Earlier this month, Pier Five proudly hosted its first ‘Community Court Day’ event in Toronto in partnership with PUMA. The event was designed to give entrepreneurs and creatives a new way to connect outside of the office in a space that was conducive to conversation and relationship building. As big proponents of 'breaking up the work week', Pier Five brought out 25 of Toronto's cultural change-makers, including business owners, artists, content creators and brand leads to spend a day on the court, a place that fostered so many relationships for us growing up. The day got started with guests arriving to a care package with some of PUMA's newest basketball gear; of course we had to hook them up in the best. From the beginning, strangers instantly started becoming friends and learning about each other. There's something about trying on new sneakers with others that get spirits high. After some introductions, basketball coach/trainer and founder of Core Basketball, Ali Nizam, started the day with warmups and partner drills designed to get people out of their comfort zone. Regardless of experience, every single person was sweating by the end of it. Spirits were definitely high, and safe to say we were all on an equal playing field after that. The warm ups were followed up refreshments from our friends at Neutria and Barbet who kept us hydrated throughout the day and a good 'ol fashioned 'name game' - of course we had to bring some summer camp memories back - to help everyone learn a bit more about who was in the room. After that, guests were put into teams to put their skills to the test. Every single person was playing hard and throwing it down! Lastly, we wrapped the day with a roundtable-style discussion focused on getting out of your comfort zone, something that is key for entrepreneurs and that every guest of the day demonstrated so well that day. The #1 goal of the day was give creatives and entrepreneurs a unique space to get to know each other and we couldn't be more proud of how much that was accomplished. In an age of social media connections and a non-stop grind to the top, finding time to meet likeminded individuals in-person, even those in our own backyard, can be very difficult but when you find a way to do it, break down all of the walls, and just let people jam, the results are incredible. A major thank you to every single person who came out with an open mind and willingness to learn. We can't wait to see how these conversations turn into incredible things outside of the gym doors. As well, thank you to Neutria and Barbet for the incredible drinks and of course, thank you so much to PUMA for supporting our vision of creating unique spaces for inspiring people to connect and grow. We can't wait until the next one!

"You get out what you put in" is something we all need to remind ourselves of more often. Nishal Kumar, founder of the wellness supplements brand, No Days Wasted, that helps anyone maximize life's moments after a night out, has made a living off of this mantra and his story is an incredible example to emulate. From becoming the sponsor for some of the biggest podcasts in North America, to locking in over 1200  retailer partners, Nish knows a thing or two about making your own opportunities and we got to speak to him to gain some fresh insights that are very applicable for any new founder. Check out the conversation below! Hey Nish! Thanks for taking the time to chat. One of the first things we want to know is how the partnership with Barstool, which was huge for the brand in the early days, got off the ground. Oh ya, that was great! Over 5 years ago, we connected with Paul Bissonnette 'Biz Nasty' who was spending a summer in Vancouver after he retired from the NHL and was working with a couple buddies of mine. There was one night, we're all out, and my buddies told me Biz was going to be there and to come out. I went and I had a couple packets on me and I gave them to him, and that was my first touch point. A couple days later, I saw him at the gym and I gave him a full box of product. He ended up going to an event the next day and calls me, and he tells me he tried the product, had about ten beers and woke up the next day like nothing happened. He mentioned he was joining this podcast called Spittin’ Chiclets and introduced me to Barstool Sports. We started working with them and Spittin’ Chiclets was a home run out of the gate. I asked Barstool if they had any female demo shows and they mentioned Call Her Daddy which was just launching at that time. They were like "it's pretty crazy. It's pretty out there, but it might just work." so we tested with them and saw instant return, like 7-10x right out of the gate. We were the first brand to sponsor Call Her Daddy, which ended up blowing up and becoming the biggest female podcast in North America. The big learning was really, you need to make that investment and take a chance on things early on when and if something works, double down on it. It seems like now there are so many brands doing this? What do you think of the competition? Yes the space got very crowded but in general but between those days and now, my view on competition is very different. Early on, I was