In Episode 16 of Ellected, Sarah Elder-Chamanara sits down with Kathleen Reid, founder and chief communications officer of Vancouver's Switchboard PR. Kathleeen and Sarah dive into the world of Covid communications, pitching stories and what media and government do and don't want to talk about. They round out their conversation by talking about their mutual experience of being business owners and the lack of support for female entrepreneurs who are also mothers.
Kathleen Reid is blazing a trail in a sector that values trailblazing above all else since. Since founding Vancouver’s first tech-focused PR and strategic communications firm, she has gone on to build a diverse roster of clients spanning continents, growth stages and governments. Switchboard helps multinationals to join and support the Canadian tech ecosystem, leverages strategic communications to help SMEs collaborate, grow and scale, assists startups in making names for themselves, and champions innovation to leaders at all levels of government.
All this would be impressive enough on its own, but Kathleen has achieved much of it while raising a young family, and has achieved all of it with low vision, something she opened up about in 2020. As a leader who relies on assistive tech in her personal and professional life, Kathleen’s passion for innovation as a tool for good is deeply personal.
Sarah Elder-Chamanara is the founder, creative director and owner of Madame Premier, a feminist and political clothing company based in Calgary, Alberta. With the underlying principle of seeing more women and diversity in politics, elected and in backrooms, at every level, Madame Premier creates the opportunity for conversations about why politics needs to change. Madame Premier has been featured in the National Post, CBC, Forbes and Toronto Star. Sarah is currently planning on opening Madame Premier’s first retail location in summer 2021 in Calgary.
