January 27, 2025 • 26 mins
From HR Director to Thriving Entrepreneur: Catherine Poirier’s Inspiring Journey
In this exciting episode of Business Energetics, we’re joined by the vibrant and unstoppable Catherine Poirier! A mom of two, wife, entrepreneur, and owner of Treasure Kids and Événements Reconnaissance RH, Catherine shares her incredible story of transitioning from an overwhelmed HR professional to the proud founder of two thriving businesses.
💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
How Catherine built a business organizing events for HR professionals and companies.
The behind-the-scenes journey of creating and selling Montessori-style products for kids.
Tips on juggling motherhood and entrepreneurship while staying inspired.
How Catherine’s products made their way to major retailers like Amazon and Walmart.
Catherine’s energy and insights are sure to leave you motivated and ready to take action on your own goals. Whether you're a parent, entrepreneur, or professional, this episode has something for everyone!
🎉CONTEST : Win a Famous Treasure Kids Balance Board! 🎉
We’re giving away one of Catherine’s signature Balance Boards to a lucky listener! This versatile tool helps kids develop better equilibrium and can even be used by adults for fitness or fun.
How to Enter:
Subscribe to the podcast.
Comment below with your favorite part of Catherine’s story and add your Instagram handle so we can find you!
Contest Rules:
Open to Canadian residents only.
No purchase necessary.
Entries close on Valentine's Day!
Winner will be announced on the show!
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@xoclaudiaking or the agency @alchemimedia
🔗 Looking to Grow Your Business?
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Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
Welcome back to the Business Energetics Podcast.
I am here with the gorgeousCatherine.
She is a serial entrepreneur,multi-passionate mother, wife
and entrepreneur.
She is amazing.
She has two great companiesunder Pure Liberté Inc, which is
(00:28):
Treasure Kids, which is a kidslearning tools and games that
they can use to grow, and shealso runs a lot of events
through ÉvénementsReconnaissance RH, which I've
had the pleasure to attend, andwe we go a long way back over 10
(00:49):
years ago.
We met at HSA Montreal and forall people listening, what was
your group number 16 and ourgroup number five.
So this is amazing.
Thank you for being here,catherine.
Thank you, claudia, for thenice introduction.
(01:09):
It's great.
We have so many topics we couldtackle because you have a very
interesting way to approachbusiness, which I feel like
there's nothing you can't do.
Basically, thanks, honestlyTrying my best.
No, basically, thanks, honestlyDrawing my best.
No, it's great.
First things first.
We are right now at Sabia,which you hosted an event here.
(01:32):
Yeah, it was such a beautifulevent, with plenty of food and
drinks and beautiful women thatare leaders in marketing and HR.
And can you tell us a little bitmore about what got you into
the field?
How did you get started.
Why events?
Events?
It goes way back, Like when Iwas in high school, like I was
(01:56):
in the prom committee and likepresident of the class, and I
always like to do events.
Like my personal email wasOrganisation, sébor was
organization when I was like 17years old.
Like I organized like um artgallery, like at the city when I
was 17, so it was always apassion.
But uh, my father is awell-known scientist and he
(02:19):
always told me, like you have tostudy to have a career and like
, oh, even planning it's not areal job, like for him.
So he said you should do likehuman resources, like a bachelor
in human resources, and after,like you can organize parties
for employees.
So that's what I did and I wentto human resources at HSM Ohio
(02:42):
because in the business I lovepeople.
Like a day that I passed justwith my computer, I'm depressed.
I need to speak with people, Ineed to engage and I think
what's magic about events isthat you plan the event and
after you live in it and afteryou're talking about it.
So it's like a trip and I feellike you do that so well.
I remember the first event wedid together was a colloquium
(03:05):
for european scientists that washosted in hsc.
Yeah, with, in collaborationwith the sirium of montreal, and
your organizational skills tobe able to align scientists from
all over the world and tocoordinate them into giving a
conference.
You even had the minister of umwas it the foreign affairs or
(03:27):
immigration?