actually very averse to competition and I was concerned about what all of our competitors were doing. I would be offended if they did anything too close to us. These days, things have shifted. I really welcome the competition from players that have staying power and are creating a meaningful product and brand. The reason being is because ultimately, this competition drives awareness to a category that's emerging. If we're the only player on shelf, who's going to know about the category? Only the people that know about us. But, if you think about the value that competition provides, it's that they're providing extra eyeballs onto us for free and we are validating a new category together by creating great products with high efficacy, safety and value for consumers. That's a very good attitude to have and regardless of the competition now, it's incredible to hear about how you created that opportunity for yourself. If you're proactive, you're assertive, you are charismatic and personable, good things will happen. That's why I spent quite a bit of time in New York, and continue to do so. It's the epicenter of chaos, and there are a lot of people doing great things out there. My focus is always to meet cool people doing great things. At the very least, I could just make a friend, or on the other end, we could do something meaningful together from a business point of view. If you're not there, if you don't show up, if you're not putting yourself out there, it won't happen. As an emerging brand, use what you have. You may not have tons of capital behind you, but you have your energy that you put out to the world, and the best way to showcase that is by actually going out there and doing it. Would you say that's your big tip for brands, especially ones in the early stage of their business? I have a few tips but the biggest thing is to remember that how you do anything is how you do everything. For me, whether that's going to the gym every day and staying focused or playing ball and putting my best foot forward, I just want to be consistent, I want to care about what I do, and I want to solve problems. That's the same way I treat my business and that's not just work, that's life. Your success and your achievements are going to come from your efforts. So top three things; give a damn about what you do, be consistent and just do it well. We couldn't agree more. Before we finish off, any other advice for new founders? You need to go where you're wanted. For example, maybe you have a dream retailer or dream partner that you want to work with but at the end of the day, make sure it's not a delusion. It's like when you're growing up and there's that girl you see that you're into but turns out they're the most toxic person in the world. You don't want that. You want to go where you're wanted. That's been a big part of our retail strategy. We always want to hear a no from a retailer rather than a maybe, because that will allow us to move on to the yeses and find the places where we're wanted. Make sure to check out No Days Wasted and keep it locked to Pier Five for more founder conversations just like this!

Last week, Pier Five and PUMA hosted a remarkable event, 'Mental Health Strength Day,' that occurred with tremendous success. The gathering was a vibrant mix of creatives, entrepreneurs, and small business owners, all united by a shared commitment to wellness and mental health. The event, held at Fit Factory gym in downtown Toronto, saw a packed turnout of 25 inspiring individuals. Each participant brought their energy and enthusiasm, giving 110% in the workout and engaging with open minds and positive attitudes. The day was designed to provide a break from busy work weeks and foster connections within the community. The schedule kicked off with a meet & greet and product try-on session, allowing participants to gear up with the latest offerings from PUMA. This was followed by a group workout class that catered to athletes of all skill levels. The workout was an invigorating start to the day, setting the tone for the subsequent activities. After the workout, attendees participated in networking and group discussions centered around mental health challenges and triumphs. These discussions were a highlight of the day, offering a platform for honest conversations about the unique pressures faced by entrepreneurs and creatives. Participants shared their personal stories, wins, and challenges, creating a supportive and empathetic environment. The event left everyone with a sense of accomplishment and community. PUMA's generous provision of gear added a special touch, making each participant feel valued and equipped for their fitness journey. Overall, the 'Mental Health Strength Day' was a testament to the power of collaboration and the importance of mental health in the entrepreneurial and creative communities. Pier Five and PUMA successfully created a space where individuals could connect, learn, and grow together, making the event a standout success. Special thank you to Guru Energy & Barbet for the refreshments throughout the day! If you would like to join a future Pier Five event, be sure to follow us on Instagram or email us at community@pier-five.com!

