Finalists for RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards named

Grail Noble, the president and founder of Yellow House Events, is nominated for the RBC Momentum Award.

The Royal Bank of Canada has named the finalists for the 2012 RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards.

There are 19 finalists in total, divided into six different cateogries.

Among the finalists are three Torontonians – Clara Angotti, Grail Noble, and Corrine Sandler.

Noble, the president and founder of Yellow House Events, said being named a finalist is an honour. Noble is nominated for the RBC Momentum Award.

“Momentum is a great word,” said Noble. “What I love about it, is it does speak to a company that is growing, that is moving in the right direction, and has a solid business plan for its next step.”

In just five years, Noble has grown the profit of her business by nearly 2,400 per cent. Noble’s Yellow House Events was listed as the 16th fastest growing company in Profit magazine’s Top 200 Fastest Growing Companies list.

“I’m proud to be named,” said Noble. “In terms of what it does for my business . . . I hope the success shown in (the Momentum) category translates to what I can potentially do for clients and their brand.”

According to the awards’ website, women running businesses in Canada are creating “new jobs at four times the rate of the national average.”

Megan Meek, a third-year commerce student at Ryerson University, said she’s inspired by HBC’s Bonnie Brooks.

“Seeing her work so hard to get to the top of a company like the Hudson’s Bay Company is amazing,” said Meek.

There are so many women with great ideas and businesses that it’s hard to narrow down her inspirations to a select few, Meek said.

University of Guelph-Humber business administration student Eleni Gagovski, 19, said she’s interested in attending the gala.

“I’d be curious to see what type of awards there are, who gets them, and what they got the award for,” said Gagovski. “It would probably inspire me to aim towards getting one.”

The awards gala will be held at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Nov. 28. Tickets to the gala can be purchased online at http://www.theawards.ca.