Building, designing, decorating and delivering results
Home maker takes on another meaning, an extra dimension, when you look at the array of women profiled on the next six pages. Each is playing a significant role in the business they work in, whether as owner or as a key employee. Their drive, as many word it, their “passion,” is clearly deep in their bones and hearts. And the quality of their work is at the highest level, winning industry awards and accolades from delighted customers and homeowners.
These women are not pioneers in their field — they stand on the shoulders of women who went before them — but they are in turn tremendously inspiring people.
WOMEN in Business
IN CELEBRATION OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Be brave, trust your vision, stay curious and never be afraid to express your own style.
DIANA CALDERON
HEIDI BAYLEY &ANGELA ROTH
Cottage Culture
At Cottage Culture, owner Heidi Bayley and General Manager Angela Roth share a passion for creating beautiful, thoughtful outdoor spaces inspired by Scandinavian design. Celebrating their fifth anniversary, the duo has built a boutique known for simplicity, craftsmanship and exceptional customer care.
“What we love most is bringing design-forward yet functional outdoor spaces to life for our very individual clients,” they share.
Heidi and Angela thrive on meeting clients with diverse tastes and helping them transform outdoor living into something meaningful. Their partnership is built on shared values, doing things properly, prioritizing quality and growing with intention.
Devoted to family and community, they also volunteer at Karen’s Place London, reflecting their commitment to creating spaces and connections that bring people together.
JANICE BROCK
Custom Covers & Custom Shades of London
For more than two decades, Janice Brock has brought warmth, style and personalized comfort to homes across London. As co-owner of Custom Covers & Custom Shades of London, she leads sales, ordering and inhome consultations, helping clients add the perfect finishing touch to their spaces.
Janice’s lifelong love of sewing and design inspired her to leave a successful financial career and pursue her true passion. Since opening the business in 2004, she has been dedicated to creating customized window and bed coverings that blend beauty with function.
Janice encourages women entering the industry to stay curious, build confidence and nurture strong client relationships. Grateful for the friendships and opportunities her work has created, she believes in following your dreams, because life is too short not to.
DIANA CALDERON
London Fine Furniture
After six years in the industry, Diana Calderon knows interior decorating is about more than beautiful rooms — it’s about creating spaces where life unfolds. Her greatest joy is helping people turn houses into homes, places where comfort, joy and personal meaning come together.
Originally from El Salvador, Diana moved to Canada in 2018 and brings an informed love of art, design and culture into every project. She was drawn to London Fine Furniture for its distinctive offering of Canadian-made, highly customizable pieces and the warm, family-like environment created by owners Harold Duesbury and Linda Duesbury.
Whether in-store or in-home, she loves guiding clients toward creating spaces that feel uniquely theirs.
Diana’s advice to women in design is heartfelt: be brave, trust your vision, stay curious and never be afraid to express your own style.
MARIA CAMACARO
V+V Homes
For Maria Camacaro, good design begins with listening. As an interior designer at V+V Homes she’s inspired by understanding how people live and translating that insight into spaces that feel both functional and personal.
Maria loves the challenge of working within existing buildings, reimagining layouts and floor plans to bring clarity, intention and meaning to everyday life.
Her journey with V+V Homes began as a student connection that grew into an unexpected opportunity to learn and evolve alongside a young company. From concept to completion, she finds fulfillment in seeing how thoughtful design can genuinely improve someone’s daily experience.
Maria’s advice to women entering the industry is heartfelt: trust your skills, step into uncomfortable spaces, build relationships and remember there is room for your voice, ideas and growth.
VANESSA COSGROVE
Mosaic Design
For Vanessa Cosgrove, interior design brings together creativity, problem solving and the joy of transforming how people live in their spaces. With 20 years of experience, she loves watching ideas become reality and finds her greatest reward in building strong relationships with clients and creating spaces they truly love.
Drawn to art, colour and texture since childhood, Vanessa followed her creative instincts into a career that feels both tangible and meaningful.
