“Everyone should have the capacity and freedom to contribute to the world in whatever form that they choose—without any barriers.”
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 Zainab Muse, Founder & CEO of Wingd, and Founder of Creatorland to learn about her journey and the impact of her work.
Zainab Muse is an award-winning entrepreneur, process designer, interactive digital media expert, author, and filmmaker. She is continuously recognized as a strong advocate of using design to create connected communities and industries and has led many panel discussions, guest speaking roles and workshops on her many passions.
Zainab’s works have also been supported by various media outlets and key officials in the public sector at every level of the Canadian government. In addition, she is recognized as an Ottawa ambassador and was named one of the Top 10 Shifters in Ottawa in 2018 and 2019. She was also awarded Entrepreneur of the Year by the Women in Communications & Technology in 2019 and recently became the first Canadian Chapter Lead for Singapore/New York-based organization, SoGal Foundation, with a mission to close the diversity gap in entrepreneurship.
SC: In one sentence, what does being an entrepreneur mean to you?
ZM: It means being able to stay consistently curious, and being able to continually understand that creative flexibility and existential flexibility are crucial aspects of life.
SC: Tell us about your entrepreneurial venture and what role it plays and has played in your life.
ZM: I started my company when I was just graduating from University. I was studying pre-med with a minor neuroscience, so I never felt creatively free. I felt very stifled with all the rigorous, logical thoughts and processes.
Starting Wingd was this opportunity to create something that was truly mine and flex a bit of my creative muscle. I’m grateful for my scientific background because it taught me to be an analytical thinker, to be a holistic thinker, and to apply logical reasoning to a lot of situations—which really helps if you’re an entrepreneur. My education made me adaptable.
That summer, I was working in a neuroscience lab. We had a lot of Masters and Ph.D. students there, all of whom were working on interesting theses and experiments—but because they were being written in a scientific format, these amazing ideas weren’t accessible to a wider audience.
Wingd started as a media company with a focus on providing edutainment; interesting facts presented in an entertaining way for mass audiences. We ended up winning an award for one of the best blogs in Canada in 2015. It wasn’t until we won the award that I realized that we needed to profit from this company.
We added a service component: process design. Process design applies scientific thinking to businesses to help them to create better, more effective, innovative content and processes, and deliver optimal services and products.
SC: What motivated or propelled you to become an entrepreneur?
ZM: Creative freedom—I needed an outlet. Also, all of the women in my family are entrepreneurs.
We’re also immigrants. A lot of my family is still in West Africa. There’s a notion about West African personalities and work ethic—we’re an entrepreneurial group. Ghana actually has the highest count of women entrepreneurs in the world—so it’s in my blood.
The motivation came from having the support of my family, knowing I could do it, and knowing that I wanted to pursue creative freedom, as opposed to going through medical school.
SC: What are you most proud of related to your venture?
ZM: The moment I went down this path towards entrepreneurship, I also learned that I could give back what I was learning to other people that wanted to break into entrepreneurship themselves.
I’m most proud of partnering with SoGal, a nonprofit branch of a venture capital firm based in Singapore and New York. Their aim is to close the diversity gap in entrepreneurship. They provide educational resources and a network of entrepreneurs—particularly for women and people of colour around the world. They had 40 chapters around the world but not in Canada, and I was able to partner with them and launch their first Canadian chapter with my colleague in June 2019.
SC: What inspires you to keep going?
ZM: My personal belief inspires me to keep going. Everyone should have the capacity and freedom to contribute to the world in whatever form that they choose—without any barriers.
I believe that everyone has the ability to become an entrepreneur to express themselves as entrepreneurs because we all have unique talents and skills. If everyone was free to pursue what they loved, we’d solve the world’s problems because we’d all be motivated to fix, solve, and do things out of love.
SC: What’s the next mountain you’re climbing and what’s still left undone?
ZM: Technology is accelerating so fast and because of this, we’re creating more silos. There’s no pluralism and I feel that if—not just on the individual level—if at an industry level, we’re connecting and collaborating, then we can create even more innovative solutions and channels to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.
You can’t be an entrepreneur today and not think about creating products and services that are benefiting the world—not just at an environmental level but at a cultural level; a societal level. How do we create social impact through creative collaboration of industries that have been siloed as a result of the fast pace of technological advancement?
I’m actually working with two incredible people—Remco Volmer and Franco Varriano. We’re hoping to create a collective in Ottawa to merge the silos that exist to better serve creative tech entrepreneurship industries. That’s the next mountain I hope to climb.
SC: What has been your biggest learning along the way?
ZM: My biggest learning has been the ability to stay curious. Staying curious has provided me with the existential flexibility that I need to succeed, thrive, and constantly innovate as a person and as an entrepreneur who’s trying to grow a successful business.
SC: Have you identified or confronted any systemic barriers through your journey?
ZM: Absolutely. Being quite young when I started—I was still 19—I faced a lot of ageism. I’m also a woman of colour, so there were all kinds of unconscious biases geared towards me. I think a lot of entrepreneurs and individuals in certain minority groups face the same barriers. So, trying to work in that space of diversity and inclusion is very important for me.
SC: What advice do you have for those just beginning to embark on their entrepreneurial journey?
ZM: Be smart. Always start with your ‘why’. Start lean—save costs as much as possible. Try to see things from the perspective of your customer or your client. Be data-driven; I think that’s the world and the economy we’re going into. Also, seek mentors!
SC: Where can people go to learn more about your journey and organization?
ZM: LinkedIn is my primary channel, but Wingd also has a website.
SC: What’s your big vision for Canada and the World over the next 20 years?
ZM: The biggest vision I have for Canada is that we merge silos, breach diversity gaps, and support pluralism. Individually, we all have this capacity towards entrepreneurship, and if we encouraged people to contribute and come alive doing what they love, and to collaborate with a mindset for social impact—I think we would thrive as a species and we would save the world. That’s something I truly believe in.
SC: What do you think today’s entrepreneurs should be focused on for a better, brighter future?
ZM: Three things—always, always, always seek out creative collaboration with diverse people and industries.
Be curious; never stop learning; seek out mentors.
And finally, focus on your mental health and your health in general. It’s been the key to my sustainable growth as an entrepreneur and maintaining all of the different interests that I have.
Are you collaborative and curious? Join the Startup Canada Women Entrepreneurs Network to gain access to resources, community events, and more!