Welcome to Knight Views: The Secret Life of Entrepreneurs on 91.3 FM CJTR.
We're live with a local business owner who's making a difference in #YQR.
Stay tuned to learn their secrets about what makes them tick, what helped them
become successful, and their role as a leader in our business community. You're
listening to your host Barb Mcgrath – business-owner, founder of the Get Found
on Google Live Program and marketing expert who helps businesses succeed with
ease using their website social media and online reputation. Our guest today is
Dr. Gina Grandy. She is the Dean of the Hill | Levene Schools of
Business at the University of Regina. She's going to talk to us a little bit
about building an entrepreneurial spirit in young women in particular.
Welcome, Gina. Thank you very much, Barb. It's a pleasure to be here.
Absolutely. Well let's start there. Tell us a little bit about yourself and how
you got to be the Dean of two of the most prestigious schools in our
university. Great, thank you. So I'm originally from Newfoundland which will
become very clear as I continue to speak and your listeners hear my accent. I grew
up in Newfoundland. I moved to Regina, to the U of R about five years ago now. I
grew up in a small town in Newfoundland and it's interesting how we get to where
we are when we talk about two of those paths. My dad is a retired
teacher and my mom a retired nurse and so business wasn't necessarily really
things that were talked about in my household that much. But my guidance
counselor at the time told me I had three options: I could be a nurse, I could
be a teacher or I could go into business. I said, I asked him about
being a nurse. I said well couldn't I be a doctor? But I was a bit kind of weak
when it came to looking at blood. I liked the idea of teaching but I had
said I'm not sure I want to teach little people. Okay. And so I said well I
guess I will do business because that appears to
be my only option. So went into business and after I
had my first work term, in particular, I would say that the interest was sparked
and I started from there. So first work term tell us a little bit
about that. Yeah, so my first work term was with a magazine company that
produced oil and gas related magazines in downtown St. John's and I was
responsible for marketing, for distribution and circulation and it was
a teeny-tiny entrepreneurial firm. Okay. Led by a woman entrepreneur. Excellent.
And it was really for me, perhaps, one of the first times I had that insider look
at what it was to be an entrepreneur and the autonomy and flexibility and hard
work that comes with that. No kidding. Isn't that the truth? Absolutely.
So just before we start to dig too much into your story today of course is
Halloween. You know, Halloween, Newfoundland, I would say five or maybe
ten years ago since you last lived there. Longer than that, but we'll go with that, yes. We'll go with that today. Sure.
What was life like in St. John's at that time? Sure, so I studied in St.
John's but grew up in a small rural community about three and a half hours
from St. John's on the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland and small communities
next to each other, very close. And so there was a lot of trick or treating.
A lot of costumes. I remember vividly I was the youngest and
somehow my brother and sister were able to go out on their own but my father for
some reason didn't feel that I should. So two and three and four friends of
mine would go together and he would drive us in the car. So for a long
time there was trick-or-treating and in fact I would say in those days people
tended to do trick-or-treat probably at an age well beyond what they should
really be doing. It doesn't happen as much now but that sense of security and
fun. So you did it
probably much later in life than you would now or when kids do it now.
You know and so few kids come. I think we're prepared for maybe 20 kids tonight.
We're just not expecting very many to show up at the door and in fact you
know last year we bought the nice big box and we were ready and it just added
to our waistline for the next year, right? One of the things I will say very
similar to here would be the cold weather.
Oh I vividly remember when I was really young having fantastic costumes that my
mother would help make. Absolutely. You could wear them to school.
But when the evening came you had to wear extra pairs of pants. Yes. And jackets
and kind of that costume that you were able to wear during the day
just didn't exist at night. If you were going to survive and so that's probably
a similar experience to people in Regina who think about Halloween and who
trick-or-treat even now. Well and you know the funny thing is you get your
kids dressed up in their costume and then by the time you put the layers on
that they need to stay warm for as long as they want to be out there, nobody has
any clue what they are they just simply know that they're standing there with a
bag and they know what they want and they fill it up and the kids keep going.
So yeah it'll be interesting to see how many layers the kids have to wear
tonight.
