Exuberance Beauty is a Canadian skin care company that makes high end organic products encased in gorgeous packaging riddled with love notes.  We met the bubbly and vivacious founder, Jodi Fedor last year and somewhere between Open Love Letter #32 and Victory is Ours Super Rejuvenating Night Cream, fell in love with Exuberance.

Last year a few ChickAdvisor members got to review some of Jodi's products through the Product Review Club and they were a big hit. We decided it was time to sit down with her and get a few insights into her business and life as an entrepreneur.

ChickAdvisor:
What inspired you to start the business?

Jodi Fedor:
I always wanted my own business, and always said ‘one day’, and then one day the fates aligned a few stars, and someday became the day. I knew whatever I became involved in was something I had to feel incredibly passionate about. I had a sensitivity to fragrance, had incredibly reactive skin, so skin care was a natural fit. When I did my research, and learned what was in ..let’s call it ‘traditional skin care’ …all I could saw was eew. And how dare they.  

Organic and natural was a natural choice from there, and at the time no one was creating it, so I set out to create my own.

C.A:
Your products have been extremely well received by major beauty editors and other press. What has been some of your most thrilling coverage?


J.F:
We’ve been covered in LOULOU, Flare Canada, Teen Vogue, Elle, and various other publications. I know this is going to sound like I am saying this for this sake of this article, but I’m not - the ChickAdvisor reviews have been my favorites. (Ali, I know you can vouch for me because you got a few squealing phone calls to that effect!)

The magazine reviews we get come about from meeting with editors, sending in samples, etc… and they are lovely to get...but ChickAdvisor.com was one of the first places after we launched that we started seeing feedback that had nothing to do with focus groups, our company tests, or editorial reviews. They were impartial consumers weighing in, and they were so positive. I can’t even express how excited I was about them; I literally checked every hour on the hour for a time (not exactly playing it cool) and I was so excited every time a new review went up.

Incidentally, I have been wanting to find a way to thank everyone who tried the product and wrote a review – and this seems like a good place to do so –so truly, thank you from the bottom of my heart, everyone who took the time to put your thoughts down - all of the feedback was so incredibly amazing and useful, and it really made a difference to me.

The products were my babies, and bringing them out into the world for judgment was a scary thing. I was a nervous new mother and it turned out that the people writing the reviews were the online equivalent of a favorite aunt; they gave us an overwhelmingly positive welcome, with some feedback on how they could improve.  

C.A:
There is a lot of talk these days about organic products and what is or isn't in them. What's in yours?

J.F:
All Exuberance products are between 70- 98% organic ingredients, are free of parabens, artificial colouring or fragrances, contain no sulphates or petroleum by-products, and are not tested on animals.

C.A:
Which product is your favorite?

J.F:
Victory is ours (on a crusade for a worthy cause) Rejuvenating Night Cream is my favourite right now, by a landslide; when I apply it at night, my skin literally looks different in the morning – glowing and firmer. This winter has been fabulous with it; I used to get very dry skin every winter, and this year; not a flake in site.
 
C.A:
You have realized a dream by launching this line.  How does that experience compare to working in a regular job and which is better?

J.F:
I can’t imagine working in a regular job now; it is incredibly challenging to run your own business, but I haven’t been bored since I started. It has turned me into a workaholic, and like most people I am continually striving for balance, but I love it.

Is being an entrepreneur better? For me, definitely. For others; it depends on your personality. If you like security, knowing what the day will hold, and routine, then probably not; if you like constant challenge, flying by the seat of your pants, and a high capacity for stress and the ability to work long hours as you realize your vision, then it’s probably a good fit!
 
C.A:
What's the best thing about your job?

J.F:
Continually being allowed the opportunity to grow. Unlimited potential.  Learning what I am capable of. Realizing what is important to me. Challenge. Making a difference. Seriously, could it get any better!?
 
C.A:
What's the toughest challenge?

J.F:
Always feeling like I am ‘not quite’; not quite experienced enough, not quite tough enough, not quite a good enough manager, not quite as good a brand developer as I should be, not quite maintaining the balance I should with friends and family… well, you get the idea. The most frustrating part of this is that when I finally do master something, something new pops up to take its place.

The upside is that I keep improving on one thing or another! Onwards and upwards…
 
C.A:
One thing I find most people don't realize about being an entrepreneur is that you have to learn how to do everything. How involved are you in the different aspects of your business?

J.F:
I am responsible for all the external elements of Exuberance and our products; from creating all the graphics, to writing the copy, to developing all the scent blends, to finalizing all our formulas, to coming up with the brand and story of exuberance, to driving forward the nexus of the idea until it could manifest itself.

But, no man (er.. woman) is an island, and for every step I took I have been asking opinions and gathering feedback from a wide variety of incredibly talented, passionate and experienced people. I have had an incredibly brilliant marketing person who helped me really pin down who Exuberance was, and an operations manager who has been unceasingly passionate about the company and the importance of getting the nuts and bolts of the company structure and operations into place whilst still managing the increasingly heavy day to day requirements of the company. (that’d be you, Bernadette), and also a husband who has been unbelievably patient as I found my legs in the company. It takes a village, and I’ve got a great and inspiring one around me.
 
C.A:
How did you come up with the formulas or did you partner with a manufacturer to develop them?

J.F:
I started out in my Grandfathers basement over 5 years ago developing the first lotion, and then spent two years working out of a cottage in Quebec, clad in a hair net and a white smock developing formulas. It’s a story right out of a novel; there were times when the heat didn’t work in midwinter, times when the water quit running...and there I was, day after day, developing skin care formulas! Eventually I brought in a chemist to finalize the formulas, and two years ago, we began working with a manufacture to make our products for us.

C.A:
What makes your products so special? I have tried many different organic lines and there is something very special about this one I can't put my finger on...

J.F:
Truly high end ingredients, an obsessive attention to quality, texture, effectiveness, and the art of combining natural ingredients. Active flower and plant ingredients. The fact that they are free of any fragrances except natural ones. It frustrates me that people spend so much money for skin care that essentially comes out of a lab (white power and water, anyone), that often does not do what it claims to. I wanted our products to really work, really make a difference for people. Our products aren’t cheap; but neither are our ingredients – and they work!

Oh..and did I mention love?

Exuberance products are available at high-end boutiques, spas, specialty department stores and at select online retailers including www.exuberancebeauty.com. A complete list is also available on their website.