"You're never going to please everyone" is a phrase that set Drew Stevens, founder of the skincare brand Margin, free. In the era of amplified social judgment, and hundreds of new competitors popping up every week, it is more important now than ever to understand what you're in it for, and if that reason is guided by passion, like it is for Drew, then the only way forward is up. Backed by the creative minds of Benjamin Edgar, Chris Black, Ben Sehl (KOTN) and Sam Jayne, Drew has assembled the creative avengers to release what is currently one of the most exciting science-first, aesthetically beautiful skincare brands on the market. We spoke to Drew about his learnings as an entrepreneur, his tips for assembling a great team and how he deals with the competition; good and bad. Scroll down to read! Hey Drew, for those who aren't too familiar with you and Margin, can you tell us how it came together? Hey guys! My name is Drew Stevens and I'm the founder of Margin. I've always been really into skincare, and prior to starting Margin had the chance to spend a lot of time with with the founders of bootstrapped and venture backed businesses both inside and outside the beauty industry through my work in private equity. I was lucky enough to get to know some of the best skin scientists in the world, and in getting to know them had the chance to share (and confirm) a set of beauty industry observations that I thought left a gap serving me effectively and honouring my interest in skin.. Ultimately, Margin was launched as a way for my to offer myself and my peers a skin solution that incorporated  best-in-class-ingredients, logic-driven formulations, and product design that I could be confident using and displaying in my home. The whole process started in 2020 and from there, we’ve put together a great team and had a lot of fun working on what is now Margin (which we launched in 2022). With all of the R&D and trials to get the product to be what you envisioned it to be, how do you know when it's finally right? It's really hard to figure out when it's right. I think a lot of it has to come down to me being really proud of the product. If I can stand behind it, and I really love it, and we put it out in the world and it bricks, I'm fine with that because this was me and the team's decision. I don't think I would sleep well at night if we conceded based on a product to try and make everyone happy and didn't put out what we loved the most. Realistically, you're not going to make everyone happy. If you go to a major beauty website and look at their top trending products, what you'll find is that for virtually every product in the world that's ever been released, reviews are normally distributed on both ends. You'll have 20% of people that say that they are absolutely obsessed, you'll have a bunch of people in the middle saying it's pretty good and then you'll have 20% to 30% of the audience saying "I wouldn't put this on my worst enemy", and yet it's a best selling product. At the end of the day, there is no such thing as universally loved anything, so I just try and put out what we really like and if it works, great. You have some pretty established names on your board/co-founder table. What was your process to getting in touch with them and getting them on board? From a cold calling perspective, you'd be surprised at how easy it is to get in touch with people. Social media has totally changed that over the years. If you have a tweet that bangs and somebody replies to it and they're an interesting person, boom, be in their DMs immediately. Same with Instagram and then if you're doing something interesting, offer somebody a little bit of value and something tangible they can act on. Meeting Chris the first time, I had never interacted with him, not on a social platform, nothing before. I knew who he was and I thought he'd be an interesting partner in a venture like this. It was literally me just sending him an email and saying, "This is what I do now. This is what's interesting about what I do now. This is an insight that I think I have that I think would be compelling and I'd love to know your take on it because I think of you as x, y, and z". The biggest thing though is just come to them with a good idea. I came to him with "Here's my insight about skincare and here's what I think we can do about it. Tell me I'm crazy". It wasn't just like, "hey, bro, skincare is really hot right now. Want to do something?" because that's not really actionable and that's not like a nutritious little bite for them or a hook in the water that they may find interesting. You've mastered skincare and the art of networking. What is on your list of things to master in 2024? I'm really trying to master my energy output in the most efficient way. My default is to try and move 30 footballs an inch up the field every day and then at the end of the week, I look back and the 30 footballs have only moved a few inches and that's not really that noticeable of an improvement. I think the right way to work is actually for me to run one football ten yards down the field for like a half day, run another one five yards down the field for a part of the day, and, be very focused on trying to really make progress on a few tasks in a given time period versus trying to do so many tasks at once. That's very difficult, as I'm sure many people reading can relate to this when you're running your own thing or have a side project that you're working on too. It becomes easy to feel busy and tired and feel like you spent energy, but not really have a lot to show for it. So this is what I'm trying to focus on and master in 2024. The beauty industry, like many others, has a ton of players that seem to care more about making a quick buck than an impactful product. What do you think about those types of brands? This is very true. The reason I'm doing this is because I care about products so much and I want the product to be the best it can be. I have a visceral reaction to the idea that someone would try and enter the market with a product that's trendy but potentially ineffective or harmful, but I also know that the answer isn't just for me to go around and say "hey,, that's not OK." There's a game being played, right? We're on this giant field and the way for me to make a point is to just eat their lunch, right? The way to do it is to play the game better than them. If in five years or ten years or twenty years, we've played the game better, then we will be rewarded for that and if we didn't play the game well or the game changed on us and people actually didn't care what they put on their skin then, you know what, I wasn't playing the right game and I lost. However, I can lose feeling good, right? This is my passion, but at the end of the day, I try to remember that there's an element of sports or gamesmanship to this and any other business as an entrepreneur, and just focus on what I can do to play the game better. I think that's a healthier attitude and so when I hear about competitors like that, it's like, okay, great, you're playing the game well right now. Let me see if I can't outscore you. Make sure to check out Margin and keep it locked to Pier Five for more founder interviews just like this!

