Gillian Kunza ’04 (Champlain College) defines success by her ability to contribute meaningfully. This perspective has shaped her leadership philosophy and guided the growth of Designed Wealth Management, where she serves as chief executive officer and chief compliance officer. Under her leadership, the firm was recently ranked No. 3 on The Globe and Mail’s 2026 list of Canada’s Top Growing Women-Led Companies.  

“When I started my career, I only knew success as what I could see around me – personal awards, designations, job titles,” says the Bachelor of Business Administration alumni. “Yet, over time, success has become more intrinsic. Am I doing something of value? Is it something others value? Can I positively impact the environment I’m in? Do I have autonomy to make decisions? I’m very fortunate that I can say ‘yes’ to those questions.” 

The Canada’s Top Growing Women-Led Companies program ranks participating private and public Canadian businesses on three-year revenue growth. Under Kunza’s leadership, Designed Wealth Management, now a nine-figure dual-registered investment dealer and registered investment fund manager, has become Canada’s fastest organically growing dealers. The company has a reported growth rate of 1,042 percent, and Kunza credits that success to a willingness to act and adapt.  

“As a startup, we start with Plan A, knowing we will pivot through Plans B, C, D, and many others along the way,” she says. “We continue to adapt, listen, and take action to leverage feedback and keep momentum going.” 

Start, try, repeat: The mindset behind entrepreneurship

That emphasis on action reflects Kunza’s perspective on entrepreneurship. 

“Many people talk about their ideas, but acting on them is so different,” she says. “Novel ideas take time, but start anyway. Entrepreneurial experiences give you a strong foundation, and that leadership becomes instinctive and transferable wherever you go.”  

Kunza did not always see herself as an entrepreneur. Looking back, she recognizes a pattern of curiosity, trying, and creating in the things she chose to pursue. 

That instinct showed up across her Trent experience where she majored in Business Administration. She also followed her interest in music as a classical and opera singer while also competing as a Trent varsity athlete in rowing and Nordic skiing. Across these experiences, she found ways to test ideas, take initiative, and build something of her own. 

“I had a lot of resources to turn to at Trent,” she recalls. “The culture and faculty made it okay to be creative, to look at things differently, to be unconventional. Different approaches could be tried, tested, and valued.”  

The environment shaped her view that leadership and entrepreneurship take many forms. She encourages students to start early, test ideas, and follow what matters to them. 

“We all have an entrepreneurial spirit in us,” she says. “We can all create, so why not bet on yourself?” 

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