The Business Owner Matters: Four Workshops on Entrepreneurial Well-Being
We're rounding up the descriptions of the Workshops from the November 9 Business Sisters Conference!
After exploring the bigger picture with Workshops 1 in the morning, and turning to marketing with Workshops 2, this third workshop round brings the focus back to the person behind the business. What does success look like when it makes room for your well-being, values and life beyond work? Through reflection, conversation and a hands-on creative activity, these sessions invite you to consider the transitions you’re navigating and how you want to move forward. Please note: Rachel’s presentation will be bilingual; Bea’s and Robin’s will be in English, and Sonia’s will be in French.
Permission to Rise: Rethinking Success as an Entrepreneur
Presented bilingually in English and French by Rachel Ann Hamelin
You’ve turned your ideas, ambition and determination into a business of your own. Now, what could become possible if your definition of entrepreneurial success also included your well-being, your values and the life you want to live?
Permission to Rise is an energizing, interactive session for women entrepreneurs who are ready to create success that feels as good as it looks. Together, you’ll explore the expectations, roles and beliefs shaping the way you work, lead and make decisions, often without you even realizing it.
You’ll leave seeing yourself and your business with fresh eyes. Once you notice what has been shaping the way you work, you have a choice. You can lead a business that fits your energy, your values and your life.
You already know how to rise. This is your invitation to do it on your own terms.
About Rachel Ann Hamelin
Rachel Ann is an adult-education specialist and entrepreneur with 18 years of experience designing, developing and facilitating learning experiences in educational and organizational settings. Her work draws on expertise in pedagogy, curriculum design and knowledge translation.
Over the years, she has collaborated with numerous organizations to create content that supports learning, reflection and change. After experiencing a long and transformative burnout, she undertook extensive research and therapeutic work to better understand its signs, impacts and pathways toward healing.
Today, she brings together her professional background, leadership experience and lived insight through Project Permission, where education becomes a space for clarity, self-awareness and sustainable change.
Maintaining My Identity: Training the Brain to Detach and Maintain Self-Worth
Presented in English by Bea Tarbell
“I care deeply about my business, but my business is not my entire identity.”
Learning to separate your business from your sense of self can make it easier to receive feedback, make difficult decisions, set boundaries, delegate, manage conflict and handle financial setbacks, without feeling that every business issue is a personal judgment. Let’s explore this concept together.
About Bea Tarbell
Beatrice Johnson Tarbell is an Indigenous business leader, trainer and entrepreneur dedicated to empowering individuals and strengthening communities through education, innovation and economic development. Through JT Business Services, she brings more than 30 years of experience and a commitment to honouring tradition, inspiring change and building opportunities for future generations.
Naming the Invisible: The Transitions Women Entrepreneurs Navigate While Their Businesses Keep Moving
Presented in French by Sonia Likibi
A business can keep moving forward while the person behind it experiences loss of direction, fatigue, self-doubt or a change in identity.
In this interactive workshop, Sonia Likibi invites participants to recognize these passages, which are too often experienced in silence, and consider how they can affect the way they work, make decisions and move forward. Through examples, reflection questions and guided conversation, participants will have a chance to put words to what they’re experiencing and identify what they need to continue their journey without losing touch with themselves.
About Sonia Likibi
Sonia Likibi is a speaker, author, human resources executive and governance professional. With more than 20 years of experience in leadership, organizational transformation and supporting people, she is particularly interested in what happens internally when people keep moving forward through loss, change and self-questioning.
Her work focuses on invisible transitions, bringing attention to experiences that can affect clarity, confidence and decision-making before their effects become visible. She is the author of Quand le néant accouche d’une leader : Femme, révèle ton vrai leadership.
Mandalas for Creativity, Mindfulness & Discovery
Presented in English by Robin Patterson
Mindful mark-making is a hands-on creative process that quiets the mind and focuses attention. In this workshop, you’ll create a simple guided mandala using colourful gel pens on black cardstock. While your hands are busy, your mind is free to wander. No artistic experience is necessary.
This practice can reduce stress and promote relaxation. It can create a sense of flow, and shifting your attention to the present moment may allow new perspectives to surface. Many people find that creative mindfulness can open the door to “aha!” moments that can be hard to reach when you’re focused on a problem.
Slow down, take a break and experience the calming, meditative effects of creative practice.
About Robin Patterson
Robin Patterson is a lifelong artist who has studied graphic art, fine art, art history and theatre design. She believes creativity is key and offers art and creativity classes for all ages through her studio, Crayon Box Collective.
Founded in 2018, Crayon Box reflects Robin’s philosophy of helping people expand their curiosity and explore creative ideas. She believes art is for everyone and encourages people to move beyond familiar patterns and welcome possibility. For Robin, creativity can build confidence, open our eyes and help us see the world from a new point of view.
These four workshops offer different ways to pause, reflect and reconnect with what matters to you as a business owner. You can also explore the earlier sessions in The Bigger Picture: Your Business, Your Money, Your Next Move and Marketing Your Business: Four Conversations to Choose From.
Ready to join us? Visit the 2026 Business Sisters Annual Conference page to explore the full program and book your ticket.
