Andréanne's Journal - 10 year special 🎈

I can't believe it's been 10 years already! 10 years since Womance existed. 10 years since I launched this online store without any idea where I was going with this project. No idea as in "I hadn't even thought about where I wanted to go." The one and only thing I had in mind was to create a community of women. If there was Bromance, there could definitely be Womance. I wanted to create a space where every woman could feel good. At that time I was 24, soon to be 25. I was living in Montreal and working in a restaurant lounge four to five nights a week (a job that I’m still grateful for, because it supported me during the first year as I took Womance from an idea to an actual creation.) It must be said that in 2015, online stores were quite rare. Big players had web presences, but few people were "opening an online store," so there was no pressure to perform. It was all new and beautiful. I sold brands like Hershel and MinkPink. It was also a blog! Remember? I was the model in all the photos, for all the products. It was a small personal project that I lived day after day without really thinking that one day I would be able to truly make a living from it. It never crossed my mind that one day Womance would be my entire life.

Ten years have passed, and even today, every time I arrive in front of the office and see the big Womance logo on the front of the building, I still can't believe that an idea has turned into a company that now, in 2025, employs more than 55 people. I can't believe that my desire to make women happy and well would give me the opportunity to be where I am today. Together, we broke new ground. Without any formal education in this field, without any experience, I was able to learn to do retail differently because of you! Whether it was the pop-up stores, the second-hand platform, or the numerous fundraisers for non-profit organizations, YOU enabled Womance to become a unique model in the industry.

You gave me the opportunity to listen to all my inner voices. Thanks to you, my naiveté in business has become one of my greatest strengths. Thanks to you, this young entrepreneur who started without a vision or a goal is now able to put her ambitions into words. Ambitions for which you are the inexhaustible source of courage and rigour.

Today, when people ask me what my greatest goal is with Womance? The most ambitious of all? The big dream? Today, after 10 years, I can say that I want Womance to become one of the largest Canadian players in the clothing retail industry, a company created by women for women. I want us to be renowned for the quality of our materials, the styles we offer, our distinctive marketing, our cuts, and our close-knit community that grows with authenticity. Meanwhile, many non-profit organizations and causes will always be able to count on us to help them and speak out. Giving back and helping will forever be an integral part of who we are. I am convinced this is an achievable goal. And you? Are you on board? At least for another 10 years?

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