Creating Your Identity With Jun Arnaiz of Neutria It's not uncommon to find creatives venturing out into their own startups but it is a bit more unique to see them dive into the realm of health and natural supplements, a space that is highly competitive with mass-pharma and can take years of R&D and approval. So, what does it take to dive into this world? We sat down with Jun Arnaiz, a longtime friend and man of many talents, to learn a little bit about it. Jun got his start in the Toronto-nightlife scene, rising up as one of the city's best club videographers by night, while experimenting, formulating and testing supplements by day. As he got deeper into the nightlife world, his sights set onto DJ'ing, which has now grown his name even further as a certified nightlife double threat; but he didn't forget about the pharma. In 2023, Jun and his business partner Andrew Daye launched Neutria, an all-natural supplement brand rooted in ancient herbs and remedies to help those eager to excel do so in a clean and sustainable way. Jun has a lot to say about breaking down barriers to follow your passions. Read through the conversation below! Jun, you seem to have your hand in so many pots and never shy away from opportunities. How does someone like yourself approach all of these new things? Naturally, I'm a very curious person and I have a bunch of interests but I'm very careful to ensure if I do something, it's of quality. It can be daunting but anytime I'm exploring a new craft, I know it will require me to put myself out there no matter what because that's how you get new opportunities. It requires you to be vulnerable but it's necessary. Especially for artistic crafts, showing your work is the only way to get booked. If we reverse engineer that to figure out how to build the confidence to put yourself out there, it really comes down to putting in the reps. You have to practice. Once you really commit and practice, you build the competence in the craft and then you build the confidence. That confidence will be the fuel to put yourself out there in the world and that's when opportunities will come to you. Do you ever feel stuck diving into new things? Luckily not so much but it took time. I think the number one thing that stops people from taking on a new craft is imposter syndrome. People think "I'm not this person, so I'm not going to give it my 100%." I realized that the antidote to that is building up enough evidence for yourself that you do embody this person to the point where it can become your identity. For me, it was hard as a nightlife videographer, who's identity was so ingrained in that, when I wanted to start DJ'ing. I knew people might not take me seriously but I was serious. I didn't want to be a videographer that could also DJ. I wanted to be a DJ. In order to do that, I needed to be consistent. I needed to show up every day. I needed to do shows consistently. I try to embody this mindset with every new thing that I do. It wasn't even up until maybe a couple of months ago that I finally was confident enough to call myself a DJ because I felt like I wasn't there yet. I didn't have that identity yet but I was always pushing for it. Just remember, success isn't an overnight thing. You have to work on it every day but the only way to get there is to start. Can you talk about what pushed you to start Neutria? I worked in a pharmacy for five plus years, so I saw firsthand how people are so reliant on pharmaceuticals just to get by. We're at an age, societally, where people are becoming more health conscious. My partner, Andrew, and I have always been obsessed with finding ways to optimize our health, wellbeing and mindset. We were always experimenting with these different ingredients in college and university. So we've been exposed to the world of natural supplements and natural remedies. We never really had the intention when we were in our early twenties of doing this. It was just a passion to help us optimize our businesses at that time but we sensed this paradigm shift of people who want to excel in their careers or their crafts and find remedies to do so without harming themselves in the process by using synthetic drugs, like Adderall, or excessive melatonin or caffeine. So, we started Neutria and all three of our products are a response to a synthetic version. We have an all-natural sleep support product that uses herbs that have been used for thousands of years, melatonin-free and that's kind of like our counter to melatonin. We have a focus blend that's our counter to excessive caffeine or Adderall. We're not doing this to profit off of people. We're doing this to