Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in personal care but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Vanessa Marshall, owner of Jack59 Inc., located in Edmonton, AB, Canada.

What's your business, and who are your customers?

Jack59 is a sustainable, plastic-free line of hair care products in bar form that are handmade in Edmonton, Alberta. We are indigenous-owned, ethically driven, women-led, and 100% Canadian. Our vision is to become a global brand while rewriting the way businesses are run. Jack59 handcrafts pH-balanced shampoo and conditioner bars. Our bars are sulfate-free, making them colour safe and gentle on the hair and scalp. We offer 11 varieties ensuring we have a bar for every hair type. We are vegan, silicone-free, and we have many gluten-free options. Our bars will leave your hair smelling and feeling amazing. One bar will last 80+ washes eliminating three average size plastic shampoo bottles. A sustainable option of the highest quality. We offer a living wage and flexible work hours to accommodate our employees' home lives. They have amazing lather and smell amazing. Our bars are salon-quality and actually work! We have a bar for every hair type, including children. We want to strive to encourage new customers to make the change to a sustainable shampoo option that delivers fantastic results.

Tell us about yourself

I am a Metis entrepreneur; I started Jack59 to improve the well-being of my family and create the lifestyle we desired. I loved the concept of a shampoo bar, but I could not find an option that worked. The results were always drying and made my hair feel like straw. As an aboriginal woman, I wanted to show my daughter and other aboriginal women what can be accomplished if you work hard and that it is possible to follow your dreams no matter your hardships. Aboriginal women are strong and resilient, and I have overcome many obstacles in my life to be where I am, and I am proud of that. Being a business owner is hard work, but it also gives me the ability to spend time with my family and create my own schedule, which wasn't possible when I worked in the healthcare system.

I wanted to create a work environment where women can thrive, provide flexible work hours, and remove the fear of losing a position when life gets in the way. Women are amazing beings, and I am honoured to employ a group of fabulous women.

What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?

Each shampoo bar we produce eliminates three plastic bottles going into the landfill. To date, we have eliminated over 500000 plastic bottles from entering our environment. By the end of 2022, we hope to double this number.

What's one of the hardest things that come with being a business owner?

The hardest thing for me as an owner has been the amount of time I have to spend away from family. The reason I started Jack59 was to be home more with my daughter, but as we grow, the demand to be away grows as well. The nice thing is that she has also grown and gets to be a part of the company culture now.

What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?

The first tip I would give is to make sure you have a great accounting team. Knowing your finances inside and out will make an incredible difference in growth, expansion, budgeting, and knowing when and how to scale. The second tip I would offer is to make sure you have a solution to someone's problem. Before creating a whole company around a product or idea that you believe in, you need to make sure that the demand is there. The third tip I would offer is this, as your company grows, you will spend more and more time doing the business end of things which is often working on a laptop, working through emails, having meetings, so if this isn't something you enjoy then you need to build a team that can take care of this for you.

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

My business started with the idea that was developed in my kitchen. I loved the concept of shampoo bars, but I couldn't find one on the market that worked for my hair. I was tired of losing jobs because I couldn't find childcare, and I didn't like the way my employers treated their staff. I wanted to make a difference in women's lives. I wanted to create a work environment where women can thrive in, to provide flexible work hours, and remove the fear of losing a position when life gets in the way. Women are amazing, and I am honoured to employ a group of fabulous women.

Where can people find you and your business?

Website: https://www.jack59.ca/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jack59Inc/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jack59inc/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanessa-marshall-960b9819a/

If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solopreneur that you'd like to share, then email community@subkit.com; we'd love to feature your journey on these pages.

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