True Northern Hustle Podcast

True Northern Hustle

Failure is Feedback: How Anita Grant built Hello Hair

What happens when failure becomes the beginning of something more meaningful? In this episode of True Northern Hustle, host Isabel Lee sits down with Anita Grant, founder of Hello Hair, a brand rooted in confidence, representation, self-love, and community. Anita shares how her first venture in the beauty tech space shaped her entrepreneurial mindset, what it felt like to close a business that had become part of her identity, and how motherhood inspired the creation of a children’s book that would grow into a broader product and education platform.

Building Barbet: Community, Inclusion and Growing a Modern Beverage Brand

Sometimes the biggest business ideas begin with a deeply human need to belong. In this episode, Isabel Lee sits down with Andrea Grand, co-founder of Barbet, to talk about how a life-changing moment in her sister’s life sparked the creation of a modern Canadian beverage brand built around inclusion, design, and community. Andrea shares how she and her sister turned a difficult situation into a product with real market resonance, what it took to launch without a traditional entrepreneurial background, and the lessons they learned about mentorship, feedback, cash flow, growth, and staying true to their values while scaling.

How Kol Kid Built 25 Years of Retail Success

What does it take to build a small business that lasts for more than 25 years? In this episode of True Northern Hustle, host Isabel Lee speaks with Lisa Miyasaki, founder of Kol Kid, a beloved Toronto toy store known for its imagination, warmth, and deep connection to families in the community. Lisa shares how her entrepreneurial spirit and her son Kol inspired the business and how she created a store experience designed to feel magical, memorable, and full of discovery. She opens up about trusting her instincts, adapting to new technology, and staying connected to the customers and community who helped the business grow.