Demystifying Financial Planning with Tim Borody

Beth Borody sits down with wealth advisor Tim Borody from Advice First Wealth to talk about what financial planning actually looks like when you strip away the jargon and just start with real questions.

This conversation picks up where our Women + Investing Live workshop at PDAC left off. When Tim asked the room of 25 women what they felt when they heard the words "financial planning," the number one answer was overwhelmed.”

This video is for every woman who has felt that same thing.

Together, they walk through what a comprehensive financial plan includes, how to find an advisor you trust, and why investments are only one piece of a much bigger picture. Beth shares her experience navigating mining executive compensation, entrepreneurship, debt, and the real emotions that come with it all. Peggy Bell also joins the conversation to talk about her own money story and the shame and silence that so many women carry around when it comes to finances.

If you have been meaning to start the conversation about your financial future and keep putting it off, this is a good place to begin.

This video is for educational and knowledge-sharing purposes. It does not provide personalized investment advice. Women seeking investment decisions should work with licensed professionals to understand their risk profile and receive qualified advice.

Women + Investing: Understanding the Critical Minerals Landscape

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Peggy talks with
Gordana Slepcev, CEO of Lomiko Metals

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On April 8th, Peggy Bell sat down with Gordana Slepcev, CEO of Lomiko Metals, to dig into one of the most essential yet least understood critical minerals in the energy transition.

Gordana walks us through what graphite is, how it moves from rock to battery, and why it makes up the largest share of every lithium-ion battery on the market today.

Curious to learn more? Our discussion is below.

Gordana breaks down the difference between natural and synthetic graphite, noting that synthetic graphite production generates roughly 4 times more carbon dioxide per ton. She explains how natural graphite deposits in Quebec are processed by flotation and purified into battery-grade anode material, and outlines the supply chain from the mine site to downstream facilities. We talk about the scale of demand driving this industry forward, with the global battery market expected to grow from 3 trillion to 10 trillion dollars by 2030, fuelled by electric vehicles, renewable energy storage, and the power requirements of AI and data centres.

One of the most important parts of the conversation is around retail investment. Gordana explains how most institutional funds set minimum thresholds that leave junior mining companies without access to capital, and how retail investors and family offices are essential to funding the exploration work that keeps Canada's mining pipeline alive. That investment creates local jobs, trains local workforces, supports regional contractors, and builds the critical mineral supply chain at the centre of Canada's economic future.

This is exactly the kind of conversation we are continuing at Women + Investing Live in Vancouver on May 6. Gordana joins us in person to share more about her experience leading a junior mining company and what she sees ahead for Canada's critical minerals sector. If you work in mining and want to understand investing from inside the industry, you already belong in this room.

This is for educational purposes only. We do not provide investment advice.

Women and Wealth: Understanding the Mining Raise Playbook

In this LinkedIn Live, we sit down with Alicia Milne, CEO, President, and Director at Q2 Metals Corp, and pull back the curtains on how mining companies raise capital, navigate commodity cycles, and make decisions grounded in geology and market reality.

Alicia walks us through Q2's lithium project acquisition in 2024 during a market downturn and what that experience taught her about timing, research, and risk tolerance. She breaks down what retail investors need to understand about mining investment, from commodity cycles to project quality to management track records. We talk about the gaps women face when moving from operations into capital conversations and why building investment knowledge matters as much as building technical expertise.

This is exactly why we created Women + Investing Live at PDAC. On March 1 in downtown Toronto, we bring together women for an in-person session on financial foundations, investing education, and how mining can play a role in investment portfolios. Tim Borody, Wealth Advisor at Advice First Wealth, walks through planning, risk, and tax considerations. Alicia shares what makes mining companies investable and how to evaluate opportunities beyond commodity price alone.

If you work in mining and want to understand investing from inside the industry, you already belong in this conversation. We built this space so women move toward ownership with context, vocabulary, and the ability to ask better questions.

