“Every single person is filled with potential and value; entrepreneurship unlocks both. It’s the key to finding and fulfilling your purpose.”
In partnership with the Coca-Cola Foundation’s 10,000 Women Entrepreneurs Initiative, Startup Canada is celebrating and spotlighting leading Canadian Women Entrepreneurs. Startup Canada was pleased to sit down with Mary Doyle, Co-founder & Program Developer of Rural on Purpose to learn about their journey and the impact of their work.
With over 28 years of experience working in private-sector, non-profit, and government, Mary works to improve economic opportunities for people living in rural areas. Her innovative Coworking Takeover Challenge™ program builds a “freelance friendly” ecosystem in a community in just 30 days and has been successfully run in communities across Canada and as far south as Texas.
Mary has been acknowledged as a leading businessperson and educator, and has also been recognized by Prime Minister Trudeau for her commitment to advancing Canadian entrepreneurship.
SC: In one sentence, what does being an entrepreneur mean to you?
MD: Being an entrepreneur means being solution-oriented and fearlessly optimistic about the future.
SC: Tell us about your entrepreneurial ventures and what role they play in your life.
MD: I have been both an entrepreneur supporter and an entrepreneur. I’ve coached over 300 new and existing business owners when I worked as an enterprise facilitator for Hastings County. I was the founder and the executive director for a regional not-for-profit focused on supporting entrepreneurs. I introduced Startup Canada and Techstars (Startup Weekend) to the Bay of Quinte as a community-lead.
As an entrepreneur and business owner, I founded a 7-year Adult Education Business with 26 full-time employees and was named Business Person of the Year in Kingston in 2010. Currently, I am the co-founder and program developer for Rural on Purpose, a social enterprise working to create entrepreneurial rural communities around the world.
Service is at the heart of everything I do.
SC: What motivated or propelled you to become an entrepreneur?
MD: There’s a difference between being an entrepreneur or business owner and being entrepreneurial. Having an entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial ambition will serve you in anything you do. I’ve always been entrepreneurial but I became an entrepreneur when I was on maternity leave from my teaching position and started my first business retraining adult workers.
SC: What are you most proud of related to your ventures?
MD: I’m most proud of the relationships I’ve built over the years. We are simply stronger together and growing your community will sustain you through the tough times and propel you through the best times.
SC: What inspires you to keep going?
MD: One thought: 150 years from now every living person today will be gone. We are the stewards of this time in history. We have what every other historical cohort has had—unimaginable opportunity and devastating challenges. We are responsible for creating our own defining moments. These are our people. This is our time. This is our place in history.
SC: What’s the next mountain you’re climbing and what’s still left undone?
MD: Bridging the gap between rural and urban while supporting the growth of entrepreneurial rural communities, and elevating the discussion around both. As rural advocates, we spend a lot of time talking to each other but that’s not going to close the gap. My focus this year is telling the rural story to urban audiences.
SC: What has been your biggest learning along the way?
MD: Every single person is filled with potential and value; entrepreneurship unlocks both. It’s the key to finding and fulfilling your purpose.
SC: Have you identified or confronted any systemic barriers through your journey? How do you persevere through them?
MD: If there is one barrier, it’s the perception of social enterprises that are for-profit businesses. There’s a baseline of suspicion and distrust of corporate entities. It’s an underlying message that’s reflected in government policy, funding, and communications. That messaging needs to change if, as a country, we want to see more sustainable social enterprise solutions.
Entrepreneurs exist to solve problems and typically they solve the problem and then look for money. Non-profits typically start with funding before providing solutions. Risk is assumed by the entrepreneur and yet there is a negative association with profit, which is—ironically—the thing that leads to sustainability and scale.
SC: What advice do you have for those just beginning to embark on their entrepreneurial journey?
MD: Take stock of where you are at this moment and where you are in your journey. Don’t wait until you achieve your goal to be happy. The truth is, it’s the beginning when you are struggling to figure it all out that you will remember the most. Your first customer is often more impactful than your biggest customer.
SC: Where can people go to learn more about your journey and organization?
MD: On LinkedIn, on our website, @ruralonpurpose across social media, and on medium.
SC: What’s your big vision for Canada and the World over the next 20 years?
MD: Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world by area. That won’t change 20 years from now. Connectivity, whether it is our digital infrastructure or the Transcontinental Railway of the 1800s, is at the heart of what makes us Canadian. The railway was about the birth of Canada and looking back at today 20 years from now, I would like to be able to say that we understood that digital connectivity was about our national identity as well; that we understood that the infrastructure struggle was never a “rural” issue—it was a Canadian issue.
SC: What do you think today’s entrepreneurs should be focused on for a better, brighter future?
MD: Spend time defining what success is for you—look for purpose-fit. Other people are going to try to define it for you and that’s only going to lead you down some misaligned pathways. For example, do you want to create a self-sustaining business that stays small and supports you and your family? Or does your business idea solve a big problem that you want to scale for impact? We need both and there are supports and pathways for both—but it starts with self-awareness and goal setting.
Are you looking for an opportunity to define your own goals? Join the Startup Canada Women Entrepreneurs Network to gain access to resources, community events, and more!