Money can feel heavy, stressful, and deeply personal, especially when you’re building a business and carrying more than just the numbers. This episode of The Finance Cafe Podcast with Shauna Frederick and Shannon Pestun talk about our connections with money, and why it sometimes feels so hard or overwhelming to be better with money.

This conversation invites you to step away from discipline-based money advice and instead look at financial management through the lens of financial wellness. You’ll explore how your relationship with money is shaped by safety, security, and freedom of choice, and how those feelings are influenced by lived experience, systemic barriers, and the stories you’ve carried with you long before you became an entrepreneur.

If you’ve ever found yourself overworking, underpricing, avoiding your numbers, or constantly feeling behind even when revenue looks “fine,” this episode helps you understand why. These patterns aren’t failures, they’re survival responses. And until safety is present, making clear, confident financial decisions can feel impossible.

We encourage you to reflect on your own money story: where it came from, how it shows up in your business, and how it may be quietly influencing decisions around pricing, debt, growth, and planning. Financial management is reframed not as pressure or another to-do, but as a supportive tool that can create clarity, reduce panic, and help you trust yourself with money.

This episode is for you if you want to stop trying harder, start feeling safer engaging with your finances, and build a business that truly supports your life, not just your revenue.

In this episode of The Finance Cafe Podcast, host Shannon Pestun welcomes Laura McDonough, Associate Director of Insights & Knowledge Mobilization at the Future Skills Centre. Laura leads national research and knowledge-sharing efforts that help shape evidence-informed policy and practice across Canada’s skills ecosystem. With a background in research and evaluation at United Way Greater Toronto and a deep commitment to making data accessible and actionable, Laura brings a unique lens that bridges research, lived experience, and real-world workforce development.

The conversation focuses on why skills development has become a critical growth lever for small and medium-sized businesses. Laura unpacks what it means to be future-skills ready, emphasizing both in-demand technical skills and the often-overlooked soft skills that are essential for effective leadership, strong management, and high-performing teams. She challenges traditional SME mindsets around productivity, encouraging business owners to invest in their people, develop managers’ capabilities, and move away from burnout-driven approaches or over reliance on technology alone.

Shannon and Laura also explore how skills development intersects with equity, highlighting programs that support women and diverse communities in building transferable, high-value skills. The episode closes with a look at the growing role of AI, and why building skills and confidence around AI now can help businesses stay agile and resilient as the workforce continues to evolve.

This episode is a must-listen for SME leaders and women entrepreneurs who want to grow their businesses by investing smarter in skills, people, and the future of work.

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Future Skills Website: https://fsc-ccf.ca/

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https://thefinancecafe.ca/women-entrepreneurs/

Starting a new year as a woman entrepreneur is not about hustle or vague intentions. It is about making clear, intentional financial decisions that support both your business growth and your long-term wealth.

In this episode of The Finance Cafe Podcast, co-hosts Shauna Frederick and Shannon Pestun kick off 2026 with a practical conversation about financial goal setting for women who are running revenue-generating businesses and are ready to scale with confidence. This episode focuses on building clarity, consistency, and momentum without financial jargon or intimidation.

Shauna and Shannon walk through five foundational goals to start the year strong: creating a simple 90-day cash flow plan, scheduling a monthly money date and actually putting it in your calendar, building a lending readiness folder so you are prepared before you need it, reviewing pricing and margins for 2026 to ensure you are not leaving money on the table, and paying yourself something consistent, even if it is small.

Beyond the tactics, this episode gives permission to build wealth intentionally and to develop personal and business strategies that support both financial security and a life you want to live. It is a reminder that scaling is complex, learning is ongoing, and women belong in every financial conversation.

This episode is for women entrepreneurs who want to start 2026 with clarity, confidence, and a financial foundation that supports sustainable growth.

The Finance Cafe Courses: https://thefinancecafe.ca/

WEOC: https://weoc.ca/

Welcome to our final episode of The Finance Cafe for 2025! In this special year-end wrap-up, co-founders Shauna Frederick and Shannon Pestun reflect on the lessons of the past year and share practical habits to bring into the year ahead.

In this episode, Shauna and Shannon dive into a topic every entrepreneur can relate to: you don’t have to go it alone. Entrepreneurship is often celebrated as independence, being your own boss, doing it all, but that can make it feel heavy when it comes to managing your finances. As they discuss, it’s completely normal to feel confused or overwhelmed, especially when many of us were never taught how to navigate business finances in the first place.

They also explore the importance of building a strong inner circle to support your business, including relationships with bankers, bookkeepers, accountants, and lawyers. Using the FLOW framework, they break down how to evaluate these relationships to ensure they are:

• F – Relationship Friendly
  

• L – Learning Centered
  

• O – Ongoing
  

• W – Without Judgment
  

Through relatable stories and real-life examples from their work with entrepreneurs, Shauna and Shannon encourage listeners to lean on trusted advisors and peers, ask questions, and embrace learning as an ongoing process.