This is for educational purposes only. We do not provide investment advice.

Women and Wealth: The Importance of Investment Education

In this LinkedIn Live, we sit down with Tim Barody, CFP and CPA at Advice First Wealth, and get real about a gap we see every day in mining. Women earn high incomes and carry serious responsibility, yet many still feel unsure about investing, equity compensation, and the decisions that shape long-term wealth.

This is exactly why we create our Women and Wealth event at PDAC. On March 1 in downtown Toronto, we bring together an intimate group of 30 women for a four-hour, conversation-first session on financial foundations, investing education, and why mining matters right now. Tim walks through planning, risk, and tax considerations, and Alicia Milne, CEO of Q2 Metals, shares what retail investors mean for mining companies and how to think about mining as part of the investment landscape.

If you make good money and still feel uncertain about how to turn income into wealth, you already belong in this conversation. We build this space so women in mining move toward ownership with community, connection, and a clearer financial centre.

This is for educational purposes only. We do not provide investment advice.

The Experience 2026: A Letter to the Women Who Are Ready for More

The Experience Retreat offers an opportunity to have new headshots taken that feel like YOU!

As we prepare to welcome the 2026 cohort of The Experience, I have been reflecting on why this program exists and what it has come to represent for the women who join us.

When I first imagined The Experience, it was never meant to be another leadership program or professional development course. It was a space to reimagine what growth could feel like for women in mining; a form rooted in connection, joy, and wholeness. Over the years, I have seen it transform lives. Women who arrived uncertain or exhausted have left grounded, clear, and connected to something greater. To each other, and to themselves.

The Experience is not a program you attend. It is an experience you feel. Three days that remind you of your strength, your softness, and your sovereignty.

Below is the letter I wrote to the women joining us in 2026. It captures what this Experience means to me and, I hope, to you.

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Scenes from our June retreat

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Dear Experience Participant

When I dreamt of The Experience, I wanted to create more for women. I wanted to build a space where women could show up, connect, and feel that spark of magic that happens when we gather with intention. I did not want another professional development opportunity. I wanted a lifelong connection, shared ambition, and a network of women bound by something deeper than titles or performance.

I built this for you. For the days when you feel tired, overwhelmed, or uncertain. For the moments when the peaks and crashes of life feel like too much. I wanted you to have a place that feels safe enough to pause, reconnect, and gather the energy to keep showing up for your teams, your families, and yourself. This is not about earning the next promotion. It is about realizing that you are the creator of your next steps. You get to decide what works and what does not.

The Experience was born from what I craved in the industry but could not find. It is about being human together, finding joy in connection, and remembering that when you put yourself first, everything else expands.

Our retreats are equal parts reflection and celebration. Structured workshops blend with unstructured freedom. We laugh. We cry. We share meals and stories. For three days, you are cared for, not because you need permission to rest, but because you deserve to.

The Experience invites you to show up in your full power. Big, bold, and beautiful. You do not have to prove anything. I am not interested in your title or your income. I care about your ambition and your well-being.

This program was not built on a whim. It was built with intention, for you. Step into The Experience and see what becomes possible when you give yourself the space to grow.

With love,
Beth

About The Experience

The Experience is Femina Collective’s year-long journey for women in mining who are ready for more. More clarity. More connection. More alignment. It includes 1:1 coaching, a three-day retreat and purposeful growth through a year of community and coaching. Together, we create the kind of growth that feels real, not performative.

Learn more and join the 2026 cohort here.

The Changing Face of Mining: Mapping Your Impact

What if mining started with a map, not a model? In this episode of The Changing Face of Mining, Peggy Bell and Allison Coppel uncover how defining your “neighbourhood” can transform community relationships, build trust, and create people-first mining projects that succeed because of values, not just resources.

By Peggy

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Leadership in mining is often defined by technology, economics, and environmental performance. Yet the success of any mining project depends on something more human. It depends on how well a company understands the communities it touches.

