September 2024 Vol 6 Issue 9
Tell Your Story Newsletter (TYSN):
Teaching English as a Second Language
Let us help you tell your story!
Welcome Mid-September, 2024!
Enduring record-breaking heat in much of Saskatchewan last weekend (September 6th to 8th), many Saskatchewanians gleefully restored our summer clothes and sandals to the fronts of our closets!
Along with a life-long friend and her family, I observed one of those “dog days of summer” at the annual Broadway Avenue Street Fair! The street’s shops and many artisans’ booths sold beautiful items of textiles, wood and jewellery that were particularly wonderful to behold.
But with the drop in temperatures that have followed, most of us feel that summer is now over. The shortening of daylight hours is already appreciable. And yet, the start of a new program and school year has brought a spring to my step, even in these challenging economic and political times.
How are you living this new season, good reader?
One of the greatest joys of mid-September is that it marks the time for one of Saskatoon’s largest entrepreneurial gatherings, the annual Raj Manek Mentorship Program Banquet. This year–the program’s 28th–the business community returned to Prairieland Park, to hear an inspiring keynote conversation with Canadian entrepreneur, Tara Bosch, founder of “SmartSweets.”
Did you miss the banquet and want to catch up? Or is it new to you? Keep reading: this issue is for you!
In “Article One, I feature highlights from that inspiring interview with Tara Bosch, hosted by CTV journalist (and perennial emcee), Jeff Rogstad.
Then, in this month’s “Storytellers’ Corner,” I feature part three of a series on Latin terms to know and use! These “should” be used playfully in the classroom or boardroom, or else you may meet resistance (haha)!
And in “Shop News,” I acknowledge some of the wonderful industry of mentors, peers and clients in my network.
Local writer and woman leader, Linda McCann, recently blogged on “the promise of September”:
“It’s a time to reflect on the desires of our hearts and the longings of our souls, as we consider the months ahead . . . . September has always held a special promise, even in the most challenging times. It brings the anticipation of a harvest, the start of a new school year, reconnections with friends and fresh opportunities for learning. It’s also a time to walk in nature, savouring the changing colours, scents and sounds of this abundant season.”
Whether you’re criss-crossing the province, country or globe on business or personal ventures, or whether you’ve returned home after a summer (vacation) away, I wish each of you that awareness of September’s “promise” and “abundance.”
Whether savouring locally made pizzas and soups at Christie’s “Il Secondo”; a last mouthful of summer’s sweetness at Beppi’s Gelato; whether opening a new novel by a (perhaps local) favourite author . . . . or simply treading, with a beloved friend or pet, our leaf-strewn Meewasin Trail . . . may you live this new season with renewed energy, purpose and optimism, faithful readers.
As McCann reminds us, there will be both “challenges and gifts” in this new year, just dawning.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Shih
Principal
Storytelling Communications
www.elizabethshih.com
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IN THIS ISSUE:
→ARTICLE 1: “Fed up with sugar addiction? Meet the Canadian entrepreneur who dissolves it, in the 28th annual Raj Manek Mentorship keynote address”
→STORYTELLERS’ CORNER: Six more Latin terms that everyone “should” know (part three)
→SHOP NEWS
→ABOUT US
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Article One: “Fed up with sugar addiction? Meet the Canadian who dissolves it, in the 28th annual Raj Manek Mentorship keynote address”
The 28th Annual Raj Manek Memorial Banquet was held last Tuesday evening (September 10th) at Prairieland Park, featuring a keynote interview with Tara Bosch, the Vancouver-based Founder of “Smart Sweets.”
Influenced by an “unhealthy relationship with sugar” as a teenager and by kitchen-table wisdom from her grandmother, some 20 years ago, Bosch began to research the damaging and widespread health effects of sugar. She then founded the first confectionary company to address the need to vastly reduce sugar, creating a recipe for gummy bears (and others followed) that
were the world’s “first candy [to] kick sugar.”
And Bosch didn’t stop there. She has rapidly become a global leader in what she describes elsewhere as “pushing back on foods with excess sugar.”
Her vision is of consumers who can “live their best lives by giving them the choice to kick sugar.”
