Andréanne's Journal - 2024 Recap

2024, WHAT A YEAR!

When I look back on the year that we've just had, I just can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of pride at everything we've accomplished. 2024 was a great year for Womance. Naturally it came with its fair share of ups and downs, but I believe that the highs definitely outweighed the lows.

This is the first time in nine years (YES, already 9 years!) that I feel completely at home. A wise retail sage once told me “People always say that it takes about 5 years for a business to become profitable. That’s true, yes, but what they don’t say is that it takes about 10 years to really know your business. 10 years before you know what you can really do and where you can go.” Personally, I’ve found that to be completely true. This year alone, I’ve grown so much as an entrepreneur. Over the past twelve months, Womance has given me a space to fully blossom, and that growth was kickstarted with the idea of creating the Women at the Top initiative. This initiative has nothing to do with our clothes or the products we sell and everything to do with our values. Who says that we have to focus our business only around sales? That’s one of the things that excites me the most about entrepreneurship: being free to create and do whatever you want. Being able to live fully while embracing your deepest values.

This year, we really allowed ourselves to give free rein to our creativity, even if it meant going a little bit outside of our usual comfort zone. Did you notice? We presented you with multiple collections, each different from the other. We went from basic closet staples to fruit-themed sweaters and floral-printed designs. The industry norm leans more towards following the same guidelines that already work, but we wanted to be unusual, to push the boundaries a little. We wanted to listen to you, to trust ourselves and most importantly to be creative. We even launched pink, yellow and mauve in December! Risky? Maybe. Funky? Definitely! Here at Womance, our creative side continues to take root and bloom and we’re excited about what it will bring to all departments, from artistic design to marketing. We listen to each other more and have fun sharing ideas – that part, I really like. Get ready; we are going to present collections that are sure to take you in several directions in the future!

In 2024, I was fortunate to see an entire team of women grow and develop. I was fortunate to see changes in several women on our team. I feel like many have stepped up to the plate. In all honesty, you can’t expect people to step up if you don’t give them enough space to do so. 

Although I am the original creator of Womance, I’ve often been a little bit of everywhere at the same time. Right now, I believe that life is quietly putting on my path the great privilege of carrying a very important title, that of founder. It requires trusting and relying on my team members. These days, I guide them towards my ambitions for the coming years. I present them with a plan, and we all share our desires and our dreams for the future. Everything you see is not just me. In fact, it’s all of them.

From our employees working in financial, marketing, purchasing, IT, warehouse, online and in store, our company is now comprised of 56 women (and now 1 man in the warehouse!) who work tirelessly to bring you the best of what Womance has to offer. They consistently surprise and impress me month after month. They have a unique ability to make Womance even bigger than I could ever have imagined. The craziest thing is that every time I think we’ve reached our peak, that nothing will beat what we’ve been able to create so far, BANG –  they come up with something new. Personally, I know pretty much everything that we have planned in 2025 and I am soooooooooo excited to see it all come to life. Get some rest over the holidays girls, because things are going to start strong in 2025!

Happy Holidays, gang! Thank you again and again for your support of Womance, year after year. I can’t believe we’re going to celebrate our 10th anniversary in July 2025 (more on that later. It’s going to be a great party!)

I LOVE YOU ♥︎

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