Meet Your 2026 Business Sisters Trailblazers
More than 20 women business owners across Prescott-Russell and Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry were nominated by local Economic Development Officers and Entrepreneurship Centre officials for this year’s Trailblazer Panel.
Choosing just four was no small task.
We were looking for women whose businesses and leadership show what is possible in our rural communities: vision, resilience, impact, creativity and the willingness to build something meaningful. The four women below bring very different stories, but they share a practical, get-it-done kind of courage.
We are thrilled to introduce the 2026 Business Sisters Trailblazers, who will take the stage at our Annual Conference in Cornwall on Monday, November 9.
Chantal Lavergne, Oh Color Me
Casselman entrepreneur Chantal Lavergne is the founder of Oh Color Me, a Canadian brand whose pocket-sized colouring books are now carried in more than 300 stores across Canada and the United States, less than two years after launch. A self-taught illustrator and lifelong entrepreneur, Chantal has built her business by trusting her instincts, saying yes to unexpected opportunities and learning as she goes. Her rapid growth has also earned her accelerated mentorship through The Forum’s Scotiabank Women Initiative-sponsored program. Chantal’s story is a great reminder that you do not need the whole path mapped out before you begin.
Jennifer Glenn, Pick, Plant and Prune Inc.
Jennifer Glenn founded Pick, Plant and Prune Inc. in 2014 and has brought her eye for beautiful, abundant outdoor spaces to clients across Ottawa and the surrounding region. But Jennifer’s work reaches well beyond individual gardens. Through The Abundance Garden, she helps grow fresh produce for local food banks and families, including a community garden tended by Armed Forces veterans. An educator, volunteer and community builder in a field still largely dominated by men, Jennifer makes gardening feel more accessible, sustainable and joyful. Her newest chapter includes developing cut-flower and market gardens on a five-acre Limoges farm.
Sylviane Dutrisac, Café Butte & Bine Farm
Sylviane Dutrisac and her husband Émeric have created something special on their South Glengarry farm: Café Butte & Bine Farm, a destination bakery café, farmstay and organic market garden. After a career in translation and localization, Sylviane leapt from the corporate world into entrepreneurship, building the business alongside her family. On a quiet dirt road, they have proven that when the offering is thoughtful, delicious and deeply rooted in the land, people will come. Sylviane’s vision celebrates seasonal food, rural hospitality and connection, while her role as vice-president of the Eastern Ontario Agrifood Network helps strengthen the wider local food community.
Tara MacWhirter, Garden Path Homemade Soap
Tara MacWhirter has been a Business Sister from the very beginning, when our very first gathering was held in the Alexandria arena community hall. A former teacher, Tara turned a soap-making hobby into Garden Path Homemade Soap, a flourishing Vankleek Hill destination known for all-natural bath and body products made with herbs and flowers grown on her five-acre property. Her business grew during the pandemic, but its roots go much deeper: in a lifelong love of making things, nurturing curiosity and caring for the natural world. Tara also contributes to monarch butterfly monitoring, helping protect an endangered species that has become part of her business’s visual identity.
These four women will close the day with an honest, lively conversation about building businesses, responding to what life throws at you and creating impact right where you are.
Join us on Monday, November 9, in Cornwall for the 2026 Business Sisters Annual Conference. Come meet Chantal, Jennifer, Sylviane and Tara, and be part of a room full of women who understand that rural entrepreneurship is never just about one person or one business.
Get your conference ticket here.
More than 20 women business owners across Prescott-Russell and Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry were nominated by local Economic Development Officers and Entrepreneurship Centre officials for this year’s Trailblazer Panel.
Choosing just four was no small task.
We were looking for women whose businesses and leadership show what is possible in our rural communities: vision, resilience, impact, creativity and the willingness to build something meaningful. The four women below bring very different stories, but they share a practical, get-it-done kind of courage.
We are thrilled to introduce the 2026 Business Sisters Trailblazers, who will take the stage at our Annual Conference in Cornwall on Monday, November 9.
Chantal Lavergne, Oh Color Me
Casselman entrepreneur Chantal Lavergne is the founder of Oh Color Me, a Canadian brand whose pocket-sized colouring books are now carried in more than 300 stores across Canada and the United States, less than two years after launch. A self-taught illustrator and lifelong entrepreneur, Chantal has built her business by trusting her instincts, saying yes to unexpected opportunities and learning as she goes. Her rapid growth has also earned her accelerated mentorship through The Forum’s Scotiabank Women Initiative-sponsored program. Chantal’s story is a great reminder that you do not need the whole path mapped out before you begin.
Jennifer Glenn, Pick, Plant and Prune Inc.
Jennifer Glenn founded Pick, Plant and Prune Inc. in 2014 and has brought her eye for beautiful, abundant outdoor spaces to clients across Ottawa and the surrounding region. But Jennifer’s work reaches well beyond individual gardens. Through The Abundance Garden, she helps grow fresh produce for local food banks and families, including a community garden tended by Armed Forces veterans. An educator, volunteer and community builder in a field still largely dominated by men, Jennifer makes gardening feel more accessible, sustainable and joyful. Her newest chapter includes developing cut-flower and market gardens on a five-acre Limoges farm.
Sylviane Dutrisac, Café Butte & Bine Farm
Sylviane Dutrisac and her husband Émeric have created something special on their South Glengarry farm: Café Butte & Bine Farm, a destination bakery café, farmstay and organic market garden. After a career in translation and localization, Sylviane leapt from the corporate world into entrepreneurship, building the business alongside her family. On a quiet dirt road, they have proven that when the offering is thoughtful, delicious and deeply rooted in the land, people will come. Sylviane’s vision celebrates seasonal food, rural hospitality and connection, while her role as vice-president of the Eastern Ontario Agrifood Network helps strengthen the wider local food community.
Tara MacWhirter, Garden Path Homemade Soap
Tara MacWhirter has been a Business Sister from the very beginning, when our very first gathering was held in the Alexandria arena community hall. A former teacher, Tara turned a soap-making hobby into Garden Path Homemade Soap, a flourishing Vankleek Hill destination known for all-natural bath and body products made with herbs and flowers grown on her five-acre property. Her business grew during the pandemic, but its roots go much deeper: in a lifelong love of making things, nurturing curiosity and caring for the natural world. Tara also contributes to monarch butterfly monitoring, helping protect an endangered species that has become part of her business’s visual identity.
These four women will close the day with an honest, lively conversation about building businesses, responding to what life throws at you and creating impact right where you are.
Join us on Monday, November 9, in Cornwall for the 2026 Business Sisters Annual Conference. Come meet Chantal, Jennifer, Sylviane and Tara, and be part of a room full of women who understand that rural entrepreneurship is never just about one person or one business.
Get your conference ticket here.
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