After working with several firms, she discovered she thrived working independently, which led her to partner with a trusted contractor and establish Mosaic Design. Vanessa believes the design and construction industry requires resilience, long hours and quick thinking, but also constant learning.
She encourages women to stay proactive, adaptable and deeply connected to the contractors, tradespeople and clients who help bring every project to life.
ANA COSTA
Creative Bookkeeping Inc.
Ana Costa is the founder and owner of Creative Bookkeeping Inc., where she brings clarity and confidence to entrepreneurs navigating the early stages of business. With more than 20 years of experience in administration and accounting, Ana discovered, somewhat to her own surprise, that numbers were not her weakness, but her strength.
What began as a part-time venture in 2017 grew from a lifelong desire to be an entrepreneur and a natural talent for building systems and structure where none existed.
Ana finds the greatest reward in working with startups, helping founders establish strong foundations for longterm success. Her advice to women is both practical and empowering: believe in yourself, stay original, and don’t be afraid to learn as you go. Every misstep, she believes, is simply part of the journey forward.
WILLI VAN DEVEN
Covers Designers’ Edge
With more than 20 years in the design industry, Willi Van Deven leads the drapery division at Covers Designers’ Edge with expertise, creativity and a lifelong passion for beautiful spaces.
As Lead Designer and Manager, she develops drapery programs, collaborates with reps, trains staff, and works closely with designers and builders on Dream Homes and model suites. Willi’s design philosophy centres on harmony, intuition and the transformative power of fabric — qualities she’s embraced since childhood, when she constantly reinvented her bedroom décor.
Drawn to the company by owner Kevin Fellner’s leadership and opportunities for growth, she thrives in a role that blends craftsmanship with connection. Willi encourages women to cultivate confidence, flexibility and education, reminding them that seeing a project come to life is one of the industry’s greatest rewards.
MICHELLE KINNEY
Rembrandt Homes
Born in Elliot Lake and raised in London, Michelle Kinney’s path to homebuilding was deeply personal. Years before joining custom home builder Rembrandt Homes, Michelle and her husband built their own home with the company, an experience that sparked her passion for the industry.
Now Vice President, Michelle loves the creativity and problem-solving that come with transforming blueprints into homes where families will grow and make memories.
Originally a paramedic, Michelle’s transition into homebuilding was inspired by her father, who taught her the value of hard work on construction sites. Her advice to women in the field? Build your network. “Connect with local home builder associations and seek out mentors.”
When she’s not shaping London’s landscape, Michelle enjoys hockey, golf, camping and traveling — especially to warm destinations.
YVONNE MCLEOD
Amber Light Custom Cabinetry
For nearly 30 years, Yvonne McLeod has led Amber Light Custom Cabinetry with vision, creativity and a deep commitment to meaningful transformation. As owner, she guides strategy and operations while fostering a culture where every team member feels empowered to contribute.
Innovation is central to Yvonne’s leadership — she embraces new ideas, fresh perspectives and inventive problem solving as catalysts for growth. She loves turning concepts into tangible spaces and finds joy in building strong client relationships.
Drawn to entrepreneurship by a desire to make a difference, she thrives on the freedom to chart her own path. Fascinated by transformation in all its forms, Yvonne is motivated by seeing her ideas come to life in ways that uplift, inspire and leave a lasting impact.
SHALE GAUTHIER
Hayhoe Homes
Born and raised in her family home in Port Stanley, Shale Gauthier’s interest in the home and design world was spurred at a young age. She had a mother with ideas plus a handy father, and together they curated a home of warmth, colour and comfort — designing it simply for themselves and their family.
Directly out of high school, Shale attended Fanshawe College’s Interior Decorating program and shortly after graduation began her career with Hayhoe Homes.
Starting out as an assistant, then consultant, and now, nearly 10 years later, in her role as Design & Marketing Supervisor, Shale developed her skills and grew alongside the once-small builder.
