2025 International Women's Day Breakfast panel

The Centre for Entrepreneurship held its third annual DEFY International Women’s Day Brunch on March 5, 2025. This event honours the incredible achievements of women in our community and acknowledges the work still needed to be done to achieve true gender equality. This year the DEFY community came together to network and learn from three inspirational women who have defied the odds and built impactful businesses.

This years panelists were Heather Elson, owner of Mystic Ramen; Katie McClelland, owner of De La Sol; and Anita Grant, owner of Hello Hair; and the moderator was Shelley Gordon, owner of Love My Mat.

See more photos for the International Women's Day Breakfast.

DEFY’s mission is to create a community of empowered women, who defy the status quo, stereotypes, and expectations. This program has been designed to allow like-minded entrepreneurs share their experiences and support each other through their own journeys of entrepreneurship. Our goal will always be to continue connecting women in entrepreneurship to each other and offer tools to support them through growing and managing their businesses.