Women in STEM: Dr. Sarah Mayes-Tang

We are so excited to announce that we will be holding a Women in STEM panel discussion on September 13! With that said, we are proud to introduce our first panelist: Dr. Sarah Mayes-Tang, a Mathematician and Professor at the University of Toronto. Given her knowledge and documentation of the experiences of women teachers and students in math classrooms, we are very excited to hear her take on how women in STEM can continue to forge ahead! But until then, here is a little about Dr. Sarah Mayes-Tang.  

What made you want to participate in this panel discussion?

Hearing the stories of other women and being able to share my own in an understanding environment have been a huge source of support as I have progressed in my career.  Even if we “know” about unique challenges that women face in fields where they are underrepresented, there is something special that happens when we share and talk about our experiences.  I am also excited for the opportunity to connect with other local women in STEM.

What are some things you do outside of work to help you develop personally and professionally?

Reading. I try to read widely, but am not afraid to put down any book that I don’t enjoy, even if I think it would be beneficial. Physical activity. My exercise routine looks a lot different than it did a few years ago, but ensuring that my body functions well is important in ensuring that I am able to do my best work. Restoration. I am understanding the importance of rest and relaxation in developing a successful career more and more each year.  Some of my favourite ways to unplug include baking, playing piano, and exploring new places with my husband.

What has been the biggest learning curve in your career?

The biggest learning curve in my career was at the beginning of my first continuing faculty job.  Up until that point, my success had always seemed to be based largely on the quality of my work; if I worked hard I would find a way forward.  Suddenly, I found myself in a position where good work wasn’t enough, students seemed to be comparing me to their vision of what a mathematician “should” look like or be, and it felt as though I had hit an impenetrable wall.  Eventually, things got better as some students began to trust me and word spread that I was a good teacher. I became successful in my position.  Through this experience, however, I learned that we don’t always have control over how others perceive women in STEM and that it is important to surround yourself with a supportive community.

When you think about your journey thus far, what would you say was the one trait that helped you get you to where you are today?

My strong drive to learn has been instrumental throughout my journey.  Loving learning and discovering new things is key to making it through graduate school, but plays an even bigger role in being a faculty member.  I see this as an essential part of my job as a professor;  whenever I get away from learning new things my work becomes stagnant.  Although I am a mathematician, I prioritize learning about a variety of subjects (education, history, medicine, computer science, leadership, sociology, etc.).  I am constantly surprised about where I stumble upon connections to, and inspiration for my work! 

What advice would you give to other women working in STEM?

Find people with whom you can talk openly and honestly about the struggles that you face in your career.  Having friends or colleagues who will be reliable cheerleaders when things get tough can be a tremendous support.  They do not need to be in STEM themselves - some of my greatest professional supports are not - but you should be able to rely on them to accept the barriers that you face.

Who do you look up to, and why?

I think that I could write a book about all of the people that I look up to! Here are three, in brief.  A friend, Bianca Brigidi, is one of the wisest and most eloquent women I know - she always seems to know exactly what to say in difficult situations. My mom, Ann Mayes, has built communities and a family with grace and is a pillar of strength in my life.  My PhD supervisor (aka my “academic mom”), Karen Smith, is a tremendously accomplished mathematician but she spends a great deal of time and effort supporting young mathematicians, particularly those from underrepresented groups.

Sarah Mayes-Tang received her undergraduate degree in mathematics from Queen’s University, and her Master’s and PhD degrees in pure mathematics from the University of Michigan.   Her dissertation was in computational algebra and algebraic geometry, and investigated questions about infinite collections of polynomials. After receiving her PhD, Dr. Mayes-Tang joined the faculty of Quest University Canada, a liberal arts institution in British Columbia dedicated to undergraduate education.  While there, she developed and taught innovative courses in both traditional and non-traditional areas including calculus, abstract algebra, cryptology, creativity in mathematics, and knowledge.  She also initiated and led several University-level projects. Following four years at Quest, Dr. Mayes-Tang moved to the Department of Mathematics at the University of Toronto.  She currently leads a team of instructors and TAs as coordinator for the University’s largest-enrollment calculus sequence.  Her current projects include documenting the experiences of women teachers and students in math classrooms, developing programs to support TAs, and helping students to develop positive attitudes towards mathematics. 