We're rounding up the descriptions of the Workshops from the November 9 Business Sisters Conference!
After exploring the bigger picture with Workshops 1 in the morning, and turning to marketing with Workshops 2, this third workshop round brings the focus back to the person behind the business. What does success look like when it makes room for your well-being, values and life beyond work? Through reflection, conversation and a hands-on creative activity, these sessions invite you to consider the transitions you’re navigating and how you want to move forward. Please note: Rachel’s presentation will be bilingual; Bea’s and Robin’s will be in English, and Sonia’s will be in French.
Permission to Rise: Rethinking Success as an Entrepreneur
Presented bilingually in English and French by Rachel Ann Hamelin
You’ve turned your ideas, ambition and determination into a business of your own. Now, what could become possible if your definition of entrepreneurial success also included your well-being, your values and the life you want to live?
Permission to Rise is an energizing, interactive session for women entrepreneurs who are ready to create success that feels as good as it looks. Together, you’ll explore the expectations, roles and beliefs shaping the way you work, lead and make decisions, often without you even realizing it.
You’ll leave seeing yourself and your business with fresh eyes. Once you notice what has been shaping the way you work, you have a choice. You can lead a business that fits your energy, your values and your life.
You already know how to rise. This is your invitation to do it on your own terms.
About Rachel Ann Hamelin
Rachel Ann is an adult-education specialist and entrepreneur with 18 years of experience designing, developing and facilitating learning experiences in educational and organizational settings. Her work draws on expertise in pedagogy, curriculum design and knowledge translation.
Over the years, she has collaborated with numerous organizations to create content that supports learning, reflection and change. After experiencing a long and transformative burnout, she undertook extensive research and therapeutic work to better understand its signs, impacts and pathways toward healing.
Today, she brings together her professional background, leadership experience and lived insight through Project Permission, where education becomes a space for clarity, self-awareness and sustainable change.
Maintaining My Identity: Training the Brain to Detach and Maintain Self-Worth
Presented in English by Bea Tarbell
“I care deeply about my business, but my business is not my entire identity.”
Learning to separate your business from your sense of self can make it easier to receive feedback, make difficult decisions, set boundaries, delegate, manage conflict and handle financial setbacks, without feeling that every business issue is a personal judgment. Let’s explore this concept together.
About Bea Tarbell
Beatrice Johnson Tarbell is an Indigenous business leader, trainer and entrepreneur dedicated to empowering individuals and strengthening communities through education, innovation and economic development. Through JT Business Services, she brings more than 30 years of experience and a commitment to honouring tradition, inspiring change and building opportunities for future generations.
Naming the Invisible: The Transitions Women Entrepreneurs Navigate While Their Businesses Keep Moving
Presented in French by Sonia Likibi
A business can keep moving forward while the person behind it experiences loss of direction, fatigue, self-doubt or a change in identity.
In this interactive workshop, Sonia Likibi invites participants to recognize these passages, which are too often experienced in silence, and consider how they can affect the way they work, make decisions and move forward. Through examples, reflection questions and guided conversation, participants will have a chance to put words to what they’re experiencing and identify what they need to continue their journey without losing touch with themselves.
About Sonia Likibi
Sonia Likibi is a speaker, author, human resources executive and governance professional. With more than 20 years of experience in leadership, organizational transformation and supporting people, she is particularly interested in what happens internally when people keep moving forward through loss, change and self-questioning.
Her work focuses on invisible transitions, bringing attention to experiences that can affect clarity, confidence and decision-making before their effects become visible. She is the author of Quand le néant accouche d’une leader : Femme, révèle ton vrai leadership.
Mandalas for Creativity, Mindfulness & Discovery
Presented in English by Robin Patterson
Mindful mark-making is a hands-on creative process that quiets the mind and focuses attention. In this workshop, you’ll create a simple guided mandala using colourful gel pens on black cardstock. While your hands are busy, your mind is free to wander. No artistic experience is necessary.
This practice can reduce stress and promote relaxation. It can create a sense of flow, and shifting your attention to the present moment may allow new perspectives to surface. Many people find that creative mindfulness can open the door to “aha!” moments that can be hard to reach when you’re focused on a problem.
Slow down, take a break and experience the calming, meditative effects of creative practice.
About Robin Patterson
Robin Patterson is a lifelong artist who has studied graphic art, fine art, art history and theatre design. She believes creativity is key and offers art and creativity classes for all ages through her studio, Crayon Box Collective.
Founded in 2018, Crayon Box reflects Robin’s philosophy of helping people expand their curiosity and explore creative ideas. She believes art is for everyone and encourages people to move beyond familiar patterns and welcome possibility. For Robin, creativity can build confidence, open our eyes and help us see the world from a new point of view.
These four workshops offer different ways to pause, reflect and reconnect with what matters to you as a business owner. You can also explore the earlier sessions in The Bigger Picture: Your Business, Your Money, Your Next Move and Marketing Your Business: Four Conversations to Choose From.
Ready to join us? Visit the 2026 Business Sisters Annual Conference page to explore the full program and book your ticket.
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