DEFY Speaker Bios

Carly Brenton

Carly Brenton, designer and owner of Paperscript, is a local to Niagara, a Mom of two young daughters, and a creative soul through and through. She believes that snail mail is underrated and that happiness can be found in a heartfelt card.

Paperscript was born when she turned to art as a form of therapy. This outlet felt natural as she spent her childhood being drawn to create. After 5 years of running her business on the side, Carly made the decision to quit her full time job, invest in herself as an entrepreneur and defy the odds. She asked herself “Why not me?” and set a goal to create products to inspire people to go back to basics through the simple act of sending a card. Keeping her “why” close to her heart, she works hard to set an example for her daughters so they will grow up knowing that with determination, courage and passion, they too can achieve their dreams.

In a very digital time, paper still means something to her. Carly finds inspiration from a love of paper, celebrating others and turning moments into keepsakes. She believes that offline is the new luxury and works to encourage others to put pen to paper and always look for a reason to celebrate.

Say it with heart, say it with Paperscript.

Laura Cole

Laura is the program coordinator and professor of the Business Fundamentals – Small Business Management program at Mohawk College. She also provides programming and student mentorship for the Centre for Entrepreneurship at Mohawk College.

Furthermore, Laura is the founder of Your Latitude, a boutique-style professional development firm she founded in 2009 after noticing a gap in this market. As an entrepreneur, Laura truly understands the complex intersection of risk and reward that entrepreneurs experience and is passionate about supporting them through coaching, teaching and mentorship.

Catherine Murray

Catherine Murray is best known as a former senior anchor and host of BNN Bloomberg’s The Close, Market Call Tonight, Business Day PM, and BNN Advisor. She is currently host of The BUCK Stops Here, with Catherine Murray on the National broadcast The News Forum.
Prior to TV, she was a Wall Street professional working at Goldman Sachs, William Blair, and Deutsche Bank, in Institutional Sales & Trading, and Equity Research. Daily, she maintains up-to-the-minute knowledge of public and private markets and emerging industries such as digital assets. She currently speaks and hosts panel discussions and fireside chats, on a wide range of global business & market trends. As a former competitive figure skater and Level I certified ski instructor, no challenge is too great or too small.