Bitten by the startup bug at Solink, Michèle Marchand has found her own passion project

After about a decade of jumping from one industry to another, Michèle Marchand finally found a venture that means something to her. While pursuing a business degree at the University of Ottawa, Marchand worked as a finance and administrative assistant at the National Capital Commission and in security and emergency management at the Ottawa International […]

After about a decade of jumping from one industry to another, Michèle Marchand finally found a venture that means something to her. While pursuing a business degree at the University of Ottawa, Marchand worked as a finance and administrative assistant at the National Capital Commission and in security and emergency management at the Ottawa International Airport.  After graduation, she worked as a consultant with KPMG, but it was in September 2017 that the Ottawa native landed a spot as an operations coordinator at Solink, at that time a burgeoning startup. It was an experience that had a lasting effect on her. “When I worked at Solink, it was in the early stages of the company. I was probably employee No. 30 around there. But … it was a total startup environment and it was really fast-paced. The company was in such infancy that you had to create all these processes and learn as you go,” Marchand told OBJ last week. Solink’s bustling environment ignited Marchand’s own entrepreneurial fire, but she wanted to start a business that would have meaning.  “I really liked the idea of working at a startup and building something from scratch. I figured I would be able to do something like that myself, to work on something that you’re truly passionate about. I really wanted to give myself that challenge, but I didn’t want to start a company just to start one. I wanted to solve a problem,” she said. Around the same time and after undergoing several dermatologist appointments, Marchand was diagnosed with allergic contact dermatitis, meaning she would get allergic reactions from fragrances and other botanical ingredients commonly used in personal care products. “I learned a lot through my diagnosis. It made me change all of my personal care products to things that were fragrance-free (and) didn't contain any harsh botanicals that I was now allergic to. I noticed that it was actually really easy to find suitable products when it came to body care and face products, but when it came to hair care (products), there were almost no options.” Marchand wanted to be the one to provide a solution. Figuring out how to do that was the next hurdle. “I don’t have any experience in entrepreneurship (and) I definitely don’t have a chemistry background,” she said. “I had to figure out all of this stuff myself.” She spent the next 18 months researching ingredients that are commonly used in shampoos and conditioners and their effects on people with skin sensitivities so she could draw up a list of ingredients she wanted to avoid in her products.  Then she needed to find someone who would actually make her products. “I really wanted (the manufacturer) to be local so that I could visit the facility myself. So I just started making phone calls and a lot of them were rejecting me at first because their minimum order quantity was 100,000 units or something really large, which I was not willing to do.” Her search for a manufacturer was restricted by the fact that she bootstrapped the venture. “I started with $10,000 and, about a year into the business, I did an accelerator program at Invest Ottawa called Starter Company Plus. That gave me another $5,000. The $10,000 were my startup costs and my first order, and then the extra $5,000 really helped with marketing expansion and my re-branding,” she said. After trying a number of local manufacturers, she found one that suited her needs. The formulation process took another year after that.  In 2023, The Better Scalp Company offered its first product for sale. The sensitive scalp shampoo is a hypoallergenic formula made for people with skin sensitivities such as eczema, psoriasis and contact dermatitis. 

The initial response surpassed her expectations. “After I sold out of my first batch, it was definitely validating. Before even launching, I wasn’t sure if I could sell through a whole batch.” After a while, Marchand noticed another gap. “Once I was getting close to selling out of my first order of shampoo, the biggest question I was getting from customers was, ‘Would you have a conditioner?’ or ‘What conditioner should I use with this?’ It’s a natural pairing, so I started looking into formulating a conditioner with the same manufacturer,” she said, adding the process to formulate the conditioner took another year.  The shampoo and conditioner bundle is now her best-selling product, she said, explaining that, with every sale, she reaches out to customers to get their feedback. “I email them personally and tell them who I am and why I started the business. I tell them they don’t have to leave a review but that I would love to hear how they heard about us and if they have any feedback,” she said. When Marchand started her business, she was selling directly to consumers on her Shopify website. To expand her reach online, she launched her shampoo on Amazon last month. “The next best thing to being in a physical retail store is being on Amazon,” she said, adding that the next step is to add her shampoo and conditioner bundle to the e-comm giant’s site. Despite her online success, Marchand said she knew that, to truly grow her brand, she would need to get her products in front of customers. “Seventy per cent of people buy their shampoo in-person. It’s very important for me to have a retail presence and that for me is going to be hair salons,” Marchand said, adding that many salon brands don’t carry a sensitive scalp solution. After visiting several salons across the city, she managed to get her products into 10 salons but said she is expecting to see more come on board in the coming months now that she’s launched her products with Capital Beauty Supply, a local distributor with reach to salons in Ottawa, Kingston and Smiths Falls. “In August, I launched (with) my first distributor, because the way salons work is getting all of their products from distributors. So for me selling directly to salons was not usually the best and was oftentimes the biggest point of contention or objection,” she said, adding that she will be looking to get her products in the catalogues of other distributors. Currently, Marchand is the sole employee at The Better Scalp Company, with occasional contractors. But as the company grows, she’ll be looking to hire a team, she said.  Marchand said her prior work experience helped shape her into the entrepreneur she is today.  “Because my prior work experience is so varied, I know that I can jump right into something from scratch, learn and still be successful. You don’t always need a full degree to back you up. There’s nothing like learning on the go and being fully immersed. “I especially learned that at Solink, because I didn’t have a tech background at all. I got a degree in business, but once you start working at Solink, you have to learn a lot of the technological components. It didn’t really scare me to go into a new industry. I know that as long as you keep trying, keep being persistent, you’re definitely going to reach an answer.”