September was a pretty hectic month with the opening of the new Laval boutique, but now I’m going back into October full of energy! It’s a huuuuge month for me! Two master classes in Longueuil and Saguenay, several trips back and forth to Montreal, eight days of travelling to and from Sicily (I can’t wait!) and I start school on October 22. I don’t think I’ve talked about it on social media yet, but I’m starting a training program at the École d’Entrepreneurship de Beauce. I signed up for a challenging Elite two-year program where we complete much of the work online, but every two months we all head to the school for a five-day stay to work hands on. We eat and sleep at the school! So every two months I will spend Tuesday to Saturday studying in Beauce. It will be quite intense to take a full five days out of my schedule so often throughout the year, but I really want to experience it.

I’ve been thinking about taking a course at school for 2-3 years now. I wasn’t sure exactly what school or what program; I just knew I wanted to learn more. I did attend some university but left with only a DEC without honours, one year short of a degree in communications and politics. Leaving school and then starting my own business has lead to some degree of imposter syndrome, since in recent years my position as manager/founder/owner of Sans-Façon and Womance has grown to completely unexpected proportions. I’m confidant in my role as head of Womance, but Sans-Façon is a completely different company that requires a whole different set of skills. It’s grown much bigger that what I am, than what I know. I’m not inspired to go to school because I feel insecure in my role but I’m driven by the desire to be better. In the last two years, I feel like I’ve gained a lot of confidence that I didn’t necessarily have before, that I certainly didn’t feel as much. These last two years have repeatedly shown me that I am capable of making good decisions. Even when it wasn’t easy, I had a strong enough instinct and knowledge in my field that gave me the confidence to say to myself: “Okay. I know what I’m doing.” 

That being said, I’ve often felt like I was missing something. A little extra layer of confirmation, maybe. I want to learn how to both clarify and apply my vision for Sans-Façon. I am often, if not always, afraid of hurting or disappointing others. I want to be myself, but even better. I remember when I told Matt that wanted to go to the Écoled’Entrepreneurship de Beauce. I explained to him that I wanted to do everything I could to stay on my game and that I believed that training like this would help me. Speaking of Matt, he was an integral part of my decision to go! Being gone for a full five days every two months is a lot, especially for our precious pup, as I’m often the one who adapts my schedule since I have more flexibility in my job. (As I write this journal, I am leaving for Montreal. I have barely seen Matt at all this week and yesterday he came back from surgery at midnight. What a week!) At least we know all the days I’ll be in school ahead of time, so he can plan his schedule accordingly to make it as easy as possible.

There are no words to describe the excitement I feel at deciding to enroll in this program. I feel proud of myself for going ahead with my desire to learn more, and to give myself the chance to be even better at what I do. If you’ve been thinking about enrolling in some type of training or completing a course that compliments your work, consider this your sign to go for it. Give yourself the chance to grow, to feel good! No matter the outcome of the training, you will undoubtedly have the incredible feeling of having accomplished something new.

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