Yes, exactly. Well I have to be honest today is the last day so the 31st of the
month, I will have gone entire month without sugar. And like on one hand, it's
Halloween, like great, but I'm not craving it now. I know we're completely digressing
from our conversation, but I'm not craving it at all. We'll see
how long that lasts. I know, exactly! All right, so let's talk a little
bit more. Sure. So, Dr., School of Business, I mean you are clearly a very
driven woman. What is it that drives you? What keeps you going? I think there are a
number of things that keep me going. You had asked me as well, kind of what led me
to this particular position and I think it's important
in particular for women and I say this because one of my areas is women in
leadership and so I know what the research says. I know how people often
experience. Not everyone but in deciding to move forward even to apply for this
job, I remember thinking "Ah, I'm not sure it's
what I really want". I say what many women say "I'm not sure I'm ready."
Life was pretty good. But in reflecting at that time as to – and I
thought a lot about whether I would even apply. A couple of things that struck
me, Barb, that I knew was important, one was I teach and I do research on women
in leadership and I encourage other women to step up to consider those
options. Whether it's their own business or whether it's a senior leadership role
in whatever organizations they work in. Okay. And I thought how can I tell other people and
and encourage other people, that we need to see more women leading organizations if
I'm not willing to do it myself. That's right. I mean the other thing that really
drove me to that decision was my deep concern and care about our students and
our education systems. Okay. So getting to your question around what drives me,
probably not all that surprising for listeners to hear an academic
say that really I have a thirst for learning. Okay.
A thirst for personal growth and always looking for a challenge and a
stretch. So something that's going to stretch me and I do have a curiosity to
understand different perspectives and and I think, you know, what I think about
me taking that set forward to apply for the deanship and what drives me in
the decisions I make. That curiosity and that deep desire to hear from other
people. To understand other people. It's part of that. I think it's probably fair to
say, Barb, that I have also a discomfort with the status quo. Okay. And with
that, I think means that you're willing to take on new challenges. You want to be
able to try something new. Yes. And I'm not sure me at University of Regina we talked
about service and service to others and and I think, perhaps, that's one of the
reasons I was drawn to the University and liked it there so much. Okay. But
being that advocate for others, whether that happens to be for a group
of people. Whether that happens to be people underrepresented. Whether that
happens to be a woman. A student who's looking for advice. Right. Or whether that
happens to be any student looking for advice and helping them have a better
path and even some small way it's important to me. So would your high
school teachers have said "Yes, Gina's path. Like either academia or, you know,
she's always looking out for the underdog. She's gonna be an advocate." Or
is this something that grew in you as your education and teaching and research
continued? Don't know what they would say. It's funny when you think back I mean there
was never any talk of being an academic in my high school. It was never really
anything that anyone talked about. I was always highly active in all kinds of
activities. So whether it was sports, drama. Whether it was student council. Any
type of activity I was heavily involved. So I don't think they would be
particularly shocked that I would be still engaged in a number of different
activities. I think that this notion of the advocacy in many ways, always there, I
think there's always been a commitment in my family to service to others. So
both my mom and my dad have spent a lot of their life with community groups and
continue whether that's the Lions Club, the SPCA. And I remember from a very
young age going out to do door-to-door canvassing. Got it. And so
I think my path in regards to how that manifests. So being far more
active with particular individuals and groups has developed over time. Got it.
But I say that it's something that I grew up
with in my family that has always been important that service to others. Yes,
it's always been there, yes. I know I often hear from family, from friends,
looking back and sort of where my own path has gone, I've done a lot of change
management work and that absolutely resonates with who I've always been.
I'm always or I've always been that person who let's change it if we can make
it better. We can make it work faster. We can, you know, help someone, right? Kind of
to the point where people are like, "Okay, enough!" Right, yes. But somebody has to be
that squeaky wheel to make change, so kudos to you. So, there was a recent
announcement I think I saw it maybe on your LinkedIn page and just your
comments earlier about, you know, moving women into a leadership position and
some of those sorts of things. Can you talk a little bit about this Women in
Executive in Residence program and I believe we're now going to learn a
little bit about our second recipient of that honor. So tell us a little bit
about that. Sure. The Hill | Levene Schools are very
fortunate to have some generous support from RBC and two years ago they put
forward a significant amount of money to support the RBC Woman Executive in
Residence. To my knowledge it is the only one across the country. Oh, I didn't know that. So I know of another
University that has a woman executive in residence in a women's leadership area,
but it's not specifically, you know, I think it's intuitive to think it will be
a woman but to my knowledge we are the only one or one of few that have a Woman
executive in Residence and we're delighted. So Pat use law was our woman
Executive in Residence and has just finished her term and we just made
this announcement, as you've said this week, that Valerie Sluth will be our
our new Executive. Valerie starts this week and of
course Valerie is the colton's the founder and co-principal.