Yes, yes, he came to our eventand we were just like a
university student at thatmoment.
But like I think, like you'renever too young to start doing
great things, and like that'swhy, and after, when I finished
my degree, I've got a job as ahuman resources, like assistant
director, and after like ninemonths, my boss just left and I
(03:53):
was there with 200 employeesacross Canada, 24 years old, 4.5
foot I still look young, but atthat time it was.
Five foot, I still look young,but at that time it was.
And um, and sometimes I askedmy boss like um, I did not know
how to handle a differentsituation, and he's that he's
like I'm not in HR, like youfigure out yourself.
(04:14):
And like that's what I did.
And like we grew, like weopened other warehouses across
Canada and I ended up with the300.
I was in the board of director.
It was not all the directorfrom the company that was there
and I was very fulfilled aboutthis job and I was working so
hard and we did a lot of eventsfor the employee.
(04:39):
We had a great budget, ourChristmas party were really
amazing, and so, yeah, that wasa great period in my life.
But in hr there are moredifficult stuff to do.
It's like a veterinarian likeyou love animals, but sometimes
you have to do it in asia, likesometimes in hr, you have to
(04:59):
like fire people or deal withlike ugly and harder stuff.
So, um, after my maternityleaves, I decided that I want to
focus on the happiness at work,and what makes me happy is
really to organize events.
The happiness at work is alsolike HR marketing and help
(05:21):
people like I don't want to firepeople anymore, I want to make
them smile.
So that's such a beautiful wayto put it.
It gets me excited and giddyabout what you have built as a
beautiful, beautiful brand thatis getting more and more and
more well known.
I love your tranche de vie devendredi, which you bring such a
(05:44):
human aspect to business insideyour linkedin persona.
Um highly recommend everyone tofollow her because she is just
giving the gist on how to dealwith hr but also, at the same
time, um, how to be human whiledoing it.
So how do you transition?
(06:07):
You come back.
You're a young mom.
You've dealt with 300 employees.
It's high level energy everyday.
You have to be on top of yourgame.
You have to represent the brandas the employer, but you also
have to represent the employeesas their ally.
How do you decide After comingback from maternity leave?
(06:29):
This is no longer for me andtake a leap.
Yeah, it was really with myhusband, matthew.
We're going to be together for15 years soon and he's the
entrepreneur, the visionary, thereal estate.
I've been doing real estatetogether for 10 years and he was
always telling me like, like,like, you can do this by your
(06:51):
own.
Like, don't give, like the besthours of your day to an
employer.
Like, do it.
But I was scared.
It's scary to be like twoentrepreneur and don't have like
the fix, and I was doing likethe bigger salary of the
household, so it was scary.
But when you have, you detach,and I mean I was pregnant during
(07:11):
COVID, so everything was closedand I had a baby shower on zoom
and yeah, and I did my babyregistry on Amazon and that's
why I click.
I was like, oh, how people aredoing like how they sell on
Amazon and that's why I click.
I was like, oh, how people aredoing like how they sell on
Amazon and I was researchingthat and that's your.
(07:32):
That's leading into your secondbusiness.
Yeah, the first business Ilaunched it was Treasure Kids.
So we started it was TreasureKids first and then, yeah,
because I did Treasure Kids,it's a product-based company.
So we try on and off, like onamazon, finding product, really
creating the design, thetrademark.
(07:53):
And like I was in my baby feverera so I think we, I I could
have sold anything on amazon,but like my life at that point
was baby.
So I, that was your passion,you wanted to share my every day
, and all my friends they allgot kids, so I was my own like
public sib, so so, uh, yeah, sowe, we tried and sell on amazon
(08:19):
across canada and it worked.
So we ordered and after we didit in USA and after in Walmart
and after I missed to have likeconversation with people because
it was all remote.
So I've decided this year thatthe brand should be like in
stores.
So I met a friend.
(08:39):
Yeah, we are now in 10 storesacross Canada.
Oh my God, congrats, yeah,thank you.
