Melissa (she/her) is a mom, wife, entrepreneur - and considers herself a catalyst for change.

As a Business Advisor, she loves partnering with passionate, people-focused owners - especially women, helping them grow their skills and confidence to take their business to the next level - while also living a life full of choice and balance.

Melissa brings over 20+ years experience in corporate, government, non-profit and small business environments. As an advisor, she has worked with over 300 businesses across North America in industries ranging from design, trade, tourism, professional services, real estate, health and wellness, fitness and software. She has helped companies double their revenue within one year, worked with owners to create systems and leadership teams that have allowed them to step away from the business on maternity leave and implement technology that has increased productivity by over 25%.

Steeped in an environment of entrepreneurs who ran several family businesses, including a large family farm, a high -end children's clothing store and a railroad company, Melissa was inspired to obtain a degree in Small Business and Entrepreneurship from Mount Royal University. During her time at university and while learning the strategies to be a successful entrepreneur, Melissa founded and ran two companies: a design studio and an import company.

Melissa specializes in helping business owners articulate and share their vision, build strategic plans, understand their financials to build cashflow plans and projections, develop systems and processes to reduce dependency on the owner, define their brand and connect with customers,  and as an AcuMax consultant, build strength-based teams through leadership, culture, training, and recruiting. She works with businesses across all stages, from start-up to preparing to sell the business.

Melissa’s mantra is “choose not chase.” She believes it’s about setting goals - and setting limits; articulating a clear vision and path to achieve them and not losing sight of the important things in life.

Outside of work, Melissa stays grounded by spending time with her family, skiing, camping, dipping her toes into the ocean, knitting, canning and the odd game of lawn bowling.