offer a sustainable solution to these specific needs that we saw. Lastly, what is one of the biggest learnings you've discovered so far as a brand owner? As an e-commerce brand, it's easy to dehumanize the business and diminish it to just numbers and digital screens. For the first half of our existence, Andrew and I lived on our screens and we weren't getting any sort of physical feedback from customers. It was all online-everything. So, one thing that we introduced was more events and collaborations with other brands to get out into the physical world and connect with and build our community. We started selling in local markets, sampling with groups and getting actual feedback on our products. The human connection was also important to help remind us of our purpose and why we started the business, which was very motivating. We really learned the importance of that macro view on why you do things and I think going physical, going offline as much as possible does that. Make sure to check out Jun and Neutria on Instagram and keep it locked to Pier Five for more conversations with creatives and entrepreneurs just like this!

The canned beverage space is increasingly competitive, with hundreds of new startup brands entering every year. So, if you're going to enter, you better have something unique to say. Therein lies Carol Pak, founder of SOOL, a Korean beverages company and owner of canned makgeolli beverage brand MAKKU, who is using her experience at ZX Ventures - ABinBev's VC arm - and passion for Korean rice alcohol to offer something fresh and exciting to the North American market. Although it hasn't come without its ups, downs and dozens of learnings, Carol had some great insights to share that can be applied to any small business owner, and of course anyone looking to dip their toes into the world of CPG. Check out some of the hot topics from the conversation below. In the summer of 2023, we noticed a big shift in the brand's social presence around Korean culture. Can you talk about that? At first, I didn't know how much I wanted to position ourselves as a Korean drink because I didn't want to isolate non Koreans. I wanted to be very welcoming, very approachable, and I didn't want to pigeonhole ourselves as a Korean drink for Korean occasions and for Korean customers. So I was very vanilla when it came to our marketing because I didn't want to sway too much but I felt like that really left us with no voice. Recently we did some consumer surveys and a resounding sentiment was, we would like to see more Korean stuff from Makku, whether it's in your packaging, your story, your marketing or your branding. That really motivated me to focus more on Korean culture in general. For us, the most natural area to focus on was the Korean drinking culture, which is a huge part of Korean culture. Later we can move into other segments like food or holiday traditions and things like that.  As you grow, have you made any other big shifts in how the brand operates? When it comes to our sales, before, I was relying on our distributors to get into retailers, and they put us in any account that would take our product. We were growing in revenue, and it was great in the short term, but we were seeing a lot of turnover as we lost shelf space to new brands and other promotions. If you go down to your local bodega and offer a promotion for them to buy the case, a lot of times they'll say, yes, but it doesn't mean that's the right account for us. I recently realized that while distributors are our partners, the onus is still on us to steer direction and ensure execution. Another consideration is that these smaller accounts don't provide data on the national level. So if a large retailer will put our brand into scan data, nothing will show up, even though we're in over a thousand accounts. So the investment into the smaller accounts don’t build us much credibility for the larger chains. Can you talk about scan data? What does that mean? There are national companies like IRI and Nielsen that manage this. For accounts like Whole Foods and Total Wine and these other large retailers; if your brand is selling in these stores, they'll report the sales data to IRI or Nielsen. So, when you're trying to sell to other national retailers, they can  put in your brand and they can track your growth, sales and all this other data about your brand that these retailers are supplying to them. Since we're mostly selling in smaller accounts or Asian chains that are not providing that kind of data, even though we've been in the market for four years, if an Albertsons or Kroger, looked up our brand in Nielsen or IRI, they