If someone had told me two years ago that my childhood dream would come true, I would have found it hard to imagine.
The entrepreneurial adventure is often long and full of pitfalls. It's a race towards the unknown, towards doubt, and you have to be careful not to get lost and burn out.
But it is also a wonderful feeling to give meaning to one's professional and I dare to add personal life. To a need to accomplish something and to help oneself to discover oneself completely.
For a long time I had the desire to create my own perfumery, built around my values and the beauty of Nature, but I had no idea that this experience would bring me so much.
The year 2021 was already rewarding, despite the presence of Covid and its many restrictions. It was a special year but filled with emotion and joy. 
2022, with a return to "normal", the possibility of doing and experiencing more things, allowed us to accomplish a "real" year. 
To participate in events, to meet you and share our passion with you; to meet talented craftsmen and women, to make beautiful collaborations.
It's been a year full of twists and turns, challenges and excitement, and I want to write some of the moments of these two years with you.

Imposter Syndrome:

It took me two years, thousands of hours and hundreds of tests to create and balance the first eight formulas in our collection. Eight fragrances that I worked on to the point of sometimes not smelling anything else and being in total doubt.
When we made the decision to officially launch Kanopé on February 26, 2021, while we were still confined, I was both excited and terrified.
The adventure was about to begin and as time went by, my creations would be felt and judged by hundreds or maybe even thousands of people.
Despite my skills and what I had achieved during these two years of intense work, I felt like an impostor, doubt invaded me, I felt like I didn't belong and I was afraid that my creations would not be appreciated. When I create a perfume, it's a part of me that I share with you and I was terrified that my creations would not be liked and that I would receive bad comments.
Imposter syndrome is a feeling that affects many entrepreneurs, especially women. These negative thoughts, which often occur when we leave our comfort zone, can sometimes be a major obstacle to our success and it is not easy to overcome them.
It took me a long time, and a lot of encouragement from my family and friends to fight this feeling of not being legitimate. But, you also contributed enormously to stop this feeling of insecurity.
Indeed, when we started doing events, your comments and feedbacks for the brand and my creations, helped me a lot to gain confidence in myself.

Our start at events : 

There's no secret, as a small business, to get known and grow, you owe it to yourself to build an online store, to be present on social networks, to start writing newsletters... all these things that are often completely unknown to you, will become your daily routine.
But even though all of this is essential to the growth of the business, there is one thing that should not be overlooked and that is a wonderful experience, the creators markets also called artisan markets.
In our first year, we did not participate in many events. 
When you don't know the process, it's not easy the first few times to find the events and know how to register. It takes a lot of time and research to find out when the registration dates are and then how to proceed.
The memory of our first market in 2021 is something very strong. We started with an event that we now do frequently and enjoy very much, the Montreal Creative Collective. We were excited because we had already participated as a visitor, but this time we were also going to exhibit and talk about our products, an unforgettable moment.

But to be honest, as with any first experience and despite our preparation, our organization and our way of proceeding was far from being optimized. Like everything else, we have to give ourselves time and accumulate experience to improve things.
It's funny, because during our last event in 2022, I had the chance to see three people I had met on this first market, it was so nice to be able to exchange with them again and have them share their impressions on the evolution of our perfumery. I can't say it enough, your comments are very important for us, because in addition to having your feedback and being able to improve it, they help us to optimize our products and know your desires.

Anyway, this year, I have been much more organized and we are very happy to have participated in so many markets. It's a wonderful opportunity for us to meet you, to show you our collection and to take you on a journey through each fragrance.
Each event has made us grow, allowed us to meet wonderful people and create unforgettable memories. 

Great collaborations:

Since the beginning of this adventure, I am really grateful to be able to meet new people, to build a professional network that allows me to grow and flourish as a woman entrepreneur. 
During the year 2022, I had the chance to participate in a training to help merchants to start selling online.
This training was offered by the Cégep André-Laurendeau in LaSalle and the city of Montreal.
A project that has allowed many entrepreneurs in times of pandemic to reinvent themselves and continue their activities. 
Building an online store is not an easy task when you don't know this universe. Everything is new, the SEO, the analysis tools, the advertising campaigns or simply the platform of our future site. 
This training allowed me to realize that the first version of my site was far from being optimized and to completely rethink and redo my online store. During these few months, I enriched my knowledge and learned many new things from experts in this field. 
I would like to sincerely thank the entire organization and training team for giving me the opportunity to participate in this program.
On top of that, I won my first award as a woman entrepreneur and I am very humbled by this recognition because I know that we all worked very hard during these past months. 

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our partners who believe in us and our perfumery. Sabrina and all her beautiful team who offered us the opportunity to integrate their wonderful Tah-Dah boutique. A place where handmade products from Quebec and Canadian crafts are highlighted. Boutique Nwa and Zahka who support us and help us to develop. Christel, for whom we created our first exclusive perfume, an incredible experience that I would love to repeat. 
There are so many more people and companies that I would like to thank, but unfortunately I can't name them all. I want you to know how important our collaborations are to us and how grateful we are. We look forward to continuing to work with you in 2023.

What's in store for 2023:

The year is coming to an end and with it new desires and new promises.
January and February will allow me to organize our new year and to immerse my nose in new scents, with the release of new fragrances for Spring and Summer. 
Many of you have also asked us for personalized perfumes and home fragrances. Please know that we are very attentive to your desires and that we will consider these two offers. Although we don't have the ambition to develop a complete collection of home fragrances, it could be that our first one will arrive soon, but I won't tell you more, we have to leave some mystery.
Our most beautiful moments are with you at the markets and it is certain that we will continue to make them as often as possible and move to new cities, so stay tuned.

Closing Remarks:

This article is just a brief recap of everything that has happened during these first two years and I can't wait to write new chapters with you.
It is time for me to thank you, you who read this article, you who follow us in this incredible adventure, who support us and love our products. Thank you for all that you have offered us during these two years. Thank you for your welcome and for sharing your Kanopé experience with us and your entourage. Without you all this would be only a sweet dream, but thanks to you, it has become my reality, our reality and I could never tell you how much this fills me with joy.

We wish you all a wonderful Holiday season and a wonderful year 2023. See you very soon for new olfactive journeys.