And to develop and like yeah,we are now in 10 stores across
Canada.
Oh my god, congrats, thank you.
And to develop and like, yeah.
When I say people that we areat Carrefour Laval, they say oh,
okay, it's a real company, it'snot just like online, we're not
doing dropshipping.
Where in Carrefour Laval areyou located?
It's in the Boho Boutique, nearthe science.
(09:02):
And as we're here, I want to dosomething.
Yeah, because you broughtsomething.
You're doing it because I'm inheels pausing your amazing
episode.
Just to give you a little bitof context.
So if you're curious about theamazing balance board that
katherine brought to the studio,head over to our youtube
(09:23):
channel to see it in action, soyou'll see exactly what it's
about and you'll have an actualvisual Plus.
We're running a special contest.
Thank you to Treasure Kids andCatherine for their incredible
generosity.
You could win this exact prizebalance board on Valentine's Day
.
So all you have to do is makesure you subscribe to the
(09:45):
podcast, wherever you'relistening to it, and leave us a
positive review with yourInstagram handle so we can find
you.
So don't miss your chance tobring home this incredible
product.
Now back to the show.
So this is one of your products.
Can you tell us a little bitmore about what it is and what
(10:06):
it does?
Yeah, it's a balance board.
It's really popular, like inthe Montessori era, so it's it's
to help children and this onethey even support adults to gain
their balance.
Young kids they often have toomuch energy, so with this thing
they go and they swing and theydo it in silence because there's
(10:28):
a mat under it so it doesn'tscrape your floors.
I love it, but our main it wasan additional project because we
are most known for our learningtowers, so the kids can cook
with their parents.
And we love multifunctionalitems Because when you become a
parent, like your house isfilled with like plastic toys
(10:48):
and we want to have like a nicefeel like wood and something you
can pass to other children orother people in the family.
So it's really our goal to havelike aesthetic and
multifunctional stuff.
Like my boys, they they put itdownwards and they play cars on
it, so there's many things youcan do with it, multifunctional.
(11:10):
I'm going to put this one on theside for now, but yeah, so
you're in coming back to yourstory.
Oops, okay, it's during COVID.
You're at home.
You're like, okay, let me startthis amazon, let me build this
business, and then you don'ttake it to the hobby, you take
(11:31):
it globally.
I know you're in 10 stores.
Well, for now, love it, and canwe talk about what you just
experienced, or is it still?
No?
Okay, confidential.
Maybe soon we're gonna seeCatherine and Treasure Kids on
tv.
(11:51):
I did a February in theinterview with oh interesting,
yeah, so I did that.
But like, bigger show maybecoming up, coming up soon, so
we'll see when this podcast isreleased.
Maybe we'll hint at littlethings, but we'll have to wait.
But there's some exciting newshappening for you.
I just feel like you have theMidas touch, in the sense of,
(12:13):
like everything you touch, youpour heart and energy into it
and it works.
What would you say is yourunfair advantage or your secret
to success?
I think it's likeself-confidence, like you have
to trust, like you can do stuff,even if people don't believe
you can do it, because like thatdrives me, like well, like I
(12:36):
love it when people say, oh, youcannot achieve that, and after
I do it, then so, so yeah, andit comes back.
I think it's every littlesuccess like you build your
confidence and you're trying todo more things.
And also like I think it's thepersonal skills, like to be able
to talk with people and toreally interesting.
I'm not selling stuff Like I'mdoing even I'm trying to bring
(12:59):
happiness at work with even myheritage but like if the people
need it, if they don't need it,that's fair.
And like I won't push.
I'm not.
I'm really about relationships.
Yes, I feel like you giveopportunities for people to
connect as well.
So, leading into what happens,after you launch um, treasure
kids, and now it's starting togrow and everything is that when
(13:23):
, when you started Event MountAir Hash, what was the timeline
looking like?
Yeah, yeah, at Treasure Kids,we started to sell in 2022, but
really like baby steps, liketrying to figure out everything.
