CANDACE A. BORLAND

Partner, President ANOMALY INC.

BIO: Candace Borland is a partner and president of Anomaly Toronto, a progressive new-model marketing agency. Since joining the agency at its founding in 2012, Candace has been instrumental in shaping the organization’s passionate entrepreneurial culture, diverse talent mix, and broad skillset. A socially minded change agent in a leadership position typically held by men, Candace has a mission to inspire and provide opportunities for other women. To help fuel this mission she enacted WINN (Women in Need of Nothing), a confident, broad-shouldered program designed to bring professionals together across industries. The empowerment and influence of Anomaly’s now various culture, diversity and equity initiatives permeates the organization to educate and create empathy and awareness throughout the company, resulting in progressive, breakthrough ideas and successful business solutions for clients. In addition to her role with Anomaly, Candace is active in her family business, a renowned livestock and genetics company. Its newest venture is Rapid Bay Akaushi – a fullblood Japanese Wagyu business focused on, and advocating for, premium ethically raised beef. Growing up in rural Québec gave Candace a keen sense of community and the importance of serving others. With that came strong principles, integrity and the absolute value of hard work. A life in agriculture has emphasized the importance of food and connectivity to the land, and with that, the need to care for the earth and all of its inhabitants. Candace is grateful for the privilege of family support, access to education, and the wealth of opportunity provided by virtue of growing up in Canada. “There is only a small percentage of women in the world, and in history, who have had the chance to pursue their career dream. It is what drives me to take things as far as I possibly can. The more women rise up in all facets of business and life, the more level the playing field will become.”

BEST CAREER ADVICE: Don’t shy away from hard work. Say yes to as many opportunities as possible, especially early in your career. Use those opportunities to ambitiously build your experience, hone your skills and to stretch yourself out of your comfort zone. Don’t view it as ‘overtime’ but as additional years on your résumé.

IF I HAD CHOSEN A DIFFERENT CAREER PATH:

At Anomaly we creatively solve business problems. If I wasn’t leading a creative company, I would apply creative problem-solving to another industry I’m passionate about, such as agriculture (livestock genetics and ethical food) or perhaps non-profit/ for-purpose (specifically access to education and freedoms for women and girls).