Shale enjoys helping other families design their own homes, places to raise children, to celebrate milestones and holidays, and simply do everyday life — mirroring the feelings she has about her own home growing up.
ERIN LANE
CCR Build + Remodel
For Erin Lane, home design is about breathing new life into “tired” spaces. Specializing in Design & Drafting at CCR, Erin has spent a decade perfecting the balance between a client’s dream and the structural reality of construction.
Raised in a real estate-focused household, Erin developed an intuitive grasp of floor plans early on. After focusing on her family in her twenties, she returned to college to formalize her passion, joining CCR six years ago. Her work is deeply influenced by the company’s 30-year legacy and the mentorship of founder Arne Madsen, emphasizing a design-build integration that ensures every concept is as buildable as it is beautiful.
“Design creates the dream, and construction builds the reality,” Erin notes, encouraging women to master the technical complexities of the field. By understanding the structural integrity behind the vision, she creates functional spaces for generations to enjoy.
When she isn’t drafting, Erin recharges by hiking and kayaking, finding balance in nature.
AMANDA NIEMAN
Nieman Market Design
For Amanda Nieman, leadership at Nieman Market Design is both a legacy and a passion shaped over 20 years in the family business. Surrounded by generations of entrepreneurs, she learned early the value of hard work and hands-on experience.
Today, she oversees operations, sales, design and client relationships, roles that keep her energized by the constant variety. “No two days are the same, and that’s what I love most,” Amanda says. “I thrive on the relationships, the creativity, and the challenge of making every project exceptional.”
She encourages women to trust their instincts, stay curious and step confidently into leadership. Outside the office, Amanda finds inspiration in family life, design, travel, fitness (including completing her first HYROX competition) and community involvement, from school fundraisers to supporting women in construction.
KAYLA ROBINSON
London Kitchen Studio
For Kayla Robinson, the joy of kitchen design comes from turning a homeowner’s ideas into a space that feels both beautiful and personal. Since entering the kitchen and bath industry in 2013, she has loved using cabinetry as a creative tool to bring dreams to life.
Kayla’s passion for design began in childhood, when she constantly rearranged her bedroom to create something new, and it grew stronger through school carpentry courses and a formative co-op placement with a cabinetry company.
Her career path eventually led her to London Kitchen Studio, a place she had admired and learned from early in her work life. Kayla encourages women to be confident, trust their abilities and follow their passions, knowing that even a nonlinear path leads exactly where you are meant to be.
ANITA VAN ADRICHEM
Westland Greenhouses
Anita Van Adrichem and husband Paul launched Westland Greenhouses in Holland before arriving in Canada in 2000. Both children of growers, Anita and Paul met through the industry. Like them, their children grew up playing in greenhouses. Now Anita enjoys working with them as a family.
She concentrates on the garden centre and enjoys purchasing plants and displaying décor. “I especially like interacting with the customers,” she says. The wide variety of plants available today has led to more shoppers specifically looking for houseplants and vegetables. “Our society is now more focused on health and home-grown food,” says Anita.
Always offering advice, quality products and workshops (including some for children), Anita shares her excitement for both indoor and outdoor gardens. Personal service is her guiding principle. “Westland Greenhouses is here to serve our community.”
CHRISTINA VAN DORST
London Awnings
For Christina van Dorst, running London Awnings is about creating comfort, protection and ease for every client she meets. Since joining the family business in 2009 and later taking ownership with her husband Dennis, she has found real fulfillment in guiding customers from their first inquiry to the final installation.
Her strong organizational skills make the process seamless, and she loves hearing how a new awning or screen allows families to enjoy their outdoor spaces with confidence and improved wellbeing.
Christina values the flexibility and partnership this career offers. She encourages women to trust their strengths and seek roles that support balance, aligning with their values and lifestyle. A former teacher, she chose this path for the flexibility it offered her young family.
Outside of work, Christina loves staying active through hiking, biking and trying new sports.
