Business in Vancouver’s recent article highlighting 12 predominantly white men as the top restaurateurs and chefs in the city left us shaking our heads and eager to profile a female chef. Kendall Clancy recently connected with Barbara Gregoire, Sous Chef for Fairmont Waterfront. With 25 years of experience, Barbara has a lot to share on following your passions and battling barriers. Read more on why now is the time for the female workforce to “show up and show off”.

We recently connected with Tanya Bennett, owner of Vancouver Mysteries. Under Bennett’s creative leadership, Vancouver Mysteries was able to adapt quickly to the uncertainty of COVID-19 and continue operating. Tanya shared with us more on this experience and advice for other women in tourism finding themselves at a career crossroads.

The past year has been devastating for the food and beverage industry, yet it brought unprecedented collaboration, innovation and support. I recently connected with powerhouse Woman of WORTH, Puneet Kochar, Head of Finance for Tacofino, Shift Change contributor and co-founder of the Vancouver Food and Beverage Community (VANFBC) on her leadership insights and experience.

The past year has left many re-evaluating their passions and purpose while at a career crossroads. Vancouver’s own Lilian Umurungi-Jung, owner of nut butter brand MUMGRY, knows this career quandary well. We had the pleasure of chatting with Lilian all about the takeaways from her experience working in hotels, the power of community and how to balance it all as a working mom.

Maya Lange has become a household name for many in B.C.’s tourism industry through her impactful role as VP of Global Marketing for Destination British Columbia. Read on to find out more about what lies ahead for the tourism industry and Maya’s advice on conquering impostor syndrome, building a strong network and the power of pivoting.

The first-ever female President and CEO of the British Columbia Hotel Association (BCHA), Ingrid Jarrett is an industry powerhouse who has spent the past three decades directly contributing to building the tourism sector across BC and Canada. Her impressive resume spans leadership roles along with volunteer work in leadership positions on several tourism boards. She found time in her incredibly busy schedule to sit down and talk with us about her tourism leadership journey and share her advice for other women in leadership.

We love sharing stories of determination and resilience and no one knows the devastation of COVID-19 better than the airline industry. Tamara Vrooman of YVR made time to chat with us about her professional journey and vision for the future. She shares her experience with overcoming rejection, advice for empowering women in leadership and her vision for helping British Columbia, and Canada, recover.

We love being inspired by strong female leaders so when Marsha Walden was promoted to President & CEO of Destination Canada, we were cheering her on. Marsha made time to chat with us about her professional journey and what lies ahead for Destination Canada. In this interview, she shares her advice for other female leaders along with some of her favourite resources for staying on top of an ever-changing market.

The last several months have seen some unprecedented changes to BC’s tourism and hospitality industry. The industry is among one of the hardest hit and is expected to suffer significant long-term negative impacts. We asked Krista Bax, the new CEO of go2HR, BC’s tourism human resource association, for some insight into the tourism labour market, and what recovery means for women of the industry.