We’d like to congratulate our client Lourdes Gant for being selected as one of PROFIT and Chatelaine’s Top 100 Women Entrepreneurs in Canada in 2014 and 2012.  (Top 5 in 2014!)

We figured it was the perfect opportunity to share more about the amazing things she is doing as an entrepreneur…

Please tell us more about your business.

I have two hats.

First, I am presently the CFO of Manatee Holdings Ltd. and am being groomed to take over the position of CEO in the future. Manatee is an aquaculture company pioneering sustainable ways to produce Geoduck clams and sea cucumbers in British Columbia.

My second role is helping executive business owners to transform both their lives and their businesses in ways that improve the quality of both by connecting them to their core purpose. You can find out more at www.theintegratedbusinessdoctor.com

These two roles fulfill my life purpose of being a passionate mentor and visionary businesswoman.

What inspired you to join or create these companies?

I met my husband in 2007 and I joined his company in 2008. Since joining Manatee, I have helped increased their revenue by over 200%. The family enterprise we have expanded upon since 2007 allows me to use my unique skill-set to oversee the relationship between the bottom line and the culture of the company

My work within the company as the CFO and auditor, combined with my mentoring capabilities to improve the quality of life of high-end executives has transformed the company my husband originally created. The same combination of capabilities is also helping us to parent our young son. It’s an inspiration to be able to bring perspective and insight into someone’s leadership style, while intuitively guiding them through the tough decisions they face as executive business owners. And at the same time help them remember the spirit and passion behind their day-to-day lives.

What common trends do you see with your clients (needs, position, inspiration, etc.)?

The average executive spends almost 2,000 hours each year at the office. In the old business strategies, the common trend was to focus on just pursuing money. We now realize there is a greater profit to be made across the entire spectrum of life if we ensure that we are also enjoying our work environment and making it a healthy and productive experience, both professionally and personally. I refer to this as Quality of Life Audit. We have seen in our own business not only an increase in revenue and productivity in the company, but more importantly a better wellbeing.

What’s the most rewarding thing about what you do?

The most rewarding thing about what I do is to be in what Strategic Coach calls my “Unique Ability.” This means to stay focused on my vision, to do only what I am best at, and what I enjoy the most, and to find ways to delegate everything else.

What are your greatest recent accomplishments?

I was ranked by PROFIT and Chatelaine magazines as one of Canada’s Top 100 Female Entrepreneurs in 2012 and in 2014.

In addition, I helped our company raise an additional $2.5 million in funding for our aquaculture operations.

How has working with DemGen benefited your business?

Working with DemGen allowed me to have a paradigm shift in terms of looking for alternatives to challenges that accomplish the vision both parties wanted as a result of our relationship.

How has ‘going virtual’ benefited your business?

It saves our companies thousands of dollars. In addition, it allows me to tap into resources with more leverage by being able to hire the best talents from the country where I was originally from which is the Philippines. Just recently, I saw an example of this when someone in North America without experience and just out of university who had an asking salary of $150,000.00 annually had her equivalent of someone from Asia who was better educated and working for $10,000 annually.

Did you have any initial reservations about ‘going virtual’? If so, what made you change your mind?

I didn’t have any reservations going virtual.

© DemGen Inc. 2014

Please tell us more about Mosaic International

MOSAIC International is an organization of entrepreneurs who coach entrepreneurs.  We specifically work with Entrepreneurial Leadership Teams that are open minded; respectful; appreciative; growth oriented; frustrated and want help taking their business to the next level.  Our ideal client has between $2-50MM in revenue with 10-250 employees.   We start with a customized needs assessment and develop an action plan around your specific success criteria to help the entrepreneur and their team grow while also living a balanced life.

What inspired you to join or create this company?

I am a serial entrepreneur.  Having started three successful businesses, I realized that each company I started was someone else’s idea and I partnered with them to make their dream come alive.  This, in essence is what makes me come alive as well.  I have the genius ability to see the possibilities in challenging situations, simplify solutions and build the confidence needed to take action in order to achieve tangible results.  I dreamed of having a business that was run completely by entrepreneurs FOR entrepreneurs and soon, MOSAIC International was birthed!  At MOSAIC, we surround ourselves with people we admire, we are all doing what we love to do, we are making a tangible difference in other people’s lives,  we are all properly compensated for the work we do and to top it all off, we still have time to pursue other passions outside of work.  This is our definition of a GREAT life and it is our desire to help other people do the same.