Bosch has also pioneered “Bold Beginnings,” an entrepreneurial accelerator that brings “six to eight women entrepreneurs from all corners of North America to Vancouver,” to compete for a $100K investment in their startup.
Through what she describes as an arduous journey, Bosch has found much success! She was named Ernst and Young (EY)’s Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2019), one of both “Inc” and Forbes magazine’s “30 Under 30,” and has received numerous other awards from the likes of “Entrepreneur magazine,” “Business Insider,” The Bank of Montreal (BMO), and
“SmartSweets” distributor, Whole Foods.
Only four years after launching “SmartSweets” from her basement, Bosch sold it for $360M, with herself as majority owner!
So, I highlight here some of Bosch’s testimony and journey to make “smarter candy” to “better her community and herself”:
• Bosch’s business started with her wish to end “the silent epidemic of sugar in our country’s candy aisles.” As a child, she said: “candy was my thing. It brought joy and love until my teenage years, when excess sugar made me feel bad about myself and my body image.”
•She was spurred on to change that “unhealthy relationship to sugar” when her “Oma” (her grandmother and childhood best friend) told Bosch how much she regretted having consumed “too much sugar” in her lifetime.
• At the same time, Bosch consciously chose a niche with the most “radical value”—weight watchers who needed low-sugar treats. She simultaneously worked to make”SmartSweets” high in fibre, to add to its nutritional value.
• Bosch laments that food manufacturers target consumers’ “bliss points” – the combination of sugar, salt and fat that addicts children through their tastebuds. Virtually every food product in the supermarket intentionally contains (unhealthy) sugar —and Bosch knows that change is an uphill battle.
• She says she “wanted to create a community around sugarless eating,” and she has succeeded.
• Bosch says she “leveraged scrappiness of what was available to [her],” reading food science journals, accessing knowledge online and by “cold contacting people on LinkedIn,” many of whom were willing to share 10 minutes of their time, when she was honest and clear about her motives.
•She didn’t hesitate to enlist colleagues in the same business accelerator she was in, tech start-up people, as her candy taste-testers.
• Bosch advocates for “being honest about yourself, knowing both your strengths and your weaknesses.” She advises us to use experts to support you in those weak areas, as she assembled “a team of people who were smarter than I was.” Similarly, she brought on a COO as a “people leader,” who had run Starbucks and Lululemon, and who fostered a woman-focused culture to sustain the business. That kept the challenges of sustaining
growth from “draining [Bosch’s] cup.”
• Bosch acknowledges that start-up life saw her oscillate “between a pit of despair one day,” to a high, like” serendipity,” the next.
• To try to level out those extremes and to stay motivated, Bosch used (and recommends to entrepreneurs) a spreadsheet to track each day’s successes, whether big or small (“micromoments”). These moments can create “mind fuel” by keeping you aware of even incremental progress. For instance, if someone on her contact roster simply opened an email from her, she’d record it as a “win.”
• “All challenges are opportunities in disguise,” Bosch says. Some days involve “climbing a high mountain, but something magical lies just around the corner.”
• Bosch says in her work now, she “normalizes self-doubt, imposter syndrome and insecurities that all entrepreneurs face,” especially women. Therefore, she maintains gender parity on her board and keeps the executive team at “SmartSweets” 85% female. A further 80% of the company’s employees are female. Bosch says that shared and conscious vulnerability can become a form of strength.
“Think BIG” and let that goal subvert your fears and doubts of how you’ll get there. She said that mastering your fears allows you to tap into limitless potential.
• Remember, though, that “money is not a ‘why’ deep enough to take you through all the tough days.”
• So, don’t keep family at bay: Bosch has since added a three-year old daughter to her family, as well as several dogs and cats, all who remind her of the importance of being compassionate, kind and of seeking “lightness,” or happiness, whatever the challenges of entrepreneurship bring.
• Following the example of her COO (Cindy), Bosch urges us to respect the lives and schedules of mentors, collaborators, colleagues and staff, by being and keeping on time when in meetings and at events.
• Bosch also urges entrepreneurs to leverage government programs (e.g. debt protection and fundraising) that we’re blessed to have available to us, in Canada. (“SmartSweets” manufacturing headquarters remains in Vancouver).
