Barb Stegemann’s entrepreneurial vision was formed after her best friend—a soldier—was severely wounded in Afghanistan. Understanding that supporting Afghanistan’s economy was key to building stability for its people, Stegemann created The 7 Virtues, a company that sources organic, fair trade essential oils from countries experiencing turmoil (such as Afghanistan, Haiti, the Middle East and Rwanda).
Stegemann became known to millions of Canadians when she became the first woman from Atlantic Canada to land a venture-capital deal on the CBC TV show Dragons’ Den (The Canadian version of Shark Tank) —for The 7 Virtues Beauty. She went on to become the “Top Game Changer” in the history of the popular reality show for creating her social enterprise.
Since then, Stegemann has been named one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada; won the APEC Women and the Economy Summit Award from the US Department of State; won the Ernst & Young “Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Emerging Entrepreneur category”; was ranked as one of Profit Guide magazine’s “Top 30 Cool and Fabulous Canadian Entrepreneurs”; was given an Honorary Diploma from Nova Scotia Community College; and was also made the first female Honorary Colonel in the history of 14 Wing Greenwood base, Royal Canadian Air Force.
Stegemann is the author of the bestselling book, The 7 Virtues of a Philosopher Queen, a book which has empowered women (and men) to launch companies, run for public office, and end bullying. Her compelling story of overcoming adversity through the power of stoic wisdom is the subject of the feature-length documentary Perfume War. The film tells Stegemann’s entrepreneurial story and has garnered many awards, includingBest Humanitarian Film, Sedona Film Festival, Arizona; and the Vanguard award for cutting-edge ideas at the Artemis Film Festival, Santa Monica, California.
She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Dalhousie University and her Bachelor of Journalism Degree from the University of King’s College. She received an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from the University of New Brunswick.
Barb is also a graduate of the Sephora Accelerate Cohort where she developed her new contemporary line. Her brand inspired the global beauty giant to create a new Clean & Conscious space in their USA stores.
The 7 Virtues Peace Perfumes are hypoallergenic, cruelty-free and available at Sephora Canada and Sephora USA.
Once a single mom trying to launch a start-up from her garage, Barb Stegemann has built an international brand thanks to intuition, innovation, and smart risk-taking. Now she shares her incredible story and hard-earned wisdom, as a CEO who continues to steer The 7 Virtues through both unexpected road bumps and surprising growth.
Drawing on the story of her own accomplishments and relevant examples from other industries, Stegemann shares a presentation that’s equally suited to equip leaders and team members with the skills they need to face daily challenges and perform their best. Her message of thoughtful leadership, collaboration, and clearly defined ambition can help any organization find new heights of success while maintaining the crucial balance of serving others while taking care of ourselves.
Winston Churchill said, “Never waste a good crisis.” During a pandemic that has drastically halted a great deal of the economy, Barb Stegemann shares in her best-selling book how to use the stoic principles used by Churchill and many great world leaders to thrive and advance to a higher level during a crisis. Her own social enterprise saw 600 retail doors shut. By applying the guaranteed principles she teaches to her own business, her company, The 7 Virtues has tripled sales, despite the massive store closures and despite the inability to cross the USA border, she is retailing directly to 110 million Americans on QVC. With plans to launch in the UK, all during the pandemic! There are untapped business opportunities right in front of you. If you are present.
For centuries leaders drew mental strength from the wisdom of the great philosophers from Plato to Marcus Aurelius. Philosophy guided leaders through war, strife, and hell on earth and inspired them to keep going. Barb Stegemann has curated the great wisdom from the philosophers in her best-selling book, The 7 Virtues of a Philosopher Queen – A guide to living and leading in an illogical world. Uncover guaranteed principles to protect your joy and to go from surviving to thriving.
Barb Stegemann wrote her book, The 7 Virtues of a Philosopher Queen – a woman’s guide to living and leading in an illogical world, to reverse the equation for women, the nucleus of the family to finally put themselves first and then take care of the needs of those around them. She teaches how her company’s natural perfume aromatherapy and philosophy together create self-guided remedies for the body, mind, and soul. Whether you are feeling stuck, lonely, or overwhelmed, you are not alone and will find the wisdom in this program to become unconquerable.
Barbara Stegemann shares the story of how she launched The 7 Virtues Peace Perfumes out of her garage and on her Visa card in Nova Scotia — a brand that is now not only competing with other luxury perfumes but has created a new movement of Clean & Conscious beauty at Sephora, the fastest growing beauty retailer in the world.
With compelling storytelling, she shines a light on her approach to business and explains how social enterprise can be used to help reverse global issues, such as war and poverty, around the world. She shows us that the Return on Investment and the Return on Love are not mutually exclusive. We can (and must) have both together.
Bestselling author, Barb Stegemann shares how living the stoic virtues that guided warriors through war and strife for thousands of years stand the tests of time and if followed, will lead you to success and joyful living guaranteed. She shares how wonder instead of judgement will lead you to all of the resources you need. She shares wisdom that Churchill and Aurelius used from Plato and Socrates to Mary Wollstonecraft. These principles apply to our lives today, they just manifest themselves in different ways. The root is following your ethics and the daily practice of the virtues.
Barb shares how she too uses this wisdom successfully in her own social enterprise, The 7 Virtues was experiencing retail challenges as many businesses try and navigate the generational buying shift to Millennials. She herself had to adapt and she ended up launching a new contemporary peace perfume line with the fastest-growing beauty giant in the world, Sephora.
If your company is still focused on hard sales and target numbers instead of helping the customer fix their problems, you might not be getting the ROI you want. As the founder of 7 Virtues perfume, Barb Stegemann found leading her company with a return-on-love (ROL) for the customer led to a higher return-on-investment. By focusing on ROL, she helped rebuild the lives of farmers in war-torn countries while taking her perfume from garage to bestselling brand in Sephora. ROL isn’t just for social entrepreneurs. Her unique selling and training model can be applied by any business or organization. In her entertaining talk, Barb will share stories of her ROL success, from conception to international success, which can be applied to your company.
Barb Stegemann had a dream to help rebuild the lives of farmers in war-torn countries. She didn’t know how and she didn’t know what it would take, but she was determined to make a difference. She identified a method, rolled up her selves and began outsourcing ingredients for perfume from war-riddled countries. Let Barb take you on her journey from conception to international success, all while making a socially conscious impact on the world.
What’s your ROL? Our world is so occupied with the Return on Investment, what if we reversed that equation and began with a measure on our social impacts? What we are doing to make our world a safer, more stable, and kinder place for all. Social Enterprise is fast becoming the standard for the millennial generation. Nine out of ten millennials will switch brands for one with a cause. Barb Stegemann shares how her peace perfumes rebuild nations after war or strife.
This Thanksgiving, we’re taking a moment to reflect on the journey—an adventure full of creativity, teamwork, and connection.
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