Jennifer Ménard-Shand. All Rights Reserved.
As a First Nations Ojibwe and French-Canadian wife, mother, entrepreneur and speaker, Jennifer Ménard-Shand always dreamed of leading a purpose-driven organization. Today, she lives that dream as the founder & CEO of Staff Shop, an award-winning certified diverse staffing firm. Through sharing her inspirational entrepreneurial journey as well as insight into truth and reconciliation in the workplace, elevating Indigenous-women-led businesses; supplier diversity; and the Canadian labour market, Ménard-Shand inspires leaders and their teams to reach their full potential both at home and work.
Jennifer began her career in 2008 at one of Toronto’s most trusted full-service recruitment agencies, The Bagg Group. In 2013, she created Bagg @ Your Service, the organization’s first hospitality and event division, before purchasing her creation in 2018 and evolving it into Staff Shop. Today, her company services hundreds of clients across North America and deploys thousands of employees across Canada as a full-service, multi-service line staffing and consulting firm with a focus on global expansion.
Ménard-Shand’s entrepreneurial story celebrates the triumph of resiliency. She is a survivor of abuse, abandonment, domestic violence, imposter syndrome and PTSD. She is committed to breaking the silence and putting an end to generational trauma and unhealthy cycles. There is no limit to the positive impact Staff Shop and Jennifer can have on humanity. This is what drives her to do her best and inspire others to leave a legacy worth following for future generations.
"This year I had the great honour to interview Jennifer Ménard-Shand for my Chatter that Matters platform. As a Canadian I take great comfort and pride in knowing that people with the values, faith, spirit and drive of Jennifer are succeeding in a world where so many chase profits over a higher purpose. Jennifer has become an extraordinary entrepreneur who makes things happen with a strategic mind, a resonating heart and a bias for action. In doing so she has opened her path in life to others based on merit versus the biases that often blind humanity. Jennifer is special and I recommend her as loudly as words can roar."
"As a mentor for Jennifer I have seen her hard work and right decision making in progressing Staff Shop to a new level; in spite of COVID19 challenges, Jennifer was able to pivot her company, product and services to capture new opportunities during this pandemic stage. Staff Shop has been servicing RBC through Compass Group. RBC has featured Jennifer’s success on this year’s "A Chosen Journey" and she has been invited to speak at the RBC Employee Town Hall meeting in June 2020."
"I feel privileged to be in a position to recommend Staff Shop’s Founder & CEO, Jennifer Ménard-Shand, for speaking engagements and presentations. I am confident that anyone engaging Jennifer for these services would be more than satisfied with their experience and results. Jennifer offered insight on key aspects of entrepreneurship, challenges, strategies, successes and resiliency. It was no surprise that Jennifer made the experience a valuable and memorable one. If you’re looking for a positive, impactful, and productive experience, Jennifer is the right choice."
Karen Chalmers, TechAlliance of Southwestern Ontario
"Thank you for attending the Girl Guides of Canada (GGC) Board Retreat to share about your experience as a transformational female leader with our Board Members. GGC has a long history of supporting and empowering girls in Canada. We want to continue to be a key player, paving the way for women with our girl members in the lead. Your valuable insights over the weekend have helped us better understand how we can achieve this. Thank you for sharing your wealth of experience as a woman of influence in Canada. Your support enables us to help girls achieve greatness and be all they can be."
"We at American Express Canada would like to thank you for your participation alongside God-is Rivera, Global Director, Culture & Community at Twitter in the session where we focused on discussing how race conversations can translate into real change within organizations. Our colleagues were inspired by your openness and honesty in sharing how you used your personal experience to build Staff Shop as a purpose-driven company that is truly making an impact. We were all so captivated by your stories and perspective, and your ability to discuss this topic in a relatable and humorous manner without sacrificing or downplaying the importance of the message."
"We would like to offer our sincerest thanks for your expertise, words of advice, and call to action for Sobeys Inc. employees during our panel event, “Reconciliation in the Workplace”. Your engaging manner and expertise were noted and enhanced by your personal story. We received a large number of comments in the event's live chat thanking you for having the courage to share your personal truths. We can not thank you enough, Jennifer, for taking the time to share and enrich our event with your presence. Your contribution will continue to impact the entire Sobeys Inc. team, as we continue on the path of awareness and action related to truth and reconciliation."
"I would like to formally give my most sincere thanks to Jen and her team at Staff Shop for supporting the professional education and development of the Young Presidents’ Assistants (YPA) members. The lessons learned will remain invaluable throughout our entire careers. We have had the opportunity to hear from many individuals and companies from all walks of life at YPA, but Jennifer and Staff Shop stand out as something truly special. Listening to Jen, it was clear that she is a genuine person, and that Staff Shop operates on the same principles by which she conducts herself. We know there were many attendees who reached out to Jennifer after the event to continue the conversation re; women in business, ragedy to triumph storytelling, and employment opportunities."
