EXCLUSIVE: Monark Launches First-Of-Its-Kind AI Leadership Assistant
We sat down with Kelsey Hahn and Amanda Julian, co-founders of Monark, the Calgary company changing the way leaders lead.
In Episode 4 of the 60 Second Founder, we sat down with Kelsey Hahn and Amanda Julian, co-founders of Monark, the world’s first Leader Relationship Management (LRM) platform.
The Opportunity: Gaps in Leadership Development
This reality of leadership today: high turnover; chaotic, unproductive meetings, and training that doesn’t stick. That was the catalyst for Kelsey Hahn and Amanda Julian, Co-Founders of Monark, to build something that addressed this gap in leadership and leader intelligence.
Leadership is constantly evolving and internally it needs training, practice, and the ability to be flexible. Today’s organizations need to be able to scale and innovate quickly to stay alive. To do so, having leaders that are well trained and effective has never been more important.
“I know how overwhelming leadership can feel. Monark was built to make that easier”
Competitive Hockey: Monark’s Muse
As a competitive hockey player, Kelsey received rigourous training and feedback on each aspect of her game. But when she compared this feedback to what business leaders received, it was a different story: outdated seminars, delayed or little-to-no feedback, and for the most part, leaving leaders to figure it out on their own.
High-growth startups are often compared to high-performance sports teams (see our recap with Jeff Smith, CEO at DC Bank). Just like athletes, leaders perform best when they get real-time feedback; not weeks later. That’s where Monark comes in: providing in-the-moment support right where leadership challenges arise. Instead of being pulled away for training, leaders can adjust on the fly, sharpen their approach, and stay focused on doing their jobs.
“By unlocking time and efficiency, and simultaneously boosting retention and engagement, we create the kind of workplaces where people truly thrive. Because we’ve all experienced it: working for an incredible leader changes everything.”
Growing in Calgary: Homegrown Advantages
Hahn credits the accessibility and generosity of Calgary as an accelerant for Monark, noting that in bigger cities, it would be more difficult to find. Additionally, the organizations that Calgary hosts, from energy companies to infrastructure firms, has allowed Monark to experience complex, cross-industry leadership challenges.
Being based in Canada has been a huge advantage for Monark, with support flowing from coast to coast. From Toronto’s thriving investor and founder network, to Vancouver’s Digital AI Supercluster, they’ve been able to access world-class talent, cutting-edge research, and supportive funding programs, all while pairing Calgary’s grit with Canada’s spirit of collaboration.
“Canada punches far above its weight in tech and AI; we just need to keep aiming big.”
Calgary Tech Newsletter Subscribers can try Monark FREE for 3 months at the link below!
Scaling Monark: Today’s Launch
Monark’s next step launches… Today! With the release of Monark’s Leadership Intelligence tool, a first-of-its-kind AI assistant that transforms everyday meetings into engines of performance, the next year is focused on scale, specifically in three areas: reach, product, and impact.
This Leadership Intelligence tool helps structure conversations, surface risks, and provides real-time coaching prompts for leaders, ensuring that growth in leadership takes place within the workflow, and doesn’t require absence from their jobs, with a focus on pulling hours back each week, and building stronger, more inspired teams.
“With Monark, better leaders use their time wisely, inspire their people, and keep top talent engaged. When leaders thrive, entire organizations thrive with them.”
Lessons Learned: Kelsey’s Founder Journey
Building Monark, a female-founded, Calgary-built company has come with a variety of lessons for Kelsey and Amanda, specifically the speed and resilience that startups run on. Decisions focused on prioritization and re-prioritization instead of perfection is a common theme in the early-stages of building, and founders are often relying on relentless listening to the market and determination to move forward; even if the forward is uncertain.
In the fast pace of a startup, one truth becomes clear: leaders’ hours are finite. And in innovation-driven environments, every minute matters. That’s exactly the pain point Monark is built to solve. Hahn herself relies on Monark to lead more effectively: it nudges her to ask sharper questions, helps her catch hidden biases, and frees up time by eliminating the need to sit in every internal meeting.
Being a first of its kind approach to behavioural leadership means there is no playbook for what to do next. But with today’s launch of a revolutionary AI leadership assistant and a focus on scaling globally over the next year, Monark remains at the forefront of Calgary-based innovation.
“At the end of the day, this is about people. We spend more than a third of our lives at work. If Monark can help even a fraction of those hours feel more inspired, more supportive, and more human, then we’re succeeding.”
Make sure to sign up to Circuit Stream’s “Intro to AI Development Workshop” in Calgary on Saturday, October 18th! We’ll see you there!
Thank you for reading Volume IV of Tech Thursday’s ‘60 Second Founder’. If you know of a founder in Calgary that’s building in tech, make sure to reach out to Tech Thursday on our Instagram!