He turned his daily walk into a 6-figure job
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Globe and Mail
3 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
How these entrepreneurs turned their side hustle into their main gig
When Shelby Weaver started customizing sneakers as a hobby in 2018, she says she didn't consider herself to be particularly artistic. Ms. Weaver sought reprieve from her busy role as a director for the Toronto Raptors when inspiration to experiment with altering sneakers first struck. A year later, Ms. Weaver was hatching a plan to launch a studio where others could come together to paint and personalize their favourite pair of kicks. Today, Ms. Weaver and her co-founder Abby Albino, who is head of brand and business strategy at Canada Basketball, run Mack House, a studio near Toronto's Queen Street West strip where sneaker heads can put their personal spin on footwear. Next door is Makeway, launched a year later, where the pair sell sneakers and streetwear. 'I'm an action person,' says Ms. Weaver. 'If I have an idea that I think is good, I'm doing it right away.' Like many entrepreneurs, Ms. Weaver and Ms. Albino started a new venture while balancing full-time jobs, and in Ms. Albino's case, parenthood. They are two out of 7.4 million Canadian adults who report having a side-hustle on top of other work commitments. What sets some of these entrepreneurs apart from the rest is their ability to scale their side gigs into full-fledged businesses. A key strategy for scale, according to Rawcology founder Tara Tomulka, is a willingness to experiment. 'I'm a recovering perfectionist,' confesses Ms. Tomulka, who began building her raw food business 10 years ago while working in corporate communications. 'It can hinder you from getting started if you think it needs to be perfect first. Get out there. Start experimenting, adjust and get feedback. You can change things along the way.' Ms. Tomulka did exactly that while researching the ideal Rawcology product to place in supermarkets. She experimented with several types of plant-based foods, including a line of vegan dips, before landing on a recipe that enabled coconut chips to masquerade as Doritos. 'On a whim, I tried making smoky cheese coconut chips. I took the recipe to [the culinary department] at George Brown [College], and we looked at how we could launch a product like that with a shelf life. While testing recipes there, I realized I wanted to have an impact by creating snack foods that are better for you.' Ms. Tomulka has since left corporate communications entirely and works full time on expanding Rawcology's footprint with products like grain-free granola and other low allergen offerings. Both she and the women behind Mack House and Makeway credit their trajectory, in some part, to the support of good mentors and business partners. 'I had a very positive relationship with my boss,' Ms. Tomulka says when reflecting on the period where she transitioned from full-time work in communications to studying nutrition. 'I didn't leave my full-time role right away. We made an arrangement for me to stay on part-time while going back to school.' Ms. Weaver says her parents are both entrepreneurs, which made taking the leap herself less daunting. She also notes that, perhaps counterintuitively, juggling multiple jobs and projects has helped relieve some of the early stress of entrepreneurship. 'Doing this while we've had full-time jobs has allowed us to take the pressure off the business financially,' says Ms. Weaver, who notes the recent lull in consumer spending is a difficult reality the Makeway team is navigating. 'When you're fighting to pay your bills you make very different business decisions than when you're investing in the business. I'm not saying it is viable for everyone, but having the businesses live on their own while also building our careers in basketball has been empowering.' Like the founders of Rawcology and Makeway, Kimberly Knight and Shanelle McKenzie were looking to improve their wellbeing when they hatched their plan for what would eventually be Canada's first wellness space for women of colour, The Villij. The co-founders met while working at Via Rail in 2017 and started working on The Villij while holding down full-time jobs. In 2023 and 2024 respectively, they left their roles to focus on growing The Villij full time. What started as a series of sold-out, pop-up yoga classes morphed into a bricks-and-mortar space for both fitness and networking. 'We knew we were ready to open the studio because we were putting out events and we were sold out each time,' recalls Ms. McKenzie while reflecting on what prompted them to take the leap into launching their studio. 'Sixty per cent of women who came to our pop-up events said they would have never tried yoga before due to lack of representation,' says Ms. Knight. 'We know we are meeting an underserved community, and it's not necessarily that the demand wasn't there, it's just that we're one of the first to step up to the plate and successfully meet it.' Another common thread between these entrepreneurs is a powerful ability to cultivate community. Ms. Tomulka says one of her proudest moments was seeing different generations of consumers fall in love with her food. For Ms. Weaver, there's pride in building a business and community hub that engages and employs locals. 'We are obsessed with our community, our business, and our team,' says Ms. McKenzie. 'There's not a day that I don't think about something we can do for The Villij.'