We know Paxxis consulting. She serves on a number of boards in our community.
Heavily involved in economic development and has served as a mentor to many women
and I'm sure men as well. Yes. But to many women and we are absolutely
delighted and excited. I know some of the initiatives that will unfold and
this is important for a number of reasons. But one of the aspects that I
will say is very important to me and the schools is developing an entrepreneurial
spirit. Okay and to me the entrepreneurial spirit plays out in, of
course, people setting up new businesses, which is incredibly important to
our economy and our future. For me, entrepreneurial spirit is though more
than just simply starting new businesses and in particular, for women and I
think it's important for all, you know, men and women students, but in regards
for me and one of my passions around empowering women, to think about new
possibilities. For me that entrepreneurial spirit is about a
curiosity. It is about a resilience. Okay. It is about asking questions when
sometimes questions are difficult to ask. It is about a boldness. Okay. It is also
about seeing opportunities when other people see obstacles. Right. And for me
what I would argue, is that if we are able to create contexts and environments
where people are willing to experiment and create that entrepreneurial spirit,
we will see more women starting new businesses. We will see more women taking
bolder risks in regards to higher growth rates in their firms. But we will also
see women and men, but we will see women in organizations that aren't necessarily
entrepreneurial organizations. Right. Changing how we do things. I'm looking
forward and also unsettled with the status quo. Yes, and so what I'm hearing
you talk about, Gina, is all about culture. And so anytime you approach
something from an entrepreneurial perspective and start to change that
culture, you can really reshape an organization. Yes, absolutely.
So you tweaked on something and originally when we talked about having
you come on the show, we talked a little bit of what an organization called
Powerhouse Media and I don't know if it's the Hill or the Laveen or both –
have recently entered into a partnership or an initiative with that group. Is
there enough structure around that relationship yet that we can touch on
that or is it still really in the development stage? It is in the
development stage but I think it is important to talk about it because one
we talk about building this entrepreneurial spirit and how to do it
and the role of the Hill | Levene Schools in creating and empowering that
type of spirit. The RBC Woman Executive in Residence is one of the things that
we are doing in that area and I have to talk a little bit more about those
initiatives. But some of the other ways and opportunities that were able to do
that and we'll move toward our partnerships what organizations like
Powerhouse Media this is a media company that is committed to the advancement of
women in entrepreneurial ventures, women in leadership positions and they engage
in a number of different activities. So they had an accelerator event very
recently where the Minister of Advanced Education as well as Status of Women and
the province was there and I was fortunate enough to introduce her.
Working with Powerhouse and Charlene, one of the projects that we are also in the
early stages of of exploring is specifically around the portrayal of
women in the media and specifically in the tech industry and trying to identify
the focus is less upon kind of the negative portrayal, although I could go
on and like that would be a second show, Right. It is more about actually
how do we actually send positive messages in the media of women, in
entrepreneurial ventures, in tech, women more broadly in the media and
Powerhouse's ultimate objective is to be able to get companies
across the country to devote a certain percentage of their advertising/
marketing budgets, to the profile of positive messages of women. Ah, okay, I
did not know that. That is very interesting. So we're excited from the
school side, the partnership will be on the research aspect. Absolutely. Where we will
once funding has been secured for the research, we will bring on students so we
will involve students in this project. Identify some of the the barriers, the
obstacles, but also outline a set of recommendations with the intent
then that PowHERhouse will step in at that point to look for advocates,
champions in our communities, across the country to discuss them and make that
commitment. You know and that's a huge commitment. I have two kids. Their
10 and 11 right now. I'm gonna say that my son was probably three and I remember
having a conversation one day, you know, maybe you'll be a doctor and at three he
pointed out to me that he couldn't be a doctor because his skin was the wrong
color and I was dumbfounded. But our family doctor and our pediatrician had
both come from another country and neither one of them had pasty white
winter skin like we did at that point in time, right? And so like they already had
this preconceived notion. And I've seen it in my daughter as well. So kids
develop this understanding of what they can do, what they can accomplish. I always
like to tell my daughter that nothing is impossible and to her credit she
believes me 100% that nothing is impossible.
So when she brings the homework the night before it's due and she has six
weeks worth of work to do because she stuffed it in her bag "But mom you tell
me anything's possible!" "Yes I do and we're gonna plug through this but
there's not going to be an A in your future here kiddo."
