This episode of Mission Critical is presented in partnership with Mastercard and explores what it really takes to turn a small-business dream into something real.

What does it take to build a successful Canadian small business while staying true to your values? On this special episode of Mission Critical, Lance Chung sits down with Trisha Pitura, co-founder of MINI TIPI, the Gatineau-based textile manufacturer named Small Business of the Year in the inaugural 2026 Canada Small Business 100 presented by Mastercard.

Founded in 2016 by Pitura and her business partner, Melanie, MINI TIPI creates blankets, accessories and home décor featuring authentic Indigenous designs that celebrate culture, share stories and spark conversations about reconciliation. Working with Indigenous artists from across Turtle Island, the company brings community knowledge and cultural teachings to life through textiles, while ensuring artists receive royalties for their work.

Pitura shares the lessons behind a decade of entrepreneurship, from overcoming imposter syndrome and building a Canadian manufacturing business to protecting intellectual property and earning customer trust through quality, authenticity and word of mouth. She explains why MINI TIPI chose to manufacture locally in Gatineau, how the company creates meaningful community impact beyond financial contributions, and why success means bringing other Indigenous businesses along for the journey.

Key Takeaways

• Overcoming imposter syndrome: Why Pitura would tell her younger self that she deserves to succeed, and how confidence can shape an entrepreneur’s potential.
• Building a purpose-driven brand: How MINI TIPI uses authentic Indigenous designs and artist collaborations to share cultural stories through textiles.
• Choosing Canadian manufacturing: Why local production, product quality and creating jobs in the community remain central to the company’s mission, despite the operational challenges.
• Protecting intellectual property: How design infringement can affect a business financially and emotionally, particularly when the work carries deep cultural meaning, and why prevention matters.
• Measuring impact beyond revenue: Why MINI TIPI evaluates success through community well-being, supporting other Indigenous entrepreneurs and creating opportunities for others to grow.

About the Guest

Trisha Pitura is the co-founder of MINI TIPI, an Indigenous-focused textile brand and manufacturer based in Gatineau, Quebec, on Algonquin territory. Founded in 2016 with her business partner, Mélanie Bernard, MINI TIPI creates blankets, accessories and home décor featuring authentic Indigenous designs, collaborating with artists from across Turtle Island to bring their stories and cultural teachings to a wider audience.

Presented by Mastercard

This episode is made possible by Mastercard, which supports small business owners with resources, tools and community to help them grow with confidence. Join the Mastercard Small Business Community to access learning opportunities, events and resources to help manage and expand your business: https://www.mastercard.ca/en-ca/business/overview/business-resource-centre/small-business-community-signup.html

This episode of Mission Critical is presented in partnership with Mastercard and explores what it really takes to turn a small-business dream into something real.

What does it take to build a Canadian small business when you're self-funded, wearing every hat, and navigating a world of tariffs, supply-chain disruptions and constant uncertainty?Samantha Ong, founder of Toronto-based Joeydolls, knows the answer firsthand.

Samantha created Joeydolls after realizing that she and her daughters couldn't find dolls that reflected their culture and identities. What began as a deeply personal gap has grown into a culturally representative toy brand serving families, educators and collectors across Canada, the United States and Australia.

In this episode, Samantha gets candid about the realities behind that growth: launching Joeydolls with nearly 1,700 orders in its first 24 hours, learning the hard way how much infrastructure a growing business needs, figuring out wholesale from scratch, building a global operation with a lean team, and navigating tariffs and a devastating $50,000 inventory loss after a train derailment.She also shares how customer feedback keeps her connected to the mission, why she has learned to embrace imposter syndrome, how she decides where to spend her time, and why staying true to the company's purpose matters even when commercial opportunities come along.

Samantha is a 2026 Canada Small Business 100 honouree, presented by Mastercard, recognizing the resilience, ambition and impact of Canadian small businesses.

This is a conversation about entrepreneurship, representation, resilience and the messy reality of building something you believe in.

What happens when the goalposts for success keep moving, and you decide to stop chasing them?

In this episode of Mission Critical, Grammy Award-winning Canadian recording artist Alessia Cara reflects on a decade in the music industry and the lessons she's learned about building a career on her own terms. From navigating an industry that has fundamentally changed to letting go of perfection, trusting her instincts and embracing creative freedom, Cara shares a candid playbook for anyone trying to evolve without losing sight of who they are.

Her journey offers a powerful lesson for entrepreneurs, creatives and ambitious professionals alike: sustainable success isn't about constantly proving yourself. It's about creating work you're proud of, staying open to change, and defining your own version of what it means to win.

Key Takeaways

1. Stop creating for approval and start creating from conviction. The strongest work often comes when you stop optimizing for approval and trust your own instincts.