July Networking Event Recap

Networking events can often be intimidating, especially for me, an introverted Data Analyst who is more used to dealing with numbers than with people. One of the main reasons I joined YWiB was to get out of my shell, and to be more social with people outside of my friend circle. Throughout my time volunteering for YWiB, I’ve met plenty of amazing women, and have enjoyed the small, tight-knit environment of our previous networking events. However, this month we switched things up a bit, holding the event at Mum’s the Word , a beautiful bar located in the heart of downtown Toronto. The bigger space allowed for a much larger crowd than at previous networking nights, with approximately 40 women in attendance. Even with the larger sized group, the event still had the intimate feeling I had enjoyed at previous YWiB networking events.

The night opened with an hour of general networking, which allowed attendees to converse with women of different career levels from a variety of industries. I often found myself in discussions with women in fields completely unrelated to mine, from tech entrepreneurs to business consults to graphic designers. One of my favourite things about working with YWiB is the diversity of women that attend the events, and their willingness to mingle with those outside of their realm. I never had the feeling that I was selling myself, something I find myself doing at other networking events in the city. Instead I was having authentic conversations, often about topics completely unrelated to my actual career. One conversation in particular was regarding racism in the workplace, and how I often find myself being the only black person in a meeting, or even the office. It was nice to hear from others who share my experience and learning how they have managed to deal with their circumstances, which is not something I have had the opportunity to discuss at other networking events.

This month the focus of the night was centred around meeting goals. Prior to the event, attendees were asked to identify their career goals and with this information, we were able to match women with those who were either in the same industry or met their goals in some other way. It was our goal to have every attendee leave with at least two connections, but I found that most were leaving with more than that.   

For me, the best part of the night was during the second ice breaker: What is your pitch? For this ice breaker, attendees were given 30 seconds to share something with the crowd. They were welcomed to talk about a business venture, upcoming event, employability, or simply introduce themselves as a new Torontonian. It’s great practice since throughout your career you will find yourself in situations when you’ll only have a few minutes or less to tell someone your story. When those moments come about it’s good to have a 30 second pitch, or what some refer to as an “elevator speech” on hand to impress a future connection.  I loved this challenge because I saw woman after woman head to the mic and be met with roaring applause. It was a great way to get us out of our shells and really help us with identifying what we offer, while at the same time providing a supportive environment that offered encouragement.

Overall it was a great event to be a part of and I can’t wait to see what the next networking night will bring.

In case you missed the event, here are the ice breaker questions:

#1: Who are some of the women that inspire you?

#2: What is your 30 second pitch?  

Reimagining Work Culture: Women’s Empowerment and Female Leadership in the Spotlight

Event attendance is an important facet to career building. Conferences in particular lend a unique opportunity to gain knowledge from leaders and visionaries. Absorb all that you can from the speakers, and take time to network with attendees too. The conference is your icebreaker and silent acknowledgement that there is an alignment already. Use that mutual interest to drive the conversation and dig deeper to fulfill your overall goal for attending.

I spent a day at the Leaders and Icons Conference held into Toronto, which promised to “take [me] on an educational journey, highlighting lessons from those at the forefront of business, politics and innovation.” Through conversation and engagement, it quickly became clear that major topics encompassing women’s empowerment and female leadership have transcended to all industries and sectors. Memorable takeaways were shared by speakers Peter Aceto, Joanne Lipman, and Vicki Saunders.

