SAULT STE. MARIE – A young entrepreneur from Sault Ste. Marie recently received national attention for her hard work and dedication to her business.
Melissa Kargiannakis was named one of Canada's most powerful women.
Four years ago, she was shaking hands with Queen Elizabeth II while at Buckingham Palace to receive an award for her work as a young leader.
"That award is what gave me the confidence to finally legally incorporate my business and begin on this journey," said Kargiannakis.
Since she has incorporated her company Skritswrap, she has been able to secure $2 million in sales, grants and private capital investment.
This week, Kargiannakis received two other big awards.
The Women's Executive Network named her one of Canada's 100 Most Powerful Women and she was also one of five people to win the One to Watch award at the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards.
"When I think about what it means to win both of these awards, it's really special for me because this month is the two-year anniversary of when I had enough investment to be able to quit my job and the four year anniversary of when I took the step to legally incorporate the business," she explained. "It's very special and I'm a little bit awestruck still but it feels very validating to be rewarded for all that hard work and in such a short time in these last few years that I've been full-time on the business."
Staff members at the Millworks Centre for Entrepreneurship say Kargiannakis is a role model and an example that they use while working with young entrepreneurs.
"For youth, I see there's a difference in the number of summer company participants that we get. There is more male youth that are starting their own business and taking the risks and hopefully, this will motivate girls to kind of join the gang and take the risks and start their own business," said Harleen Puaar Shukla, Millworks Centre for Entrepreneurship.
Kargiannakis says her company is continuing to grow.
