The hole in Amanda Kinden’s business plan has brought a lot of success. Before she started Oh Doughnuts in 2014, Winnipeggers had limited options when it came to their crullers and other doughy delights. Thankfully, instead of focusing on her environmental studies, she turned her weekend passion for dessert making into a full-time career that has transformed the city’s sweets scene.
More than a decade ago, Kinden began crafting her first batches in the shared kitchen at Knox United Church. Six nights a week, she would cook, clean, box and deliver to coffee shops hungry for local, gourmet doughnuts. The demand soon outgrew the church basement and in 2016 she opened her first storefront on Broadway Avenue.
The grandiose boulevards were perfect for foot traffic and downtown’s office snack culture. But turning a nail salon into a food space was the first learning curve for the budding business owner. The next was realizing she still couldn’t do it all. Her recipes called for handcrafted dough, curds and icings—the key ingredients to her defining doughnuts. And with growing demand, she had to bring on staff to specialize in each.
Then began a cult-like following. Customers checking Oh Doughnuts’ socials daily to see the fresh lineup of flavours—everything from classic vanilla with pink icing and sprinkles, to botanical creations, to savoury experiments like taco, everything bagel and even ketchup chips. The shop regularly sells out.
That popularity led to a second location on Taylor Avenue in 2018, where the team continues to craft doughnuts as labours of love. It takes six hours from combining locally sourced, organic ingredients, to frying, filling and hand-decorating the fresh confections.
Today, Kinden estimates they hand-cut 1,400 to 3,000 doughnuts daily. Taylor is the sweeter end of the city, while Broadway focuses on more brunch options. Their poached egg-stuffed doughnuts are a fantastic breakfast on the go, or sop up some soup with doughnut croutons and a side of fried pickle spears coated with doughnut breadcrumbs.
But beyond the flavours and fans, one of the most meaningful outcomes of Oh Doughnuts’ success has been its impact on community, especially the queer community. At any given time, she estimates that 30 to 50 per cent of her staff identify as queer. She’s worked hard to create an environment, both in-store and online, where everyone can see themselves, be themselves and feel safe.
“That’s just how I navigate life,” she says. “We’re not only one thing. I’m a baker, I’m a local business owner, I’m a queer person. This can all exist together. We can all exist together.”
She’s hoping to spread more of the love. Her plans include turning the Taylor location into a fully gluten-free bakery (currently, shared fryers mean they’re only gluten friendly) and opening a centralized commercial kitchen to support satellite shops across the city. Just a few more holes to add to the business plan.
Manitoba proud
There are more than 100,000 businesses owned by members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community across the country, generating more than $22 billion in economic activity and employing 435,000 people. Behind those numbers are entrepreneurs driven by resilience, creativity and community.
Jenny Steinke-Magnus, executive director of the Manitoba LGBT* Chamber of Commerce, says that same spirit is thriving right here in Manitoba. With a renewed focus on helping queer entrepreneurs and businesses flourish within the province’s economy, the chamber has recently experienced a revitalization in both membership and the range of support it offers.
With a boost in funding through the federal government’s first-ever 2SLGBTQI+ Entrepreneurship Program, a $25-million effort to break down barriers and build a more inclusive economy, the chamber is focused on deepening community connections, reaching out to current and past members, while engaging queer-owned businesses to help shape a refreshed membership model.
Along with bringing back community events for 2SLGBTQ+ entrepreneurs and professionals to network, the organization is also launching the EMERGE Queer Entrepreneur Development Program. The six-month mentorship program will provide hands-on learning, one-on-one guidance and a supportive network to help 2SLGBTQ+ entrepreneurs grow their businesses with confidence.
“By providing resources, programming, networking opportunities and through partnering with local queer organizations and businesses to increase our capacity and offerings, we aim to address the challenges our queer business community faces. We look forward to finding more opportunities to support the community in new ways in the coming months,” says Steinke-Magnus.
“Above all, the best way to support 2SLGBTQ+ businesses is to frequent them and encourage others to do the same. Supporting queer-owned businesses is a tangible way to show your support/allyship.”
Being a good neighbour and then some
In the summer, a short, white picket fence lines a section of the sidewalk on Sherbrook Street. Enclosed in it is a neat square of vibrant green turf and sets of classic, blue folding lawn chairs. It’s a familiar and comforting scene that makes you want to sit down and stay awhile. And Amber Sarraillon and Morgan Wielgosz sure hope you do.
The pair opened Good Neighbour Brewing Co. in 2023 as an inviting hub for the West Broadway and broader community. Sharing a courtyard with Next Door restaurant, it’s an accessible gathering space where people can walk up, bike up, bring their families (furry members included) and enjoy time with each other over some really good local beer.
It’s exactly the vision they’d set out to achieve when they met at the beginning of their brewing careers. Both Sarraillon and Wielgosz started on the East Coast working for big-label brands. Their love of beer took them around the world, tasting as they went, but they found themselves back in Winnipeg during the pandemic.