Peter Aceto former President and CEO of Tangerine shared the insight and experience of a leader. He spoke of transformative leadership through three areas of thinking in business that need to be transformed: leadership, innovation, and diversity. His focus on diversity stressed the importance of ethnic representation, and female leadership. Presenting statistics and models showcasing the high return that is seen when a female is given leadership opportunity. His talk not only provided tangible evidence but also spoke to the social importance of this change in culture that is seen as long overdue in the business sector. 

Joanne Lipman, author of That’s What She Said: What Men Need to Know About Working Together and former Editor-in-Chief of USA Today, was interviewed by gender equity advocate Caroline Codsi. Lipman spoke passionately through her experience and stories shared by other females colleagues in the industry, of the difficulties and barriers of being a female in business. For those interested in reading her book, she presented topics that provide women with skills to navigate in the workforce. It is written as a solution-based tool and expresses the importance that change needs to come from the top. She emphasized that women are already doing plenty to receive recognition, and now it is up to the men to step up. 

Vicki Saunders’ message resonates. She is founder of SheEO, an international non-profit organization that empowers women entrepreneurs and innovators. Her non-profit can be described as a form of ‘radical generosity’ whereby women copower each other by contributing to a pooled fund that is later distributed to start-up companies and female business owners. Saunders expressed that “women are not a niche” and drove home the importance of recognition. SheEO directly contributes to women entrepreneurs of today, while ensuring that the pooled fund is accessible to future generations. SheEO provides mentorship programs, coaching, and other skill development programs. These services are provided not so that others can run your business for you, but to provide women with the tools to be a successful as possible on their own terms.

After a wonderful day of engaging with the guest speakers, panelists, and those in attendance it was clear that the strive for alternative leadership methods and gender equity is at the forefront of conversation across all industries. Every speaker recommended a diverse work culture that is supportive, motivating, and encouraging of risk-taking -- all of which are similar values, long-term visions, and targeted goals that YWiB Toronto has in place for the community.  

Sweet Smell of Success

Aside from Toronto being a big beautiful city, full of great food, wonderful shops and of course the CN tower, there are also a ton of awesome and successful women. I’ve discovered this by attending events, meeting them through mutual friends and now reaching out to local businesses to learn more about their stories. Every woman I meet gives me more motivation to accomplish my own dreams and to never give up on that.

Meet Suman, a successful entrepreneur of 100 Years of Love, right here in Toronto. I had the opportunity to learn more about the company thanks to Suman who was kind enough to share.

100 Years of Love is a contemporary home fragrance label founded in Toronto by  Suman and her brother and co-founder, Tim in 2015.  It started out as a creative experiment and the passion to build something that was thoughtful, stylish, provocative and a reflection of both Suman and Tim’s views on love and diversity. With Suman’s experience in lifestyle, luxury travel and fashion, and Tim’s background in the fine arts, their expertise guided them in the right direction and kept them on track.

When I first discovered 100 Years of Love, I was curious how the unique name came about, and I had to ask Suman to fulfill my curiosity: We are grateful to have grown up in Toronto. Our city is rich with diversity and this has a tremendous impact on our day-to-day lives, as well as our business. We celebrate our differences and above all else, we believe in the power of love. Give it freely, and the universe returns it. Love, kindness, diversity, and positivity are words we choose to live by.

Suman says the collection is a culmination of an obsession with contemporary art and fashion, travel, design, and fine fragrances. We believe that our senses – particularly visual and olfactory experiences – can move us, making connections to our hearts and leaving impressions on our memories. Our curated collection of uniquely fragranced candles helps you enrich some of life’s most intimate moments. Our minimalist design philosophy ensures our candles will blend seamlessly into your space, and each candle is fittingly named to highlight the scent experience that awaits you.

Each candle name has a connection with the ingredients that Suman uses. Their candles are made with only the highest quality ingredients, including 100% soy wax and 100% cotton wicks,and through a process of small batch production. Each candle is hand poured and hand labelled in their Toronto Studio.

