Women are the real architects of society. – Harriet Beecher Stowe

This year, we wanted to celebrate International Women’s Day by going through the archives to find our favourite stories about women in business throughout Atlantic Canada.  

Here the most inspirational badass females ABM has had the privilege to cover.

Forged by Fire: The triumph of Anne Whelan
First published in the May/June 2014 issue: How the Seafair Capital CEO evolved from social worker to community developer to single mother to serial entrepreneur and now – Atlantic Canada’s 2014 CEO of the Year.

She’s the boss
From the May/June 2013 issue: At age 30, Cathy Bennett had been working for McDonald’s for 14 years. She was ready to be an owner, not an employee. The McDonald’s franchise application process was rigorous—interviews, screening, and financial checks—but Bennett finally found herself in a room with the chief financial officer of McDonald’s Canada, stating her case.

Scents & sensibility
Nova Scotia’s Barb Stegemann is on an inspiring entrepreneurial journey: using her business to help struggling nations recover from war and strife. Her motto? Make perfume, not war . (January/February 2018)

The meaningful munificence of Margaret McCain
The cover story of our September/October 2012 issue: For the former lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick and widow of one of Canada’s most successful industrialists, having it all is not nearly as important as giving it all away.

Eye of the tiger
The cover story of March/April 2018 featuring Lisa Coates: From finance to HR to marketing, being a new business owner is far from easy. Even so, this former real estate agent turned contractor says she’s having the time of her life.

Trailblazers
Be the change you want to see: a phrase that’s easy to say, but much harder to do. The following women have done just that, often overcoming cultural and gender barriers in pursuit of their dreams. Their journeys have been epic; their actions inspirational. But most importantly, they have beaten a path that makes it easier for other women to follow in their footsteps. This issue, Atlantic Business pays tribute to women who have boldly gone where few women have gone before. (January/February 2017)

Atlantic Canada’s unprecedented CEO
Lydia Bugden is doing what no other woman in Atlantic Canada, and perhaps the entire country, is doing. She’s running a major law firm (January/February 2015).

Tales from the front line
In the July/August 2016 issue Paula Morand, Roxanne Fairweather and Nancy Mathis offer one united message: if you want to be successful in business, this is what you need to do.

MsDirection
Four badass women share the lessons they learned from veering off the wrong career path and how they found their way back through self-employment (cover story September/October 2018).

“We were the three ‘beeotches’ threatening to close down their school”
The Madawaska Maliseet First Nation is one of the most prosperous communities in New Brunswick. Here’s how three Bernard women helped make it happen (January/February 2019).