Creating a support system within your community makes it easier to take on new challenges. Kailey Gilchrist, CEO of NONA Vegan Foods, discusses preserving familial memories through food, and creating spaces for marginalized entrepreneurs. 

Kailey developed a passion for cooking plant-based meals after spending countless hours with her late mother in the kitchen. She spent time learning her mother’s secret sauces and creating new plant-based meals of her own. 

Kailey founded NONA Vegan Foods in 2013 as an ode to her late mother. Nona Vegan Foods provides dairy-free and gluten free cream sauces that are a healthy and delicious alternative to traditional cream sauces. Nona started off as a home kitchen-operated brand and has since grown to a national brand - selling at stores such as Whole Foods. Kailey’s mission is to bring the nourishment and comfort of an italian “nonna” to Canadian kitchens. 

“I care about mentoring the next generation of entrepreneurs and helping out, because people have helped me. It feels important.”

On this week’s Startup Women Podcast, sponsored by the Business Development Bank of Canada and Scotiabank, Kailey discusses the importance of community organizations and creating diversity within the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Startup Women Podcast 

Startup Women Podcast E140 - Inclusion & Community: How Nona Used to Make It with Kailey Gilchrist

To make waves as a Canadian entrepreneur is something to be proud of. Now, imagine being the youngest investor on CBC’s Dragons Den while starting three companies before you’re 28 years old. 
“Setting big goals is the first thing. You have to not want to be a little business anymore.”Michele Romanow is the Co-Founder and President of her latest venture, Clearbanc, that makes accessing funding simple and affordable for entrepreneurs. She’s a celebrated entrepreneur who’s made WXN’s 100 Most Powerful in Canada and is listed as the only Canadian on Forbes Millennials on a Mission list. In 2017, Michele won Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award by Startup Canada and has previously taken home the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Award. She sits on multiple boards and is a director at Freshii, a fast food health store that ranks higher than McDonald’s and Subway in terms of international expansion. In this week’s #StartupPodcast, host Rivers Corbett talks to Michele about her strategy behind starting multiple high growth companies and how she’s taking Canada’s tech scene to higher places.

Startup Women Podcast E140 - Inclusion & Community: How Nona Used to Make It with Kailey Gilchrist

Startup Women Podcast

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