One of their best-selling candles is Nomad. It’s 100 Years of Love’s new fragrance that contains Palo Santo and Bergamot. The candle is inspired by the wandering spirit in all of us and Suman suggests it’s the perfect candle for an evening of reflection, yoga, or a hot bath. Suman’s favourite candle is Eyes Wide, a Black Amber candle. She says "the candle is sexy and intoxicating – it was our best seller at the Spring One of a Kind Show in 2018."

All aspiring entrepreneurs are always looking for tips and advice to either get started or learn more from successful business women. So the question had to be asked: what advice can Suman give to women who want to start their own business? "If you have a dream, you have to follow it! You’ll be surprised by how many people actually want to support entrepreneurs and see them succeed. Don’t give up on what you are working on, even when things get challenging. Instead, look for small victories each day and soon you’ll see you are accomplishing it all!"

Discover 100 Years of Love’s collection online here. Orders over $100 are eligible for free shipping. You can also find information about their stockists and candle care instructions that will give you some tips to make your candles burn cleaner and last longer.

A big thank you to Suman for taking the time to share her story. I speak for all of us who have big dreams to pursue and we appreciate reading amazing stories about successful female entrepreneurs. It really helps us stay focused and driven to make those dreams come true!

Written by: Margaret Saliba

All Personal Series: Nodding doesn't guarantee listening – so, what does?

YWiB Toronto has partnered with Roxana, Founder of bespoke training and coaching agency All Personal, for a blog series written by her. She helps individuals (re)discover and work-out their personal skills ‘muscles’, so they increase their self-awareness and improve their confidence, impact, relationships and, ultimately, quality of life. This series will provide insight into how you can do the same, and ideally walk away with tips, tricks, and advice that you can apply to your own life and career. 

She trains and coaches executives, business owners and professionals on practical techniques that they can easily use and apply in any area of their life, with a strong focus on communication (verbal and non-verbal), change, feedback, presenting & speaking, team & self management, teamwork, leadership.

Roxana is a TEDx speaker, a certified coach and trainer, and a Learning & Development professional. She holds a diploma in Learning & Development and a certificate in Human Resources from the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development in the UK, as well as a Master of Arts in Knowledge, Information and Project Management from the University of Bucharest, Romania.

Did you ever think of your personal skills as being just like muscles? Can you imagine that all the skills we need to deal with Change, big or small, are already in us?

‘No, that’s not what I meant’, or ‘You’re not listening to me’, or ‘I’ve just told you that’. Familiar? 

Why does this happen, when all we did was listen? We thought we were listening, because we were nodding our head over and over again, humming as well, and even maintaining eye contact.

So why is it then that, at some point in the conversation, we get this feedback that we weren’t, in fact, listening. What is listening and what makes it so difficult?

First off, we tend to treat listening as this passive thing we do (or don’t have to do?) when the other is talking. We look at it as ‘let them talk, while I can think about my ‘groceries shopping list’’. 

The brain is busy thinking about the next actions we need to take, even when we don’t want it to. This is how, especially when we think we don’t have to do anything, we’re always busy thinking about something.

One of the most difficult things to achieve is to clear our minds, not think about anything, and those of you who meditate or ever tried to, perfectly know this feeling. Because there’s always a buzz, a hum, a thought, a fraction of an action hidden right there, in a corner of our mind.

That’s how, instead of listening to what the other is saying, we’re busy trying to decipher our own thoughts all the while.

Second, we prefer to tell our story rather than listen to someone else’s. Why? Because when I’m telling my story I’m more involved, I recreate the events, which makes me also re-experience some of the feelings, which, in turn, makes me so involved in the story.

When another person tells us their story, it’s more difficult to get involved, we’re strangers to that story and it takes time to get a grip of what it is about. And unless the story teller makes it engaging (but that’s another story), we find ourselves thinking ‘shopping lists’ all over again.