"Jennifer offered insight on key aspects of entrepreneurship: the importance of working on your business as opposed to in it; how she builds A-player teams only at Staff Shop; and some keys to entrepreneurial success. Jennifer’s words of wisdom came from her own experience, but the lessons are applicable to everyone: learning to let go gives room for others to grow; use tools and resources to put the right people in the right roles; believe in yourself, and seek mentors who believe in you when you have doubts."
Employment and Labour Best Practices Across Canada
Building Sustainable Workforces and Supply Chains
Indigenous Truth & Reconciliation in the Workplace
This year I had the great honour to interview Jennifer Ménard-Shand for my Chatter that Matters platform. As a Canadian I take great comfort and pride in knowing that people with the values, faith, spirit and drive of Jennifer are succeeding in a world where so many chase profits over a higher purpose. Jennifer has become an extraordinary entrepreneur who makes things happen with a strategic mind, a resonating heart and a bias for action. In doing so she has opened her path in life to others based on merit versus the biases that often blind humanity. Jennifer is special and I recommend her as loudly as words can roar.
As a mentor for Jennifer I have seen her hard work and right decision making in progressing Staff Shop to a new level; in spite of COVID19 challenges, Jennifer was able to pivot her company, product and services to capture new opportunities during this pandemic stage. Staff Shop has been servicing RBC through Compass Group. RBC has featured Jennifer’s success on this year’s "A Chosen Journey" and she has been invited to speak at the RBC Employee Town Hall meeting in June 2020.
As a founder of Sensational Servers, I built my event staffing company with much diligence and care for years. I never considered my clients and employees to be simply about business. That is why when the time came for me to move on, I chose Bagg @ Your Service, a division of Bagg Inc. - their reputation is renowned. I knew they would operate according to the same values of respect, integrity, pride and professionalism as I do. Transitioning a business can be trying and worrisome, but that is certainly not the case when dealing with Bagg @ Your Service. Working with Jennifer Ménard-Shand and her team has been a positive experience for all concerned at every level.
Thank you for attending the Girl Guides of Canada (GGC) Board Retreat to share about your experience as a transformational female leader with our Board Members. GGC has a long history of supporting and empowering girls in Canada. We want to continue to be a key player, paving the way for women with our girl members in the lead. Your valuable insights over the weekend have helped us better understand how we can achieve this. Thank you for sharing your wealth of experience as a woman of influence in Canada. Your support enables us to help girls achieve greatness and be all they can be.
The Power of Women-Led Business
RBC's "A Chosen Journey" 2020 Indigenous Partnership Report featuring Staff Shopedit this text
RBC's "A Chosen Journey" 2020 Indigenous Partnership Report featuring Staff Shopedit this text
RBC's "A Chosen Journey" 2020 Indigenous Partnership Report featuring Staff Shopedit this text
RBC's "A Chosen Journey" 2020 Indigenous Partnership Report featuring Staff Shopedit this text
RBC's "A Chosen Journey" 2020 Indigenous Partnership Report featuring Staff Shopedit this text
Read RBC's "A Chosen Journey" 2020 Indigenous Partnership Report featuring Staff Shop pp. 30-31
Hear Staff Shop's episode on Tony Chapman’s podcast "Chatter that Matters,"
Watch founder & CEO Jennifer Ménard-Shand, & COO Alison Hernandez video interview with Tony Chapman
Watch Jennifer’s feature video on Drew Dudley’s Wall of Amazing Humans
Hear Jennifer’s triumph of good over evil story on Tony Chapman's podcast "Chatter that Matters"
Hear Jennifer’s Words of Wisdom on BBS Radio Show inspiring women and entrepreneurs
Read Jennifer's feature in CAMSC's Indigenous Heritage Newsletter pp. 3-4
Read Jennifer’s feature in WBE Canada’s Driving Innovation Report pp.66-67
Watch Jennifer's feature in Change Connect Panel Series: Crushing the Entrepreneurial Journey (11:12-26:48)
Read Jennifer's feature in Canada's FoodService Magazine as ‘The Recruiter’
Read Jennifer’s feature in The Globe And Mail article ‘In their words'
Hear Jennifer on The Leadership Tales podcast with Colin Hunter
Read Jennifer’s feature in the BDC article ‘Un succès à partager’
Hear Jennifer on the ‘Lets Talk Supply Chain’ podcast about ‘The Difference Between Culture and Community’
Core Value Alignment
Read Jennifer’s feature in The Ontario Broker Magazine in the article ‘Building a Winning Team’ pp. 16-17
Read Jennifer's feature in the Canadian Bible Society Advent Devotional Week 2- Peace in Trouble
Jennifer’s feature in the Montreal Christian Directory
Jennifer’s feature in Canadian SME Business Magazine’
Speaker Blog
Jennifer's 'Healing Journey' on No Reservation Podcast with Joe Baker
Jennifer’s feature in the ELO Network Podcast
Founder & CEO Jennifer Menard, and COO Alison Hernandez podcast with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine