Jenny Chavarri
Name: Jenny Chavarri
UBC degree: MBA – Strategic Management, Sauder School of Business
Name of Current Businesses:
1. Boské Kids
2. Forest & Fable
What we do in our business:
We are a Canadian owned and operated clothing company for children ages newborn to 6 years (Boské Kids), and women’s knit apparel (Forest & Fable) made with all-natural fibers. We created partnerships with small-scale, family-owned manufacturers in Peru that use fair-trade, environmentally friendly practices for both product lines.
We are committed to providing elegant, stylish clothing and accessories for children and women using only the highest quality, natural materials.
Urls:
http://www.boskekids.com
Why these particular businesses?
While visiting my husband’s home country, Peru, I was amazed at the quality of the local pima cotton and baby alpaca materials. I knew Canadians would love the high quality and natural fibers and began to think of ways to bring the product to market. Like other parents today, I wanted to choose the best for my children. Many of us are growing increasingly aware of the harmful chemicals found in the products (including clothing) we use every day and the destructive impact we make on our environment.
After completing my MBA at Sauder and with a background in business and women’s fashion, I decided to start a home-based business, sourcing suppliers in Peru and designing our first Boské Kids collection. Forest & Fable has recently been created to address the women’s accessory market because of the high demand I received for these beautiful materials in adult sizes. This second line will be launching in the Fall.
Biggest day-to-day challenges as an entrepreneur:
The greatest challenge for me is work-life balance. There are benefits – I am more flexible with my working time and can spend more time with my children, however, that often results is several nights working until 3:00am!
I had a steep learning curve in so many different areas. Negotiating in another country with language and culture barriers can be difficult. The changing economy and purchasing behaviors of customers, as well as trying to stand out amongst ubiquitous products available online and in stores, continues to be a challenge.
Greatest delights in being an entrepreneur:
Building a network of similar mompreneurs has created a community of encouragement through sharing experiences, ideas and collaborating.
I also feel a sense of satisfaction that I am being challenged to achieve success at something I enjoy and that my product line contributes to a healthy lifestyle. Being able to make the decisions that matter, not necessarily for the bottom line, but principled based decisions on the environment, sustainability and fair trade, gives me the greatest satisfaction of all.
Four key pieces of advice you would give to future entrepreneurs:
1. Have a support network at home or nearby.
2. Hire others with the skills that you don’t have.
3. Ask people to help you and get a mentor.
4. Be honest, straight-forward, and helpful to others.
… and from the MBA grad in me: Do a proper business plan (and then don’t panic when it doesn’t look worthwhile)…you do have to be passionate about your idea and be willing to make a lot of sacrifices!
Where do you see yourself going as an entrepreneur in the future?
Further developing the new collection for women and accessing the Japanese retail and the US wholesale markets for both product lines.