The ‘shopping list’ is our metaphor for everything else we’re thinking about: what am I going to respond to what they’ve just said now (which is already what they just said a while ago, because I don’t know what they’re saying now anymore, as I’m thinking about what I am going to say); piles of work, night out with friends, things I need to start doing right after reading this article, you get the picture.

Third, we’re human. We can only focus for a little while, because we cannot help but pay attention to everything that’s going on around us. Yes, focus is the opposite of attention. Focus requires a lot of effort and us pushing every distraction aside. Focus happens especially when we’re in flow, ‘in the zone’, because that’s when we’re engaged, involved, motivated.

Focus means I zoom in to you while you’re speaking, without paying attention to who comes in the room, to what happens in my mind, to the building shaking because there’s an earthquake. But, as I said, we can only focus for a while, and under these specific circumstances of involvement and motivation.

And we already decided, we love our own stories more than other people’s stories. Which is why they don’t keep us motivated and engaged enough for us to get into that state of focus. So what can we do? It’s something we already do, just not all the time and maybe without being aware of it. Think about someone you care about, telling you they got the job they wanted.

First of all, hear their voice and how they say it. They are usually enthusiastic, and enthusiasm is catching. When we respond, we do it without thinking about our shopping list. When we hear ‘hey, I got that job’ we naturally go ‘wow, I’m so happy for you’.

We match their state of mind, because we care. Caring makes us focus on what they are saying. When I care about your story, I am there, with you, in your story. I bring my story there, because I can relate to yours now. And that’s how we can build a combined story – the story of ‘how you got that job and how we celebrated together’.

Because when I care, I can focus, and that’s what makes me capable to understand: what you’re saying and also a bit of how you’re feeling.

So now that I’m focused, I am interested, and the next thing I know is I’m asking you for more details: what will you be doing, when do you start, do they train you, how much do they pay you (ok, maybe not that, we'll leave that for the shopping list).

It’s a natural reaction for us, to ask questions when we listen. I mean, when we truly listen. Listening is a verb - it’s an action. It’s not that I don’t have to do anything and ‘just listen’. On the contrary, there’s a lot of things I do that tell you I’m listening.

Think about it: when we care and focus and truly listen, what do we do, apart from nodding and humming: we ask questions, we go back to make sure we didn’t misunderstand, we ask for clarifications, we summarize, we investigate further, we ask for the next steps.

It goes all the way back when, as children, someone was reading a story to us and, because we were captivated by it, we wanted to know more, hear more, see more. Or maybe more recently when, at some point in our lives, we asked the question: ‘so let me get this straight, are you dumping me?’. That’s one piece of active listening! And all because I cared.

The ‘recipe’ I am proposing is: start with the heart and zoom in on the mind (you add your own ingredients, in the quantities that work for you).

When I care, I will instantly focus, and when I focus, I will be able to hear what you’re saying and actually understand you. I will nod and hum, and I will also ask questions, summarise, clarify, agree next steps, maybe take notes and make sure you get them, too.

Once I listen to understand, I build the foundation for a long-term relationship.

So, ‘shopping lists’ aside, we all crave to be:

• heard
• understood
• valued (or, even better, loved).

And then, once we’ve truly listened, we get a ‘that’s exactly what I meant’, or ‘thanks for listening to me’, or ‘nobody else asked me that, thank you for checking’.

Because when somebody listens to me and understands me, I feel I matter. Don’t you?

If you’re interested in this topic, you may also want to watch and read:

• Ted Talk - Celeste Headlee_10_ways_to_have_a_better_conversation
• Alan Alda - Make communication great again - CBC Interview
• Alan Alda – ‘If I understood you, would I have this look on my face?’

How to Rock a Networking Event

Coming to one of our networking nights this summer? Don’t know how to even start to make connections? Fear not, here are some tips to make the most of your networking opportunities.

Make a good impression

When you’re in a networking event, you need to be the best version of yourself. Doing so helps those who meet you to remember you and makes it easier for them to be your advocate or champion. Here are a couple of ways to bring out your best self.

