Rea Hailley

she/her

CEO and Co-Founder, New Idea Machine

Keynote speaker, WEDO Canada 2026 Summit: From Invisible to Recommended

LinkedIn · YouTube

Rea Hailley is the CEO and co-founder of New Idea Machine, a Calgary custom software and AI automation agency serving small business owners worldwide. She's on a mission to help small business owners make smarter technology decisions and avoid costly mistakes.

Track record

• Spent 20 years in B2B strategy and business development
• Grew a Shopify e-commerce portfolio to $90 million in one year
• Built the revenue division at Calgary Comics & Entertainment Expo

Today

• Leads New Idea Machine with CTO AL Del Degan (33 years building software)
• Teaches business owners to build with AI in the AI for Business bootcamps
• Rebuilt the company's website with AI; four weeks later, ChatGPT recommended New Idea Machine first to an ideal client

Speaking

• Keynote, WEDO Canada 2026 Summit, Hotel Blackfoot, Calgary (November 17, 2026): From Invisible to Recommended
• Edmonton Startup Week (October 6, 2026): Why Your Great Business Sounds Like Everyone Else
• Podcast guest: The Karas Wright Show, The Business Renovator, Code to Cloud

Articles by Rea

• Replace SaaS With Custom Software: When Owning It Pays Off (October 2026)
• Does Your App Need a Security Review? A Guide for Business Owners (September 2026)
• Custom Software Development for Small Business Owners: How It Actually Works (August 2026)
• App Developer Keeps Delaying Deadlines? What the Pattern Means (August 2026)
• Software Development Running Over Budget? Where the Money Went (August 2026)
• AI Agents for Business: What Two Real Builds Taught Me (August 2026)
• How We Rebuilt Our Own Website for AI Search (August 2026)
• Rebuild or Repair? How to Tell If Your App Can Be Salvaged (July 2026)
• How to Get Your Code Back From a Development Agency (July 2026)
• My App Developer Disappeared. Now What? (July 2026)
• The Vibe Coding Trap: Why Agencies Dismiss AI-Built Products (and Why They Are Wrong) (July 2026)
• She Spent $150,000 Before Finding Us (July 2026)
• We Built a Clone of a Lawyer. Now He Is Semi-Retired. (July 2026)
• They Predicted $75 Million. Here Is Why You Should Run. (July 2026)
• How to Validate Your App Idea Before You Build It (2026)