2. Let experience make you more free, not more rigid. After a decade in the industry, Cara says she feels she has less to prove and more freedom to experiment. Experience shouldn't narrow your thinking; it should give you the confidence to explore.

3. Don't let perfection get in the way of impact. For anyone building something, the takeaway is clear: perfection and impact aren't always the same thing, and sometimes the most memorable work is the work that feels human.

4. Your identity doesn't have to be fully formed before you begin. You don't always need to have the full vision before you start. Sometimes the work itself reveals who you're becoming.

5. When the goalposts move, redefine what winning means to you. When external measures become unstable, the most sustainable definition of success is one you control yourself.

About the Guest

Alessia Cara is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter who rose to global prominence with her breakout hit "Here" before earning international recognition for songs including "Scars to Your Beautiful" and "Stay." She went on to win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and establish herself as one of Canada's most distinctive voices in contemporary pop.

Beyond her success as a recording artist, Cara's career offers a compelling case study in navigating early success, public expectations and personal evolution. From finding her voice as a young artist to redefining what success means on her own terms, her journey reflects the challenges and opportunities that come with building a career while continuing to grow as a person.

If your customers are changing, your business has to change too.

In this episode of Mission Critical, Lance sits down with Adam Minster, managing partner of Food Dudes and co-founder behind Toronto restaurants RASA and SARA, to unpack what happens when an entire market shifts (and how smart business owners adapt before it's too late.)

As rising costs reshape the restaurant industry and consumers become more intentional about where they spend, Adam explains why the traditional "middle" of the market is disappearing, what prompted SARA's bold pivot to a tasting-menu-only concept, and how customer behaviour should guide your biggest business decisions.

Whether you own a restaurant, retail store, agency, or service business, this conversation is packed with practical lessons on recognizing market shifts, creating experiences customers are willing to pay for, leading teams through change, and building a business that's designed to evolve.

Key Takeaways

Pay attention to changing customer behaviour, not just your sales: The biggest opportunities often come from recognizing shifts in how customers think and spend before they become obvious. SARA's transformation wasn't driven by instinct, it was driven by listening to customers and following the data.

A great experience is becoming more valuable than simply offering a good product: As consumers become more selective with discretionary spending, businesses need to create memorable experiences that justify the purchase. People are increasingly willing to pay for something they'll remember.

Your employees are often your best source of business intelligence: Adam explains how regularly gathering feedback from his team helped shape major strategic decisions, including SARA's evolution. The people closest to your customers often have the clearest view of what's changing.

Hospitality is about people, not just service: Customers may talk about the food, but they remember how they were treated. Building loyalty often comes down to small, thoughtful moments that make people feel welcomed and valued.

Great businesses evolve without abandoning what makes them special: Innovation doesn't always mean starting over. The strongest businesses stay rooted in their core values while adapting how they deliver value as markets and customer expectations change.

About the Guest

Adam Minster is the co-founder of Food Dudes, one of Canada's leading hospitality companies, and a partner behind acclaimed Toronto restaurants RASA and SARA.

Over the past two decades, Adam has helped grow Food Dudes from a catering business into a multifaceted hospitality group spanning restaurants, large-scale events, and culinary experiences. Under his leadership, RASA has earned two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmand recognitions, while SARA has been recognized by the Michelin Guide for its flavour-driven cuisine and guest-first approach to hospitality.

What does it take to create an entirely new product category—and convince customers to change habits they've had for decades?

In this episode of Mission Critical, Lance sits down with Jayme Jenkins, co-founder of Everist, the Canadian beauty brand behind the world's first shampoo, conditioner, and body wash concentrates. What started as a mission to reduce waste in the beauty industry evolved into a masterclass in innovation, customer education, brand storytelling, and sustainable growth.

In their discussion, Jayme shares the realities of building a category-defining company, from developing a product that manufacturers said couldn't be made to learning how to simplify messaging, earn customer trust, and scale without sacrificing the brand's purpose. She also offers practical insights on customer feedback, retail expansion, founder wellness, team building, and why today's most successful brands win by solving real problems—not just telling compelling stories.

Whether you're launching a startup, growing a consumer brand, or navigating the challenges of scaling a business in a rapidly changing market, this conversation is packed with actionable lessons on building a company designed to last.

Key Takeaways

Lead with the customer problem, not your mission: One of Everist's biggest breakthroughs came when they stopped leading with sustainability and started leading with performance. Customers care about the problem you're solving first; your mission becomes a powerful differentiator once you've earned their attention.

