454%
That’s the average three-year revenue growth of the 47 companies on our inaugural ranking of businesses controlled by women, from a small but mighty podcast agency (No. 1) to a wealth management firm (No. 47).
Fatima Zaidi, Co-Founder and CEO of Quill Inc., in Toronto on Sept. 28, 2020.Peter Power/The Globe and Mail
Quill
Ranking No. 1
3-year growth – 4,186%
It’s one thing to bootstrap a business and another to resist outside investment to maintain control of both culture and strategy. That’s exactly what Fatima Zaidi, founder of the podcasting agency Quill, has done, turning $10,000 of her own money into a business projected to hit $5 million in revenue by the end of this fiscal year.
Zaidi started Quill in 2019 after noticing a gap in the market: No agency offered both full-service podcast production and audience growth services under one roof. The lockdown-driven pod boom was great timing, but she amplified that opportunity by introducing a dual-revenue stream. In 2022, Quill launched CoHost, the first hosting platform for corporate pods. It’s been so successful that even competing production agencies have adopted it.
Zaidi, who reinvested profits to grow the business, believes that involving venture capital would have diluted the company’s mission and eroded its people-first culture. With zero voluntary turnover since its inception, Quill proves it can pay to resist the siren song of VC big bucks and invest in people instead.
Latitude Management
Ranking No. 10
3-year growth – 644%
The traditional approach to workplace harassment law emphasizes compliance, with a narrow focus on investigations and legal procedures. But Montreal law firm Latitude—founded in 2019 by Anaïs Lacroix and David Ward—works as a neutral third party in workplace conflicts and centres long-term solutions to address underlying culture issues. They use coaching, mediation and other tools—with a culturally sensitive, trauma-informed lens—to fix problems that might otherwise cause new incidents down the line. And since harassment investigations can be a spoke in the operational wheel, they keep things pragmatic and as efficient as possible.
Latitude works in both civil and common law, provides bilingual and cross-jurisdictional services, and works with federal and pan-Canadian organizations—all of which helped expand its reach beyond Quebec, and its head count from five to 50 employees.
Italian Centre Shop
Ranking No. 43
3-year growth – 63%
One day, as CEO Teresa Spinelli sipped an espresso at her store’s bustling café, a regular customer approached her and quietly confessed that he struggled with depression, often finding it hard to get out of bed. But he’d made it in that day because he knew someone at the store would greet him by name, ask how he was and genuinely listen.
When Spinelli took over the Edmonton-based grocer from her dad in 2000, she transformed it from rigid and top-down into a vibrant, people-focused hub. She wanted to create an environment where staff felt like family—and this warmth extended naturally to the stores’ customers. Since then, sales have grown from $8 million to more than $140 million across five locations today, with more outposts in the works.
Spinelli doesn’t see herself as a mastermind—her innovation, she says, comes from listening carefully to her team. When a warehouse employee raised concerns about the slow, paper-heavy receiving process, Spinelli empowered her team to develop an entirely online system. When another employee—a busy mom herself—suggested offering ready-to-go meals for families, Spinelli embraced the idea. Success isn’t always about being the smartest person in the room—it’s about being the one who listens best.
In their own words
“We started Three Ships without funding—we only had $4,000 in savings. Our biggest challenge has been managing growth while maintaining profitability. This has been especially challenging as we expand in the U.S. market. We’ve learned to pivot quickly when something isn’t working and to double down just as fast when it is.”
– Connie Lo and Laura Thompson, Three Ships Beauty
“There’s often a belief that women need to work harder to be taken seriously. As both a mother and a business owner, I used to try to be 100% dedicated to my business and 100% devoted to my family, but I learned the importance of setting boundaries and prioritizing my family first.”
– Bobbi Dragon, founder of Dragon Industrial
“In today’s uncertainty, anchor yourself in what doesn’t change—build a product people love, take care of your customers and foster a team that cares about the work. Markets, trends and economic cycles will shift, but companies that balance short-term wins with a long-term vision are the ones that endure.”
– Alison Taylor, founder and CEO of Jane App
“We are living in a difficult time, and I have moments of worry that we’re slipping back into some pretty scary behaviours. My advice is to double down on creating a work culture that supports your team, and that encourages and even demands respectful treatment of all contributors.”
– Jen Turner, co-founder and CEO of Falkirk Environmental Consultants
Your time is valuable. Have the Top Business Headlines newsletter conveniently delivered to your inbox in the morning or evening. Sign up today.