Ravi Prakash, Chairman of O & O Group of Companies, is a visionary hospitality leader with a unique blend of operational expertise and strategic sales acumen. With a global mindset shaped by extensive international experience, he’s built a career on delivering world-class guest experiences across diverse cultural and business landscapes. His mission is simple: to raise the standard of hospitality by aligning exceptional service with strong commercial performance. In today’s dynamic, customer-driven economy, he believes that proactive, personalized service isn’t just a differentiator—it’s the foundation for long-term growth. He specializes in crafting impactful service strategies that foster deep customer loyalty, while empowering teams to serve as true brand ambassadors. Throughout his career, he’s transformed hospitality businesses into service-driven, results-oriented organizations—enhancing brand visibility, driving revenue, and cultivating lasting customer relationships. His leadership style focuses on building high-performing teams, boosting morale, and creating environments where both staff and guests thrive.
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Kevin Halliday (kevinhalliday.com) is a transformation expert, TEDx speaker, and award-winning entrepreneur with success spanning the construction, fitness, and hospitality industries. He’s the founder of multiple companies, including Spindle Stairs & Railings, Alberta’s leader in stair innovation and recipient of the BUILD Award for Best Innovation Product, and Urban Studio Shed, a creative media and podcast production company. A former WNBF bodybuilding champion, Kevin turned his own life around from unhealthy and overworked to disciplined and purpose – driven. Through his hit podcast ShedTalk with Kevin Halliday and his powerful TEDx talk, “What Men Say in Sheds,” he inspires people over 50 to transform their health, master their mindset, and create lasting wealth—proving that life doesn’t end at 50, it starts.
Kevin Halliday, the dynamic, passionate, and visionary transformation expert, TEDx speaker, and award-winning entrepreneur, is widely recognized for his extraordinary, groundbreaking, and innovative success spanning across the construction, fitness, and hospitality industries. He’s the ambitious, determined, and resilient founder of multiple thriving, impactful, and influential companies, including Spindle Stairs & Railings, Alberta’s respected, trusted, and celebrated leader in stair innovation, and proud recipient of the prestigious, distinguished, and highly regarded BUILD Award for Best Innovation Product. He also established Urban Studio Shed, a creative, imaginative, and forward-thinking media and podcast production company that emphasizes storytelling, authenticity, and meaningful connection.
A former WNBF bodybuilding champion, Kevin courageously turned his own life around from unhealthy, exhausted, and overworked to disciplined, focused, and purpose-driven, embodying resilience, strength, and determination. His inspiring journey demonstrates perseverance, transformation, and empowerment, showing that personal reinvention is possible at any stage of life. Through his hit podcast, ShedTalk with Kevin Halliday, and his powerful, motivational, and thought-provoking TEDx talk, “What Men Say in Sheds,” he passionately inspires people over 50 to transform their health, master their mindset, and create lasting wealth.
His message proves that life doesn’t end at 50—it boldly, confidently, and vibrantly starts, opening new opportunities, possibilities, and horizons. Kevin’s work emphasizes holistic transformation, combining physical vitality, mental clarity, and financial empowerment. His approach integrates discipline, consistency, and vision, encouraging individuals to embrace wellness, fitness, and entrepreneurial creativity. He highlights the importance of mindset mastery, resilience, and adaptability, teaching audiences to overcome obstacles, embrace challenges, and pursue growth with courage and determination.
Through Spindle Stairs & Railings, Kevin showcases innovation, craftsmanship, and design excellence, redefining stair construction with modern, functional, and aesthetically pleasing solutions. His leadership in Alberta’s construction industry reflects dedication, ingenuity, and forward-thinking strategy. Urban Studio Shed further demonstrates his creativity, offering a platform for authentic conversations, engaging podcasts, and meaningful media production that resonates with diverse audiences.
Kevin’s bodybuilding achievements illustrate discipline, strength, and perseverance, while his entrepreneurial ventures highlight vision, leadership, and impact. His journey from struggle to success embodies transformation, resilience, and empowerment, inspiring countless individuals to pursue health, wealth, and fulfillment.
By sharing his story, Kevin motivates people to embrace change, cultivate discipline, and unlock potential. His teachings emphasize that transformation is not limited by age, proving that reinvention, growth, and success are achievable beyond 50. His work continues to empower communities, inspire audiences, and redefine possibilities, making Kevin Halliday a true leader in transformation, innovation, and inspiration.
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Sky McLean is a Canadian entrepreneur building a hospitality empire with her company Basecamp Resorts, the fastest growing hospitality brand in Western Canada. Born and raised in Ontario, she earned an MBA in real estate at the Schulich School of Business at York University. Her appreciation of the outdoors and winter sports led her to Calgary after graduation, where she worked for a local real estate developer. At age 29, Sky bought her first property, a condominium in Canmore, and rented it out on AirBnB. She instantly fell in love with the business model, and since then has successfully owned and operated 8 modern boutique hotels in mountain towns across Alberta and British Columbia under the Basecamp Resorts brand. An outdoor enthusiast, Sky is an avid downhill skier, Nordic skier, snowmobiler and mountain biker. She lives in Canmore, AB with her husband and two children.