But I remember I did my studiesin HR and my passion was always
like events and after the COVIDended, like in 2023, I was
(13:44):
missing like the HR world andthe, the events.
So, and also like I produce myitems in China spoiler alert but
because here the same productwould be four times the price,
and like the parents don't havethat kind of money usually to
spend.
So that's why we but since wedo it internationally, like when
(14:08):
I put some money inside to dothe factory, it can take up to
six months to come here, so Ihave to put a lot of cash in
advance versus a servicebusiness like, yeah, maybe a
little ads, but it's not likehundreds and hundreds of dollars
you have to invest in advance.
(14:30):
So it was to help the cash flowand also to see, like my
passion and like use what Ilearn and what I'm good at.
Yeah, you, you leverage a skillyou already had since, like
years and years and years ago.
You, you're doing thatbeautifully and you know the
world because you've been in itin a position of challenge, and
(14:51):
you, you're able to bring thatto the people.
So I remember when you did yourevent here, you mentioned that
HR and marketing they take careof everyone, but then you wanted
to give back to them by takingcare of them.
So do you think that's um,something that should be more
(15:12):
emphasized in the world of HR?
Yeah, I think it's absolutely,and the goal was like to give
back to people that take so muchtime for others and, like in HR
, like you're always the onethat is giving the Christmas
gifts but you don't give one, orlike you do the raise their
meetings for everybody butyou're the last one to get the
(15:32):
raise or stuff like that it'sit's pretty common when I talk
to the community.
So, yeah, that's, and I thinklike everybody needs to have a
little self-care sometimes.
So that's why I talked aboutthis event with my friend Marine
, and I love Sabiatu, so it wasa great collaboration to do.
I love that so much.
(15:53):
That's beautiful.
So you started that business.
Now what is the goal for thenext few years?
Do you focus on marketing to HRand helping them create events
for their staff?
Who's your target market?
Yeah, I'm working with a lot ofpeople for now and because we
(16:15):
offer different kind of serviceand like I'm the only one in the
Montreal area that do that andsometimes people say, oh, it's a
weird mix, but it's me likeboth of my company, like they
seem not to be related, but it'srelated because it's had to do
with me and my heart and whatI'm interesting and loving.
So in hr, like I'm doingconsultation to help like
(16:36):
smaller businesses who don'thave hr in a permanent head, to
help them with some recruitmentsor like training or really like
strategic HR stuff.
So those are less big companiesBetween like I have a client
they are four and I have aclient they are 50 in that area
(16:59):
and after for the events, it'smore like bigger company.
I'm a lot of real estate and Ihave multinational.
And now for 2025, I'm going toorganize my first event with the
government.
It's Service Québec.
I'm organizing the WomenLeadership Day.
We will have a lot of guests.
(17:21):
It gonna air on the january.
So, yeah, so for that, I workwith it really at different
kinds of it's really broad, butit's really personalized
whatever they need.
And with the even notreconnaissance, I really like
got to realize a dream in 2024 II organized a corporate trip
(17:43):
and we went to san die Diegowith the company and organized
like the whole trip for likefive days and there was like
four events per day, was superintense, like like a retreat,
yeah, but it was like thedistributor meeting, so they
have it was like team buildingand like the, the Canada head
(18:04):
office plus like distributors,and so they wanted to have a
bond and they do that every twoyears and it was the first time
they had hired someone outsidethe company.
Okay, because it's challengingto organize such a big scale
event when you already have yourday-to-day job.
Yes, so, yeah, so I did allthat and it was amazing.
(18:27):
It was like living a dream forme because I love events and I
love to travel.
So travel events together likemy goal for 2025, like I would
like to do that again, but like,maybe in Dubai.
More abroad travel Dubai yes,dubai, let's do it.
It seems nice, like I want todo that.
So anybody that wants to do acorporate event, they call me,
(18:48):
let's go in Dubai.
I love it so much.
As you can tell, catherine is abubble of energy and I want to
touch on that because you are amom.
You have multiple businesses,you have real estate investments
.
