She Means Business

In this episode, Summer & Melanie sit down with Laura Southall, a Senior Wealth Advisor who built her career, and a $120M portfolio, from scratch. She shares her journey from side hustles and teaching to finance, along with practical advice on investing, credit, and breaking into the industry. We also dive into why finance is really about people, and the growing opportunity for women in the space.

In this episode of She Means Business, we sit down with Nathalie Kaspy-Shtern, founder of one of Montreal’s most loved donut bakeries, to talk about unexpected career paths, intuition, and building a business from the ground up. Nathalie’s journey into entrepreneurship was anything but traditional. With a PhD in criminology and years spent raising five children, she later decided to attend culinary school simply to explore a passion for cooking. What began as experimenting in the kitchen and sharing her creations on Instagram quickly turned into something much bigger when one post featuring donuts sparked overwhelming demand. In this conversation, Nathalie shares the realities of entrepreneurship, the importance of trusting your instincts, and why success rarely follows a straight line. Her story is a powerful reminder that sometimes the opportunities that change your life are the ones you never planned for.

In this episode, Summer & Melanie welcome Nathalie Palladitcheff, global business leader and former CEO of Ivanhoé Cambridge, the real estate arm of CDPQ, who shares her journey from banking to the C-suite at just 30 years old. With an international career spanning Europe and Canada, Nathalie reflects on leading in male-dominated industries, navigating cultural differences, and rising through finance and real estate without ever losing herself. From being known as the “CEO in yellow stilettos” to championing inclusion in the boardroom, she explains why authenticity, resilience, and openness to opportunity have defined her leadership style. She offers advice for students and young professionals on seizing global opportunities, anticipating emerging industry trends, and connecting the dots beyond a single specialization. At its core, this conversation is a reminder that success isn’t about fitting your personality or femininity to a mold. It’s about building a career, and a life, entirely on your own terms.

In this episode, Melanie sits down with Andrea D'Elia, cybersecurity leader, international speaker, and Chief Information Security Officer, to talk about her unconventional path into cyber threat intelligence. After becoming a victim of cybercrime herself, Andrea taught herself cybersecurity from the ground up, diving into hacker playbooks, digital forensics, ransomware mitigation, and emerging threats like virtual SIM swapping. What started as a personal search for answers turned into a full career pivot focused on protecting organizations and the public from sophisticated digital attacks. We get into what a cyber threat intelligence expert actually does, how thinking like an attacker helps stop cybercrime, the realities of ransomware and digital risk, breaking stereotypes as a woman in a male-dominated field, and how to build credibility in tech. It’s a conversation about resilience & reinvention.

In this episode, we sit down with Montreal-based PR and influencer marketing professional Emilie Perreault to unpack what modern public relations really looks like today. From media relations and influencer strategy to cultural relevance, Gen Z behavior, and the rise of digital-first PR, Emilie shares sharp insights on building campaigns that resonate.

Summer & Melanie sit down with Anne-Sophie Goulet, founder of Anso Atelier, a Montreal marketing firm that has grown to 7 figures in just 3 years. Anne-Sophie tells us how she got there and her tips for success in the industry.

In our first episode, we dive into finding your ideal career path. Expert, Carina Groombridge, talks coaching and all the tips you need for self discovery.

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