Globe and Mail
13 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Simons opens first Toronto store at Yorkdale mall
Wandering through Simons's newest store a day before it opened on Thursday, Bernard Leblanc had a quiet confidence despite the busyness surrounding him. Across almost every inch of the flagship store at Yorkdale mall in Toronto, staff were scurrying to unwrap and steam the last of the location's merchandise, vacuum carpets and dress mannequins. The seemingly menial tasks belied the enormity of what they were all preparing for: Simons's entry into the venerable Toronto market. That feat has been a long time coming. La Maison Simons is 185 years old but has taken such a methodical expansion outside its home province of Quebec that it only counted 17 stores until now. While it's long wanted to head to Toronto, it somehow detoured through Halifax, Vancouver and even the city's outskirts in nearby Mississauga before forging its way into the heart of Ontario on Thursday. Leblanc, the CEO of Simons, sees the entry as both a 'new chapter' for the company and proof that 'slow and steady wins the race.' 'Ultimately, we have owners that don't think in quarters. We think in generations,' he said of the Simons family. They founded the business in Quebec City in 1840 as a dry goods retailer and charted its evolution into a department store beloved by Canadian fashionistas. Leblanc is the first non-family member to hold the company's top job and so there's a lot riding on the Toronto expansion. The retailer will spend a combined $75 million on the Yorkdale store and another to follow at the Eaton Centre this fall. Leblanc expects them to increase the company's annual sales by 15 per cent to $650 million. In some respects, his milestone is coming at a perfect time. The last eight months saw the fall of Simons' biggest competitor – 355-year-old department store Hudson's Bay – and a rise in consumer support for Canadian goods amid the tariff war. Simons' house brands, including Twik, Icône, Contemporaine and Le 31, make up 70 per cent of its stores' merchandise on average. While Leblanc is thrilled to see the patriotism having an effect on customers, he's not relishing the collapse of his rival, which filed for creditor protection under the weight of mounting debt in March. 'I'm saddened by the fact that such a historical Canadian icon has left the market,' he said of Hudson's Bay. 'As a retailer, we like to have a very buoyant and dynamic retail industry, so having somebody exit is always a little bit of a shock to the industry.' It was also a reminder to Simons that the company has to keep reinventing itself because 'history and heritage is not a guarantee of success,' he said. Simons has not publicly emerged as a bidder for any of the Bay leases or intellectual property. Nor has it 'aggressively pursued specific brands that we didn't have because of exits from different people in the industry,' Leblanc said. 'We do scout the market globally for new upcoming brands and discover brands that people perhaps don't know about,' he said. 'That's more our focus, not so much coming in to be opportunistic, to pick up something that somebody left behind.' But it's something that somebody left behind that helped make his company's Toronto ambitions a reality. Simons was only able to move into Yorkdale and Eaton Centre because U.S. department store Nordstrom decamped from Canada in 2023, saying it had been too hard to make a profit in the market. The massive properties Nordstrom held in some of Toronto's top shopping destinations presented the opportunity Simons had long been looking for. 'We had been in discussions with Yorkdale for some time,' Leblanc said. 'We were here many years ago trying to see what potentially we could put together.' At 118,000 square feet, the new, two-storey Yorkdale location will be the largest space in Simons's Ontario portfolio. It carries many of the same brands shoppers have come to expect from other markets — Herschel, JW Anderson and Lacoste. Unique to this location is a sprawling, geometric ceiling mural called 'Ciel' from French artist Nelio that gives the store a fresh, airy feel. A 'walk of frames' composed of 40 pieces from 24 artists brings another reason to linger in many of the store's nooks. Leblanc is betting the merchandise and store vibe will keep customers coming back and teach his company valuable lessons it can use as it continues to plot future growth. He named both Toronto and Vancouver as markets that may be able to support even more Simons stores but said for now he's focused on 'taking it all in stride.' 'I'm really excited about making these two stores a success, starting with Yorkdale,' he said. 'And then we'll see where things take us.'