If there's a mom right nowlooking at you and she's like I
just need some of the coffeeshe's getting in the morning, I
(19:08):
don't even drink coffee, so Iwant to know what would you tell
them?
Where do you source your, yourenergy from?
Where you're always passionateabout what you do?
Because in every instance thatI've seen you, it's not like one
day you're out of it and oneday you're in it.
(19:29):
You have an ability to sustainthat level of passion and to
infuse it into your projects.
So what would you tell a momright now watching at home and
she's like totally overwhelmeddiapers everywhere, she hasn't
showered in two days and she'sjust like how am I even supposed
to start a business right now?
Yeah, but it depends, like atwhat age your baby is, because,
(19:52):
honestly, like the three, four,the, the first three months,
like you're a mess, you're justtrying to survive because you
don't sleep and this is like themost like difficult physical
thing I have ever done, even if,like your breastfeeding, like
it's like sucks the energy outof you, like it's really intense
.
So if you're in the first threemonths like relax, just be,
(20:12):
just survive, but after that,when the baby starts sleeping
and everything, I think it'simportant as a person for me.
I really cherish, like mycouple.
I want to be a mom, but I wantto be a person and to me, to be
me, I need to do projects.
That makes me happy becauseit's like a goal.
(20:33):
You have to achieve goals.
Like I'm an organized person,like I do lists and like I like
to check stuff.
So you don't have to do like abig thing to start, but just a
little thing.
Go outside your comfort zone,try to organize a and it does
not need to be like in evenplanning.
(20:54):
It can be just a feel that youlike you love bakery, like you
can start baking and you canstart selling it on marketplace
and see if it goes.
Like you just start small.
Yeah, just do it and dosomething you love like I ate,
like accounting I would be notthe same person if I was doing
accounting in my office like allthe day.
(21:15):
So when you do something youlove, it doesn't feel like you
you work.
So I think that's also to findsomething that you're passionate
about and try to make money outof it.
Because, like life is expensiveand like I think women can do
both and men too, but likemostly, like I think like often,
like mothers they just, theyjust forgot they are a person.
(21:38):
They are just like theextension of their kids and I
think that's sad, like it's okay.
You have like days that you'renot with your kids and you're
doing business and you havenight out with your husband and
like you can be.
They say they have this studythat shows that the children
that have mothers that are happyit's the big reflection on
(21:58):
their success, like in theirfuture life.
Yeah, I saw that.
I should send you the link.
I like, I love that.
Yeah, so, like, so a mother'shappiness is a predicament for
the child's success.
Yeah, wow, yeah.
So I think so, like when I doevents, or like I'm happy, I
like to engage with people andlike I come back to home and I'm
(22:21):
so happy to see my sons and Ihug them and but like they see a
better version of their momsand what I love that so much.
That's such a powerful messageyou're sending to moms right now
to take back their power andtheir identity outside of the
family home.
And when it comes to being awife, how is it Because you
(22:42):
mentioned you were the primarybreadwinner and now it's a
family of two entrepreneurs howdo you navigate not always
talking about business, stillhaving intimacy amongst all
that's going on?
Yeah, but yeah, me and myhusband husband we often talk
about business, but we love ittogether.
(23:03):
So like we do projects together, like all real estates, we're
doing it together.
Like we rent a house and webought another one and this
summer we bought a commercialbuilding was our first.
So like we're doing it togetherand I would say, oh, maybe we
can scale together.
And like we plan together andwe.
I think that's the force of ourcouple.
Like, for example, we did anauto construction of our house.
(23:26):
We built it ourselves, likeeight years ago when we were 23.
And people were saying, oh, youdon't have experience, it's
going to cost you way too much.
But like, it was our dream.
So we took the time to talkabout it and planned it and we
did like our plan and when wewent to the architect, he was
like, oh my god, you know somuch what you want, but we did
it together and I think it's thestrength, like, the more you do
(23:49):
stuff together, it's like it'sthe goal and we have grew up
together and everything.
