“It just feels so true,” says Cameron. “My friends don't all live in the same places or even in the same time zones, which is actually really helpful - because then there's always someone available. But this [text chat with friends] is the place where I really get reminded of who I am, of my strengths, of my values. This is the place where I get encouraged to do, pursue opportunities. It's the place I can go to after hard times and they're there, they talk me off a bajillion and a half ledges. They're the ones who also keep me honest, which is really important. They remind me when I'm going to take on too much and just remind me of like, ‘Hey, remember the time that you... That last time that you said yes to all these things and how you felt afterwards?’ They are the best sponsors, the ones who go ‘Yeah, go for that opportunity. We will be here and hold you through what happens.’ That is so tremendously valuable because you can both be vulnerable and seen and we all want to be seen and known. And that is the place where that can really happen. And I think for me it feels really powerful that it's a group of fellow ambitious, smart, amazing women that do it too.”
Cameron is describing a text chat with her friends, but she could also be describing the support and connection women get from The Forum — a national organization that educates, mentors, connects, sponsors and champions women entrepreneurs.
As CEO of The Forum, Cameron says the principles of the organization have remained true since its start 21 year ago: believing in women, believing in their visions, and believing in the change they can make in their families, communities and the economy when they are provided with the resources and connections they need to succeed.
Cameron joins host Manjit Minhas on the first episode of season three of A Wealth of Women’s Stories podcast, presented by IG Wealth Management. Cameron talks about leadership and her role as CEO of The Forum, a Canadian national organization that educates mentors and connects women entrepreneurs to thrive. She has won numerous awards and has been recognized in the community by being selected as Business in Vancouver's top 40 under 40 and was awarded BC's Most Influential Women in Finance Award, by BCBusiness.
Cameron says championing and sponsoring women is really important to her.
“[Champions and sponsors] are people who are talking about you when you're not in the room, like the good talking behind your back,” says Cameron. “So they are the ones where they hear about an opportunity or someone is asking for a quote or a recommendation, they're putting you forward.”
Manjit Minhas agrees and says, even for herself, she finds it “hard to toot your own horn.”
“It's hard to put your hand up no matter who you are,” says Minhas. “Yes, even for myself to say, ‘yeah, I want to be at that table or yeah, I want to be involved in that’.”
Cameron echoes this thought, because she says, even someone as successful as Manjit Minhas feels this way.
“Even Manjit sometimes feels like she can't put her hand up for things, and this is why there's so much we can do to support one another,” says Cameron. “I do sometimes think it may sound silly, but the encouragement of going, ‘Hey, have you thought about this? Have you considered putting your hand up for this?’”
When it comes to sharing inspiration and supporting one another, Cameron truly walks the walk. Her book, Canada’s 150 Women: Conversations with Champions, Leaders and Luminaries, celebrates women’s stories and journeys, and came from interviews with university presidents, business leaders, sports figures, former provincial premiers and a prime minister.
“I really set out to try to ask questions that might be different than what are typically asked,” says Cameron. “I wanted to share the complexity and the fullness that we all are as humans and provide women with the opportunity to do that.”
Cameron says the book was a way to make sure these women’s stories were captured as a part of history.
“There's so many stories that felt so meaningful to me that the women chose to share,” says Cameron.
Cameron says she often thinks about one story in particular, told by the first woman premier of Alberta, Alison Redford.
“Before [Alison Redford] ran for politics she really loved wearing these really colourful cardigans and blazers — it was something that she had grown up with and was really meaningful and important to her,” says Cameron. “And the world of politics is mostly gray and black suits — and [Alison] shared that she, reflecting now on her experience, had wondered when could she have brought back those colourful blazers?”
Cameron says this is “a powerful testament as we're trying to navigate these systems that weren't built or designed for us.”
“We're trying to balance some version of playing the game to make it in there, versus throw it all out and create new worlds and new ways and find ourselves amidst those two,” says Cameron. “It is hard to balance and shift and still stay real and authentic to ourselves.”
She says she hopes that women are inspired and see parts of themselves in the stories shared in the book.
“Maybe [the reader] imagines, ‘oh gosh, if she was able to or could do that or had wished she had done that’, maybe that could give me a little bit more courage and strength to do so too’,” says Cameron.
Minhas says she totally identifies with the blazer story, because it resonated with something she went through at Dragon’s Den.
“That was something that I had to fight for too,” says Minhas. “I was asked like everybody else previous 10 years before me that wore muted tones of black and white and gray and I said, ‘No, I'm going to wear red.’ And oh my gawd, did everybody's head flip? And it's interesting how some small detail, unless you've been through it yourself, it's not that small. It means so much.”
At every point — through her book, The Forum, and her words — Cameron focusses on creating community and supporting women.
“I feel like we really created a masterclass on reminding women that they don't have to be alone in figuring these pieces out,” says Cameron. “And my first thing is always find your people. Find your people. Start somewhere.”
You can listen to the full episode here or on your favourite podcast streaming app!
Learn more at ig.ca/women.
