What would have been in 2020!
Jillian Harris
We are thrilled to welcome Jillian Harris to SMC as one of this year’s keynote speakers! While you may recognize her from HGTV’s Love It or List It Vancouver or ABC’s The Bachelor, Harris is a true guru when it comes to social media. And our idol.
With a zest for life and bright attitude, Harris transformed her hobbies and passions into a full-time lifestyle brand by taking an authentic, vibrant approach to connecting with her audience. Today, she heads her own mini empire with the help of Team Jilly, a supportive crew complete with a managing director, digital marketing manager, creative strategist, two cute pooches, and more.
Harris and Team Jilly will be joining us to talk about their experience with social media and their favourite tips and tricks to growing a personal brand.
Mark Cohon
Mark Cohon is a proven leader, turn-around expert, active public speaker, proud builder of Canadian brands and entrepreneur at heart.
After a highly successful career in the sports world including roles as an executive with Major League Baseball International, the National Basketball Association and the pivotal role leading the renaissance of the Canadian Football League as its 12th Commissioner, Mark now invests his time, relationships and resources to help build great Canadian brands. From chairing important Canadian institutions such as the Juno Awards and Toronto Global to being an active partner in the rapidly growing Georgian Bay Spirit Company, Mark dedicates his time to make an impact in Canada both corporately and culturally.
Nicole Smith
Nicole Smith is the founder of Flytographer, a global marketplace that connects travellers with local photographers for fun vacation photo shoots. She left a 13 year career in marketing at Microsoft to launch Flytographer 6 years ago, and has since scaled it to over 300 cities worldwide, captured over two million memories for travellers and grown to a team of 20 employees based in Victoria. Flytographer has been called “The Future of Travel Photography” by Conde Nast Traveler, “An Ingenious Travel Hack” by Oprah.com and today, her photographers capture a memory every minute all over the world. Nicole is passionate about supporting female founders and serves on the board of The Forum for Women Entrepreneurs.
Outside of work, Nicole can be found cheering embarrassingly loud at her son’s basketball games.
Greg Hounslow
Greg Hounslow is the Emerging Media Manager for WestJet and has been leading the airline’s social media journey since 2009. He has seen it all, from launching #WingletWednesday on Instagram to the creation of WestJet’s Social Care team and integrating chatbots into the social customer service experience.
In 2017 and 2018, WestJet was recognized by its peers with back-to-back awards for best airline in the world on social media. Over the past decade, his team has developed the social media strategy for every major WestJet announcement, marketing campaign and more.
When not taking airline social media to new heights, you can find Greg travelling, skiing or mountain biking with his three kids.
Our 2020 Session & Workshop Speakers
Philip Shaw
CEO of Cleverclicks
Philip Shaw is a digital marketing expert and international speaker who is fanatical about helping business owners grow their businesses through smart marketing strategies. Philip has twelve years of experience as CEO of CleverClicks (a digital marketing agency with offices in Vancouver Sydney and Cape Town) and ten years' of financial consulting for large corporates.
Mindy Crawford
digital marketing manager
team jilly
Mindy Crawford has been immersed in the world of digital marketing since 2012 and has been the Digital Marketing Manager on Team Jilly for 2 years now. Not only does Mindy bring years of experience with her but she also adds life and laughter to the business.
Dave Bahr
founder of in-sightful living
Dave Bahr is an author, speaker, and comedian from Colorado focused on demystifying the public’s perception of how to interact with people with disabilities. As founder of In-Sightful Living, Dave works as an accessibility consultant, aiding organizations to enhance their systems, environments, events, and cultures to be supportive of people with disabilities.
Hubert kang
Hubert kang photography
Made in Taiwan, assembled in Canada, and reprogrammed in the UK– Hubert Kang is an award-winning advertising and documentary photographer that has worked in the industry for over ten years with clients such as Nike, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, and VISA. After completing a Bachelor's in Commerce at The University of British Columbia, Hubert went on to receive a Master's in Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication.
codi lynn
content creator & podcast host
Codi Lynn is the motherhood travel blogger behind Creative Wife and Joyful Worker. This year marks six years of blogging and her third year running her blog and social media accounts as a business. Codi Lynn has a background in business communications, Graphic Design and recently completed the Digital Marketing course through Jelly Academy.
anna bennett
pinterest marketing expert
Power influencer and Pinterest marketing strategist, Anna Bennett, is the owner of White Glove Social Media and co-founder of True North Marketing Inc. As a Pinterest for business expert, she’s been helping businesses supercharge traffic and sales growth with Pinterest since 2012.
