International Woman’s Day: Stories of Hope, Leadership, and Resilience
By Amber Bartlett, Journalism student
International Women’s Day is an inspirational day for many women and Mohawk College’s Centre for Entrepreneurship captured that moment perfectly. Students, Alumni, and community members gathered to celebrate women’s work in entrepreneurship. The audience had the privilege of hearing these women’s powerful stories. They told their stories of past experiences that gave them strength to continue with their passion for entrepreneurship. They continued through hardships and never gave up.
The event began with a warm welcome that set the tone for the morning. Artwork was displayed by Mohawk College Graphic Design students to show women connected to sustainability and climate action within the Mohawk College community. The display was a reminder that creativity and advocacy often go hand in hand when it comes to shaping a better future.
Visitors were treated to a delicious breakfast and refreshments sponsored by the Alumni Office. It created a sense of community from the moment the visitors stepped through the door.
“Today, for International Women’s Day, we celebrate the uniqueness, strengths, and achievements of women,” one speaker told the audience. “We also recognize leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, and change makers who help shape our communities and industries for the better.”
The event featured three ladies who are entrepreneurs. The stories they told were about industries ranging from fashion to hospitality to business leadership. Even though their paths were very different from each other, their journeys shared common threads: determination, adaptability, and the willingness to take risks.
One of the panelists Erika Puckering, spoke about how becoming a mother pushed her forward into entrepreneurship. Before starting her own business, she worked in Toronto, promoting brands for major companies. But the demands of her career began to interfere with her family life.
“Being a mother for the first time really changed everything,” Puckering explained. “I've been working for years promoting other brands. At one point, when my husband and I bought our first house and were starting our family, I realized I couldn’t keep doing the same grind seven days a week with clients.”
Instead of going down that path she decided to grow and build something that she could call her own.
“I thought, I’ve been promoting other brands for years. My husband is a chef who’s been in the industry for a long time. Why don’t I build a brand around him and his talent?”
That decision led to creating a wonderful restaurant business. While Pukering admitted that the journey was hard and unpredictable, she embraced the challenge.
“If this is what our choice is, I’m going to do it 200 percent,” she said. “You just go all in. And when you do something every day with that level of commitment, you start to see results.”
Her story showed her strength and resilience. The challenge many entrepreneurs face is the leap of faith into business ownership rather than a carefully crafted plan.
Another panelist, Vanh Kalong went back in time talking about her childhood. Kalong grew up with many hardships. She found out early on that business skills could be obtained in very unexpected ways.
She talked about looking at other women from afar selling goods in open markets and realizing that success depended not only on the product, but also the ability to connect with customers.
”You can have the same product, but it’s the skills you have that make the difference,” she explained.
A particular experience really stood out for her. She was a young girl living in a refugee camp. One day she went up to a vendor struggling to sell bananas to people. She convinced the woman to trust her with two bundles, she then went on to sell them herself.
”I said in life, you’ve got to take risks. Sometimes you have to lose before you gain,” she recalled.
Within only half an hour, young Kalong sold the bananas and returned with money in her hand. She continued to work with the vendor. That moment became an important life lesson for her.
”Yes, you need money to make money,” she said. “But you also need creativity, survival instincts, and the ability to think on your feet.”
She emphasized that the foundation of business success depends on persistence and effort.
”If you do something day in and day out with your best effort, it’s impossible not to see results.”
Another panelist Dilini Fernando, shared her story of growing up in Sri Lanka where her parents ran a small workshop, which used a traditional method involving wax and dye to create handcrafted textiles. Fernando and her siblings spent a lot of time in the workshop.
“At that time, we didn’t think of it as a business,” she said. “For us, it was like a playground.”
She and her siblings helped with little things and experimented with designs. A simple memory stood out to her. It was transforming a pair of old jeans.
“My sister didn’t want to throw away her favourite jeans,” she explained. “So she asked my mom if she could design something on them.”
The beautiful custom jeans caught the attention of classmates and friends at school.
“When people ask where we got them, we realized maybe this could become something more,” she said.
Many years later that childhood memory became a creation of a sustainable fashion brand. The company gathers old clothes and redesigns them into brand new pieces. It blends traditional with modern designs.
For her the journey also included moving to Canada as an international student. It brought her many challenges coming to Canada.
“I came here by myself. My family was still back home. I didn’t have friends or family here,” she said.
Instead of letting loneliness get to her, she began sharing her ideas with classmates and professors.
“I just started talking about the idea whenever I had a chance. Little by little, I found a community.”
Giving to gain was the central theme of this event. The discussion turned toward the ways entrepreneurs can support their communities. Even small gestures can have a meaningful impact.
As the event came to a close, the room was filled with applause and a sense of purpose. For students and aspiring entrepreneurs in the audience the message was very clear. Success does not require a perfect plan.