NC’s schools of Business and Management, and Hospitality, Tourism and Sport, have launched a new virtual speaker series to shine the spotlight on entrepreneurship with two exciting upcoming speakers on the roster.
The series will kick off on February 9 at 9:30 a.m. with former Dragon’s Den host Bruce Croxon, and will continue on March 24 with NC alumna and former RW&CO president Lora Tisi.
Justin Williams, dean, Business, Hospitality, Tourism and Sport, noted that the featured speakers will come from a cross-section of backgrounds, but all will present on the theme of entrepreneurship – often, highlighting cross-cutting themes such as diversity, inclusion, indigenization or sustainability.
“The speaker series is an initiative that is intended to enrich the learning of our students and highlight the integration between the world of work and their learning journey here at NC,” said Williams. “We wanted to integrate the great things that our faculty are already doing with guest speakers and share them with the NC community. We are also lucky to have support from our friends at RBC to help support our entrepreneurship ecosystem.”
Each speaker event will be open to the NC community to attend (limited access, first come, first served). NC students may pre-register via Eventbrite (Niagara College email address required).
Faculty will collect questions in advance of the sessions and will pose them to the speakers following their formal presentations. Each event is expected to run one-and-a-half hours long.
Bruce Croxon: Feb. 9, 9:30 a.m.
Bruce Croxon
Visit Feb. 9 Bruce Croxon Eventbrite page here.
Associated class presentation: Patti Wallington, TOUR1450 – Tourism Entrepreneurship
Bruce Croxon made his mark as a digital pioneer by co-founding Lavalife and revolutionizing how people connect. Under his direction, he grew this early tech start-up into the marquee brand in online dating with over two million users. Partner, chairman and CEO, Croxon helped lead the company’s growth from four to 600 employees, while achieving revenue of just under $100 million. Since the sale of Lavalife, he has been active as both an investor and advisor in growth-stage companies in the technology sector. As an ex Dragon on CBC’s Dragons’ Den, Croxon added a broad range of businesses and products to his portfolio that tapped into his passion for digital media, health and marketing. Croxon currently helms Round13, a company dedicated to investment in growth-stage Canadian tech companies. He also co-hosts The Disruptors on BNN and CTV, a weekly show spotlighting Canadian business and believes our entrepreneurs can hold their own with anyone in the world.
Lora Tisi: March 24, 9:30 a.m.
Lora Tisi, NC alumna (class of 1979, Fashion Merchandising), former president of RW&CO.
Visit March 24 Lora Tisi Eventbrite page here.
Associated class presentation: Chris Treschak, MKTG1204 – Sales and Success Fundamentals
Lora Tisi has over 30 years experience as an international retailer, leading several team’s business growth and brand initiatives including revenue and profit growth, merchant and brand leadership – most recently, as former president of the RW&CO brand for Reitmans Canada Limited (delivering 18 consecutive quarters of sales and margin growth. Menswear results were particularly strong, with product and brand collaboration with NHL superstars, such as PK Subban, Erik Karlsson, Morgan Reilly and Mark Schieffele, resulting in significant sales and market share increases across both genders.
In 2000, Tisi became president of American Eagle Outfitters and launched the brand across Canada. The team was successful with the brand launch, opening 46 stores, coast to coast in 108 days, exceeding first-year profit targets, and becoming a brand of choice for Canadian teens.
Prior to American Eagle, Tisi spent 17 years building the four banner, two-country, 900-store chain, The Northern Group. By leveraging the marquis brand, Northern Reflections, total sales grew to $1 billion (Canadian). Unquestionably, the U.S. stores result is a proud achievement, as this success eclipsed any other Canadian apparel entry into the U.S. for sales, growth and profit.
Tisi graduated from Niagara College’s Fashion Merchandising program in 1979. She was featured in Encore magazine’s 2019 issue [View article on page 25 of digital magazine here.]
