Femme Studios

Femme Studios (Trailer)

Back in December of 2019, I had the pleasure of hosting a panel for Girl’s Girl, an organization that aims to bring together female-owned businesses through markets, events, and of course, panels. On the panel were Emilie Nolan, who is a dear friend of mine and owner of a fine jewelry brand then called Gemmie, now called Oremme; Valeria Lipovetsky, the CEO of VALERIA INC, the team behind the content she shares on Instagram and YouTube; and Amber Joliat, owner of MISFITSTUDIO, a studio known for the MISFIT Method, a style of movement that Amber created. The theme of the night was to get to the down and dirty about owning your own business — a path which is often glamourized. This was a live recording, so the audio is the BEST, but if you missed it, you can still hear words from these inspiring women. Find Valeria on IG @valerialipovetsky, Amber at @theamberj and @misfitstudio, and Emilie at @emilievnolan @oremmefinejewelry.

Girl’s Girl Panel: De-glamorizing Entrepreneurship (Valeria Lipovetsky, Amber Joliat + Emilie Nolan)

If I were to name a beauty maven in Toronto, or even Canada, it would be Susanne Langmuir. She started as an Avon rep and later became a beauty entrepreneur, founding a fragrance company called Susanne Lang, then BITE, a lipstick company and one of the first clean color cosmetics brands, and recently launched her newest venture in skincare, called an-Hydra. As she walks me through her story, her passion for formulation is evidently at the foundation of her entire career. We chatted about how our approach to beauty has developed since her time at Avon, and also get into the challenges she faced when starting her third entrepreneurial venture, creating a skincare product that is sustainably made and entirely free of water, an-Hydra. Listen until the end to hear the advice she would give to anyone looking to enter the beauty industry. Find aN-Hydra on IG @anhydraskincare.

Susanne Langmuir: Founder, BITE + aN-Hydra

Kayla is a freelance photographer, who’s work has been featured in Vogue Japan, Toronto Life, ELLE, The Kit, The Star, and many more. Despite keeping her discipline broad, in that she photographs interiors, food, people, and lots more, Kayla has created a very distinctive look. Of all places, her career really kicked off when she was working at The Drake, where she crossed paths with other creatives who ended up being clients and colleagues. I met Kayla a few months back when she took photos of me. I’m generally very awkward when it comes to being photographed, but Kayla instantly made me feel at ease. You’ll notice her calm and genuine energy through the interview. We talked about the misconceptions about being a photographer, what it takes to work freelance and the nitty gritty questions that she wished she was asking when she started creating her own quotes and managing her own clients. You can checked out her work on IG @kaylaroccaphoto.

Kayla Rocca: Photographer

Meredith Gillies is the Senior Marketing Manager at Bumble Canada, meaning she overlooks virtually every promotional aspect of the brand from events, push notifications, partnerships, etc. This was a very special episode for me because Meredith and I used to work together — she was my manager and mentored me from day 1. This entire project is about sharing insights and learnings from people that I think are killing it, and Mere is a very real example of that. Meredith started her career in journalism, then moved onto PR before heading to Bumble to lead Marketing. We chat about all things PR, including misconceptions about the industry, how she approached “fitting into” the industry when she started off, and advice she would give to those interested in pursuing a similar career path in PR or Marketing.

Meredith Gillies: Sr. Marketing Manager, Bumble Canada

Jess Chen is a tattoo artist based in Toronto who is well-known for her very unique style. She does creates full body tattoos that are better described as body art pieces. She also focuses on very meticulously shaded small, cute color tattoos. We sat down to talk about what it’s like to pursue a career in a road less traveled — how she to be come a tattoo artist and the things she wished she could change about the industry. Find her on IG @__jesschen__ while listening to the episode to get a glimpse into her world.

Jess Chen: Tattoo Artist

Mimi Lan is the Co-founder of Superette, a group of cannabis retail stores, with a store in Ottawa and 3 in Toronto. Every Superette location is modeled after a bodega — it’s meant to recreate an experience as easy and casual as picking up your morning coffee. Along with her co-founder, Drummond Munro, Mimi created a very cool brand which also gives back. For every cannabis package that is returned to the store for recycling, Superette donates a food item to the Food Bank. Before starting her own cannabis company, Mimi spent quite a bit of time in the world of finance and investment banking. We talk about what experience taught her and how she applied it to create a successful business strategy in cannabis today. If you’re looking to get into cannabis in any way shape or form, this episode is a must. Find Mimi on IG at @mimi_lam and Superette @superette.

