Faces of Entrepreneurship FT. Lionel Regis
Lionel Regis is passionate for helping young entrepreneurs get on their way. Before working at the University of Ottawa, he ran an entrepreneurship program for underrepresented youth with the UN Association in Canada. He also facilitated agile & scrum workshops for early-stage startups with District 3 Innovation Hub in Montreal with Concordia University.
Lionel is currently the Program Manager for MakerLaunch, the startup accelerator within the Faculty of Engineering. In addition to guiding cohorts throughout the 9-month program, he also manages entrepreneurial initiatives within the faculty, including the Concepts Competitions, and the Simon Nehme Summer Entrepreneurship School.
What does entrepreneurship mean to you?
Both my parents immigrated to Canada in the 70s. Their lived experiences as newcomers are instilled in my values today and provide a foundation for my own curiosity of entrepreneurship.
Leaving the familiar in search of something better, the uncertainty of success, high risk tolerance, continuous improvement, building and contributing to a community. These concepts can apply to the person working on the next big idea or relocating to a new place. In both cases, I appreciate the struggles and achievements to create something meaningful for themselves and others.
How are you entrepreneurial?
My first experience as a founder came from passion — during high school I started a video production collective for top eSports competitors when nothing like it existed at the time. Since then, I have been part of several early-stage intrapreneurship endeavours with no roadmaps to success. Any wins worth mentioning have moments of wanting to give up, but perseverance created opportunities that would have been missed otherwise.
All my roles have involved community building, and I’m humbled to be in a position at uOttawa that supports new engineering founders on their own startup journeys.
How does an entrepreneurial mindset contribute to your life?
The simple concept of trying again is probably the biggest contribution in my life. The entrepreneurial mindset embraces the early stages of learning new skills, trying new foods, or visiting new places. The world becomes less scary when you approach each situation knowing it doesn’t have to work perfectly the first time.
This feature was published as a part of the Faces of Entrepreneurship Campaign, 2021–22.
