187 - Joanna Pariseau - Founder & CEO of Taste the City

Between Two Dots Podcast Episode 187 – Joanna Pariseau Joanna Pariseau grew up the youngest of five in Calgary, where her parents raised the whole household on $20,000 a year and she was cooking for her siblings at ten years old. She skipped university, went straight into corporate, and built a career in events — until the oil crash laid her off on maternity leave, and then the pandemic laid her off again two months into her next role. Instead of rebuilding what she had, she enrolled at the University of Calgary and turned a class project worth 5% of her mark into Taste the City — a food tech company running digital guided tasting experiences across Canada and internationally, built alongside her best friend Melissa, a pen pal since grade one. The first pilot ran on an Excel spreadsheet and five friends. It almost fell apart. They kept going. Between two dots – "The value is in the line: the journey." "It's such a small amount of the population that's actually trying. Who else is doing something? Nobody. So might as well." – Joanna Pariseau Episode Highlights: 00:00:00 – Introduction & Guest Overview 00:01:34 – Growing Up in Deer Run: Blended Family, Five Kids & Learning to Cook at Ten 00:06:58 – Debate Champion, Skipping University & Going Straight to Corporate 00:07:47 – Oil Crash, Maternity Leave & Getting Laid Off Twice 00:08:43 – Going Back to School During Covid & The Project That Started Everything 00:21:46 – Sponsor Ad Break 00:24:22 – How Taste the City Works: The Business Model & Restaurant Partnerships 00:27:26 – Expanding Across Canada & the Global Tastemaker Model 00:49:58 – Founder Mindset: Riding the Waves, Owning Mistakes & Unreasonable Hospitality 00:55:58 – Outro & Call to Action Connect with Joanna Pariseau: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanna-parisea... Sponsors of this episode: Bloom Benefits Group: www.bloombenefits.ca Zelos Investment Counsel: www.zelosglobal.com Airways Krown: www.krown.com Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the hosts and the guests do not necessarily reflect any agency, organization, or affiliated companies.