So, yeah, we talk about business, but like it's it turned us on.
It's's like, yeah, you guys getexcited to do projects together
.
That's beautiful, yeah, and wetake time also.
For example, yesterday we didthe grocery together and I was
(24:10):
like, oh, I want a night withyou, but we put the kids to bed
and we enjoy a tartare together.
Just chill at home.
Nice, romantic supper, yeah,and we have a table pool
downstairs so we play.
So it's great.
Moments create moments.
I love that.
Oh, that's so amazing.
And what can you leave?
(24:31):
A sprinkle of dust, a littlebit of magic for people to be
able to experience life on thefrequency that you experience it
because you're very highfrequency of almost like a fairy
, like I'm just living life andI'm just enjoying every moment.
And that's beautiful in amoment where we're in the middle
(24:52):
of the winter blues.
People are very low energy,they're very conservative with
their heat or, yeah, just theirminds that's helps.
So, thank you so much,catherine.
(25:17):
It was a pleasure to have youon, very excited um, tell us
what's next.
Yeah, what's next likehappiness, family, more
businesses.
I want to grow the real estate.
I want to do more corporatetrip, help more companies get
happy at work and, yeah, andtreasure kids, have more stores
(25:41):
all around canada.
So, yeah, we have more projectsthan times to sleep, so I love
it.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, it was really niceand it was a pleasure seeing you
again.
Thank you, we'll see you in thenext episode.
Welcome back to the Business Energetics Podcast.
I am here with the gorgeousCatherine.
She is a serial entrepreneur,multi-passionate mother, wife
and entrepreneur.
She is amazing.
She has two great companiesunder Pure Liberté Inc, which is
(00:28):
Treasure Kids, which is a kidslearning tools and games that
they can use to grow, and shealso runs a lot of events
through ÉvénementsReconnaissance RH, which I've
had the pleasure to attend, andwe we go a long way back over 10
(00:49):
years ago.
We met at HSA Montreal and forall people listening, what was
your group number 16 and ourgroup number five.
So this is amazing.
Thank you for being here,catherine.
Thank you, claudia, for thenice introduction.
(01:09):
It's great.
We have so many topics we couldtackle because you have a very
interesting way to approachbusiness, which I feel like
there's nothing you can't do.
Basically, thanks, honestlyTrying my best.
No, basically, thanks, honestlyDrawing my best.
No, it's great.
First things first.
We are right now at Sabia,which you hosted an event here.
(01:32):
Yeah, it was such a beautifulevent, with plenty of food and
drinks and beautiful women thatare leaders in marketing and HR.
And can you tell us a little bitmore about what got you into
the field?
How did you get started.
Why events?
Events?
It goes way back, Like when Iwas in high school, like I was
(01:56):
in the prom committee and likepresident of the class, and I
always like to do events.
Like my personal email wasOrganisation, sébor was
organization when I was like 17years old.
Like I organized like um artgallery, like at the city when I
was 17, so it was always apassion.
But uh, my father is awell-known scientist and he
(02:19):
always told me, like you have tostudy to have a career and like
, oh, even planning it's not areal job, like for him.
So he said you should do likehuman resources, like a bachelor
in human resources, and after,like you can organize parties
for employees.
So that's what I did and I wentto human resources at HSM Ohio
(02:42):
because in the business I lovepeople.
Like a day that I passed justwith my computer, I'm depressed.
I need to speak with people, Ineed to engage and I think
what's magic about events isthat you plan the event and
after you live in it and afteryou're talking about it.
So it's like a trip and I feellike you do that so well.
I remember the first event wedid together was a colloquium
(03:05):
for european scientists that washosted in hsc.
Yeah, with, in collaborationwith the sirium of montreal, and
your organizational skills tobe able to align scientists from
all over the world and tocoordinate them into giving a
conference.
You even had the minister of umwas it the foreign affairs or
(03:27):
immigration?
Yes, yes, he came to our eventand we were just like a
university student at thatmoment.
