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By RON FANFAIR
Just a short six years in Canada, Kimesha Walters stood tall at the third annual Women Empowerment Awards on September 13.
She was not alone.
Judy Stewart and Natasha Ferguson joined her as the finalists for this year’s Mantella Corporation BIPOC (Black, Indigenous & Other People of Colour) Entrepreneur Award founded by entrepreneurs and philanthropists Robert and Sylvia Mantella.
The three women of Jamaican heritage emerged from a record-breaking pool of 243 applicants for the $10,000 grant.
Walters, the founder of Oasis Integrated Communications (www.oasisintegrated.com), was the recipient of the award presented to an entrepreneur to enhance their business.
The University of the West Indies graduate, whom her older brothers raised after their mother went to England for better opportunities for the family, is over the moon.
“To get this grant is amazing, but it was mind-blowing just to be in the presence of powerful women,” said Walters who gleefully ran onto the stage with a miniature Jamaican flag to accept the honour. “To tell them I am from Jamaica and what I am doing and have them listen to my vision was satisfying. It was incredible just feeling that power of women supporting women and lifting others.”
With operations in Canada and Jamaica, her strategic communications firm crafts meaningful narratives that move the needle for clients.
Walters, who has undergraduate and graduate degrees in Media & Communication Studies, has a clear plan for how she will use the funds.
“I will focus on business development and refining some of the marketing and communications that I have coming out,” said the 2023 YWCA Hamilton Woman of Distinction Award nominee. “I think I have done a lot in the last few years to build brand equity. It is about taking what I am doing a few notches higher.”
It was evident at an early age that Walters was a star in the making.
From Prospect, a rural community in the parish of Clarendon, she always felt inspired.
“Though the people are mostly laid back, there were times when it was difficult to be inspired just by being there,” said Walters who has been an ecosystem partner for Startup Canada and a MasterClass presenter for Scotiabank Women Initiative. “I did not allow that to hold me back. I am a dreamer and I always want to do more and be more.”
Though reserved, she expressed herself through academics.
“Starting in primary school, I received a prize every year for excelling in the classroom and that extended through high school and university where I was the top student in my class,” said Walters who founded Amazing Prospects in 2010 to provide scholarships, educational opportunities and resources to young people in the community where she was raised.
She was a journalist and blogger with the Jamaica Gleaner daily newspaper and a regular contributor to Wealth magazine, a Jamaican wealth and lifestyle publication.
Though making strides in her professional career, Walters was looking for a challenge that would take her to the next level.
Falling in love with Toronto after her second visit to Canada in 2015, she made the move three years later.
It didn’t take Walters long to discover there is a vast difference between vacationing and living somewhere.
“With my educational background and work experience, I didn’t have to apply for jobs in Jamaica,” she said. “I had two at times and was always busy. Here, I sent out hundreds of applications without getting many responses. Nothing much came out of the occasional interviews and I started to question if something was wrong with me. However, I am a strategist. Rather than sitting and sulking, I look for solutions.”
The Clarendon College graduate reached out to alumni in the Greater Toronto Area who assured her she was not the problem.
During the job search, Walters prepared the press release and co-ordinated Jamaica’s Industrial Gases Limited introduction of the first Liquefied Natural Gas-powered vehicles in the country in 2018.
“That was one of the biggest projects that I managed and one of my proudest moments and it was done from Canada,” the Clarendon College Alumni Association Toronto chapter’s past president said.
With returning to Jamaica not an option, Walters did something very bold.
She started a business.
“When I came here, the plan was to replicate the success I had in Jamaica,” said Walters who has worked with some top brands, including GraceKennedy, Heineken, Western Union and Microsoft. “I understood there is a process and it would take some time, but I knew what I wanted and nothing was going to derail me. I wanted to surround myself with knowledgeable and talented people who would be an asset and help me flourish. This award tells me I am on the right track.
“I am blessed.”
Stewart dedicated the nomination to women who have felt overlooked or underrepresented.
“It is a reminder that we have the power to create change and that our struggles can become our greatest strengths,” the former bodybuilder said.
Having big feet can be frustrating for most women. With her mother and two older female siblings wearing large-size shoes, Stewart wore their hand-me-down footwear.
That was not cool.
As Stewart grew older and sought fashionable shoes to complement her sense of style, the frustration mounted.
“It was really hard to find shoes that are cute even though I am a 10-and-a-half and on the lower side of my size run,” she said.
While at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) on a track scholarship in the 1990s, Stewart had an idea to create shoes for women with big feet.
During COVID and with some free time on her hands, the Special Education teacher at Bill Crothers Secondary School for the last 16 years, revisited the plan.
“I did a lot of research and reached out to experts in the women’s footwear business, trying to figure how I could start a business that would fill a need,” said Stewart, a four-time Academic All-American and All-American in the 400-metre and 4×400-metre relay events at UNLV.
In 2020, she launched Tresolz (www.tresolz.com) which is a footwear brand revolutionizing stylish and comfortable shoes for women with large feet.