• Be helpful. Ask what they’re looking to achieve with the networking event and if applicable, offer to make an introduction or share knowledge you have about the topic.

• Be yourself and be honest. People can often tell when you’re trying to fib so don’t invite distrust by pretending to be someone you are not.

• Be warm and open. This doesn’t mean to hug everybody; it means listening intentionally (to understand, not to practice what you’ll say next), smiling, and approaching every interaction with goodwill.

• Say what you mean and mean what you say. Ask questions when you don’t know or understand something, don't just nod along while standing on the sidelines. If you appreciate what someone said, say so! If you tell someone you’ll email them, do so!

• Be clear, specific and straightforward. When you ask open questions with details, you can help keep the conversation going and avoid awkward short answers. For example, don’t ask, ‘how’s it going?’ (answer: it’s going); ask, ‘what was the best thing you read this week?’

• Leave Debbie Downer at the door. Stay away from complaining, negativity, gossip, judgment, exaggeration, and blaming. It's not about being fake-happy, but rather about being relaxed and easy to talk to.

How do you know who and how to approach?

In our networking events we often sit at a table, and our team takes care of the ice breakers and awkward introductions. If you find yourself in another networking event unaided, and have no idea how to ‘enter’ a conversation, use the 1-2-3 principle. That is, approach those by themselves first, then groups of two and finally groups of three. Here’s how:

• Look first for people standing by themselves. Often, these ‘groups of one’ are the most welcoming since they’re often shy, so go ahead and approach them. Use an ice breaker, and introduce yourself.

• When approaching groups of two people, approach first groups who are standing in a V formation. Their bodies are slightly open towards opposite sides, which usually means that they’re open to someone else joining their conversation. Just slide in the middle of the V, make eye contact with both parties, smile, and introduce yourself.

• If you find a group of two people and their bodies are facing each other straight on, that usually means they’re engaged in a semi-private conversation. Fear not, you can also approach them. Use the ‘may I cut in’ trick seen in movies: approach one of them from the side, gently tap them in the arm and ask for permission to join in. A simple ‘do you mind if I join your conversation?’ will suffice. Nine times out of ten, they’ll say yes and introduce you to the other party or parties. If they say no, it’s very likely that they’re discussing a private issue and in that case, just move on to the next group.

• When approaching groups of three or more, find an open space and use the same ‘may I cut in approach,’ slide in, make eye contact with everyone in the group and join the conversation.

So now that you’re in the group, what do you do next?

You want people to remember who you are. Standing next to someone or only nodding won’t get you noticed. Although listening in is okay, but do your best to participate.

• If you’re joining a group of one, use an icebreaker to start the conversation. You can compliment a piece of their outfit (or their glasses, phone, etc.), and ask about more about it. Other icebreakers are easy questions such as ‘What attracted you to this event?’ or ‘Have you ever been to an event like this?.’ If you’re really shy, you can admit to that since the other person may be shy also. For example, saying ‘Events like these are so intimidating to me. Are they easy for you?’

• If you’re joining a conversation of two people or more,  just ask ‘What are we talking about?’ and someone will fill you in. Ask simple follow up questions such as ‘That’s interesting, why is that?’ or ‘I’ve never heard about that’ or ‘Can you elaborate?’ to help the conversation going.

Introducing yourself

The key to introducing yourself is to be brief and give them just enough bits of information to get them to ask more. Also, people like to interact with humans, not robots, so make sure your intro reflects your fun, sassy and clever personality. Here’s a simple fill-in-the-blank script and some samples.

• My name’s Rihanna. I’m a veteran singer in the entertainment industry. I excel at making my listeners feel like I’m the only girl in the world. In my free time, I enjoy making umbrellas and asking for my money back. My best friends would describe me as obsessed with diamonds. I’m here to get more fans and weed out any rude boys.

