Business Real Talk
Candid conversations for entrepreneurs building real businesses.
Candid conversations for entrepreneurs building real businesses.
Business Real Talk is a live event series created for entrepreneurs who want honest conversations about growth, strategy, and the realities of building a business — without hype, buzzwords, or sales pitches.
Each session brings founders and business leaders together to share what actually works, what didn’t, and what they wish they’d known sooner.
Upcoming Session:
Mission to Market — Turning Purpose into Profit.
A practical conversation on how to grow a purpose-driven business without losing what makes it matter.
Real Conversations. Real Solutions. Real Connections.
What to Expect
- Straight-talk conversations with founders who’ve been through it
- Practical insights and real-world lessons from lived experience
- Time to connect with fellow entrepreneurs and meet the panelists
Business Real Talk sessions are intentionally conversational — focused on lived experience, thoughtful discussion, and real takeaways.
Who It’s For
- Founders and co-founders actively building a business
- Entrepreneurs navigating growth, setbacks, or pivots
- Small business owners looking to scale with intention
- Creative and innovation-driven entrepreneurs
- Advanced entrepreneurship students already working on a venture
If you’re already in it — and figuring things out as you go — you’ll feel at home here.
“‘Business Real Talk: When Everything’s on the Line’ was a great event to learn about well successful entrepreneurs and their life stories/careers. Their losses and achievements were inspiring for people like me, who have experience, and needed to be reminded of that nothing’s really on the line, but your time. It’s time to jump out of the cliff and see the new journey that’s about to start!”
Past Business Real Talk sessions
Photo by Edmond Chung Photography
When Everything’s on the Line
June 6, 2025
Hosted by Desjardins Caisse des Technologies, this no-holds-barred session packed 80+ entrepreneurs and business owners into one room for an electric night of unfiltered stories and hard-earned lessons.
With Andy Nulman steering the conversation, panelists Nima Jalalvandi (Ready Plan Go), Stéphanie Jecrois (Technovation Montréal), Karim S. Leduc (Dulcedo Management), and Marlee Rabin pulled no punches—sharing the real deal on high-stakes decisions, failure, and what it really takes to stay standing when the pressure’s on.
Redefining Failure as Fuel for Success
February 6, 2025
We launched Business Real Talk at SAP’s stunning downtown space with a powerhouse panel of women business leaders who showed up ready to get real. The takeaway? Failure is what you make of it—how you define it, how you let it shape you, and how you use it to fuel your next move.
Led by moderator Nogol Madani (Glee Factor), panelists Lisa Barbusci (Fisika), Juliette Brun (Juliette et Chocolat), Kiana Gomes (Cocktail Bomb Shop), Anie Rouleau (The Unscented Company), and Kim Sullivan delivered an unapologetic, wisdom-packed conversation that cut through the noise and got to the heart of entrepreneurial grit.
