommend joining a professional association (such as YWiB) to create professional ties.

I would also stress the importance of volunteering and getting actively involved in the professional association(s). Taking your membership one step further and volunteering one’s time is a great opportunity to learn from others in the industry.

Another piece of advice is to say “yes” to everything…you won’t know what you’re going to love (or hate) until you try.

Who is your biggest role model, why? I consider my dad to be my biggest role model. I practically grew up in the association world. My dad has sat on the board of many industry associations, sector councils and charitable organizations (both in Canada and the US). He instilled in me, from a very young age, the importance of giving back to the community and helping find solutions to challenges that we are passionate about.

He has taught me some incredibly valuable life lessons that continue to serve me well. Some of these lessons guide me, as they have become my core values.

A few of these include: “your word is everything – say what you mean and mean what you say”, “always be fair”, “if you don’t ask, you don’t get” and “it’s not always what you know but who you know, so your reputation is important”.

What book do you recommend every young professional should read?Lean In – Sheryl Sandberg. It’s about women, work and the will to lead. It shows you that women can “have it all”, with hard work, determination and a collective effort to achieve gender parity.

If you could go back to your 16 year old self, what would you say? Don’t sweat the small stuff.

Why do you think groups like YWiB are important? I think YWiB is important because it fosters community amongst young women in business. As I mentioned above, getting involved in an association or community group such as YWiB is incredibly valuable both personally and professional. I think we are all better and stronger together. We need to boost each other up and support one another.

What can our readers do to help you?Join an association. I am a proponent of young people getting involved in associations. I have found them to be incredibly valuable in my life/career. With LinkedIn and other such online platforms, I find the value of associations have become diluted or misunderstood amongst young professionals. I am an advocate for keeping these organization so I want to educate people on their value

If you know of anyone who is a member or volunteer of an association that could use management services, please share the love www.redstoneagency.ca.

Very Good Lives, the Fringe Benefits of Failure & the Importance of Imagination

While I was on vacation, I thought I was going to do a lot of reading, it seems, I was wrong. I was not in the reading mindset, and was having trouble disengaging from my inbox this trip. It might have something to do with a lot of busy events in the next few weeks, but nonetheless, reading did not make it into the schedule for me. Even now, instead I am writing. However, I was able to get through Very Good Lives, by JK Rowling in about half an hour. Very Good Lives is the printed version of Jo's 2008 commencement speech given to Harvard Graduates on the Fringe Benefits of Failure and the Importance of Imagination.

What I enjoyed about this book, other than the fact that it took me less than half an hour to read, was that it touched on two topics that I really related to, and wish I had heard when I graduated last year.

Failure, we are told so often in our educational careers, is a bad thing. Failure would lead to dropping out, and dropping out would lead to difficulty in career choices. People would tell us that failure was ok, but then remind us that we needed certain grades to remain in our program, certain levels of professionalism in order to succeed; therefore failure, was not ok.

There were certain things about my education that were very instrumental in me becoming who I am today, most of them, were not due to my education at all. However, to fail at my education, would have me failing at everything my education brought with it, so failure was not an option in the slightest.

Fast forward a few years, and the quote 'fail hard, but fail fast' is often quoted in my line of work. Failure, it seems, isn't so bad after all. Failure, in it's essence is an opportunity to learn, and gives space for growth. Nobody is perfect, and if they were, they would achieve nothing more than a perfect life.

Growth comes from failure, but do so hard, and fast, and get it over with so you can move onto the next amazing thing that came out of that failure, or something new that the failure was causing you to ignore in replace.

When you hear JK Rowling discuss the importance of imagination, the first assumption is that she believes in its importance as it helped shape her career. While that is part of it, the imagination that one has can lead you to do great things, if you let it.

Imagination is more than just dreaming up creative characters, plot lines and stories, although, I do get lost in there sometimes, especially within Jo's worlds. The ability to imagine a greater place, a new technology, or something out of your scope, is what leads to the generation of amazing ideas, and further more, amazing feats. When you combine the ability to grow from failure, with the imagination to do something greater, your opportunities for growth increase greatly.

