Ryerson Campus Lions Club and Toronto Trillium Lions Club is teaming up to bring you our 2nd annual business forum! Our guest speakers are young entrepreneurs and professionals who will talk to you about their businesses and what you can do to become successful in the business world. Join us on Thursday, February 13th at 6:30PM. Refreshments and snacks will be provided!
Guest Speaker Biographies
Joanna Duong-Chang (or "Jo" as she is often referred to) is the Founder & CEO of Henkaa, a lifestyle fashion brand that specializes in ConvertiStyle - multifunctional, convertible and modular apparel and accessories. The company name is actually derived from the word "henka," which means "change" in Japanese, a subject that Jo knows a thing or two about. Her family came to Canada with little more than the shirts on their backs and as the youngest of five children, being resourceful and doing more with less has been ingrained in her. Jo grew up in one of the most economically challenged neighbourhoods in the country and at an early age vowed to change her future, make a difference and not be a victim of her circumstances. Through hard work, perseverance, heart and smarts, Joanna has risen to the challenge - she obtained an Honours Bachelor of Math, Business and Systems Management degree from the University of Waterloo and experienced a successful career in sales at Dell Financial, Xerox and Real Estate before starting Henkaa in 2009.
Since the company's humble beginnings as a hobby in the basement of Jo's rented house, Henkaa has helped thousands of women around the globe solve their fashion challenges, get more mileage out of their wardrobe and feel beautiful. Henkaa is the unification of all Jo's loves in life - people, technology, fashion and sales and she has relied on her background, instinct and experience to drive the business forward. In 2013, the company made the 15th spot on the prestigious PROFIT HOT 50 ranking of Canada's top growth companies and Joanna also made the PROFIT Chatelaine W100 list of Canada's top female entrepreneurs.
AEON Attire was founded by three Toronto teens;
Weiming Yuan, Wei Dong Yuan, and Patrick Lum in the summer of 2012. The three always had a flare for fashion and finally decided to turn their dream into reality.
The AEON Attire story has been filled with many obstacles and challenges but the team is not planning on slowing down anytime soon. AEON Attire is a product design firm that create accessories that combine fashion and function seamlessly. Since their debut in October 2012, AEON Attire has sold internationally in Asia, Europe, USA, and many more.
They have spread to include 25 stores in Canada and the US. AEON has created the world’s first pant-slimming accessory, a scarf that clothes homeless youth, a youthful 5-panel with classic materials, sunglasses that are ready to shake up a sleepy industry, leather gloves that work with your smartphone and much more!
Peter Poon is Senior Manager and Head of the Canadian Online Mobile division at the Bank of Montreal. His mandate is to lead the mobile channel strategy and execution division across the Canadian Personal Banking line of business. His career at the Bank of Montreal started off in 2007 where he has lead and successfully delivered multiple high level initiatives that offer BMO customers the ability to conveniently and securely perform banking on their mobile devices. Since graduating from the University of Toronto in 2004, Peter has held progressively more senior positions at different financial institutions.
Early in 2006, Peter and a group of his friends from University took a leap in to the world of entrepreneurism and co-founded MSM Technologies Ltd. During this time, he played a leading role in launching an innovative financial technology firm specializing in delivering customizable technical and fundamental equity analysis via mobile devices. This business idea grew quickly and caught the attention of an Asia financial institution where it was then sold. Peter has taken this invaluable experience to his role at BMO, and leaving his doors open for future entrepreneurial opportunities.
Michael Yeung is the CEO of CMC Markets Canada, the Canadian division of one of the leading online financial services provider specializing in Contract For Differences (CFD) and Foreign Exchange (FX) trading. He started with the company in 2007 as a Sales Executive responsible for growing the Canadian client base and moved through the ranks to become the Chief Executive Officer in 2012 now overseeing the Canadian operations.
CMC Markets began as a foreign exchange broker in 1989 by entrepreneur Peter Cruddas with only a £10,000 investment. In 1996 he launched the world’s first online forex trading platform and now has offices in 12 countries and services clients in 98 countries. CMC Markets success is founded on its ability to continually innovate and deliver a wide range of products and tools previously available to professional traders.