In the latest Changing Face of Mining conversation, I sat down with Allison Coppel, founder and CEO of Pacha Associates, to explore how companies can transform community engagement. Allison’s work is grounded in a simple but powerful idea. Before you can build trust, you need to know where you stand.

After nearly two decades in global mining leadership, Allison founded Pacha Associates to help companies strengthen relationships through practical, people-centered systems. Her approach begins with a map.

“The first thing I tell teams is to pull out a map,” Allison explained. “Not a geological map, but a people map. Figure out your neighborhood. Understand who’s in and who’s out, and why.”

That exercise reveals how each team defines community. It also shows how easily misalignment can happen when companies move too quickly into exploration without taking the time to listen.

For Allison, mapping is both a mindset and a management system. It helps companies move beyond compliance to a genuine connection. It defines their social area of influence and creates a process to revisit it as projects evolve.

We also discussed what it would look like to design an exploration company from the ground up with people at the center. Allison believes the industry’s next major transformation will come from leaders who start with values instead of output.

“Projects do not fail because of the rocks,” she said. “They fail because of people. Investors may think they are buying into resources, but what they are really betting on is trust in the team and how they operate.”

That trust extends to everyone connected to a project, from local businesses to regulators to employees. Consistency in how a company behaves defines both its reputation and its relationships.

“Your brand is how you show up,” Allison said. “It is the experience people have with you. When that experience is transparent and fair, trust grows naturally.”

Our conversation connected brand, community, and leadership into one idea. Mining’s social performance is not a department. It is a culture. When companies lead with curiosity, clarity, and consistency, they create long-term relationships that support both communities and investment.

Watch the full conversation below to explore how mapping, listening, and leading with people first can reshape the way we define success in mining.

🎥 Watch the full conversation: The Changing Face of Mining: Map Your Impact

A Rebuild Worth Talking About

After five years of growth and reflection, Femina Collective is entering a new chapter. Founder Beth Borody shares how community feedback inspired a rebuild focused on intimacy, purpose, and connection through The Experience—creating spaces where women in mining can grow, lead, and belong.

by Beth

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This year has been a milestone for me and for Femina.

I started Femina five years ago as a side project built on curiosity and a deep trust in my intuition. I wanted to create a community that I wished existed for women in mining, and I believed others wanted it too. Over those five years, I poured my time, energy, and resources into it. There have been moments of incredible growth and moments that tested every part of me. What has never changed is my commitment to radically changing the experience of women in mining.

For a long time, Femina lived beside my full-time career. It was a passion, not yet a profession. That changed this year.

There was a moment this summer when I knew I had to give Femina my full attention. If this movement was going to make its mark, it needed mine. I sat down with my financial planner and accountant to ask if I could make it work. The numbers said “not really,” but my heart said, “you have to.” So, I jumped.

I went all in.

The first step was understanding how our community was truly experiencing Femina. What was working? What needed to evolve?

This year had already been full. We launched The Experience, introduced new Investment and Mining Courses, and brought new team members on board. But even with the excitement, I felt something shift. Our core group, the women who joined our Executive Membership, started to feel distant. I could feel it too.

I showed up for every call, stayed active on Slack, and reached out personally to members. But it still wasn’t enough. So we asked directly. We sent a feedback survey and held one-on-one conversations.

The feedback was real and humbling.

We learned that we were losing the intimacy that made Femina special. As our membership grew globally, connection became harder to sustain. Women were asking for smaller circles, in-person gatherings, and for me to be more present.

Where we thrived was clear. Our experiences: PDAC in Colour, the Dinner Series, the retreats, and the informal meetups. Those were the moments that sparked energy and belonging. They were the spaces for growth, confidence, and honest conversation.

So we began to rebuild.

Peggy and I reflected deeply on how we lead together and how we show up in our roles. It was not easy, but it was necessary.

As a leader, my goal is simple. To ensure Femina remains the safest, most empowering space for women in mining. A place where women show up authentically, connect deeply, and grow together.

