Portraits of Innovation

Jess Joss

For many startup businesses, the first big challenge they face is finding someone that shares their unique vision and believes in the founders enough to take a risk by investing funds to get the company operational. These special investors, affectionately called “Angels,” have allowed businesses with great ideas but without cashflow to build out their operations and ultimately create beneficial products and services. Jess Joss is one such Angel Investor – she brings not only investment, but also years of business experience and a vast professional network to Vaughan startups that she choses to work with. In this portrait, the artist has chosen to depict Jess in the form of an angel to best portray how she is seen by those with a dream and needing that first affirmation of confidence on their long road to success.

Shiva Bhardwaj

Growing up working in his father’s auto repair shop, Shiva Bhardwaj had a passion for cars since an early age. This passion encouraged him to pursue a degree in engineering that eventually led him to Silicon Valley where he identified a need for consumers to be able to take control of their car’s well-being. Upon returning to Vaughan, Shiva developed his PitStop Connect app that aims to be the ultimate solution for predicting vehicle failures to save consumers both time and money. In this portrait, the artist has captured Shiva in the familiar environment of his family auto-shop, but has chosen to depict him contained within the tool that allows his dream to be possible: a high-tech tablet. Combining the old and new, this image illustrates both Shiva’s origin and the future still to come.