And with that sentiment, JK Rowling wants the graduates of Harvard to live Very Good Lives, through growth, and through failure and their imaginations.

League of Extraordinary Young Women: Jacquelyn Mayo

Introducing the League of Extraordinary Young Women. A new profile series where our Director of Partnerships, Victoria Stacey, chats with young women doing great things in the community, their careers or their personal lives.

Jacquelyn is currently working with the Invictus Games Toronto 2017 organizing committee as the Digital Communications Associate leading the social media and website strategy. She is a University of Waterloo graduate and has been living in Toronto for the past 2 years.

Describe what/who you're working on/for and why it's important to you? The Invictus Games will be coming to Toronto from September 23-30 2017. This adaptive international sporting event is for ill, injured and wounded active duty and veteran service members from 17 participating nations who are using sport to overcome physical and mental limitations. This 8-day competition will be hosted at various venues across the city. These Games were established by Prince Harry where the inaugural Invictus Games were held in London in 2014 and the second Invictus Games took place this past May at the Invictus Games Orlando 2016. I am so happy to have Toronto host this inspiring event for it will encourage Canadians - both young and old- to start talking about the sacrifices of those who have served and are still serving and how it is still important to never forget the sacrifices of these military men and women and their families.

How does your role empower you? I'm doing what I love in the world of digital communications and marketing all while being a part of a great cause that will leave a lasting impression on all Canadians. I have a passion for social media and am thrilled to be leading the social media strategy across all of our social media channels. It is a great honour for me to be given this level of responsibility for a grand international event established by His Royal Highness Prince Harry. I am also learning a new skill set I thought I would never have the opportunity to learn and that is managing the company website and using the program WordPress. I am now starting to develop a passion for website design which I never thought I would be good at.

It is very rare to be given such a great learning opportunity while also working for a great cause. I recently had discovered this year that my great-grandfather had served in WWI during the Battle of Somme with the British Army. My grandfather was also a Royal Marine of the United Kingdom and was trained to serve during WWII but the war had ended before he was sent to the front lines. My family's military past was not often discussed mainly due to the relatively modest attitude of my British family members. The Invictus Games is a great platform for troops and veterans to share their stories of sacrifice and for family members to give recognition to their loved one's who served so bravely.

What advice do you have to other young women looking to get involved in your field of work? My advice to women is to not let the sports industry intimidate you. Remove any preconceptions you may have that the sports industry is a male-dominated industry. I have worked at Toronto 2015 Pan Am/ Parapan Am Games, and now Maples Leafs Sports and Entertainment (part-time Fan Engagement Representative at Toronto Maples Leafs, Toronto Raptors and Toronto Marlies) and the Invictus Games, and I can reassure you, the workplace consists of both men and women equally.

My advice to new grads is to not let your degree title limit you to other possibilities. I graduated from the University of Waterloo with a Major in Sociology and Minor in Drama. As much as I have a passion for theatre and sociology, I wanted to be a part of the many great sporting events that the city of Toronto had to offer. I made it a personal goal of mine to be a part of these major sporting events and companies and I was able to accomplish this by surrounding myself with the right people that lead from one opportunity to the next. Sometimes, it just takes one person to give you an opportunity that will shape your career direction. As long as your committed to the cause of your company- whether it is to give back to the military community or to provide an unforgettable fan experience during live events- you will grow with the company.

Who is your biggest role model, why? Not too sure how to answer this question, but all I am focusing on is being the best person I can be and to keep my drive for personal success. I take a lot of pride in having a passion for what I do and for the companies I work for.

What book do you recommend every young professional should read? The book I recommend reading is the "Secrets of Six-Figure Women" by Barbara Stanny. This books focuses on efficient workplace habits and how to change your mindset to achieve personal growth.