Sarraillon says while the world stood still, they dared to dream of what their beer and brewery would look like. Inspired by Manitoba’s support for and pride in local businesses during COVID, they knew community would be the cornerstone of their craft brewery.
In 2021, they began producing small batches out of Oxus Brewing, some of which, like their Hazy Pale Ale, are still being produced today. As their brand and beers expanded, they continued to collaborate with other like-minded businesses in the city—Good Neighbour was introduced at The Beer Can, a popular pop-up beer garden just outside the historic Granite Curling Club, while a spot inside Next Door restaurant allowed them to put more innovative pours on tap.
Finally, in 2023, they set roots at 110 Sherbrook, the same year they won New Brewery of the Year at the Annual Canadian Brewers’ Choice Awards.
The pair may also have the distinction of being the first all-female and LGBTQ1+-owned and operated brewery in Manitoba, and one of few in Canada, but it’s bringing people together over a pint, hosting a community event or producing a beer that gives back that means the most.
“We have a choice and we get to connect with communities that align with our values and need support,” says Sarraillon, pointing to their GAYtorade sour series that gives back to Rainbow Resource Centre or Pet Pals Pilsner that raises funds for the Winnipeg Humane Society.
“We’re not in it to become millionaires. We’re in it to provide opportunities we didn’t have when we started. We understand the privilege and we want to do what we can to open doors and support.”
Flying the flag in small-town Manitoba
A job rejection was one of the best things to happen to Scott Carman. For more than 10 years, the owner of the Ship & Plough Tavern in Gimli, Manitoba had been working in journalism and communications. An unfortunate layoff left him with time to travel and when we came back to re-enter the field, he found himself at the end of a “no” from a hiring communications company.
“I asked the interviewer to give me some feedback about why I didn’t get the position and he said, ‘It just seemed like you didn’t want the job.’ And he was right. I wasn’t interested in going back into that line of work,” says Carman.
He moved to Gimli and noticed the local tavern was for sale. Having lived in England for a time, Carman appreciated the pub culture of the friendly, local gathering place where you could bring your whole family, have a pint and enjoy the company. So, in 2013, he bought it.
He had been working in communications his entire career and taking on a tavern came with a steep learning curve, but Carman was determined to jump in and learn from his mistakes.
One thing he knew would be a success was to add live music and events to the line-up. No one else in town was doing it at the time, especially in the off-season when the summer bump of events and attractions turns into a winter slump.
He started with winter concerts—a band a month—which turned into a year-round series that saw more acts on more days. The momentum began to build and soon artists from across the country were coming to Gimli to play the pub. The Arkells popped by for a karaoke night; Elliott Brood made a point to book the Ship & Plough on their Canadian tour; while The Grapes of Wrath performed in the beer tent one summer. “I used to watch them on Much Music, and now they’re playing my bar,” he says.
While the big bands bring people in, the small menu keeps them coming back. Carman pairs comfort food and pub favourites with local flair. The ribs are a top seller, as are the fish tacos, and of course, a Gimli staple of pickerel fish and chips.
Together, it creates an atmosphere where everyone is welcome. Carman made that clear when he hung a Pride flag during his first June owning the tavern — a first for Gimli. He also introduced the town’s first drag shows and helped establish Gimli Pride. Carman has been recognized by the Manitoba LGBT* Chamber of Commerce as a community builder but he’s quick to note the credit belongs to Gimli. That spirit was especially clear in his recent Pride post, where he reflected on the challenges he’s faced as a 2SLGBTQIA+ business owner. The likes, shares and comments—“we’re behind you,” “you make our town better”—were a reminder that both the town and the tavern are exactly where he’s meant to be.
Find more businesses at the Manitoba LGBT* Chamber of Commerce at mb-lgbt.biz.
For Albert McLeod, the path to becoming an Indigenous cultural facilitator unfolded naturally over three decades of community work and deep cultural learning. With roots in both Scottish settler and Woodland and Swampy Cree ancestry, McLeod includes historical knowledge and lived experience in his presentations to educate people about the complex history of colonization, cultural adaptation and identity.
After years of full-time work with non-profits and as an advisor about Indigenous knowledge for research projects and national Indigenous organizations, McLeod launched his consulting practice just as the pandemic began. From Zoom calls at home to presentations across the country, he now shares knowledge shaped by a lifetime of involvement in the Indigenous HIV/AIDS response, the 2Spirit reemergence and national healing processes like the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls.
A proud 2Spirit trailblazer, McLeod was part of the early activism that formed the Nichiwakan Native Gay & Lesbian Society — now 2Spirit Manitoba — in the 1980s. He’s witnessed massive growth in the community, from 200 people marching in Winnipeg’s first Pride in 1987 to 13 Indigenous floats in 2024 and Pride events now happening on-reserve across Canada.