wouldn’t be able to find much data. So, it just goes to show that an account is not always equal. I’ve learned we need to rely less heavily on our distributors to be selling on our behalf and instead build a sales team and then get into the retailers that we want to by pitching them directly. Is it daunting pitching to these big retailers? I didn't dare dream of trying to pitch national accounts at first. I just thought it wouldn't be possible without any sales data but I've seen a lot of brands launch after me, like years after me, and their first accounts were like Walmart, Target, Costco. There has been a trend of Asian products in stores and product differentiation is probably helpful there, but at the end of the day, you have to pitch them to know whether you get a yes or no. We just never pitched them. That all gave me confidence though. If you get in front of them, you'll at least be on their radar. You can ask them for information on what they're looking for, what data points they need to see for consideration, when to reach out next. Until you talk to them, you never know so just shoot all your shots. We can definitely see the hustle and passion that you have for the brand. I'm sure that helps when you work on growing the brand with partners? Yes, absolutely. If you're not so passionate about what you're doing and you just think of it as a business opportunity, you're not going to last. Undoubtedly, the best entrepreneurs at every level will still have the highest of highs and the lowest of lows and I think the only thing that really keeps you in it is the passion. So, if it's not something that you love and you're happy working 80 hours a week, it's going be really hard. When investors, distributors, retailers and customers are talking to you, they're looking for passion and they can tell if you fake it. That is what makes the difference between the companies that make it and the companies that don't.  Make sure to check out Makku's website to find out where you can pick some up and keep it locked to Pier Five for more interviews with entrepreneurs and small business owners coming soon!

Introducing Inoki Bathhouse, one of the ten recipients of the Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund 2023! Who: Helen Yin Where: Toronto, ON Instagram / Website Inoki Bathhouse was founded by Asian-Canadian management consultant turned serial-entrepreneur Helen Yin, to offer accessible and affordable spa-grade tea bath experiences at home. The brand offers homemade tea bath sets, coupled with a digital app offering curated music and bath ritual tools. This combination transforms any bathroom into a tranquil sanctuary through the art of mindfulness and bathing.   Inoki Bathhouse offerings are rooted in cultural practices of traditional medicine and bathing, featuring ethically-sourced premium tea and herbal plant ingredients that benefit both the mind and skin. The tea baths are packed with powerful tea antioxidants and contain an abundant amount of nutrients for the skin. Unlike bath bombs, soaps, and syrups, Inoki’s bath blends are pH balanced, safe for sensitive skin, and provide a unique aromatherapy experience.   The business is also passionate about giving back, with over $25,000 CAD donated to the #StopAsianHate movement along with many in-kind donations and volunteering hours given to local charities and non-profits. How will you use the $10,000 CAD for your business? The $10,000 will go towards our first full-time hire. As the business continues to grow rapidly, I have hit my maximum output and having someone to help me full-time will allow me to focus on larger projects and innovations for the business that have been left to the side for too long. Some of these ideas include trade shows around Canada, developing new bath mixes to expand our product catalog, and working on finding a new office/warehouse space for the company in the near future as we have already outgrown our current space. What is your big goal for the future of the business? My long term vision for Inoki Bathhouse is to become, not only the world's first, but largest remote bathhouse company, accessible by anyone. I'd like to expand our product line to cover bathhouses inspired by every region in the world and create timeless, aesthetic bath ritual items that transform the home into a peaceful sanctuary. Most importantly, I want to help this generation find moments of peace and prioritize their well-being in the way I did during my own critical time of need in this chaotic and busy worl Learn more about the Mastercard & Pier Five Small Business Fund, and discover the other 2023 recipients here.

