Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Brienne DeRosier, Founder of Mache, located in Central Point, OR, USA.
What's your business, and who are your customers?
Mache is a woman-owned sustainable yoga fitness storage company and a wellness design studio. Our customers are people who are taking their wellness journey to the next level, where they vote with their dollars and seek life-affirming materials in their built environment and eco-friendly products to fill their homes and workspaces. Our customers are conscious consumers who are designing their self-care around products that are intentionally made, free of plastics and harmful chemicals, and who align with our mission to Make More With Less.
Tell us about yourself
I come from an architecture background, worked for a firm for four years out of the college setting up an interior architecture department, then started my own interior design firm focusing on wellness and sustainability. My second company, Mache, grew out of my inability to find yoga prop storage for myself that was eco-friendly, sustainable, functional, and aesthetically pleasing. Mache began business with a B2B model, building custom yoga storage units for yoga studios and gyms. When COVID hit, the company made an abrupt pivot into the DTC market, producing yoga mats and fitness block storage. Mache is a mission-driven company, and that mission is what keeps me going and creates the fire in my belly to succeed. I work each day toward the promises I've made as a responsible company: to reduce the company's carbon footprint in all actions, to discover and celebrate "green materials" in my product design and interior design, to maximize material efficiencies, and invest in and partner with other conscious companies.
What's your biggest accomplishment as a business owner?
I am proud to have launched my storage company on the cusp of the worldwide COVID crisis and to have survived as a company through hard work and perseverance.
What's one of the hardest things that comes with being a business owner?
Finding a balance between work and play. Creating a lifestyle that allows me to put in long hours on my small business without it deteriorating my mind and body. A dedicated self-care space filled with life-affirming props allows me to nourish myself through my practice of yoga, pranayama, and meditation so that I avoid the common "burnout" that often happens with small business owners who do not have the staffing to take on the multitude of necessary tasks that come with being an entrepreneur.
What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, run and grow a business today?
- Do everything yourself for as long as you can before you hire employees.
- Stay small and wait until you are busting out of the seams of your current workspace before expanding the business footprint.
- Take care of yourself; put together a self-care routine that works for you, that is doable on a consistent basis, and that supports creating a healthy balance in your day's activities and priorities.
Where can people find you and your business?
Website: https://heymache.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hey.mache
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hey.mache/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briennemache/
If you like what you've read here and have your own story as a solo or small business entrepreneur that you'd like to share, then please answer these interview questions. We'd love to feature your journey on these pages.
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