Andréanne's Journal - September 2024 ✍🏼

During the month of September, I went fishing for two wonderful weeks, right after we opened the store in Laval! As much as I was stressed about leaving right after the opening, I’m so happy I made the decision to go. It’s often said that one of the most important factors in entrepreneurship is learning to find a form of balance. Balance between work, family life, friends, sports, love, passions… Often when I hear the word “balance”, I end up feeling anxious. I can be more prone to worrying about making sure my life has balance than to actually allowing life to bring me some sense of it. On top of making time for people and things we love, we also have to try to eat well, drink enough water, get enough sleep. CAN WE JUST GET A BREAK?

One lesson I’ve learned over the years is that no one is better placed than I am when it comes to dictating what makes me feel happy and fulfilled. Going a two-week vacation (which in all honesty felt a little long; next year will be ten days max) usually involves me bringing my computer, checking my emails pretty much every day and spending a full day or two of my vacation doing work. The great thing about salmon fishing is that on the river, there is no wifi network. So, from early morning to late evening, I am often completely disconnected – a very rare but rather enjoyable time. In my regular day-to-day life, I sit down in front of the TV at least two or three nights a week and work until 9 pm. If I enjoy a weekend with friends and family, it means spending at least a few hours on Sunday evening to go through all my emails, prepare my week and plan as much as possible so that I’m up-to-date and in the right headspace to tackle the coming week.

My therapist has told me several times that one risk of being so involved in one’s own business is to have our entire identity defined by it, and because of this, it’s really important for entrepreneurs to make time for things outside of their businesses. Otherwise, if one day all of it unexpectedly ends, we might lose all of our bearings. We might wake up one morning and no longer know who we are. I’d be lying if I said that this wasn’t something I worry about. If one day, this all stops, will I be able to define myself differently?

When I go fishing with my friends, gang: I am so lucky to be able to go on vacation with my friends. There is a group of 6-8 of us who go fishing in Bonaventure every year for one or two weeks. Everyone is passionate about fishing, wine and especially having a good time. It’s a trip that soothes me every year, and I am always filled with gratitude to be able to spend so much time with such precious people. It’s crazy too, because the trip is so much more about the company than about the salmon that we rarely end up catching. This year, only three people ending up catching salmon (including Matt!), but we don’t mind. We may not catch much salmon but we make a lot of special memories.

While I was fishing, I often found myself reflecting back on the idea and importance of balance that my therapist mentioned, on the need to define oneself outside of work. I’m sure that I’m not the only one who has trouble defining herself by anything other than her job. When I’m working, I tell myself that I should work less and when I don’t work, I feel bad about not working… At one point, as I was sitting quietly on the riverbank, I felt so grateful to be so well surrounded, to have the privilege of being able to relax in a safe space with people who deeply fill my cup. And I thought well, if one day all of this was to stop, I would still be my boyfriend’s passionate love. I would still be the entertaining friend who hates learning new board games. Nothing will change the face that I will always be a concerned dog mom. I will forever be my parents’ “kitten” (I can’t do anything about that nickname haha.) Of all the jobs I have or might practice in my career, from restaurant server to entrepreneur to political attaché, their ending will never change my inexhaustible will to be there for those I love. And if one day I find myself losing my bearings, I’ll be proud to refocus myself in this way.

- Andréanne Marquis, founder of Womance and Sans-Façon Cosmétiques