Introducing Spice Girl Chai, one of the ten recipients of the Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund 2023! Who: Rebecca Pereira Where: Toronto, ON Instagram / Website After noticing that commercially available chai products lacked the depth of flavour and overall spice that she was looking for, Rebecca Pereira worked with her mother to create their own Chai concentrate in-house. With the recipe’s success, Rebecca launched Spice Girl Chai in 2021, and has landed her Chai concentrate into over a dozen restaurants and retailers in Toronto, numerous high-volume trade shows and in the hands of over 100,000 customers.   The brand, rooted in Rebecca’s culture and Indian traditions, has seen major success through specialty collaborations and samplings. She makes enjoying authentic chai at home as easy as brewing a cup of coffee. How will you use the $10,000 CAD for your business? One of the biggest challenges is keeping up with demand from existing and new retail and restaurant partners interested in bulk orders. With all of our product created at a shared commercial kitchen, we are limited in the volume that we can produce. The $10,000 will help us work with a co-packer facility to produce ten times the volume that we can daily. This will allow us to quickly expand our distribution, exponentially increase revenue and give me time to focus on other parts of the business like marketing and sales that have taken a back seat. What is your big goal for the future of the business? My long-term dream is to establish our very own facility for producing our Chai Concentrate and upcoming canned Chai drinks. We have significant revenue projections to hit in the next five years that would allow us to open this facility and build a team of incredible women who love Chai as much as I do. One of those women who I would love to bring on full-time is my dedicated mother, who has been with me every step of this entrepreneurial journey. It's a bold goal, but my unwavering dedication makes it an achievable one. Learn more about the Mastercard & Pier Five Small Business Fund, and discover the other 2023 recipients here.

Introducing Guests On Earth, one of the ten recipients of the Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund 2023! Who: Jackie Prince Where: Toronto, ON Instagram / Website Guests on Earth is counter-worthy home care that feels like self-care, and cares for the planet. The brand launched their first products in 2022, an All-Purpose Cleaner, Foaming Hand Soap and Waffle Cleaning Cloths with the vision to build and lead in a new category of Home and Planetary Wellness.   In only a year and half, Guests On Earth has won numerous awards, generated thousands of new customers and is selling in over 20 retailers across Ontario. Guests On Earth was also recently certified a B Corporation, meaning it meets the highest standards of social and environmental impact and is dedicated  to creating a positive effect on the world beyond financial gain. How will you use the $10,000 CAD for your business? The funding would go towards the production and marketing of our new product launch in Q1 of 2024. We have some really incredible ideas on how to effectively bring our new launch to life and the funds would enable us to enhance our production capabilities. With this launch, we hope to cover more touchpoints in our customers’ homes allowing them to live their best “clean” life. What is your big goal for the future of the business? Our big goal is to develop a robust hospitality strategy for the brand. We want to get our products into vacation rentals, yoga studios, and restaurants. These are spaces where customers can become aware of the brand while trying our product. It would be a new channel for us and will take time to learn and build. We are currently testing the market with sampling but hospitality could be an incredible catalyst for mass sustainable expansion in the years to come. Learn more about the Mastercard & Pier Five Small Business Fund, and discover the other 2023 recipients here.

Introducing U Grow Girl, one of the ten recipients of the Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund 2023! Who: Crystal Wood & Leha Marshall Where: Kelowna, BC Instagram / Website U Grow Girl is a family-run flower farm located in Salmon Arm, BC (between Kelowna and Kamloops) that is dedicated to providing beautiful, locally grown flowers to the community. The farm grows seasonal flowers with a purpose - to support women who have survived child sexual abuse. Sales from each bouquet of flowers helps fund the "Time To Heal" clinically supervised retreat, which provides education, connection, and support needed to help survivors heal and reclaim their power. How will you use the $10,000 CAD for your business? One of the main uses for the fund is to increase the size of our “Bucket Program”, a tap-and-go flower sale service hosted in local shops that has significantly accelerated the growth of our business, by allowing customers to quickly make flower purchases on the fly.   The rest of the fund would go towards infrastructure support on our Grey Water Initiative, an environmental project that helps collect and reuse water that has been used for plant growth. Finally, we would also use the funds for our website development, specifically for our online artisan marketplace that we’re excited to launch soon. What is your big goal for the future of the business? Our vision is to become the go-to of the floral industry in Canada, establishing a nationwide collective of local flower farms. We aim to make U Grow Girl synonymous with community empowerment, sustainability, and support for survivors of child sexual abuse. We will strive to expand our retreats, offering a sanctuary to countless survivors, and fostering an environment of healing and hope on a national scale. Learn more about the Mastercard & Pier Five Small Business Fund, and discover the other 2023 recipients here.