Innovation only matters if people understand it: Creating a breakthrough product was difficult—but explaining it was even harder. Jayme shares how simplifying Everist's messaging and making the unfamiliar feel familiar became critical to scaling the business.

Customer feedback is a competitive advantage: Every review, comment, and customer email is analyzed by the team. Everist's growth has been fueled by an obsessive commitment to listening, iterating, and improving based on real customer experiences.

Sustainable growth beats growth at all costs: The era of chasing unicorn valuations has given way to a more durable approach. Jayme discusses why building intentionally, profitably, and for the long term creates stronger companies and healthier founders.

Differentiation is worth the pain: Many of Everist's biggest challenges stemmed from doing something completely new. But that same uniqueness is what made the brand memorable, defensible, and capable of creating an entirely new category in beauty.

About the Guest

Jayme Jenkins is the co-founder of Everist, an award-winning Canadian beauty brand reinventing the hair, skin, and scalp care industry through concentrated, waterless products. Alongside co-founder Jessica Stevenson, Jayme launched Everist in 2021 after spending years in the beauty industry with global companies including Procter & Gamble and L'Oréal.

Driven by a desire to reduce waste in personal care without compromising performance, Jayme helped create the world's first shampoo, conditioner, and body wash concentrates—an innovation that has positioned Everist as one of Canada's most exciting emerging beauty brands.

Today, Everist is recognized for its category-defining products, sustainability-first approach, and growing community of loyal customers. Jayme is passionate about innovation, conscious consumption, customer-centric brand building, and helping the next generation of founders navigate the realities of entrepreneurship.

What does it actually take to build a modern consumer brand in today’s economy?

In this episode of Mission Critical, Lance sits down with Bathorium founder Greg MacDonald to unpack the real mechanics behind scaling a premium wellness business — from handmade bath bombs in a Toronto condo to becoming one of Oprah’s Favorite Things.

Greg shares tactical lessons on brand positioning, customer loyalty, inventory forecasting, pricing strategy, storytelling, and scaling through uncertainty — including how Bathorium survived and exploded during the pandemic.

If you’re building a product-based business, navigating growth, or trying to create a brand people genuinely care about, this episode is packed with hard-earned lessons from a founder who built one of Canada’s most recognizable wellness brands from the ground up.

Key Takeaways

Your Brand Story Is One of Your Most Valuable Assets: Greg explains how Bathorium’s growth accelerated once the company learned how to clearly communicate its “why” — not just what the product was, but the problem it solved. From Oprah’s Favorite Things to retail expansion, storytelling became a competitive advantage.

Product Passion Matters More Than Trends: One of Greg biggest lessons for entrepreneurs? Build something you genuinely believe in. Passion for the product is what sustains founders through difficult seasons, especially when growth slows, inventory gets messy, or the business becomes emotionally exhausting.

Scaling Too Fast Without Understanding Margins Can Hurt Your Business: Bathorium initially underpriced its products in order to get them into more customers’ hands. Greg breaks down why understanding margins early is critical if you want enough room for marketing, staffing, shipping, and long-term scalability.

Customer Feedback Should Shape Your Roadmap: Many of Bathorium’s biggest product innovations came directly from customer conversations. Greg shares how obsessively listening to customers helped build loyalty and transform buyers into long-term brand advocates.

Brand Positioning Can Make or Break Consumer Perception: A major early mistake (placing Bathorium products in discount retail environments) taught Greg that where your brand appears matters just as much as the product itself. Premium brands need premium storytelling and premium placement.

About the Guest

Greg MacDonald is the founder and CEO of Bathorium, a Canadian wellness brand redefining the modern bath ritual through clean, luxury bath soaks focused on health, recovery, and self-care.

Founded in 2014, Bathorium has grown from a small side hustle into an internationally recognized brand carried by luxury hotels, spas, and retailers across North America, including Nordstrom, Goop, Four Seasons, and more. The company was also named one of Oprah’s Favorite Things, making Bathorium one of the few Canadian brands to ever receive the distinction.

Before going all-in on Bathorium, Gregory worked at Shopify, where he helped support some of the fastest-growing consumer brands in the world — experience that later shaped Bathorium’s own approach to scaling, storytelling, and customer experience.

Today, Gregory is recognized as one of Canada’s leading voices in wellness entrepreneurship, premium consumer branding, and modern self-care innovation.

What does it take to turn a simple product into a category-defining brand people obsess over?

In this episode of Mission Critical, Lance sits down with Mandy Wolfe, co-founder of Mandy's Salads, to break down how she and her sister transformed a tiny salad counter hidden inside a Montreal clothing store into one of Canada’s most recognizable lifestyle food brands.