Darian Kovacs
founder of jelly marketing
Darian Kovacs, founding partner of the award-winning Digital Marketing and PR firm known as Jelly. Darian Kovacs brings over 15 years of experience in marketing, communications, and public relations. Through Jelly Marketing, Darian has worked with various national and global brands, helping to build and execute their digital & PR strategies.
Shay merritt
Managing director
team jilly
Shay is a multi-tasking fashion business woman, who was worked in all aspects of the fashion industry for 14 years. She has been a part of Team Jilly for 7 years and helps manage all aspects of the business. Her creativity and style come straight from the heart and radiate through her work.
Angela Henderson
business consultant
Angela is an international award winning business consultant, speaker and podcaster who has helped 1000's of women in business get all the pieces in place to have consistent 5-figure months and multiple 6-figure years... without burning out in the process. Hailing from Brisbane, Australia, Angela has a decade worth of experience creating not one, but two highly successful businesses.
Carson ting
illustrator, chairman ting
Born and raised in Toronto but has called Vancouver home for the last 13 years. He loves it here more than any other person from Toronto ever has. After graduating with a Bachelor's in Design from Ontario College of Art and Design, Carson entered the world of advertising as an art director and has since developed award-winning campaigns for everything from cars, TVs, basketball shoes, and burgers (even though he doesn’t eat meat). He currently runs an art and design studio called Chairman Ting.
Dr. Ed Osburn
The chiropractic philanthropist
#1-ranked iTunes podcaster, best-selling author, and 2-Comma Club award winner, Dr. Ed Osburn, is one of the leading visionaries in the Chiropractic industry. Dr. Ed is on a mission to shine the light of Chiropractic around the globe by equipping doctors to expand their reach and influence beyond the four walls of their practices.
Sullivan Geneau
digital ads coordinator
Sullivan is a Digital Ads Coordinator at Jelly Digital Marketing & PR and an Instructor at Jelly Academy, a digital marketing school in the Fraser Valley. He has experience running successful digital ads campaigns in various industries ranging from real estate to lifestyle products.
Caroline carter
Partner, csuite content
Caroline is a pioneer in the growing field of leadership branding and executive communications. After a decade of working in PR, she teamed up with award-winning journalist, Remy Scalza, to launch CSuite Content. Their boutique thought leadership agency focuses solely on business leaders, helping them define their personal brand, share their vision with a global audience and bring a human story to their business.
Blair kaplan venables, president of
blair kaplan communications
President of Blair Kaplan Communications, a Pemberton based PR agency that specializes in social media marketing. With over 11 years of experience as an entrepreneur and social media marketer, she was inspired to write her first book. She’s also a national speaker and on the Board of Directors for the Pemberton Chamber of Commerce.
Josie heisig
influencer marketing specialist
destination british columbia
Destination British Columbia’s Josie Heisig works with social media influencers to showcase the beauty of her home province. With a background in broadcast journalism, she relishes her role as a storyteller—all to inspire others to explore BC’s wild landscape.
Danielle Wiebe
CEO of business babes collective
Danielle Wiebe (@danilivinglife), is the Founder and CEO of Business Babes Collective (@businessbabesco), a global inclusive community for female entrepreneurs focused on education, community and impact. Danielle Wiebe helps women thrive in their businesses and connects them through events, workshops, and masterminds in 5 chapters that expand across North America.
Isabelle Mercier-Turcotte
Brand strategist
Isabelle Mercier-Turcotte is a 'no-nonsense' dynamo, born to catapult passionate entrepreneurs to build infectious and impactful brands, businesses and lives. As one of North America’s Top Small Business Influencers; best-selling author, TEDx speaker with more than 2 Million views, and TV show host, Isabelle’s sole purpose is to empower FIVE Million Entrepreneurs to rock their businesses and lives into shape by creating a worldwide “My Life, My Biz, My Way” Movement.
Nikki thibodeau, shopify
victoria community manager
An insanely passionate individual, Nikki loves pairing up with entrepreneurs to help them grow their business. She is currently working at Shopify as the Victoria Community Manager, creating free resources for Victoria’s entrepreneurs to level up. Her favourite things to talk about are your business, content marketing, and how dogs are the biggest gift to mankind.
Antoine Bonicalzi
marketing director, cyberimpact
Antoine has been involved in digital marketing since 2009. Occupying key roles in several agencies, he has helped hundreds of small businesses succeed with digital marketing. Today, as the marketing director for Cyberimpact, a Canadian email marketing platform, he has the responsibility of growing its user base across the country.