Whether you’re reflecting on your 2025 wins or planning for a financially confident 2026, this episode is packed with insights to help you strengthen your support system and make your business thrive.

Tune in and finish the year strong!

In this episode of The Finance Cafe, Shauna Frederick sits down with Julie Dimitri, National Manager for TD Women in Enterprise, to explore how women entrepreneurs and women-led businesses can thrive with the right banking support.

Julie brings over 20 years of professional experience spanning business development, sales leadership, startup operations, and talent management. After moving from Montreal to Toronto to open the Ontario operations of a business she co-founded, Julie quickly became known for her passion for professional development and networking, founding a women’s group to connect like-minded professional women early in her career. For the past seven years at TD, she has been instrumental in empowering sales teams, coaching for performance, and now leads the Women in Enterprise segment in Business Banking.

During the conversation, Julie shares how TD Women in Enterprise supports women-led businesses of all sizes, from startups to corporations, and emphasizes the importance of building strong, trusting relationships between entrepreneurs and their bankers. She discusses how women founders can feel confident approaching their banker for guidance that goes beyond financial products, including support for scaling their business, a concern many women now prioritize even more than funding. Julie also highlights how TD takes a holistic approach to empowering women, providing opportunities outside of finance that contribute to professional growth and long-term success.

Tune in to learn how women entrepreneurs can leverage strong banking partnerships to elevate their business, and why cultivating that relationship can be a game-changer for growth and confidence.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliedimitri/

Website: https://www.td.com/ca/en/business-banking/small-business/women-in-business

Thinking about incorporating your business? Before you file the paperwork, make sure you understand what’s really at stake. The decision between a sole proprietorship, partnership, or incorporation can shape everything from your taxes and liability to your long-term financial success.

In this episode of The Finance Cafe Podcast, we sit down with Ronke Omorodion, principal lawyer at Lexion Legal and widely known as “the entrepreneur’s lawyer.” With more than 13 years of experience supporting founders and startups, she breaks down what every business owner should know before choosing a legal structure — and why this decision is one of the most important you’ll make as an entrepreneur.

The conversation explores the pros and cons of each business type and what those choices mean for your personal protection, taxes, and growth potential. You’ll hear how the right structure can set your business up for success — and how the wrong one can create legal and financial challenges down the road. She also emphasizes the importance of getting legal advice early, reminding founders that they don’t have to figure it all out on their own. The right guidance can save time, money, and unnecessary stress while giving you confidence in the path ahead.

At Lexion Legal, the team helps Alberta entrepreneurs tackle their legal needs with energy, innovation, and authenticity. They’re not just a law firm — they’re trusted partners committed to getting things done, and getting them done right.

Beyond her practice, Ronke holds leadership roles with the Canadian Bar Association Alberta Branch and dedicates her time to mentoring teens and supporting not-for-profit organizations. When she’s not advocating for business owners, she’s enjoying family adventures, nature walks, or a good crime movie with her partner and sons.

Whether you’re launching your first venture or thinking about restructuring your business, this episode will give you the clarity and confidence to make informed legal and financial decisions that align with your goals.

Website:https://lexionlegal.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronke-omorodion-56b68370/

Financial literacy means more than understanding spreadsheets and statements. It’s about seeing the full picture of your financial health and how it connects to the life and business you’re building.

In this special Financial Literacy Month episode of The Finance Cafe Podcast, co-founders Shauna Frederick and Shannon Pestun invite you to talk money and explore why the term financial literacy sometimes misses the mark. They’re reframing the conversation toward financial wellness, because it’s not just about learning the language of finance; it’s about feeling confident using it.

Financial wellness recognizes that our relationship with money is emotional, cultural, and deeply personal. It’s about aligning financial understanding with purpose, values, and well-being, not just profit. Shauna and Shannon dive into what this mindset shift means for women entrepreneurs, why it’s critical to see beyond the numbers, and how The Finance Cafe is helping women gain both the confidence and clarity to lead their businesses with intention. When we view money through the lens of wellness, we give ourselves permission to grow in knowledge, confidence, and courage.

What if the next generation of entrepreneurs didn’t have to unlearn bad money habits, but instead grew up confident in their financial choices?

In this episode of The Finance Café Podcast, Shannon Pestun sits down with 12-year-old entrepreneur Abby Adams, whose curiosity, drive, and financial awareness are far beyond her years.

At just twelve, Abby has built her own dog walking and care business, balancing the demands of clients, scheduling, and marketing with the same determination as a seasoned entrepreneur. What began as a way to help her community has become a lesson in responsibility, resilience, and financial knowledge—showing that age is no barrier to ambition.

Guided by her mom, Tara Adams, founder of Abridge Consulting, Abby is learning what it means to run a business with purpose—from earning and saving to investing for her future. She’s even met with a financial advisor to understand how to make her money work for her, proving that financial empowerment can start early.

In their conversation, Shannon and Abby explore what it means to take ownership of your finances, how confidence grows through experience, and why the fundamentals of business—relationship-building, curiosity, and hard work—are universal, no matter your age.