From the very beginning of a child's life, the natural instinct of parents is to "shape them". This mentality is passed along to educators, as kids enter pre-school, K-12 and eventually post-secondary. It's no wonder that, by the time they enter college and careers, their curiosity and wonder has been sucked out of them, as educational expert Sir Ken Robinson suggests.

Dina Ottoni Battistessa and Tristan Katz founded Akidamy Early Learning and Care, with the vision of a pre-school attempting to give kids a different start to their educational journey. A pre-school founded on the principles of the Reggio Emilia approach, where curiosity and creativity flourish. And where the design of everything, from classroom to curriculum, is largely based upon interaction with every child who walks through their door.

This empathy-based concept not only guided Dina and Tristan through their first 6 years of Akidemy, it also sparked an innovative solution to the unique challenges presented to them and their clients during the Covid 19 pandemic. And in the process, triggered a new product line - Akidemy Play.

Website:

www.akidemy.ca

Instagram:

akidemypreschool

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The concept of collaboration has taken on a different meaning in the era of social media, and specifically, social media influencers. In that world it's all about favor-swapping. But the original meaning of collaboration, the one that makes it a universally recognized skill for success in business and in life, it means exchanging a mutually beneficial value for two or more participants.

The Covid 19 pandemic has placed extra emphasis on the need and use of "the collab" as small businesses scrambled for ways that would just allow them to keep the lights on. In Calgary, like any big city where the entrepreneurial economic impact is immeasurable, and its spirit even bigger, small businesses began ratcheting up partnerships looking for new ways of getting their product to customers who had been told to stay indoors. Out of the ashes of this came a variety of one-on-one collaborations, but also the concept of collaboration gift boxes.

Calgary's Shauna Vowel, a crystal jewelry artisan herself, decided to be a part of the solution, rather than the problem. She put out the word that she would give of her time, talent and passion, to organize, curate, package, take orders, and deliver boxes featuring hand made gifts by a number of Calgary makers. It was an enormous effort, matched with very encouraging success, not only for recipients of the gift box (released just in time for Mother's Day), but also, of course, for the artists and designers, who had lost their distribution channel.

At the time of this broadcast, June 17, 2020, YYC Collab Box is selling its "Dude Box" days ahead of Father's Day. Details on how to get one for the dude in your life are below.

https://awakenthegems.ca/products/yyc-collab-dude-box

https://www.instagram.com/yyc_collab_box/

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Happy Fats is a health food brand with a twist. Actually, it's more of a squeeze. Macadamia nut butter combined with a growing list of other wholesome, delicious and natural flavors, packed into snack-sized pouches. Perfect for tossing into backpacks, lunch kits, brief cases, or sliding into your pocket. Health benefit and portability were just two of the requirements Bonnie and Aaron Vandersteen had when they came up with their idea. But the list didn't stop there.

In this episode, Bonnie talks about launching a health food brand in the middle of a global health crisis, the need for entrepreneurs to ask a lot questions, and to have a lot of faith in themselves and the world around them. But in addition to what she says, there's something uniquely inspiring about "how" she presents herself and her brand story. Childlike curiosity, endless gratitude, fearlessness toward failure, and genuine values all come through.

At the very least you'll want to try the Happy Fats product, but you may also find yourself feeling an extra nudge to take your own wild entrepreneurial idea one step further.

Website:

www.happyfatsnacks.com

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