• My name’s Sarah. I’m a digital marketer in the insurance industry. I excel at helping companies convert passive audiences into customers. In my free time, I enjoy live music and spending time with my dog. My friends describe me as the best board game partner ever. Now I am looking for a digital coordinator role with a company that wants to supercharge their promotional efforts.

• My name’s Lane. I’m a sales rep in the tech industry. I recently helped my division exceed their sales forecast by 25%. In my free time, I enjoy watching documentaries and biking. My clients describe me as dependable and hardworking. My friends describe me as the best wing-woman in downtown Toronto. I’m here to meet new people and make friends.

Now that you have given enough information to pique their curiosity, pause, look them in the eye and wait. They will ask you questions or tell you something about themselves.

You have listened, talked, and bonded. Now what?

Your goal in a networking event is to make and receive at least one introduction or follow-up meeting from one of your fellow attendees. Yes, it’s about giving, before taking. To do that, you need to make meaningful connections.

Stay tuned for more tips in upcoming blog posts and newsletters. We’ll be covering topics such as how to ask for an informational interview, how to follow up and how to follow through. Also, follow us in Twitter https://twitter.com/ywibto and LinkedIn https://ca.linkedin.com/company/ywibto for more info and resources about rocking the networking game.  

Written by Sandra Riano

Changing the face of Non-Profits: A look at Crossbow Miles Canada

One of the greatest aspects of being a part of the YWiB team is meeting amazing women, thriving in their careers. However, it isn’t often that I have the opportunity to meet young girls, especially ones as driven and ambitious as Kiran Kumar. Kiran is a fifteen year old high school student, making waves for the future of women and non-profit organizations. While still in high school, Kiran has already become the founder and CEO of Crossbow Miles Canada, a non-profit organization focused on improving the health and well-being of women and girls in India through workshops on digital & financial literacy, health, hygiene and gender sensitization. She and her team have already thrown fundraising events, held an art wall and are now taking on their biggest project yet: Women’s One World Walk, on June 1st. I recently sat down with Kiran to discuss what she sees for the future of Crossbow Miles Canada, and the future of women in business.

How did you get involved in Crossbow Miles and volunteering for the organization?

It’s actually really interesting because I’m going begin by confessing that it all started with building a resume. It sounds harsh because nobody says it out loud, but it’s always there. I want to go to Harvard and I remember reading this article saying Harvard isn’t looking for well-rounded students and I was the definition of a well-rounded student.  They’re looking for someone who’s really good in one thing, and has mastered that one thing, because it shows that there is a chance that they will be successful in that field. I used to think ‘oh my goodness I’m so screwed’ because I was a jack of all trades, not a master of one. Later, I started to observe that a lot of students were doing this thing where they would work with a movement, go to a third world country, put some bricks on a wall and put it in their resume. So, it all started with ‘okay, why not’. I so happened to get in contact with Crossbow; I’m so happy they were the ones I reached out to. I started to fundraise by selling samosas in my high school foyer; they were 80 cents and we sold them for $2. We made quite a lot of money, but at the same time I started to attend events in Toronto on personal branding. It was a whole new world for me because this was the first time I was learning outside of the classroom. It was genuine, raw and what I like to call uncensored learning.

I had started to do that simultaneously, which was to develop my character, develop my personality and sort of develop a passion for this. While that was happening in the background, I started realizing what a great movement Crossbow really is. Not only because of the cause; I was always passionate about empowering women in that part of the world. I always had that on my mind, it just didn’t really hit me what was being held back from women until I started meeting empowering women myself at these networking events. I used to go up to a woman and say ‘I’m sorry, I just adore you so much’ because I was so empowered. You actually feel that inspiration and that ‘oh my goodness I love you so much’, that awe inspiring moment when you see a woman who has really done something with her life. It was just depressing for me to see the situation that a lot of women with this potential not getting the education they need.

