How Jennifer Denouden built Avana

Jennifer Denouden loved being a private wealth agent. “I really liked the feeling of helping other people realize their financial goals,” she says. “I would have done that work for my entire career except that life got in the way.”

She gave birth to her first child and returned to work, only to learn she would be welcoming her second child into the family. While on maternity leave, she and her husband were looking at investing in property. The plan was to buy a lot, have a house built, and then rent it out.

The cost of construction was more than Jennifer anticipated if they had hired a contractor. “So I thought, let’s do it ourselves – how hard can it be? People build houses all the time.” So she, her husband, and two other family members teamed up to build that home.

That led to another home and then another and another. In other words, they were doing well. But why were they growing? What was their purpose? “I wanted to go back to work that was of benefit to others, so we decided the mission of our company was to build and rent quality housing in quality neighbourhoods for marginalized women – those with lower paying jobs and or women [who] needed a safe place following a bad relationship.”