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Oakville's Jules Collarile, 13, working on first EP by Abigail Cukier Special to the Beaver Artscene 21 | Friday, October 10, 2014 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com "Connected to your Community" After performing at a recent charity event, Jules Collarile signed autographs for two giddy young girls. If Jules has anything to say about it, those are only the first of many. The 13-year-old Oakville resident is a singer-songwriter, who also plays guitar and is working on her first EP with producer Karen Kosowski. Jules, who is in Grade 8 at St. Bernadette Catholic Elementary School, has been writing songs for a few years. Her EP will have five original songs and a cover. "It's been so exciting. A whole different experience," Jules said. "Recording in the studio and getting to see the producer working is a great learning process." The EP will be ready in the new year and Jules can't wait until the release party. She has been busy. Last year, Jules won a national contest to open the Girls Who Believe music festival at The Great Hall in Toronto. The festival celebrates female talent in Canada, showcases female-run businesses and raises money for Girls Inc., which helps girls feel empowered through programs and workshops. This year, Jules is serving as an ambassador at the Girls Inc. third annual Re-thinc Girls Conference Nov. 2 in Ajax. Attendees will talk about the challenges girls face and leave with strategies to promote empowerment, self-acceptance and resiliency. Jules will play a song, answer questions and talk to the girls about following their dreams. She also recently performed at the Oakville Father Daughter Ball and made it to the semifinals at the Rising Star competition at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. Jules entered her original song, My Little Soldier, into the Unsigned Only international competition. She was one of 93 finalists in the teen pop/alternative category. Jules wrote My Little Soldier about a family friend, Kevin Siddall, who was fighting cancer. After she sent the song to his Thirteen-year-old Jules Collarile, of Oakville, is a singer/songwriter working on her first EP , which is expected to be released in the new year. The local artist has already accomplished much at a young age, including opening at a music festival in Toronto and making the semifinals at the Canadian National Exhibition's Rising Star competition. As well, in November, she will be serving as an ambassador at the Girls Inc. third annual Re-thinkc Girls Conference in Ajax. | photo by Ryan Nolan family, Jules found out that Kevin listened to it often and said it kept him going. It became like a family anthem. Kevin died earlier this year at age 14. "It was his dying wish that I would perform at his funeral," Jules said. "Though it was so sad, it was an amazing feeling to perform there and offer comfort to his family." Jules, whose influences include Pink and Bruce Springsteen, just wants to keep writing music, singing and performing. "I am still writing songs so I can make a bigger EP when this one is over," she said. "I want it to be my career. I am just living it each day and loving it more and more each day. I am determined to make it big." Oakville resident pitches Smart Cookie product on Dragons' Den Oakville's Maya Liberman will see if her product The Smart Cookie will sate the appetites of the "dragons" on TV's Dragons' Den Wednesday (Oct. 15). Liberman and her husband, Greg, will appear on the reality television series that features entrepreneurs pitching their business ideas and products in order to secure financial investments from a panel of Canadian business moguls -- the "dragons." Liberman is the CEO and founder of her business, and runs the day-to-day operations, while her husband is a shareholder. "I was intrigued and became a huge fan of the show (Dragons' Den)... each week, I was inspired by the people on the show. Even through not every business was a winner, I was still amazed at their passion and drive. So, I started to think to myself, `If these people can do it, why can't I?'" she said in her blog, www. shapeandstore.com. Liberman came up with idea of The Smart Cookie, which shapes and stores homemade cookie dough, a year ago. "I've always been an avid baker, and self-proclaimed `cookie monster', and when I had my kids, they also loved baking with me," she said. "But, when the kids were involved, there was always a big mess to be cleaned, so I thought, `wouldn't it be great if there was a kitchen gadget that I could use to easily store a portion of the cookie dough so that we could have fresh baked cookies without all the mess?' And that's when the idea for The Smart Cookie was born." Liberman couldn't divulge the results of her and Greg's pitch, which was filmed earlier in March, but the episode airs during the season Oakville resident Maya Liberman pitched her product, The Smart Cookie, on TV's Dragons' Den. See how she fared during the nine premiere of Dragons' Den Wednesday at 8 show's season premiere Wednesday (Oct. 15). | submitted photo p.m. on CBC.