Next Up in Our 30 Faces of YES: Myriam Dimanche
Nearly two decades after first walking through YES’ doors, Myriam’s journey reflects the many ways individualized support, confidence-building, and community can shape a career. When she first arrived at YES in 2007, she was navigating the Montreal job market with imperfect French while facing the self-doubt and cultural barriers that so many newcomers experience. What she found at YES was encouragement — from resume guidance and mock interviews to a welcoming environment that helped her find her footing.
Over the years, Myriam turned to YES at multiple turning points: as a job seeker, a new entrepreneur launching Pixellent Studio, and later as a participant in the ELLEvate Women Entrepreneurs Pre-Accelerator program after launching her second business venture, The Fatshionista. Each experience offered something different — business fundamentals, mentorship, networking opportunities, and a community of women who inspired her to dream bigger. These touchpoints helped her transform early ideas into business ventures, secure grants, and build the resilience that carried her through nearly 20 years of entrepreneurship.
Today, after closing her first business and continuing to explore her second, Myriam works in the federal public service while preparing for her next chapter — and once again turning to YES for tools to guide that transition. Her story is a testament to lifelong learning, reinvention, and the impact of continuous support. It shows what’s possible when determination meets the right resources at the right moments.
Interview with Myriam
What brought you to YES, and what were you hoping to achieve at that time?
I had been struggling for quite a while to navigate the Montreal job market with my imperfect French, but from the moment I walked into their offices (located on René-Lévesque Boulevard West at the time), I was provided with job counseling and employment services that helped me rebuild my confidence, from a personalized review of my CV to mock interviews that helped me prepare for the real thing.
Can you tell me about some of the challenges or goals you faced when you first connected with YES? Was there a particular moment or obstacle that felt especially significant?
I don’t remember much from those early years of my involvement with YES… I know I struggled a lot with self-confidence when it came to expressing myself in French — honestly, I’ve been back in Montreal for 24 years now and have become fluent in French, but I still feel the same! 😅Navigating Quebecois culture and language-based prejudice I fear will always remain a challenge…
How did YES support you in overcoming those challenges or moving forward in your career, business, or artistic journey?
The ELLEvate Women Entrepreneurs Pre-Accelerator program was absolutely crucial in helping me turn my business idea from something vague and ephemeral into a valid concept with a concrete business plan. Although I have not further advanced this venture to date, I consider myself more prepared should future opportunities arise.
The kind of specialized and focused coaching sessions, seminars, and networking sessions I was exposed to as a result of my participation have forever marked my heart and I am eternally grateful for the experiences and having had the chance to meet so many phenomenal women in business. It broke my heart when I learned that the program closed. I hope one day that YES obtains the funding to reopen it in the near future.
Were there any tools, workshops, or insights from YES that made a lasting difference?
When I was looking to start my first business, I turned to YES and they did not disappoint. I enrolled in their “Starting Your Own Business Seminar Series,” which I completed in December 2007 — I still have the original certificate of completion from that series, by the way!
It was YES Montreal that introduced me to SAJE (Service d’Aide aux Jeunes Entreprises) and their STA program (Soutien aux travailleurs autonomes) for new entrepreneurs where I was able to work on writing a business plan and start my business while receiving a subsidy from the government of Quebec that sustained me financially as I worked to make the business viable. And it was because of that introduction that I later won the $8,000 Jeunes Entreprises grant from the City of Montreal. As I think back to the wins and successes I achieved as an entrepreneur, I can trace many of them back to connections I made via YES.
Where are you now in your journey, and what achievements or milestones are you most proud of?
I closed my first business venture, Pixellent Studio, in December 2024, after operating it as a solopreneur for nearly 20 years. I started the company as a web development firm in 2006 and pivoted some years later to small business consulting. For the first 5 years of its operation, Pixellent Studio was my sole source of income and I worked on the business full time. I had even hired a bookkeeper as an employee in my first year.
In those early days, long before Instagram and TikTok ever existed, I struggled to convince people of what I saw for the future — that every business should have a good website. Imagine that! But what a grand adventure running that business was. Of course, as websites became ubiquitous and DIY tools gained popularity, the future I had envisioned became reality. I My second business venture, The Fatshionista, has still not made it past its early stages of ideation and market research. I am currently a public service officer working for a federal government agency.
I’m extremely proud to have won the $8,000 Jeunes Entreprises grant from the City of Montreal in 2008 for Pixellent Studio, and the Cohort Prize of $1,000 from the 2021 ELLEvate Women Entrepreneurs Pre-Accelerator program for The Fatshionista.
Looking back, is there a particular moment or success that stands out as a turning point?
Not really. My second business venture has essentially stalled and I suppose I could say the same for where I stand in my professional career as well. So I’m actually going to avail myself of YES services once again! 😁 I signed up for 2 online workshops in August 2025 and I am eager to utilize the information to bolster my job search and leverage technologies to improve my odds of success.
At what stage were you in your career, business, or artistic journey when you connected with YES?
I first connected with YES as a university drop-out looking for work, some time around 2004/2005. About a year later, I sought out YES services as a budding entrepreneur looking to launch her first business venture, Pixellent Studio. And then in 2021 I reached out again by applying to join the 2021 cohort of the LLEvate Women Entrepreneurs Pre-Accelerator program to advance my second business venture, The Fatshionista.
Which YES services, workshops, or coaching did you participate in?
I’ve taken innumerable workshops on job hunting and entrepreneurship throughout the years between 2005 and 2008. In December 2007, I completed the “Starting Your Own Business Seminar Series.” I attended the Entrepreneurship Speaker Series on 2019-01-24. From June to September 2021, I participated in the 2nd cohort of the ELLEvate Women Entrepreneurs Pre-Accelerator program where I benefited from amazing seminars and business coaching sessions, and took home the Cohort Prize of $1,000.
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