But this conversation goes far beyond salads. Mandy shares the real playbook behind building customer loyalty, creating emotional connection through branding, scaling across new markets, engineering word-of-mouth growth, navigating hiring challenges, and staying relevant in an economy that changes by the day.

Whether you run a restaurant, retail business, e-commerce brand, or are just starting your entrepreneurial journey, this episode is packed with tactical insights on how to build a business people genuinely love.

In this episode:

• How Mandy’s got its first loyal customers
• Why customization became a growth advantage before it was trendy
• The importance of brand experience in driving repeat business
• What founders get wrong about expansion and scaling
• How Mandy’s built a lifestyle brand beyond food
• Why staying culturally relevant matters more than ever
• Lessons on hiring, partnerships, leadership, and longevity

If you’re building a business in Canada right now, this episode is a masterclass in creating a brand customers choose emotionally, not just practically.

Top 5 Key Takeaways

1. Great brands solve emotional needs—not just functional ones: Mandy’s didn’t just sell salads, it sold a feeling: wellness, escape, playfulness, customization, and belonging. The strongest businesses create emotional connection around everyday products.

2. Word-of-mouth growth can be intentionally designed: From customizable “secret menu” salads to instantly-recognizable pink takeout bags, Mandy’s built visual and social cues that naturally encouraged people to talk about the brand.

3. Expansion works best when it matches community culture: Instead of aggressively entering major downtown cores first, Mandy’s strategically chose neighbourhoods that aligned with the brand’s lifestyle positioning and customer base.

4. Scaling requires letting go of control: One of Mandy’s biggest lessons as a founder was learning to trust leadership teams and systems as the business expanded beyond what she and her sister could personally oversee day-to-day.

5. Staying relevant means staying curious: Mandy credits much of the brand’s continued success to surrounding themselves with younger talent, traveling frequently, observing culture shifts, and constantly evolving with customer behaviour.

About the Guest

Mandy Wolfe is the co-founder of Mandy's Salads, one of Canada’s most recognizable fast-casual restaurant and lifestyle brands.

What started as a tiny salad counter hidden inside a Montreal clothing boutique has grown into a multi-location business spanning Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, and beyond—along with a rapidly growing consumer packaged goods line carried in over 1,000 stores across Canada.

Known for its colourful branding, immersive restaurant design, customizable menu, and cult-like customer loyalty, Mandy’s has become a case study in turning a simple everyday product into a premium lifestyle experience.

Alongside her sister and co-founder Rebecca Wolfe, Mandy has helped redefine how Canadians think about healthy eating, hospitality, branding, and customer experience.

The wellness industry is exploding. But with that growth comes saturation, noise, and a hard truth: most brands won’t last.

In this episode of Mission Critical, Thom Tullo—founder of Face Pilates and Aman Spa—breaks down how he built a performance-driven wellness brand in one of the most competitive categories today.

From creating “addictive” client experiences to navigating product development, pricing strategy, and brand differentiation, Thom shares what actually drives retention, revenue, and long-term brand equity in wellness.

If you’re building in beauty, wellness, or any experience-driven business, this episode is a tactical deep dive into what it really takes to stand out—and scale—when everyone is competing for the same customer.

Top 5 Key Takeaways:

1. Wellness is No Longer a Trend, it's a Behaviour Shift: Post-COVID, consumers aren’t just spending on luxury. Rather, they’re prioritizing self-regulation, recovery, and mental clarity. The opportunity isn’t selling products—it’s solving for peace of mind.
2. Experience > Service: Thom didn’t just open a spa, he engineered a full sensory journey: scent, environment, pacing, and human interaction.
3. Retention Comes From “Addiction,” Not Acquisition: Thom’s philosophy is to create an experience so effective and emotionally resonant that it becomes part of someone’s routine.
4. Most Brands Misprice Themselves Out of Longevity: Many wellness brands overestimate what customers can actually afford long-term. High-ticket positioning may drive short-term hype—but kills repeat purchase behaviour.
5. You Don’t Need to Be the Expert, But You Need to Understand the System: From chemistry to product development, Thom didn’t start as an expert but he learned enough to lead. His edge wasn’t knowing everything; it was building the right team and asking the right questions.

About the Guest

Thom Tullo is a skin authority, entrepreneur, and founder of Face Pilates and Aman Spa.

Known for blending clinical precision with luxury wellness, Thom has built a reputation for performance-driven treatments that deliver visible, measurable results—without invasive procedures. He is the creator of Face Pilates™, a method that treats the face like a muscle system—combining lymphatic drainage, buccal massage, micro-current, and advanced techniques into a structured “facial workout.”

What started as a treatment has evolved into a multi-dimensional brand spanning services, products, and education, positioning Thom at the forefront of the next generation of wellness businesses.