If you could go back to your 16 year old self, what would you say? Absolutely nothing. I was a dedicated theatre kid and all the habits I learnt from participating in theatre productions (personal confidence, how to be a good public speaker, to be at rehearsal on time and many more) has led me to the type of worker I am today.

Why do you think groups like YWiB are important? Groups like YWIB are important so women can surround themselves with other goal-oriented women who push each other to go the limit and pursue inspiring opportunities. With the glass-ceiling affect, motherhood penalty and income inequality still prevalent today, women need to focus more on lifting each other up then criticizing each other on mundane things that do not contribute to personal growth.

What can our readers do to help you?  Please check out the Invictus Games Toronto 2017 website and volunteer, donate, or buy tickets for this great event. 2017 is the year for all Canadians to join together and show their support for the military community.

Our Top 5 Resume Writing Tips

Whether you're unhappy with your job but curious what is out there, it's always good to know what the market is like. That's why our third workshop of the year  focused on resumes! We've been waiting for this event to happen for so long. With a cool boardroom to work in at Workplace One hosted by Kathryn Torangeau, People and Culture Manager at Wave and former recruiter at Randstad Canada, she steered us through the ins-and-outs of the modern job hunt. The night could not have gone better! For those of your who couldn't make out on a rainy November night, here are the top 5 resume writing tips from our workshop to help you keep your resume fresh. You never know when an opportunity will strike!

1. Identify your motivation

Why are you looking for a job? No, seriously. Almost everyone wants to make money, but identify what your other goals are when looking at job postings. Do you want to develop specific skills or gain certain experience? Knowing what you really want will help you to tailor your resume but also find the right job for you.

2. Use job search tools

Online job searching tools have become pretty common but which ones will bring you the best opportunities? Here's our short list.

• Monster - One of the giants! It includes jobs from Canada and the U.S. which employers post directly.
• Workopolis - Based in Canada, this is another big site which employers will creating listings on.
• Indeed - Definitely the most popular right now. Indeed is an aggregator which means all the postings on it are pulled from other websites, making it a great way to search widely in one place.
• LinkedIn - You have an account anyway (and if you don't, get one!) and because HR reps and recruiters spend a lot of time checking out candidates on LinkedIn they post their jobs on their too. Good news - LinkedIn is smart so the more you fill out your profile the more likely it is to find jobs that match and bring them to you.

3. Decipher the job description

Really pay attention to the job posting you want to apply to. Print it out or make a copy of it in Word then go through and highlight any repeated words. Skills or tasks which are repeated 2+ times are a sure sign that this is what the hiring manager is really looking for. Make sure you use those same words in your resume (always being truthful!), recruiters don't care if you use the same words back at them. In fact, mirroring someone's speech patterns or body language often builds rapport and people don't mind it as much as you think they do. Make sure you balance it though, you still have to be yourself - don't just copy and paste.

4. Write a brand statement

When you Google resume templates or look for guides on how to write resumes you may come across a section called the "Objective." It's a statement at the top which usually says you are seeking such and such a job in field x, y, or z. The problem is this isn't adding any value to your resume and  you're starting off with telling the hiring manager something that they already know. Instead, start off your resume with something that differentiates you: a brand statement. A brand statement is a short summary 1-2 sentences long which highlights what value you are offering an employer while showing your personality. It should be your go-to answer when someone asks you to describe what you do.

5. Stay away from cliches

Team player. Go-getter. Innovative. Self-starter. These are all words that we know hiring managers want to hear but the problem is they have been way overused. Think about how you would define what you're describing yourself as and then spell it out. Suddenly, what you can do is a lot clearer. For example, what does it actually mean to be a team player? It means you're likely someone who listens, gives and receives feedback well, collaborates with others and doesn't put themselves before the team. Doesn't that sound more interesting than a "team player"?

What are some of your tips to keep your resume fresh?

Catherine is a storyteller, communications specialist, and blogger. When she isn't corporately communicating she is spreading her love of Canlit through her blog Hot Pepper Latte or lifting weights so she can read big books for longer periods of time. You can follow her online @cat_vendryes