What common trends do you see with your clients (needs, position, inspiration, etc.)?

Entrepreneurs are often very lonely.  They have huge visions for the future and they have great teams they have hired but so much of the business is still built around them which causes them to work nonstop in every aspect of the business.  Every day becomes a work day with constant strain between work and home and entrepreneurs often forget why they started the business in the first place.  We work with entrepreneurs to build their personal confidence and the confidence in their teams to achieve exponential growth and a more fulfilled life.

What’s the most rewarding thing about what you do?

I am a pioneer and a teacher and my role at MOSAIC allows me to do both of these things daily.  By working with a team of entrepreneurs and with clients who are entrepreneurs, I am able to help pioneer new ideas and some incredible growth initiatives.  I thrive when I am facilitating learning and am teaching new concepts and tools to others. Howard Thurman once said: “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”  I have done just that and it is the most rewarding thing in the world to help others do the same!

What are your greatest recent accomplishments (both with DemGen and otherwise)?

For the past 4 years, I have been a participant in an incredible program called Strategic Coach.  This program has helped me in so many ways but most importantly, it has helped me build a filter to put all opportunities that come my way through to make sure MOSAIC is doing the work we are uniquely good at.  Recently, I have made strategic decisions that has allowed me to free up more of my teams time and energy for the things that we LOVE to do and which add so much more value to our clients while also multiplying our bottom line.   The idea of growth to this magnitude didn’t happen because I always thought I had to hire more and more people in the organization.   While at Strategic Coach, I learned of DemGen and their services and I was immediately SOLD.  Through the help of DemGen and my amazing Executive Assistant, Kim, I have been able to streamline so much of what I do and let go of so much of the day to day that had kept me back from realizing the future I dreamed of.

How has working with DemGen benefited your business?

Working with DemGen has given me so much more peace of mind knowing that I have a team…. an ENTIRE TEAM of support around me for anything I could possibly need.   I was literally on a call today with my Executive Assistant when I was telling her some of the projects I was working on and some of the things I was really not looking forward to doing and she said, “You know, we have some folks on our team who do just that” and the stress in the moment was gone!  The folks at DemGen GET IT.  They are so sharp, they are the best at what they do and have really built an incredible team that extends to each of their clients.  Having this peace of mind allows me to use this energy on things that I am uniquely good at and that will produce greater results.  In  essence, DemGen has freed us up to spend more time doing what we love and that generates the most returns and the greatest impact.

How has ‘going virtual’ benefited your business?

I see the possibilities and potential in people and I usually try to hire them.  I have hired several people in my business all based on their potential as opposed to their genius abilities and skill sets.  I recently went out on a limb and hired someone who seemed so promising.  I soon found myself with an employee struggling to produce results and who was quickly stressed as she did not feel as though she was able to give me the support I needed.  I had invested a lot of time and energy into this hire.   I had also invested a significant amount of cash and had very little return except for a slightly used Macbook Air I had purchased just a few months earlier.  Something was not working.  Then I found DemGen and I have been able to get the results I have been looking for, with far less of an investment and I have people who are experts in their field supporting my company and helping us to stay focused on what we do best!  It is a true WIN-WIN.

Did you have any initial reservations about ‘going virtual’?   If so, what made you change your mind?

YES! I had the usual reservations.  I had it in my mind that I needed a team full time and people who were physically here with me.  I thought there was so much I would need completed that was dependent on being physically present.  However, I was proven wrong.  I had a mentor tell me once to be proactively skeptical.  He encouraged me to be skeptical but do not let this skeptical attitude cripple me from action.  Rather, he would encourage me to try things out like an experiment and see if you get the results you want.  This is exactly what I did with “going virtual”  I had a lot of hesitations and these hesitations were all in my head and I have been able to work around them all!  Now I am paying far less than I would with hiring full time employees and have a more robust team who are all doing what they love!  This gets me JAZZED up and excited each time I get the opportunity to connect with them.

Has DemGen exceeded your expectations?

DemGen continues to exceed my expectations.  Whether it is my Executive Assistant listening to me about my upcoming week and offering to take more and more off my plate or her introducing me to new technologies that can help me streamline what I do, or a strategic introduction to someone else at DemGen who can help me with my new project I am working on…. they have consistently shown me that they have the skills, know-how, and confidence to partner with me and MOSAIC to serve our customers effectively and efficiently.    I cannot say enough good things about DemGen and the team there!