Meet Our Summer Biz School Cohort
Front Row (left to right):
Juan Pablo Herrera, Mehakdeep Kaur, Matt Douglas, Tarek Bos, Kevin Welin, Aiden McRae
Back Row (left to right):
Sagar, Gabby Cuenza, Devyn Rollins, Shalini Prashar, Joseé Belisle, Damini Madaan, Nishtha Madaan, and Christy Huey
We're honored to be learning alongside this talented group of entrepreneurs.
About us
Hey, I'm Shalini Prashar, co-founder of YukonCart — a mission I've started with my partner Gagandeep Bhutani to empower local artists and vendors across the Yukon. Our goal is to help them showcase their talent, craftsmanship, and unique products across Canada by giving them an online presence. Many of these talented individuals don't have access to the digital market — and that's where YukonCart steps in: to make sure their work reaches more people, more communities, and more opportunities.
I'm excited to share that YukonCart has been selected for Yukon University's Summer Biz School 🎉
🌿 What is Summer Biz School?
Summer Biz School is a free, part-time program hosted by the Innovation & Entrepreneurship (I&E) team at YukonU. It's designed to help young Yukoners (ages 17–30) build real businesses that solve real problems. Over the course of three months, we dive into:
- Business planning and strategy
- Marketing and customer discovery
- Financial management and budgeting
- Sustainable business practices
- Legal, tax, and funding essentials
But it's more than just learning — it's mentorship, peer collaboration, and hands-on support to take your idea from paper to action.
💭 Why I Joined
Starting YukonCart has been an amazing journey, but it also comes with its own set of challenges — especially around marketing, brand visibility, and financial strategy. As a new business, learning how to effectively reach our audience and sustain growth has been a learning curve.
What made me especially excited about Summer Biz was the opportunity to step back and work on the business, not just in it. I want to make meaningful connections and get to know more about the community and their values — because at its heart, YukonCart is about people.
At our first session — held at Sky High Wilderness Ranch — I connected with fellow founders, reflected on my "why," and realized how many shared values we all bring to our work: community, creativity, and a desire to build something meaningful here in the North.
Photos by Devyn Rollins and Gabby Cuenza, fellow Summer Biz School students.
💡 How Summer Biz Supports YukonCart
Through Summer Biz, YukonCart is gaining valuable mentorship, practical tools, and fresh strategies to grow our vendor base and improve outreach.
This experience is helping us strengthen YukonCart — not just as a platform, but as a community-focused solution supporting local makers, artists, and small businesses across the territory.
🛍️ What's Next?
This is just the beginning of something big, and I'm truly grateful for the chance to learn, grow, and build YukonCart alongside such an inspiring group of entrepreneurs.
Thank you for being part of our journey. Let's keep growing Yukon's local economy — together.
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