Ishra

Marketing Director, Flax Home

Born and raised in Vancouver, Ishra was always a marketer and creative at heart from a young age, leaving high school recognized and being awarded top marketing student not knowing how much that would truly transcend into her future. More attracted to learning in real world business environments than being stimulated academically at the time, she began working in the promotions department at a top 40 radio station at age 19 while freelance fashion writing for local print and online publications, a time where digital was only beginning and where she learned building relationships are incredibly valuable. After gaining a solid foundation of business and marketing exposure with notable brands and personalities both big and small, she would continue on the roads less travelled to work in marketing roles across various industries including spending time in retail, agency and consumer packaged goods. Today, she is the Marketing Director for Flax Home — a woman-owned, digitally-native, direct-to-consumer Canadian business of linen home goods that has achieved 6x growth in less than 4 years. In addition, she is also a marketing mentor, angel investor and advisor to early-stage and emerging brands.

Today: Building great brands that people love with great people motivates my work. To expand, I love being part of those winning brands and building them, but ultimately the great people behind them are what truly matters. There is no business without their people. I love seeing a brand come to life in different ways from IRL to product launches or campaigns. It’s always rewarding to see people connect with the brand, what it could mean to them and the psychology behind it. I also love to see founders win and give back to the people who helped build their company to reach new heights. By aligning with female and BIPOC-led companies that are in their growth stage, I've found an avenue to scale this philosophy through supporting high potential opportunities that fit the bill.

Tomorrow: I am certified in mindfulness meditation and trained as a guide through the Lab of Meditation. This started as a curiosity and passion when I experienced the profound benefits, but it's such a valuable tool that is so important to me and helpful for others. It has really helped how I approach life in all areas including leadership. There is a much stronger focus on meditation and mental health recently, especially in the workplace. More and more, people are realizing that we aren't two separate people, we are not just the person we show up as to work and a different person outside of that. We are one whole self. Overall health and wellness is something that has been a part of my daily lifestyle for 10+ years now while meditation has been incorporated for 5 years, and I'm happy to see these 'trends' become mainstream. Some of the brands I work with are in that field — as an example, Expectful: an app-based product creating a haven of holistic care and community for all stages of motherhood. It is incredible to tie all my experiences together

The Future: I am lucky to have been in environments where I was exposed to mergers and acquisitions, angel investors and better understanding the benefits of earning equity and naturally became curious. From my perspective, investing has traditionally only been available to people who are seemingly privileged and have a ton of resources. It's really interesting to see that there is a change happening in the investing world. For me it's about an additional way to be able to support founders and business as well as being part of brands I love. Ultimately, I am building for myself and my future. I look at every opportunity for potential, what makes them unique, who the people are on board, financials and obviously at the brand marketing. Startups typically can't afford or have access to senior talent in the early stages. So with my experience and insights I’m able to offer something of value to them. More recently founders and investors are also looking for women of colour. There are founders seeking to add diverse talent, and people from different backgrounds to the cap tables. It has been incredible to forge new relationships and open some new doors.