Manel Yahaioui - A Journey, A Mission: Contributing to Social Change with Business Sisters
We are delighted to welcome a new intern to the Business Sister community!
There’s something refreshing about bringing a new perspective into your business—especially when that perspective comes with curiosity, initiative, and a willingness to jump right in. This season, we’re thrilled to welcome Ms. Manel Yahaioui to the Business Sisters team as our newest intern.
Manel joins us through the Social Entrepreneurship program at Collège Boréal’s Ottawa campus—a program that’s close to my heart, since I have the privilege of teaching it. While Manel has been based in Toronto for her studies, it was our program coordinator who connected us late last fall. What started as a simple outreach about a potential internship quickly turned into a 7-week collaboration, with Manel joining us for 35 hours a week.
Manel's internship couldn’t have come at a better time.
Like many business owners, I’ve had a running list of “I’ll get to it eventually” tasks. You know the ones. Organizing supplies, tightening up systems, documenting processes that live entirely in your brain. Important things… just never urgent enough to bump to the top of the list. As I write this, Manel is in the office tackling one of those long-overdue projects: reorganizing our meeting and event supplies. It’s the kind of work that instantly creates breathing room—and that I simply never carved out time for.
But what’s been even more impactful is what happens beyond the visible tasks. Having Manel here has pushed me to slow down and explain how things actually work behind the scenes. The result? A clear realization that too much of our day-to-day has been running on instinct instead of structure. They say teaching helps you learn—and in this case, it’s been a wake-up call. We need more clarity, simpler procedures, and far less clutter—physically and operationally.
Not that it's been all work and no play. Manel and I got to hit the road on a few occasions to go visit Business Sister sites for upcoming events. These will be revealed shortly, but here is a hint of where we've been!
As a self-professed "city girl" she got to appreciate our Eastern Ontario landscapes and attractions!
So Manel, thank you. Thank you for stepping in, for asking questions, and for helping bring order to the chaos we’d learned to live with. We’re lucky to have you with us—and even luckier for the changes you’re already helping us make!
We are delighted to welcome a new intern to the Business Sister community!
There’s something refreshing about bringing a new perspective into your business—especially when that perspective comes with curiosity, initiative, and a willingness to jump right in. This season, we’re thrilled to welcome Ms. Manel Yahaioui to the Business Sisters team as our newest intern.
Manel joins us through the Social Entrepreneurship program at Collège Boréal’s Ottawa campus—a program that’s close to my heart, since I have the privilege of teaching it. While Manel has been based in Toronto for her studies, it was our program coordinator who connected us late last fall. What started as a simple outreach about a potential internship quickly turned into a 7-week collaboration, with Manel joining us for 35 hours a week.
Manel's internship couldn’t have come at a better time.
Like many business owners, I’ve had a running list of “I’ll get to it eventually” tasks. You know the ones. Organizing supplies, tightening up systems, documenting processes that live entirely in your brain. Important things… just never urgent enough to bump to the top of the list. As I write this, Manel is in the office tackling one of those long-overdue projects: reorganizing our meeting and event supplies. It’s the kind of work that instantly creates breathing room—and that I simply never carved out time for.
But what’s been even more impactful is what happens beyond the visible tasks. Having Manel here has pushed me to slow down and explain how things actually work behind the scenes. The result? A clear realization that too much of our day-to-day has been running on instinct instead of structure. They say teaching helps you learn—and in this case, it’s been a wake-up call. We need more clarity, simpler procedures, and far less clutter—physically and operationally.
Not that it's been all work and no play. Manel and I got to hit the road on a few occasions to go visit Business Sister sites for upcoming events. These will be revealed shortly, but here is a hint of where we've been!
As a self-professed "city girl" she got to appreciate our Eastern Ontario landscapes and attractions!
So Manel, thank you. Thank you for stepping in, for asking questions, and for helping bring order to the chaos we’d learned to live with. We’re lucky to have you with us—and even luckier for the changes you’re already helping us make!
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