"Laura-Jean Bernhardson founded Fresh Collective in 2003. Her background is in neither fashion nor business – she simply followed her heart and did what she loved."
I've had the huge pleasure of getting to know the amazing Laura-Jean Bernhardson lately, owner of the awesome Canadian Fashion stores Fresh Collective. I was recently asked to join her Fresh Collective Role Models Tribe, and she has recently become one of our Members We LOVE! Find Laura-Jean's interview below, and because this gal is all about giving back, a very special offer for you at the end.
Describe your business/career/what you do in a few sentences.
I'm the CEO and Founder of Fresh Collective, a small and growing fashion retail company that specializes in Canadian designers. We have 3 boutiques in Toronto - Kensington Market, West Queen West and Roncesvalles Village.
What I get to DO on a daily basis in my job is come up with ways to make our stores even more awesome and inspiring and tell more women about what we do. My two main areas of focus are marketing and strategy so I am constantly creative and looking at solutions for all the little hiccups along the way.
What book has inspired you the most? (OR What is your favorite book?)
For my business the best books I ever read were The E-Myth Revisited and Emyth Mastery. The subtitle on The Emyth Revisted is Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What To Do About It and that book delivered on its promise. I clearly saw why my business wasn't working and what I could do about it! And I set to work doing what the book said. I recommend this book to any small business owner who is working too hard, not making enough money and wondering if it's all worth it.
The next level of business development came with Emyth Mastery which taught me to look at all the areas of the business and how they work together to make a balanced and thriving business. It gave me insights into the leadership and discipline I needed to develop to build the kind of business I wanted to have. I used this book almost as a bible for a year or more, dipping in for new insights in how to improve my hiring practices to get the right people who would stay, how to track money, how to create inspiring marketing and so on. This book holds the key to every area of your business.
I need to mention that Emyth Mastery showed me what kind of an inspiring leader I would need to become, it was taking courses in personal and professional development at Landmark Worldwide that really transformed my view of myself. I was able to see myself totally newly as that person who could lead the business where I wanted it to go. I gained new levels of confidence, communication skills, an ability to speak in front of a crowd with no fear, a freedom from fears and anxieties about how things might go wrong or what people might think. It was the best education for an entrepreneur that I've ever heard of and I always highly recommend it as one of the things that put me on the path to growth and success in my business.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Personally I'm proud of all the things I've shed off and overcome to make my business work. I thought I was shy. I thought I was a creative person but not business minded (so crazy because business is SO creative). I didn't think of myself as a leader.
Shedding off all this garbage has opened up so much for me and the people around me. Me playing small serves no one. It's not fun for anyone, not inspiring, doesn't produce any wealth or beauty for anyone.
It's when I get daring and courageous and take the lead and express ideas, create things and invite everyone around me on board knowing some will say no, some will think it's a dumb idea and I'm ok with all that - that's when things start to get really fun and awesome for everyone.
What has been your biggest failure? How did you overcome it?
While I don't have one spectacular failure that stands out, I have definitely had my share of failures. Last night I was on a Career Panel with the Ryerson Fashion Zone and I was struck by the level of education of the other panelists. Many of them went back to school for a second degree. They had business and fashion degrees, and professional experience in other large companies before starting their own businesses. I didn't. I started as a business owner at age 22 making and selling jewellery and clothing after completing a B.F.A. from Concordia University.
In short, I had NO idea how to run a business and was a self taught making fashion and jewellery. I learned from those failures. I got a great education at the School of Hard Knocks. So overcoming failure has been a huge part of succeeding.
In fact we've built an entrepreneurial company where we are always willing to risk and try new things. It's just how we innovate. We take containable calculated risks and measure the results. And we do this over and over every month. Sometimes we get great results and we continue doing those things, and when we don't we just stop.
Being OK with failure and measuring the results is key to innovation. If you can't measure it, you can't improve it.
How have you changed since becoming a successful entrepreneur?
Every bit of my personality has been affected by the process of learning to succeed as an entrepreneur.
I started to see that most of the "issues" that were stopping me from the success I wanted were just things I made up to limit myself. These limiting beliefs kept me safer from failure but also kept me away from success. In so many areas in my life I saw that the success I wanted was just beyond one of these beliefs I had about myself, who I was, why I couldn't do something or what I was good or bad at.
As soon as I took new actions anyway, ok that I might fall on my face, embarrass myself or potentially annoy someone, I gained a whole new freedom to act.
To succeed as an entrepreneur you have to take risks, get out there and put yourself on the line. Doing that naturally produces the best kind of personal development. There's no hiding out and winning as an entrepreneur. No blaming others and succeeding.
Being able to get in action and take action despite all the reasons not to, has been a key to succeeding and to becoming the kind of person who succeeds.
Where you see yourself and your business in 10 years? 20 years?
I LOVE working. I put all my creative expression, art and passion for people, style, colour and beauty into my business so my drive is strong to keep growing it.
My end goal is 100 stores worldwide (only 97 to go!) and I just see the future as working toward that vision. To be able to create a business that people love to work in and do great work - where they feel a part of a creative experience that connects them with the community is a true privilege.
And to create an environment where customers LOVE how what we do makes them feel about themselves... well, it just doesn't get much better than that! I don't have a deadline on those 100 stores. Just continuing on this awesome, creative journey is what I see.
We can't thank Laura-Jean enough for opening her heart (and stores) for us, and even more awesome is that she's offering $10 Fresh Bucks to any Happy Healthy Women who print this off and bring it into one of their stores! Click here for locations!
We know you'll enjoy shopping there just as much as we do!
Want to become a Member We LOVE like Laura-Jean? Click here for more info and to apply!
In Happiness & Health,
Natalie Colalillo