Starting a new business is very challenging as Stewart quickly found out.
“When I reached out to factories in Canada and overseas, inquiring about making shoes for me to sell, many of them said they could not,” she said. “The very few that said they could, wanted me to order a minimum 1,000 units. Because I didn’t have much competition, I had to bite the bullet and pay almost four times the cost just because I was seeking big sizes.”
After importing shoes the first year, Stewart turned to designing.
“The sizes of the shoes I was purchasing were right, but something was missing from the fit,” she said. “People, especially women, want to feel comfortable in their shoes. You don’t want to take off high heels after a few minutes. Then is when I realized I had to design comfortable footwear for my clients. Many of them are on the heavier side because they are tall. They were looking for more padding or a certain type of heel. Some were looking for shoes with arch support. I had to get into the design game.”
Stewart selected two women footwear designers in Montreal and Canada to teach her the ropes.
“They were so gracious in taking me under their wing and giving me all the knowledge I was seeking,” she said. “I come up with the concept and they help me to put the technical pieces together.”
Married since 1999 to Winston Stewart, the President & Chief Executive Officer of Wincon Security, the couple has three boys.
A member of Canada’s 4×400-metre relay team that won a gold medal at the 1994 Francophone Games in France, Stewart is the daughter of Bishop Emeritus Delton Fraser and his wife Gladys who was a dental hygienist.
They founded Agincourt Church of God in 1973.
Ferguson was honoured to be a finalist.
“It underscores my commitment to fostering equality, uplifting women’s voices and creating opportunities for future leaders,” she said. “This recognition strengthens my resolve to continue breaking down barriers and driving meaningful change for women everywhere.”
Good things are happening in abundance to Ferguson, and her mother is foremost in her thoughts whenever she is recognized for being a trailblazer in skilled trades.
A few weeks before Marian Osbourne passed away in November 2020, she told her daughter, ‘I have to go for you to ascend to the next level.’
“At the time I was hurting because I knew my mom was dying and I was not interested in what she was telling me,” said Ferguson. “I just wanted my mom to be around.”
Four years later, she better understood what her mother was saying.
“She taught me well and put me in a position to succeed,” said Ferguson who was celebrated in 2022 as one of the Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada. “She knew I was working extra hard without getting much in return. Mom always reminded me my time would come.”
Disdainfully treated while trying to break into the skilled trades dominated by men was her impetus for starting a business.
Minutes into an interview for a roofing job, the interviewer abruptly walked out on Ferguson who took an Uber in a blizzard. On another occasion, she had to defend herself against a contractor who threatened her with a hammer on a job site.
The former Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) sprint champion owns EthelFox Construct (www.ethelfoxconstruct.com), a full-service construction and development company.
It specializes in kitchen & bathroom remodelling, cabinet refurbishing & painting, high-end painting & textures, wallpaper removals & installations, crown moulding, drywall installation, tiling & flooring and custom interior/exterior home renovation.
EthelFox is a combination of her mother’s middle name and her daughter, Fox.
For the last two years, Ferguson has appeared in Home Depot advertisements. Osbourne predicted that would happen.
“Mom said one day you will see cutouts of yourself in Home Depot,” the 2023 Canie Award Entrepreneur of the Year finalist said.
Another time while driving through East York, Osbourne requested her daughter pull over in an empty spot.
“She asked me when I am going to have a shop here and I started laughing,” recounted Ferguson who worked in marketing and communications for 15 years before making the transition. “About four months after she died, I was looking for a spot to start my business. After I went on Kijiji scanning for affordable commercial space, I drove to one I saw and could not believe it. It was the same space me and mom were at a few months earlier.
“I cried.”
As the only woman in Canada running a full-service construction company, she counts her blessings and gives back in a focused way.
Frustrated by the limited selection of women’s work clothes in a retail store, Ferguson started ‘A Women’s Work’ that is a non-profit organization training women in skilled trades.
The training is done at support centres in East York, North York and in Mississauga and there are plans to establish four more in Ontario by 2027 and expand to other provinces.
Of the first cohort of eight graduates, two are employed in the skilled trades. The second cohort comprises 53 women who are completing their training.
“We are in the process of exploring placements for them,” said Ferguson who was the recipient of a YWCA Woman of Distinction Award last May.
The next cohort of 41 start their training on September 30.
Ferguson said about 80 per cent of the women are refugees, the majority living in shelters.
“We are providing a safe space for women to learn and be comfortable,” the 2024 Ascend Canada Leadership Award winner added.
In 2021, the Canadian Business Review Board named EthelFox Construct one of the Best Businesses in Canada and Ferguson was selected to take part in the Starter Company Plus Program offered through Enterprise Toronto.
The EthelFox Group also includes SkyGarden Landscaping, SkyLimitless Roofing and TKO Demolition.
Two weeks ago, Ferguson was celebrated at the 100 Accomplished Black Women gala in Etobicoke.