Mimi Lan: Co-founder, Superette

I sat down with Berkley Poole in November of 2019, when she was the Vice President and Creative Director at Tokyo Smoke, one of Canada’s most well-known cannabis brands. Since then, Berkeley has moved on to be the Creative Director at Whitman Emorson, a design studio in Toronto. Berkeley is no stranger to creative work. Before Tokyo Smoke, she worked on brand books for brands like Calvin Klein and Tom Ford, was on the creative team at Barney’s, and even started her own magazine called ADULT. She touches on what being a creative entails and what her process looks like, especially when it comes to visually recreating what the cannabis experience feels like. This is an episode for anyone who is interested in diving into a creative career path — gain some tips and insight into one of the creative leaders in Toronto and Canada. Find Berkeley on IG @boygirl and Tokyo Smoke at @tokyosmoke.

Berkeley Poole: VP + Creative Director, Tokyo Smoke

Hyla and Adrien are the founders of 437, a swimwear company that is designed to flatter your curves. Despite being founded in a city with a cold climate, it was grown tremendously, being worn by the likes of Kylie Jenner and Whitney Simmons. These are only a few of the examples of the massive community, with over 100,000 followers on Instagram alone. We get into what it was like to start the brand from scratch when they were still in school and the challenges they face today when it comes to being young women in their 20s, owning a company that can be seen as frivolous, along with the good and bad decisions they made along the way. This is great for anyone that’s looking to start their own ecommerce brand and wants to get a sense of what it’s like to build it from the ground up. Follow them on IG @437 @hylanayeri @adrienbettio.

Hyla Nayeri + Adrien Bettio: Co-founders, 437

A woman of many talents, Dani Roche is a multi-platform creative. She’s the founder of creative agency Kastor + Pollux, a social media content creator, co-founder of School by KP, teacher at Sheraton College and Partner at Level10 Hair Studio. She has worked with a myriad of brands to-date, including Google, Bumble, MEC and Wealthsimple, to name a few. We sat down to talk about what it means to be a creative in an always changing industry and change the type of work you do. We also talk about the spectrum of success and what being an entrepreneur can encompass. And for any freelancers, stick with us until the end when we get into how to go about pricing and MAKING MONEY!! Find Dani on IG @daniesque @kastorandpollux @schoolbykp.

Dani Roche: Creative + Content Creator

Allegra Shaw and Shirin Soltani are the co-founders of Uncle Studios, Canadian brand that creates ethically-made, sustainable, elevated clothing. We had a chat about the ‘why’ behind starting a sustainable clothing company, the struggles of starting your own business, what it’s like to work with your best friend, and things you should look out for ahead of time … including some tips on managing your time and finances. Find Uncle Studios on IG @unclexstudios

Allegra Shaw + Shirin Soltani: Co-founders, Uncle Studios

A couple words from me, the host, to you on what to expect in this new season.

Francesca Morfini: Season 2

Stephanie Brownlow is a Branding Strategist who works with brands like Shopify and RBC, along with Naked Beauty Bar, VSP Consignment and F. MILLER. In this episode, we talk about what branding actually is and how she got into it, starting from retail, then going to October’s Very Own, also known as OVO, as a Production Manager and working her way up to Director of Product Development + Special projects, then going freelance and today running her own agency, Carry Corp.

Stephanie Brownlow: Brand Strategist and Founder, Carry Corp

Evelyn Chick is the Bar Manager at Pretty Ugly, a very cool cocktail bar in Parkdale, Toronto. Evelyn moved to Toronto from Vancouver several years ago and hit the ground running by working at one of the city’s most notable restaurants, Harbord Room, which sadly closed its doors in 2016. We sat down to talk about how she transitioned from bartending as a job to a career, the challenges she faced moving to a new city, the support she found in her mentors and the community she’s hoping to create for young bartenders in the city.

Evelyn Chick: Bartender + Manager at Pretty Ugly

Anjli Patel is a fashion lawyer who specializes in Intellectual Property and Trademark Law, working very closely with Toronto-based designers including Greta Constantine and Sid Neigum. In this episode, we talk about trusting your gut, dealing with impostor syndrome and, a topic that I think Anjli is a master at: the incredible art of networking.

Anjli Patel: Fashion Lawyer

Hosted by Francesca Morfini, Femme Studios is a series of conversations with female entrepreneurs, artists and leaders who have carved their own path and are now putting a dent in and beyond our city, Toronto. Listen, learn and laugh with us as we take a look at what motived them to get started, and the tools they picked up along the way — getting them to where they are today.

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Femme Studios

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