Pursuit 365 Day 161: Donna West

Donna West turns fifty-five today, is a dual citizen Ameri-Can, a boy and dog Mom, serial entrepreneur, a true Gemini, Type A, and a woman who values friends and family above all else.

What makes an opportunity exciting to you – in business or in life?

I am grateful to have several businesses that keep me energized and feed my social personality. I contribute much of my newfound love for business is having Shelly Lynn as a business partner in Project Her Inc. and Yoyomama.ca. We started as friends, then business partners and now are more like family; I cannot think of anyone I would rather be in business with. Our partnership continues to be an amazing learning and growth opportunity for me personally.

What’s really exciting is Yoyomama is beginning to gather momentum. We have more and more people coming to us to connect and collaborate. They’re giving us more reason to diversify, continue to expand across Canada and to be a platform for moms and kids of all ages, newborn to teen.

Probably the most exciting part is when someone comes to us with five thousand followers, to a million followers, and they’re eager to just work with us. We’re tiny but they love our format, they love the new ideas we have coming out, and that in itself drives us further to grow and thrive.

What has been your favourite experience you love to share?

I have a son that has two entrepreneurial parents, and I worked in his dad’s business for some time. Now, my 17-year-old wants to start his own businesses, and in the last two years, he comes to me to help him. Whether it’s getting a domain name or helping him find information, or talking through some ideas, he’s constantly saying, “I want to grow this business” and comes to me for help and guidance. That makes my heart happy. My favourite moments don’t have anything to do with the monetary side or anyone outside of my realm, but for my own son to look to me; it gives me acknowledgment that he sees that I have been in business for myself and that I have a lot to share.

What is Yoyomama up to – can you share that with us?

We have created a Marketplace for Moms who get their own storefront on Yoyomama.ca to sell products or services and they receive marketing from the Yoyomama Community, and we are starting up a Membership for Canadian Moms and Kids. It will be a platform where moms can sign up and have content brought to their homes. We’ll have things like children’s entertainers, book authors, comedians, and psychologists talking about teen mental health, really exciting, exclusive content curated for them. We’re going to bring something once a month only to members of the Yoyomama community. We’re also looking to have business and corporate partners and collaborators that will provide gifts and access to products for our members to beta test.

What has been the greatest shift in your career or life and how did you navigate through it?

With the shift now with Yoyomama, I’ve become the person out in front. Being able to step out of the shadows as the owner of my own business, showcasing my own ideas, and cultivating relationships with my own identity is a huge shift. I must say, I’m really enjoying it.

What are you up to right now that people should know about?

I don’t feel 55, however yesterday I was thinking about age and many of my high school friends are grandparents, but I have a 17-year-old! That’s what I’m up to – I’m just really working on myself right now and celebrating what a wild ride it has been getting here and what’s yet to come!