Karina Hayat

Karina Hayat is President and co-founder of Prizm Media, a Vancouver-based digital media and technology company that connects chronically ill patients with needed healthcare products and services. Born in 1980 in El Limon, Guatemala City, Hayat was 11 years old when she and her family fled the increasingly repressive political regime and arrived in Canada as refugees. She adapted to her new home with characteristic enthusiasm, seeing opportunities at every turn and never shying away from challenges. Hayat was studying biology at Vancouver’s Douglas College when she met her future husband and business partner, Zeeshan Hayat. Originally conceived as a means to pay off student loans, Prizm Media quickly became a vehicle for the young couple to act on their philosophy of “conscious entrepreneurship” while improving healthcare outcomes for patients throughout North America. An inspiring role model and dynamic advocate for women, Hayat was included in Business in Vancouver’s 2015 “Top 40 under 40,” and ranked 9th in PROFIT magazine and Chatelaine’s 2015 “W100 Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneurs.”

“I believe you can teach someone to become an entrepreneur, but the desire, drive and discipline is something that comes from within.”