Introducing Zing, one of the ten recipients of the Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund 2023! Who: Jannine Rane Where: Toronto, ON Instagram / Website Zing works in collaboration with diverse Canadian chefs and food creators to bottle their secret sauces for home cooks. Their sauces and seasonings are designed to be “pantry shortcuts” —  home cooks can add Zing to ANY protein, vegetable or starch to create meals with globally inspired, restaurant quality flavour in minutes, minus the effort. Zing currently has a portfolio of nine distinct products representing creators, cuisines and cultures from around the world (e.g. an Indo-Chinese Chili Crisp inspired by Toronto’s Hakka diaspora, a garam masala with Persian influences etc.) that are made with premium, “real” ingredients and are sourced from Canadian suppliers wherever possible. How will you use the $10,000 CAD for your business? Zing has a new, exciting product release on the horizon, slated for summer of 2024 with two well known Toronto food personalities. We will use a portion of this funding to support our public Test Kitchen innovation process that involves community testing product prototypes. To elaborate: a part of our unique value proposition and one of our values as a company is to build “in community” — this means all our unreleased product formulations go through rigorous public testing with input from REAL consumers and tastemakers; we iterate until we have a “community approved” product recipe that we ultimately release to virtual and IRL shelves. It's a lot of fun, and it helps us minimize the bias in our work, while de-risking products before they release.   Remaining funds will be used to support Zing’s goal of becoming B Corporation certified, including anticipated certification and consulting fees. What is your big goal for the future of the business? Over the next five years, our goal is to be available in every major Canadian city, and have a presence in every province and territory. We are also working towards expanding our presence internationally, in the USA to start, where we already have a growing grassroots community of independent retailers stocking and championing our products. Today, we manufacture, warehouse, and ship entirely out of Toronto; we hope that in three to fiveyears we would be able to set up a presence in the USA to capture margin efficiencies and lower our cost of acquiring new customers in the region. Learn more about the Mastercard & Pier Five Small Business Fund, and discover the other 2023 recipients here.

Introducing Joni, one of the ten recipients of the Mastercard x Pier Five Small Business Fund 2023! Who: Linda Biggs Where: Victoria, BC Instagram / Website Joni is building an ecosystem of accessible period care. While reusable products are incredible, not everyone can use them or wants to use them. Therefore, disposable options will always be needed. Knowing this, Joni set out to make the most sustainable disposable option on the market and launched bamboo pads that are plastic-free packaged in a certified compostable wrapper. Furthermore, the brand has developed one of the most innovative period care dispensers on the market disrupting a billion-dollar monopolized industry. Outdated, broken, and empty dispensers found in public washrooms across Canada are a problem when 87% of people who menstruate are caught off guard and 37% of them end up leaving school or work to find a solution. Through its product offerings, Joni has created a fully turn-key commercial period care solution for hundreds of organizations across the country. ​ ​To-date, Joni has also donated over 120,000 period care products and supported over 80,000 people who menstruate with access to a product they might otherwise go without. How will you use the $10,000 CAD for your business? We’re currently developing a new version of our commercial dispenser and are working with organizations, facilities, and universities to create a modern and innovative option. This dispenser will have incredible new features  and we would use $10,000 to help us finish our research and development, in the hopes of bringing the product to market in 1H 2024. What is your big goal for the future of the business? My goal is to expand Femtech innovation in Canada. Femtech is a USD 30-billion-dollar industry worldwide, yet there has been very little investment and innovation in Canada. We want to change that for 30% of the population that menstruates. The largest check ever written in support of FemTech innovation in Canada was $1.5MM - we want to break that record by investing in R&D to create more innovative solutions for Canadians in the next three to five years. Essentially, we want to make Joni period care just as accessible as toilet paper. Learn more about the Mastercard & Pier Five Small Business Fund, and discover the other 2023 recipients here.