Jennifer Turliuk – Entrepreneur, Author & Speaker
About
Jennifer Turliuk is an entrepreneur, writer and speaker. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Huffington Post, Fast Company, Wired, and more. She attended Queen’s University and Singularity University (at NASA), and was awarded an honorary degree from Humber College for her contributions to society. Jennifer’s writing can be found in Forbes, Business Insider, Strategy Magazine, and newspapers.




About
Entrepreneur, Author & Speaker
Summary:
- Entrepreneurial leader with a strong background in strategy, marketing, business development, and writing
- Work featured in New York Times, Wired, Fast Company, Forbes, Harvard case study, and more
- Training from Procter & Gamble, Singularity University at NASA, and business school at Queen’s University
Career Highlights:
- CEO of MakerKids, the first makerspace for kids in the world. MakerKids empowers the makers of tomorrow with programs on robotics, coding and Minecraft.
- Created Career Love, which offers courses and coaching on how to find work that you love.
- Forbes article was one of Forbes Greatest Hits (with over 1 million views), on the Forbes Most Read and Top Trending Stories for over a week, featured on Linkedin Today, and reprinted by New York’s daily newspapers, Business Insider and Vault.
- Keynote speaker at first MakerCon in Europe, spoke at MakerCon New York and on panel discussion with Peter Thiel (founder of Paypal), did a TEDx talk in Spanish (at TEDxSantiago)
- PR & Marketing consultant for various startups and campaigns including the Matterform 3D scanner crowdfunding campaign, the highest Indiegogo raise ever outside the US at the time ($471,000)
- Participant in Singularity University‘s Graduate Studies Program at NASA
- Ran Canada’s largest business plan competition and created a launchpad program for top young entrepreneurs that was selected for the Startup Chile program
- Developed self-education program that involved shadowing at 6 startups after being 1 of top 6 finalists from hundreds in competition to shadow Dave McClure of 500 Startups
- DJ‘d for Red Bull, some of Chile’s largest nightclubs, and 1 of the top 10 black tie events in the world (according to David Letterman)
- Led Procter & Gamble’s biggest launch in 27 years on P&G Canada’s largest brand
- Wrote a play that was in Canada’s largest ten-minute play festival
- Launched SMS-based disaster relief project for Hurricane Sandy that was featured in the New York Times, Fast Company, CBS, and more within a week of launching.
- Helped build a 3-D printer for a music video
- First website featured in a major children’s magazine at age 12
My Story
I’m passionate about helping people land in careers that they like and talented at, that help the world and make money. I believe that if more people have careers that are a good fit for them in this way, we’ll live in a better world. My projects are aimed at achieving this goal, whether it’s helping kids develop the skills of the future – or helping adults navigate career decisions.
Entrepreneur
Author
Speaker
Coach
Marketer
Bookwriter & Lyricist
Enthusiast of musical theatre, mindfulness, dancing and wind sports
Articles
How I Figured Out What To Do With My Life
One of Forbes Greatest Hits (with over 1 million views), on the Forbes Most Read and Top Trending Stories for over a week, featured on Linkedin Today, and reprinted by New York’s daily newspapers, Business Insider and Vault.
Contributor, MAKE Magazine
Articles include 7 Cornerstones of Making with Kids (MAKE Magazine print issue Volume 40), How to ReMake the World by Making with Kids, and Two Maker Moms Discuss the Importance of Making for Kids
A Day with the CEO of Kiva, Matt Flannery
Jennifer wrote an article about one of her shadow experiences as part of her ‘Startup Shadow’ project, which involved shadowing and interviewing many prominent founders and investors in Silicon Valley.
Other
Jennifer has also written for TVO, Techvibes, the Hamilton Spectator, Burlington Post, and Startup Weekend. She was a Blogger for the Queen’s University School of Business website, and was Co-Editor of her high school newspaper, the Trojan Times (at Hillfield-Strathallan College).
Inside Singularity University
Acted as correspondent at Singularity University’s Graduate Studies Program for Venturebeat
Future-transforming ideas: inroads into fashion
Selected to write about a new idea for September 2014 print issue. Wrote about “The closet of your dreams”

How Millennials Think About Choosing a Drug Store
An article that was co-written with Ken Wong, marketing professor at Queen’s University and member of the Canadian Marketing Hall of Fame. As part of an independent study with him, Jennifer also wrote other blog posts that offered insights to marketing professionals about how to market to millennials most effectively, demystifying which trends relating to consumption habits are actually relevant to this age group and how they can be successfully applied to marketing strategies.
Recognition
Awards
Honorary Degree, Humber College
Awarded 2016 Board of Governors’ Honorary Degree (Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning) for contributions to society
1st, NextGen in Franchising Competition
1st place, NextGen in Franchising Competition (400 applicants), International Franchise Association Conference. Selected by CEOs of College Pro and Anytime Fitness to advance to top 3, then selected as 1st by votes from 4000 conference attendees.
Nominated as a pioneering woman in tech
Ada Lovelace Day 2014
Singularity University Scholarship Recipient
Selected from over 3000 applicants as one of 80 students (from 36 countries) for NASA’s Singularity University Graduate Studies program and granted scholarships
Duke of Edinburgh Awards
Bronze, Silver, and Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards from Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex
Jury Captain, Core77
Jury Captain of Open Design Category, Core77 Design Awards 2015
Juror, TO Tech
TOTech Top Contributor of 2014 Nominees Selection
Editor’s Choice Ribbon, Maker Faire
Maker Faire New York 2014
Blue Ribbon, Maker Faire
Maker Faire Bay Area 2014, Maker Faire Rome 2013 (x 3)
Next Founders Participant
Selected to participate in Next Founders program (affiliated with Next 36)
Startup Chile Entrepreneur
1 of 154 selected from 650 applications to be part of Startup Chile, a 6-month business incubator program run by the Chilean government granting $40K in equity-free capital
Dave McClure Shadow Finalist
1 of top 6 finalists from hundreds in competition to shadow Dave McClure of 500 Startups
2nd, Latin MOOT Corp Competition
Outstanding Presentation Award and 2nd place in Latin MOOT Corp Competition (international business plan competition in Brazil for MBA students) while an undergraduate student.
Queen’s School of Business Outstanding Achievement in Communications Workshops
Queen’s University Scholarships
-Queen’s University Thomas Nugent Memorial Award: For entrepreneurial endeavors and strong academic achievement
-Queen’s University D.I. McLeod Dean’s List Scholarship
-Queen’s University Academic Entrance Scholarship
Millenium Excellence Award
Awarded to 1,000 students across Canada on the basis of leadership, community involvement, innovation and academic achievement
Wendy’s Classic Achiever Scholarship Award
Awarded to 210 students from 12,000 applicants across Canada based on demonstration of excellence in academics, extracurricular activities and community service
Max Rotman Humanitarian Youth Award
Marc Kielburger Award
Hillfield-Strathallan College’s 1st Marc Kielburger Award
Competition Prizes
-2nd in Queen’s Entrepreneurs’ Competition ($6K in prize money)
-3rd place Marketing Case Award at Queen’s Business Competition
-Case Presentation Award at Queen’s University Corporate Social Responsibility Weekend