• Bosch sold “SmartSweets” in 2020 for $360M at the age of only 29 but continues as its founder.
• After Malcolm Gladwell’s book, The Tipping Point, Bosch says: “It only takes 1000people to start a movement.” This is what she led “SmartSweets” to create.
• Since then, she has launched a business incubator called “Bold Beginnings” in North America, which offers a $100K award to help women entrepreneurs learn “they are infinitely capable”: she urges women to apply at BoldBeginnings.com
• Bosch says that when crises arose (such as losing her manufacturer, 20+ years ago), she finally “gave up the problems to a larger force than [herself]” and remained “thankful to have the opportunities [she’d] had.”
• It’s hard not to wonder and imagine what future ventures lie ahead for this plucky, resilient and inspirational entrepreneur.
• Bosch’s creativity in devising methods to keep her mind and spirit strong through the most harrowing of entrepreneurial days is remarkable—and commendable! Even the names she’s given to her pet cats and dogs come from TV and movies, reflecting some of her irreverent spirit. (In the long-distance interview with Rogstad, Bosch’s cat Tarzan briefly stole the show.)
• So, if you’re a reader of business success stories, be sure to add Tara Bosch of “SmartSweets” to your list! Her own “lightness” illumined the evening of the 28th Raj Manek Memorial Banquet for hours (and over the social media that followed, too).
• As a leader, Bosch has said that she “is wildly passionate about empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs,” believing that “their big impact vision are needed more than ever before in the world.”
And now it’s your turn:
To join in the work and successes of the Raj Manek Foundation, please consider this your invitation! Visit www.manekmentorship.com for more details on monthly seminars and annual networking events.
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STORYTELLERS’ CORNER . . . .
STORYTELLERS’ CORNER: Six Latin terms that everyone “should” know
(part three)
The online editing website, Grammarcheck.net, recently published a list of 60 Latin terms that “everyone should know.” The latter claim may be a tall order, given that most writers and editors younger than 45 have not found Latin offered in Saskatchewan’s primary or secondary schools (although that changes at the university level).
But setting aside the perennial debate of whether Latin should still be taught to children, I suggest that numerous Latin terms are (or can become) recognizable, even to non-specialists.
And using such terms can create subtlety in our spoken and written word–and, maybe some fun, too?
This month, here are six more terms to recognize and enjoy:
(13) Curriculum vitae (C.V.) –“A formal resume.” (e.g. “Please submit your curriculum vitae for the HR Manager’s position.”)
(14) De facto—“In fact.” (e.g. “The neighbourhood is de facto segregated.”)
(15) De jure – “By law.” (e.g. “In some countries, women are granted de jure equality with men, but the day-to-day experience is much different.”)
(16) De novo – “From scratch.” (e.g. “The judge ordered a trial de novo after the first trial.”)
(17) E pluribus unum – “Out of many, one.” (e.g. “The US motto, E pluribus unum, reflects the country’s diverse makeup.”
(18) Ergo – “ Therefore.” (e.g. “He is a hard worker; ergo, he will succeed.”)
Do you have any favourite Latin terms or stories of people using them?
Please write in; I’d be delighted to hear from you.
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SHOP NEWS:
Following the introduction and “Article One” of this issue, you won’t be surprised that at the top of this month’s entrepreneurial news is my thanks to the organizers, mentors and proteges of the Raj Manek Mentorship Program (RMMP), for their dedication to personal and professional growth, across our province.
The Raj Manek Foundation and Mentorship program is based on a wonderful immigrant’s, and immigrant family’s, success story: the late Raj Manek Sr. settled his family in Saskatchewan, following globe-crossing ventures from his birthplace in Kenya, to the UK, later, Inuvik, the Northwest Territories, and finally, Saskatoon.
Special thanks go out again, to the Manek family, Kanchan, Raj Jr., Sona and Kinjal Manek for tirelessly preparing and launching another year’s remarkable networking banquet.
And the dedication of many mentors for another year ignited or rekindled connections, in a collegial, encouraging and generous environment.
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My professional, personal and long-term thank you goes (of course) to Monica Kreuger, Founder and Chief Visionary Officer, of the Praxis School of Entrepreneurship. As my long-time mentor and advisor (some 10 years!) through the RMMP, Monica has shared with me dozens of mentorly conversations and discussions, which have broadened my outlook and helped me to foster resilience.
The Praxis School of Entrepreneurship, where I taught business communications (2017-2020), and trained as a startSMART participant (2018-19), is undergoing invigorating change in its training opportunities for entrepreneurs, across all sectors, through a new, online network.
So December will mark the start of the final cohort of Praxis’ 30+ year, “startSMART” program, whose facilitation and content will be transformed in new dimensions and offerings. Stay tuned to learn more about this transformation!
So if you (or someone you know) has a business idea they have long pondered, wait no longer! Contact startSMART program administrator, Elaine Mantyka, at (306) 664-0500, so you can begin planning your business before the program and the year 2024 close!
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On the networking front, I’ve enjoyed talking with “Table 35,” a group of women entrepreneurs named after the table where we met at last spring’s gala of Women Entrepreneurs of SK (WESK). We took a summer break, but plan to reconvene for camaraderie and conversation shortly.
Many thanks to fellow entrepreneurs, Suzanne Anton, Keshia Gamola and Sandra Miller, for participating in the early summer. It was great to see Sandra at the Raj Manek Banquet last Tuesday night!
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Special thanks go to my French ESL student, Eliane, who lives south of Paris, for recently graduating from my language classes, after sharing nearly two years of spirited English language conversations, over italki.com.
Eliane and I have discussed the Arts, including opera, classical and popular music, literature, film and television, and shared life experiences working and travelling in our different corners of the world. I will miss our weekly discussions a good deal and wish her all the best.
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Thanks also go out to both my IT consultant, Jordon, and to my bookkeeper, Heather, for assisting me so fully in recovering many records, after an equipment failure in late August.
Both have been attentive to detail and highly skilled in showing me the needed changes, for which I am grateful.
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Thanks to my editing client, Greg Gilroy, retired Saskatoon Transit driver, for hiring me to edit his memoir–a legacy document that collects stories from Greg’s 32+ years as a bus driver, in an ever-changing (and challenging) environment.
I’m grateful to Greg for staying open to the “edits” I’ve made on a book whose publication will be his long-term “dream.”
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Thank you to my valued colleagues Ashleigh Mattern and Lenore Swystun, whom I’ll join in conversation this winter about “Communication in an Age of AI.” We’ll meet, along with co-host Christina Cherneskey, on local CFCR radio’s “Civically Speaking.”
We’ll discuss ways that AI is affecting our businesses (especially language learning) and I look forward to the discussion!
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And on the topic of AI and training, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also thank Montreal-based, English copywriter and coach, Nick Usborne, for his monthly Facebook events, where former students of his “Futureproof Copywriting” course (me included) discuss the nature and applications of AI.
Nick is generous and thoughtful and I appreciate his encouragement as we strive to be “Humans in the loop.” He recently said that “AI is not a Frankenstein,” and that the best way to avoid such an outcome is by curating and setting limits on what we do with it and how.
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And a final “thank you” goes to American sales and marketing coach, Jennifer Darling, who shared her “Storytelling for AI” workshop with me and other communicators, last week.
Darling’s model for turning personal experiences into scintillating marketing material is not totally new to me but is powerful and will transform some of my blogging and newsletter-ing work.
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There are always new entrepreneurs to promote and new people to thank for their interest and support. Please share your stories and acknowledgements with me, for future issues.
But for now, this is a wrap for mid-September!
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ABOUT US:
Between 2011 and December 2018, Elizabeth Shih Communications chronicled the stories of B2B marketing and communications on the Prairies and across the country.
Effective January 1, 2019, I rebranded as “Storytelling Communications.” I help new and economic immigrants to get better jobs or secure better contracts by improving their English skills. And I also help individuals and companies to tell their legacy stories.
Interested in learning more? Please contact me through my CASL-compliant
website (www.elizabethshih.com).
After I receive your message, I’ll be pleased to discuss projects with you!
Please visit my website for more information (www.storytellingcommunications.ca).