The feedback gave us a gift: the opportunity to rebuild with intention.

We reviewed everything. We brainstormed, mapped scenarios, and weighed costs and capacity. We even considered removing memberships entirely. Then we realized we already had the model that reflected what women were asking for: The Experience.

This program offers safety, intimacy, coaching, a retreat, and real connection. Everything our community wanted most. What started as a program for senior women is now expanding into new cohorts and formats, welcoming more women into this kind of deep, aligned growth.

It feels right.

Femina’s next chapter is rooted in connection, purpose, and feminine energy. It is alive in our programs, our experiences, and in our Slack community, where women connect daily across the world.

Femina feels aligned again. And that is exactly why I started her in the first place.

Women Investing in Mining

Why An Investment Course?

Two years ago, I was wrapping up a lunch meeting with a table full of potential investors—all of whom were over the age of 65, white, and male. It was myself and the CEO of a junior mining company, and we had entertained this group numerous times, hoping for a signed deal and a commitment to invest.

We had answered their questions, provided resources, and listened as they repeatedly claimed they wanted something different for the industry. They wanted to invest in women. Yet when it was time to make a decision, we faced a familiar obstacle—there was no credible male name on the board. So, there would be no investment.

It was deflating, to say the least. Once the room cleared, we looked at each other and asked, Where are all the women?

That question sent me down a rabbit hole. Where were the women? Not just in leadership roles, but as investors? As decision-makers with capital to deploy? During this process, I also uncovered my own knowledge gaps. I had spent years in mining, yet I had no idea how to engage with the industry as an investor. In fact, I didn’t even realize that I qualified as an accredited investor. I didn’t know the term existed. When I learned that my income level gave me access to private placements and direct investment opportunities beyond the open market, I was stunned. How had I not known this? More importantly, why weren’t more women aware of these opportunities?

The Investment Knowledge Gap for Women

As I dug deeper, I saw an alarming trend. Women don’t typically see themselves as investors. Many believe they need significant wealth before they can start, which simply isn’t true. When I examined how women were portrayed in financial media, it became clear that we have an image problem when it comes to wealth and investment.

Women are often depicted as the household budgeters—clipping coupons, grocery shopping, and penny-pinching. Meanwhile, men are portrayed in suits on Wall Street, driving luxury cars, and making power moves in the boardroom. The subliminal message? Money, power, and investment are not women’s domains.

Determined to change that narrative, I immersed myself in learning. I read books, attended webinars, and took courses designed to educate women on investing. Resources like Female Invest , Girls That Invest and Movement51were invaluable. However, despite their comprehensive teachings on tech investments, venture funds, angel investing, and stock markets, one crucial sector was missing—mining.

The Missing Link: Mining & Women Investors

Mining is fundamental to the global economy, yet it’s virtually absent from investment education targeted at women. I searched for data on women as retail investors in mining and found almost nothing—outside of cases where generational wealth enabled women to inherit and maintain mining investments.

At the same time, we know that mining’s #1 risk factor, according to EY, is access to capital. The industry is starved for investment, while a demographic shift is underway—by 2030, women in Canada will control 50-60% of the country’s wealth, according to CIBC. The solution seems obvious, doesn’t it?

Yet, even within the industry, women who manage and assess risk daily often don’t recognize their potential as investors. We focus heavily on women as employees, but real change happens where the money is. If we want to reshape mining, we need women at the decision-making tables. Not just as workers—but as investors.

The Solution: An Investment Course Built for Women

That’s why Femina Collective is launching this course. Because no one else is talking about this.

Mining investment is often dismissed as too risky or too complex, but the best way to combat fear is through education. By providing women with the knowledge and tools to navigate investment opportunities—including those in mining—we can bridge this gap.

Whether you work in the industry or are simply interested in growing your wealth, this course is for you. It’s time for women to claim their space in mining investment.