There are consequences to our actions. Yes, exactly. So, wow,
that's really interesting to hear about. In
fact you referenced Charlene and so that's Charlene Sang Jenko she's only in
Vancouver. And she left her corporate job to start PowHERhouse media and I think
she's made some fairly significant inroads in the last 16 years if it since
she started the business? So she's really had some good success and certainly
hopefully there's more to come. It'll be interesting to watch the
research. I'm sure there will be. Yes, absolutely there will be. And I think
there'll be. It's wonderful for the university to have this opportunity and
the Hill | Levene aligns very well with the Executive
in Residence focus. So the focus this time for the Woman Executive in
Residence is on entrepreneurship and women's entrepreneurship in particular.
And what a great fit for Val. That's straight up her alley. Absolutely and so
we're looking forward to possibly, you know, boot camps that will be developed
for aspiring women entrepreneurs, student women entrepreneurs. I would also say a
big component of that with the executive and residents but I think the faculty
at Hill | Levene more broadly. That we see ourselves as part of the
entrepreneurial ecosystem. We are in the city and the province and so you
know we talk about PowHERhouse is part of that. But you know we're also
working very closely with Economic Development Regina
to see where we're able to partner and collaborate you know. We are working very
closely with Connexus and their incubator and in fact you know we have
students that go over across the road because we're lucky right now
that they have a presence on campus. They do. So our enacted students who are
engaged in social entrepreneurship ventures are back and forth. They're our
JDC West East competition teams are back and forth. They're excellent. We are also
working closely with WESK – so Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan.
Absolutely. And see plenty of opportunities for collaboration there as
we move forward. So we see the Hill | Levene Schools as part of that
entrepreneurial ecosystem in the province and
believe it we have a responsibility to play a role in that. But you know as a
business school, we are really part of our economic culture.
Absolutely. Building that culture and part of the economic development of the
region and the province movement. Do you have any stats and maybe you won't know
this off the top of your head, so I'm kind of throwing this question out in
left field, any stats on how many of your students
graduate and start their own business? I feel like I should be able to answer
that. Here's what I will say, Barb. Interestingly and we don't have right
now a large percentage of our students who do a major in entrepreneurship,
however, what we do see, is that many of our students who sometimes actually
graduate with a finance major, with marketing majors, start their own
businesses. And so perhaps, what I can tell you is and and people locally will
know many of these people, but I can say you know Rachel Melke is one of Hills
right, so one of our own graduates. You know, Ten Tree so the fabrics of Ten Tree.
You know, Jason Drummond. These are all people – Ben Tingly,
these are all people who have done their undergrad or their graduate
program at Hill | Levene Schools of Business. Some of them perhaps always
knowing that they were going to be entrepreneurs. Right. But not
necessarily so and so what I would say to you is I can't answer that number. It
would be a curious thing. Maybe next time I come back I'll have that
answer but what we are starting to do is to do more around profiling. Right. Some
of those students because, well what we'd like, I don't know if it's right or not,
but we'd like to say that part of building that spirit started at the Hill
| Levene Schools. Wow, Gina, I can't believe it this has been
the fastest show of my life but we're nearly out of time with about 30 seconds
to spare so I'm gonna ask you a question that I know we didn't talk about in
advance and I'm gonna keep it really short, but can you tell me who's your
hero? Hmm great question! I would have - there are so many - but I
would say that actually my mother and my grandmother. And so my grandmother lived
to be 99 years old. Fiery. She was married three times.
Husbands passed away so there weren't divorces involved, not that that
matters, but three marriages, feisty. She is somebody who has a warm,
warm spirit. Okay. But also has this courage. This fierceness. This
boldness, that you just think can I be like you when I grow up. When I grow up,
excellent. Well I would like to thank my listeners for joining us here today on
91.3 FM CJTR. We're talking community radio. Thank You, Gina,
for being with us here today from the Hill | Levene Schools of business and for
joining us to talk about building that entrepreneurial culture. Building our
future leaders. I'll be back on November 14th with Brandi Good from BLG Business
Solutions. She helps entrepreneurs get things done.
If you'd like to be a guest you can email me directly at barb@abovethefoldcanada.ca
or reach out directly on Facebook or Instagram. Just a
reminder you can submit your questions in advance of the live show on our
Facebook page. I'm your host Barbara McGrath, local business owner and today's new
name, "Google lady". I like to change that up each week. Thank you for the
opportunity to be here today. sherry we'll be back with you next
Wednesday at 12 o'clock Remember, you worked hard for your success, don't keep
it a secret. Bye for now.
we are done here
good agree you told me to bring water I am I turned your mic down so we were
okay there yes no thank you
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