Hi! I'm Stephanie

For over a decade I've helped diverse suppliers navigate the complexities of large supply chains to give them better opportunities to position themselves to win contracts. More recently, I’ve narrowed my focus to support women business owners. My career, however, started in the food industry and that's the setting for my debut novel, a yet to be titled WIP.

© Stephanie. All rights reserved.

Why Women?

I help women business owners :
1. Understand opportunities that exist in supply chains for their products and services.
2. How to best prepare and be visible to buyers.
3. Narrow down the right resources and contacts to achieve business goals.When women own and operate businesses, they are able to have more control over their own economic futures and create better economic opportunities for themselves and their families.When women are financially empowered, they are more likely to reinvest their profits back into their communities, creating a ripple effect of positive economic growth.Finally, when women are in leadership positions and in control of their own finances, they are able to have a greater say in the decisions that affect their lives.

Supplier Diversity Expert by Day

I’m occasionally asked to share my supplier diversity knowledge and experience at conferences, on industry panels or at company events. Some of my previous engagements include:

  • Oct 2022: The State of Canadian Supplier Diversity Report

  • Sep 2022: Increasing Procurement Opportunities: Certification as a Way to Grow Your Business, The Finance Cafe Podcast

  • Apr 2022: Supplier Diversity Certification Explained, WeBC

  • Mar 2022: Diversify Your Supply Chain, RISE Windsor Essex

  • Sep 2021: What is Supplier Diversity and the Role of Supply Councils, WEKH

  • May 2021: Re:Imagining your Boundaries and Exploring your Gateway into New Markets, PARO Centre for Women Entrepreneurs

  • Apr 2021: Supplier Diversity in Canada, StrikeUp

  • Mar 2021: The Power of Procurement, The Artemis Project

  • Dec 2020: Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Advancing Gender Equality, Global Compact Network Canada

  • Nov 2020: Les approvisionnements dans les grandes entreprises et institutions, Groupe 3737

  • Jul 2020: Virtual Accelerator, Women Going Global, Start up Canada

  • Jun 2020: Selecting Criteria For Supplier Diversity And Inclusion, ProcureCon Canada

  • June 2020: Enabling Resilience: A Spotlight on SMEs, Global Compact Network Canada

  • Jun 2020: Stratégies gagnantes à l’exportation en temps de crise, Cap vers la réussite , EDC, RFAQ

  • Apr 2020: Connecting Women with Supply Chains, Startup Canada’s Thrive Podcast

  • Mar 2020: Grow Your Sales and Stand Out Through Supplier Diversity, SheEO

  • Mar 2020: Advancing Women to Senior Leadership, Women in Business Leadership Forum, CASA Foundation for International Development

  • Feb 2020: Selling to Government & Corporations, Women’s Entrepreneurship Finance UNConference, iLab

  • Nov 2019: Matching Discourse with Dollars: Corporate Strategies to Support Diverse Entrepreneurs, Diversity Inclusion Now Conference, Diversity Institute

  • Jul 2019: Using Game Changing Tech to Support Supplier Diversity, Tealbook

  • Apr 2019: La diversité des fournisseurs: Comment préparer votre analyze de rentabilité, Réseau des Femmes d’affaires du Québec

  • Mar 2019: Supplier Diversity: Is it in Procurement's DNA?, ProcureCon Indirect East

  • Jan 2019: Supplier Diversity Workshop, BDC

  • Oct 2018: Selling to Multinationals, Startup Canada’s Thrive Podcast

  • Jan 2018: Supplier Diversity Workshop, BGIS

  • Dec 2017: Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) in Federal Procurement, House of Commons

  • Nov 2017: Social Procurement: Networking with Diverse Suppliers, City of Toronto

  • Sep 2017: Supplier Diversity Programs in Canadian Corporations, Freeman Signature

  • Aug 2017: Collaborating to Win in Supplier Diversity, SunLife Financial, WBE Canada and CGLCC

  • Apr 2017: Supplier Diversity: Opportunities to Tap into Supply Chains, Hire Immigrants and RBC

  • Apr 2017: The Future of Sustainable Procurement & Corporate Social Responsibility, ProcureCon Canada

On Writing Part-Time

The first thing I remember wishing for with all my might is a typewriter. I got it, see below. From an early age, I'd sit alone in my room, at my tiny desk and write stories. I continued writing through childhood, adolescence and while in university but it never occurred to me to become a writer. I did other things.Years later I spent the pandemic reading novels and revisiting my stories and on a random day, in January 2022, when my characters just felt like real people I hadn't seen in years, I decided to bring them together to see what would happen. Set in the last three month of 2002, in a middle of nowhere town, a crew of idiosyncratically flawed people come together to face the looming demolition of their place of employment. For Lili, it's a place she'd never meant to be in so she counts down the days until she locks the doors for good and plans the After Here, never to look back. A knock at her door in Las Vegas during CloudUniverse '22 makes her realize there are no places we were never meant to be in.It took me a year to write the first draft. I wrote it for me. I wrote it without sharing with anyone. Some days I thought it was amazing, other days I thought it was garbage and it was hard to keep going. Recently I started the editing phase and realized I can't do this alone. I need technical knowledge. I need advice. I need inspiration.In my day job I urge women entrepreneurs to build strong networks and never go at it alone but I didn't heed my own advice. The truth is, I didn't see myself as a writer and didn't think I belonged because I only write part-time, for fun and don't make my living from it. While I never accept that rationale from PT entrepreneurs, I accepted it for myself until I faced a tough choice: shelf the manuscript or get out there!Turns out the writing community is full of worker-by-day-writer-by-passion people and now I know I belong. I've also learned that the average writer has to be quite entrepreneurial to sell their books so I plan to use my business experience to contribute to the community.Stephanie,
PT writer, committed to being a good literary citizen, seeking vibrant communities.

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