On this episode, I’m delighted to sit down with author and social business innovator, Barb Stegemann.
Barb was born in Montreal, Quebec and holds degrees in Sociology and Journalism from the University of King’s College.
Barb built her own boutique PR firm while living in British Columbia and created innovative, award-winning campaigns winning numerous marketing awards from the Economic Developers’ Association of Canada
After Barb’s best friend Captain Trevor Greene was wounded in Afghanistan in 2006, she set out to support his mission of economic empowerment creating a new business model that supports trade with nations experiencing war or strife.
She launched The 7 Virtues Beauty Inc., a company that began by sourcing essential oils distilled from legal crops to provide an alternative to the illegal poppy crop for farmers and began manufacturing perfume.
The fragrance line brought to reality the essence of her best selling book, The 7 Virtues of A Philosopher Queen; that women can flex their buying power to affect change and reverse issues of war and poverty.
Barb successfully pitched and landed a venture capital deal on CBC’s Dragons’ Den and has been building her company with mentor Brett Wilson.
Recently the story has been told in the documentary feature Perfume Wars which has won accolades at film festivals across Canada and the United States
She was named one of Canada’s one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada and received the Women Innovator’s Award from the US State Department for the Economy of Canada.
She is one of the few Women in Canada to have been made an Honorary Colonel for the Royal Canadian Air Force and is the first female to receive this honour for her base, 14 Wing Greenwood…and was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letter from the University of New Brunswick.
Barb and her partner, Mike Velemirovich, live in Halifax, which is where I met up with Barb to talk about her life…
Check out Barb on the YouTube Speakers Spotlight Here