That's when I started to really implement that knowledge I was getting from these events into the movement. I started to form a committee, I filed for incorporation single-handedly, I read all the fine print. I started to introduce myself by saying ‘Hi, my name is Kiran Kumar and I work with Crossbow Canada’, and eventually they made me the Canadian head. That’s when I started to recruit committee members in and other high school students like me. I started to individually go with them to Toronto and inspire them like I was inspired, and they really started to feel the energy that I felt myself.

We held a few fundraisers, had an art wall and eventually we held our first small event.  That’s really when it got kick-started, we had our social media pages up and now on June 1st  we’re holding our big event WOWW – Women’s One World Walk. It was supposed to be our big finish. But now, just a week ago we got a message saying ‘you’ve been incorporated, start forming your board of directors’. So now this end event has sort of become a launch. We are planning to expand and not run like a non-profit but run like a business with different departments. High school students have so many talents which we can provide as services. We have different departments, different categories to expand and hopefully in the end people won’t think of us as someone you give donations to, but they’ll get something back from it because we have a responsibility to women here too. So hopefully our service and our products will help women here and the funds will help women over there. That’s really our, my vision for the movement, I haven’t really told the committee just yet. It all starts at this event, that’s when everyone is going to be there, we’re going have our celebration, announce our incorporation and the women that are going to be speaking are just extraordinary. Their journey and their triumphs are just really moving. I’m looking forward to having that event and of course the celebration after is going to be fun.

Who are the women that inspire you personally?

Huda Alvi, she is an entrepreneur and an influencer. I connected to her through LinkedIn She is just extraordinary, when I saw her Instagram, I discovered the meaning of empowerment. I don’t even know what it was specifically, because I’ve seen woman with confidence before. But when I saw her profile picture I got a rush of adrenaline, I couldn’t sit still. She actually responded to my email when I contacted her, and we started to connect! She will be my personal mentor in our event WOWW. I’ve never been happier to have met a woman in my life! She’s really transformed my way of thinking.

The second would be my mother, I was always teasing people saying ‘my mother” on television, but now I realize she’s just extraordinary in the sense that she’s so supportive. When my health went down the drain for 2-3 weeks in December I was just miserable. I was horrible to be around. She was always there, and being a business woman, that’s a difficult thing to do. I’m telling anyone that’s reading this: be nice to your mom. You must be nice to your mother and whenever you face success you’ll realize that the one person you’ll want to thank is your mom.

Where do you see Crossbow Canada in the future?

I see it as a business. I know business can be seen as a bad word especially in Canada because it’s all about profit. Whenever I say to someone I’m running a business when I’m running this non-profit they always say ‘well you’re not making any profit’ and I tell them I am making a profit, it’s just going somewhere else. I want it to be like an exchange. I like the idea of providing something to someone; it’s such a good feeling. I was actually inspired by Disney; let’s take a few steps back. They have Disney World, they have Disney stores, not to mention their monopoly in the film industry. They’re everywhere. That’s what I want for Crossbow. I want us to be everywhere, because they are experts in every category and if we can expand and get different services in different areas with different products, I think that would be a great way to get our name out there and see what works, see what doesn’t.

How do you see women in business changing in the future?

Oh, boys should watch out! When I see women, when I see the people in my classroom, when I see the women walking down the halls of my school there are so many women who I can definitely say are going to make it big. I know a lot of people go with: ‘if you have good grades then you’ll definitely be successful’ but when it comes to business, I think because the school system is so structured, look out for those people who maybe don’t try that hard in academics. Maybe they don’t join extracurriculars, but the people who are super social, because socializing is work! It’s fun for some, not fun for others. Academics is fun for some and not fun for others.  Those women aren’t thinking about their future right now, because the system isn’t for them, it wasn’t made for them. In a few years, if they start a business, they’ll be unstoppable; I think that's something to really look out for. Those women with an aptitude for business, they will definitely make it somewhere so you’ll see a large amount of women in business.

For more on the organization and to see ways you can help visit: Crossbow Miles

For information and tickets to Women’s One World Walk visit: http://wowwevent.eventbrite.ca/