FACILITYCalgary

July 23, 2019

I’ve only recently met Denise Baril, but I’ve been aware of her for several years – I get regular mailouts from her company, Workplace Speaker Network (WSN). As a public speaker myself and having some experience with speaker’s bureaus I was more than a little curious …

When I reached out to Denise for this interview she readily agreed and the meeting was set; it was informative as well as entertaining, and I felt interviewed by her as I was interviewing her. I think we might do some business!

In the beginning; Denise was born in Winnipeg, youngest of nine children. Mom, of Ukranian descent, from Brandon; dad of French descent from St. Boniface. Her family spoke English in the home. Parents were entrepreneurial – they met while working for a furrier and went on to operate retail businesses which remain in the family.

Denise recalls growing up in a loving and competitive family – her studies were ‘average’ until university when she excelled. Sports were a big part of her life, “I was always the captain” with volleyball, field hockey and badminton capturing her greatest interest. At University of Manitoba she wanted to get into Business, but couldn’t get in – so she earned earned her B.A. with a major in French, minor in Psychology. But no job. She got involved as a volunteer in the social work field which then led her to Calgary where she enrolled at University of Calgary, coming away with a B.SW. degree. Funding was handled by student loans and the bank of mom and dad. Her career ebbed and flowed from social work to marketing – she fit in a marriage, two children, a divorce - and  learned she had real passion for marketing, but a downturn in the economy produced a job loss and six months of worry …

Self-employment to start her own enterprise interwoven with teaching Extreme Networking under contract at SAIT, work at MKS Learning led her to find her sweet spot of helping companies get their message out, with a focus on spreading their word via speaking – and WSN was born and has been thriving since 2009. “I’m a connector. I like to connect, communicate and collaborate”. WSN, she explained, is a network of subject matter experts and CEOs who use speaking (she gets them gigs) to market their businesses and professional practices. She provides supports, tools and teaches her clients how to leverage their speaking to get more business and broaden their influence. AND, that has morphed into two other areas or work – perhaps aided by the challenges of the most recent economic downturn, to help her clients and her own enterprise. The first, helping her clients access programs, grants and support to leverage their businesses which gave rise to the second, using those resources to help businesses doing international trade, particularly with an agricultural focus. For someone who couldn’t get into business school, she seems to be doing OK …

Why are you successful? “Because I made a lot of mistakes along the way. I’m curious and an eager learner. It’s rooted in my family – values of faith, family and love. I started out Catholic but have evolved – now I would describe myself as more spiritual, and committed to being the best me I can be.”

What has held you back? “A habit of belief, the role my subconscious has played in holding me back. I need to, and I believe I have, overcome the belief I wasn’t strong enough. Well, turns out I was!”