Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Audrey Fortin-Leblanc. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Audrey , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by sharing your thoughts about the pros and cons of family businesses.
For me, business has always been about family and family about business. From my grand-parents starting a promotional object company in 1977 (Maca Marketing in Quebec City), which was then owned by my mom and her sister, to my father who had his own accounting firm for 10 years, i’ve being ‘playing at being an entrepreneur’ since the age of 5 years old. My sister, my cousins and myself would literally roleplay like we were running our parents businesses for fun. Without them, CIRE DE COCO would not have been able to see the light of day. I’ve been working with my mom on the supplier side for many projects, collaborated with my sister’s esthetical medical salon for distribution and giveaways, provided my cousin’s home renovation enterprise with candles as gifts for their clients and finally, I have also attended many events and pop ups with my other cousin, who owns a mommy and child gifts enterprise. Family business literally runs in my veins and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Audrey , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I moved to Montreal from my Home Town of Quebec city in 2016. I came to persuit studies in accounting and business technology at Concordia University. From a young age, I always knew I wanted to have a business of my own but I was never sure in what industry. During my studies, I realized that what was missing in my life was a creative project. I hate routine, love new ideas and am always looking for something different. When my grand-father passed away, it pushed me to relalized that life is short and that I should take the leap. I knew i wanted to create something with my hands, I needed something that I would be able to reinvent, change, upgrade, switch and redesign as many times as I would like. This is why I choose candles because for me it has infinite creative possibilities. Oh, and always because my grandpa was a hard fan. I didn’t want to create just any regular candle. This market is already saturated with soya wax 20$ items. I wanted it to reflect my personality and my lifestyle. I consider myself a minimlist when it comes to owning items, but I also like to have nice things. This basically means I prioritize quality over quantity. So I went on to create what I called ‘minimal luxury candles’ meaning the quality is much better but the way you consume them is more minimal. Let me explain: I created candles that use creamy white coconut wax and non-toxic simple fragrances but that you can refill the number of times that you desire instead of buying a new candle (with a jar) everytime. This became one of our best competitive advantages as it allows CIRE DE COCO (CDC) to put our eco-consicous value forward. I also wanted my clients to enjoy the present moment when they light their CDC candles. To take a pause, to enjoy life’s small things: taking the time to self-care. We worked on the value we offer to include a satin bag and a pack of matches with every new candle purchased. Its a full sensory experience with gift-like unboxing and slowing down to light your candles the old school. CDC’s value are all about pleasure, simplicity, authenticity, self-care, and eco-responsability. I want to create a real difference in the candle market by positioning the brand as a gifting experience for one’s self and for their loved ones’. Our slogan: Offering luxury of the present moment (hinting to the ‘present’ as being a gift). I also take great pride in having a private label division where we create candles for brands like Renaissance Glove (a Danièle Henkel enterprise), Yawinonh (a first-nation women-led organization) and the CERVO foundation (Health, research and wellness of the brain). We’ve hit the 2 years mark in October 2023 and let me say im ready for more projects in 2024!
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
We had a pop-up in Quebec city set up outside near a bay where sales were just not thriving. People were not stopping to smell our candles and it even started to rain at some point. Then, in the middle of the afternoon, we met Daniele Henkel’s assistant who not only saved the day and bought 10 candles on the spot but also put me in contact with their Marketing director which then allowed us to close a private label sale with them. We have had many other instances where events or markets we not as lucrative as I would have liked them to be but something always came out from them later on (contacts, corporate sales, private labels, collaborations and so on).
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
For CDC, it’s all meeting people and our clients in a presential setting. Our online store is mostly used for repeat orders as a second-time purchase platform. Not long after our launch, we realized that our customers were not going to buy candles online the first time. They want to see, touch and of course smell our products before commiting to buying a high-end candle. Our best way to find new clients are participations in various festivals, pop-up shops and having trusted distribution partners so that our clients can browse online and then make their final purchase at one of our partner retailer.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ciredecoco.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciredecoco/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100076752639178
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cire-de-coco
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCH-jPHK9o_bSdgdtqcgqTbw
- Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.ca/ciredecoco/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ciredecoco?lang=fr
Image Credits
all product image @lemonseed media