Globe and Mail
13 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
This hat on my head had a mind of its own
First Person is a daily personal piece submitted by readers. Have a story to tell? See our guidelines at I am not a hat person. They just don't sit well on my head. I either look like I'm trying too hard to look trendy, or like I have no idea of how to look trendy. For some, hats complete an outfit. They are seen as a fashion accessory. I see hats as a required safety and sun-blocking necessity. I need a baseball cap for sports, sure, and a bike helmet is mandatory, but other than that I go full-on commando. Which brings me to the first and only time I've ever bought a fashionable hat. My husband had recently been diagnosed with cancer and I was on full-time duty as a loving caregiver. I had spent many months putting one foot in front of the other, trying to manage an unmanageable situation. At the height of summer, my grateful husband insisted on me taking a week off by myself to recharge. He even enlisted the help of his out-of-town sister to facilitate my temporary absence. I had little choice but to succumb to their kind-hearted pressure. I still remember driving to the ferry in tears, feeling like I was abandoning not only my responsibilities, but the love of my life. Why buy golf balls when there are so many waiting to be found? As I wandered aimlessly through the throngs of tourists at the ferry terminal, something caught my eye. An unassuming little head covering drowning in a sea of flamboyant fedoras. On a whim, I picked it up and put it on my head. It worked. It was as if my head had met its soulmate. There I was, hat in hand, on my way. I was yet to learn that this wasn't just some ordinary hat. It had a willful side to it; a spiritedness that I had not expected, nor for that matter, requested. This hat was in no way married to my head. In other words, it had a mind of its own. A week passed and I was on my way home. The requisite ferry lineup inched slowly forward and I heard an incessant honking behind me. Feeling slightly irritated – and for some unknown reason guilty – I got out of my car and demanded to know what I had been doing wrong. The lovely woman behind the wheel smiled sweetly and produced my hat. 'I think this may have fallen out of your car window a few miles back,' she said. Astonished at her kindness, I thanked her profusely and we both continued on our respective journeys home. Fast-forward to postcancer and life was getting back to a new normal. My husband (and some very good friends) convinced me that I needed to join them in a 100-kilometre bike ride called the Gran Fondo. Most people need to train for this challenging event, and I am no exception. Off the four of us went to a local island, known for its steep hills and great craft beers. Feeling good about my biking ability and an enjoyable weekend away, I quickly realized I had forgotten my precious hat at our recent lodgings. After many phone calls and contributing significantly to the revenue of Canada Post, I finally got my hat back. Now, I told myself, I was never going to let it out of my sight! Until, that is, we were packing to attend my son's upcoming wedding in France. He had moved to Paris five years earlier for a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity, fell in love with an adorable young French woman and decided to stay. The perfect rental car for Italy? No such unicorn, amore Where was my hat?! I looked everywhere I thought a hat would be: closet shelves, drawers, even old suitcases harbouring the nostalgia of past trips to the City of Light. While I did find an old pair of sunglasses, some expired reading glasses and a set of car keys, my hat was nowhere to be found. Utterly defeated, I packed my bags and off we went to Paris. A wedding requires a great deal of planning and my son's was no exception. One afternoon as we were deliberating over seating arrangements, my future daughter-in-law, rummaging through a box of unclaimed items, came waltzing into the living room … holding my hat! 'Does this belong to you?' she asked nonchalantly. I couldn't believe my eyes. All this time my favourite hat had been leading the high life, masquerading as a chapeau in France! I did note a small red wine stain on its brim, but who could blame it? 'Perhaps your hat is trying to lose you,' my son commented wryly. Giving that a moment's consideration, I grabbed my treasured possession, popped it on my head and walked back to our hotel – head and hat held high. Having travelled to France and back with a few other stops along the way, my hat is now pushing five years old. No doubt I'll need a new one at some point but some things are worth hanging on to, if for no other reason than the cherished memories they hold. To take excessive liberties with the rhymes of Harry S. Miller, my hat came back, but not the very next day. My hat came back. I thought it was a goner. Hats, heads and husbands. I hope to never lose any of them. Loren Plottel lives in Vancouver.
