Karissa Peterson is a mother of two, entrepreneur, and business leader with over 15 years of experience spanning retail, financial services, agriculture, and technology in both the corporate and startup worlds. Known for her passion and commitment, Karissa fosters environments where individuals—and the businesses they drive—can truly thrive.

At the heart of her leadership philosophy is the empowerment of others. She believes in helping people find their best opportunities to succeed, a principle that has guided her throughout her career. Karissa has always prioritized building trust, fostering collaboration, and championing the potential of those around her. Her strength is making people feel seen and heard, and then supporting them to take action.  

Over the years, she has played a fundamental role in shaping business operations, driving organizational culture, developing strategic plans, and implementing processes and policies. A generalist by nature, she has been fortunate to work in multiple departments such as HR, Marketing, Business Development, Finance, Customer Support, Manufacturing, Software Development, and Engineering, allowing her to learn and lead across various functions and challenges.

Born and raised to a farming family, Karissa learned early on the value of hard work and has always carried an entrepreneurial spirit with her. Having co-founded two previous start-ups, Fuel Lock and SpotHot, she has experienced firsthand the work required to set-up, grow, successfully sell and wind down a business. Having also been a participant, mentor and speaker in the Conexus Cultivator business incubator, it has fueled her passion for supporting entrepreneurs and inspired the launch of Haus of Ops.

An active member of her community in Lumsden, Karissa enjoys volunteering (as much as her young family allows!). Outside of professional life, she finds joy in cheering on the Toronto Maple Leaf’s, tackling a great workout, organizing her pantry, and spending time with her family and friends.