Barb Stegemann, on empowerment and building her social enterprise

“I thought, ‘Wait a second. Women own the voting power. We own the buying power. Why aren't we harnessing that to reverse this ridiculous cycle of war and poverty?’," says Barb Stegemann, founder of The 7 Virtues, a company that sources organic, fair trade essential oils from nations rebuilding after war or strife. “We were a clean and social enterprise before there was a word for it, really. I felt if people are going to help me help these farmers, I'm not going to put harmful chemicals in their perfumes.”

Stegemann joins host Manjit Minhas and discusses her compelling story of overcoming adversity through the power of stoic wisdom. She has been named one of Canada's 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada. She won the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Emerging Category Award. She's ranked in Profit Magazine's Top 30 in Cool, Fabulous Canadian Entrepreneurs, and she's the author of the bestselling book The 7 Virtues of a Philosopher Queen, as well as a subject of the feature-length documentary Perfume War.

Topics they cover include:

• 0:00: Barbs’s Story: “I didn't fit the cookie cutter as a woman.”
• 7:50: Rising above obstacles: “Realize it's never over. It's never over and also, never rest on your laurels.”
• 20:35: The 7 Virtues book: “If we're going to walk in those arenas as women, we do need to understand the language and then shape the language.”
• 28:55: Staying true to your beliefs: “Don't take criticism from people you would never go to advice for.”
• 37:25: Social entrepreneurship + well-being: “Don’t stay in motion; move to action.”

Presented by IG Wealth Management

Learn more at ig.ca/women

The views, information and opinions expressed are those of the featured guests, and not necessarily those of IG Wealth Management