Basecamp Resorts, under the strategic and innovative leadership of Sky McLean, functions dually as By Basecamp, a prominent real estate development and investment group. This multifaceted group brings substantial, collective experience, utilizing over two decades of expertise in the acquisition, meticulous development, and professional operation of various high-value hotel and commercial assets throughout the entirety of Western Canada. The core team is fundamentally composed of highly experienced real estate professionals and dedicated adventure enthusiasts who share an unwavering, unified passion for significant mountain real estate development and the distinctive, vibrant mountain lifestyle.
The foundational mission of Basecamp extends far beyond the basic goal of generating profits; it is specifically to profoundly and substantially enhance the travel experience for every single guest and investor. This constant enhancement is systematically achieved through the consistent and meticulous development of sustainable, truly unique, and highly functional accommodations that are expressly designed to cater to the diverse and continually evolving needs of their expansive clientele. Basecamp’s fundamental commitment is to reliably create a truly memorable and effortlessly managed experience, thereby successfully providing a comfortable and inviting home away from home amidst the spectacular natural beauty of the Canadian Rockies region.
The long-term and highly ambitious vision for the entire Basecamp enterprise is to strategically grow the brand into an innovative, widely recognized, and deeply trusted hospitality power throughout all of North America. This considerable growth is meticulously guided by strong core operational values that are strategically centered on three powerful, interrelated pillars. These pillars are: first, providing financially viable projects that consistently offer strong, attractive returns to their valuable investors; second, promoting highly sustainable communities through responsible development practices that deliberately minimize environmental impact; and third, consistently delivering superior quality guest experiences that unfailingly exceed customer expectations in every single aspect of their stay.
Basecamp’s impressive and rapidly expanding portfolio now includes a significant number of successful operational properties situated in highly sought-after Canadian mountain towns such as Canmore, Banff, Revelstoke, Fernie, and Golden. Since the company’s efficient founding in 2017, the organization has achieved truly remarkable and rapid expansion, now proudly boasting 13 successful operational hotels and 6 substantial new hotel projects currently actively under construction. The future development pipeline remains exceptionally robust, with 5 future land holdings already secured for upcoming and exciting ventures, ensuring continued strategic market expansion for the organization.
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The Canadian entrepreneurs in the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women™ North America Class of 2024 and the EY Entrepreneurs Access Network Canadian Class of 2024 were also honoured at the awards show. These programs support high-potential women entrepreneurs and Black and Indigenous leaders by providing access to networks, advisors, learning and resources to help scale their businesses. All three entrepreneur programs are part of EY’s 30-year commitment to fostering entrepreneurship in Canada at every stage of the growth journey.
The 2024 National independent judging panel comprised Tania Clarke, Corporate Director; Andreea Crisan, President and CEO, ANDY Transport; Arlene Dickinson, General Partner, District Ventures Capital; Joanna Griffiths, Founder and President, Knix and Kt by Knix; Ashif Mawji, Managing Director, ScaleGood Fund LP; Kristi Miller, Managing Partner, Krystal Growth Partners; Imran Siddiqui, Managing Director, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.
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Tamara Martin believes “Success is not final…and failure is not fatal”. It’s the courage to continue that count. She is the owner of Mirror Image Vacation Rental Services. Born and raised in Kelowna BC in the beautiful Okanagan Valley. And In Kelowna it’s all about tourism. Whether it be world-class wineries, champagne powder at Big White ski resort, or sparkling lakes, she always knew tourism, and hospitality was something she was not only passionate about but was an area she could see herself getting into business. After 15+ years of scraping by as a waitress and bartender and never getting ahead, she applied for a part-time job with Kelowna Resort Accommodations (which is a large-scale property management company in Kelowna). And then started her own business from there.
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Bonnie Lewtas helps islands around the world become self-sufficient and resilient against climate change. She specializes on innovative energy, waste, water, food, and conservation solutions for hospitality. Her work has taken her to many different islands like BVI, Grenada, Dominica, Barbados, Antigua, Azores, Madeira, Sicily, Swedish Islands, Dutch Islands and more. Through her company TurtlCo, Bonnie works with the government of Friesland on the EU-Interreg Islands of Innovation project and several other organizations that support island sustainability. TurtlCo recently partnered with Island Growers to bring the first-ever hurricane-resistant hydroponic greenhouses to Caribbean resorts.
Bonnie is a contributor for “The Tipping Guide: Strategies for creative local & regional innovation policies aimed at organizing “probing and learning” projects and programs for the future pathways of islands”. The Guide can be used to compare the status quo with a desired future “the dream”, create a new or revised policy program with a focus on engagement-oriented projects; and build innovation and teams to develop multi-sector action plans on topics like energy, water, transport, agriculture, circular economy, tourism, emerging technology, and more. You can download the guide at innovationislands.com
