It is inspiring to meet someone who is ambitious and motivated, someone who turns ideas into action…especially when that person’s drive is infectious and inspires the same in others. Dani Kagan is one of these people. Dani is the co-founder of City MOGULS, an annual event that raises funds and awareness for Canadian charities while also highlighting and supporting Canadian fashion. She's also a freelance event planner with her time spent working on fashion events such as CAFA (the Canadian Arts & Fashion Awards), FashionCAN, and Reset; as well as charity and corporate events with Sunnybrook Hospital, Women's College Hospital, Baycrest, The Joe Carter Classic and more. She’s a self-described “retired professional dancer” who recently started her own dance competition, Stratus Dance with business partner Victoria Marshman. As if all these gigs weren’t enough to keep her busy, she did all of this on top of her “nine-to-five” job, which she only recently parted from to focus more attention on her creative pursuits, which she now manages under the umbrella of her new company, Stratus Events Inc. I’m so inspired by this young entrepreneur, and it’s a pleasure for me to tell you more about her!
Dani left a career as a professional dancer behind her (fun fact: Dani used to be a member of the Toronto Raptors Dance Pak), but she’s still an active participant in the field as a dance teacher and choreographer, on top of managing the aforementioned dance competition she runs. She’s also a former member of the University of Toronto’s Dance Team, which is where she befriended Victoria Marshman and Jess Domingo, and these three like-minded, creative and motivated individuals co-founded City MOGULS (and later brought in Monica Gold, the missing piece who completed the team). The group wanted to showcase Toronto dancers and designers and created the event as a runway show fundraiser (then called Raise the Rhythm), and it was so successful that it quickly evolved to become something so much bigger than they could have anticipated. Now in its second year, City MOGULS features top Canadian entrepreneurs, leaders and influencers in a series of interviews hosted by Dani, who then participate as the models in their charity fashion show. Their inaugural event featured stellar talent, including dancer, choreographer and actress Bree Wasylenko; textile designer Candice Kaye; menswear blogger Syed Sohail of The Prep Guy; YouTuber Matt Santoro; Lending Loop's Cato Pastoll; and Vulkan Magazine's Alexander Jamall, plus many more accomplished Moguls. At this year’s event, taking place on October 5th at District 28, we’ll be seeing such notable Canadians as fitness guru Eva Redpath, Michael Hyatt of Dragon's Den and Bluecat Networks, Liz Trinnear of Etalk, and fashion darlings Caili and Sam Beckerman of Beckerman Blog walking down the runway. This year’s City MOGULS event will be supporting UforChange, an organization that provides mentorship and opportunities to youth to nurture their creative passions.
Dani has always felt strongly about doing charitable work, and wants to inspire others to give back, too. She was feeling a little disheartened about being unable to make global change, but she realized that even a small change is a contribution to the overall effort, which was the catalyst to her forming City MOGULS. Pair that with a life-long love of fashion, and it was only natural for Dani to create an organization that satisfied both interests - fashion and giving back. Dani has a lot on her plate, but she loves what she does and feels more productive with the more work she takes on. Her energy is to be admired! I hope that we’ll see Dani walking the runway during one of her events, because her support of other young entrepreneurs and leaders truly makes her a MOGUL herself. :)
For more information on City MOGULS and to purchase tickets to the upcoming event on October 5th, 2017, visit the website here. You can also follow City MOGULS on Instagram, and follow their YouTube channel for Dani’s interviews with notable Canadians.
Want more? Here’s what #WeWantToKnow from Dani herself:
I can't start my morning without...An espresso, my morning spotify playlist, some stretching, and on good days, a little bit of dancing.
I have a weakness for...Angelina Jolie. Naps...I love my sleep. And shoes. My parents used to call me Imelda Marcos. How could I not? The shoe always fits.
Most people don't know that I...speak Hebrew and studied in Jerusalem for a year - most incredible experience of my life! I am also a closet foodie and have become a bit of a food snob spending too much money on good (really good) food. You can catch me at Koh San Road once a week (in fairness, it's also across the street from where I live).
Currently reading...I'm almost done "The Best Kind of People" by Zoe Whittall (I don't typically read novels but I highly recommend this one) and next on my list is "The Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg. I'm fascinated by the habits and patterns we have created in our lives. I'm starting to notice my own patterns and trying to change the bad ones, which is really tough. I love a good self help book.
I want...to TRAVEL! I have so many places still on my bucket list including India, New Orleans, Indonesia, Japan, Brazil, Australia, Bali, Nicaragua, the list goes on and on. I feel very fortunate that I've been able to do so much travelling in my life, but I'm a sucker for new adventures in exotic places. I also want to see more kindness in the world. We all get caught up in our lives and forget that offering genuine kindness to others really does make the world a beautiful place. Also (can I have 3 wants?) I want a massive bowl of Hummus from Jaffa in Israel.
Thanks for participating in #WeWantToKnow, Dani! I’m so glad we connected, see you again soon!