But like I think, like you'renever too young to start doing
great things, and like that'swhy, and after, when I finished
my degree, I've got a job as ahuman resources, like assistant
director, and after like ninemonths, my boss just left and I
(03:53):
was there with 200 employeesacross Canada, 24 years old, 4.5
foot I still look young, but atthat time it was.
Five foot, I still look young,but at that time it was.
And um, and sometimes I askedmy boss like um, I did not know
how to handle a differentsituation, and he's that he's
like I'm not in HR, like youfigure out yourself.
(04:14):
And like that's what I did.
And like we grew, like weopened other warehouses across
Canada and I ended up with the300.
I was in the board of director.
It was not all the directorfrom the company that was there
and I was very fulfilled aboutthis job and I was working so
hard and we did a lot of eventsfor the employee.
(04:39):
We had a great budget, ourChristmas party were really
amazing, and so, yeah, that wasa great period in my life.
But in hr there are moredifficult stuff to do.
It's like a veterinarian likeyou love animals, but sometimes
you have to do it in asia, likesometimes in hr, you have to
(04:59):
like fire people or deal withlike ugly and harder stuff.
So, um, after my maternityleaves, I decided that I want to
focus on the happiness at work,and what makes me happy is
really to organize events.
The happiness at work is alsolike HR marketing and help
(05:21):
people like I don't want to firepeople anymore, I want to make
them smile.
So that's such a beautiful wayto put it.
It gets me excited and giddyabout what you have built as a
beautiful, beautiful brand thatis getting more and more and
more well known.
I love your tranche de vie devendredi, which you bring such a
(05:44):
human aspect to business insideyour linkedin persona.
Um highly recommend everyone tofollow her because she is just
giving the gist on how to dealwith hr but also, at the same
time, um, how to be human whiledoing it.
So how do you transition?
(06:07):
You come back.
You're a young mom.
You've dealt with 300 employees.
It's high level energy everyday.
You have to be on top of yourgame.
You have to represent the brandas the employer, but you also
have to represent the employeesas their ally.
How do you decide After comingback from maternity leave?
(06:29):
This is no longer for me andtake a leap.
Yeah, it was really with myhusband, matthew.
We're going to be together for15 years soon and he's the
entrepreneur, the visionary, thereal estate.
I've been doing real estatetogether for 10 years and he was
always telling me like, like,like, you can do this by your
(06:51):
own.
Like, don't give, like the besthours of your day to an
employer.
Like, do it.
But I was scared.
It's scary to be like twoentrepreneur and don't have like
the fix, and I was doing likethe bigger salary of the
household, so it was scary.
But when you have, you detach,and I mean I was pregnant during
(07:11):
COVID, so everything was closedand I had a baby shower on zoom
and yeah, and I did my babyregistry on Amazon and that's
why I click.
I was like, oh, how people aredoing like how they sell on
Amazon and that's why I click.
I was like, oh, how people aredoing like how they sell on
Amazon and I was researchingthat and that's your.
(07:32):
That's leading into your secondbusiness.
Yeah, the first business Ilaunched it was Treasure Kids.
So we started it was TreasureKids first and then, yeah,
because I did Treasure Kids,it's a product-based company.
So we try on and off, like onamazon, finding product, really
creating the design, thetrademark.
(07:53):
And like I was in my baby feverera so I think we, I I could
have sold anything on amazon,but like my life at that point
was baby.
So I, that was your passion,you wanted to share my every day
, and all my friends they allgot kids, so I was my own like
public sib, so so, uh, yeah, sowe, we tried and sell on amazon
(08:19):
across canada and it worked.
So we ordered and after we didit in USA and after in Walmart
and after I missed to have likeconversation with people because
it was all remote.
So I've decided this year thatthe brand should be like in
stores.
So I met a friend.
(08:39):
Yeah, we are now in 10 storesacross Canada.
Oh my God, congrats, yeah,thank you.
And to develop and like yeah,we are now in 10 stores across
Canada.
Oh my god, congrats, thank you.
And to develop and like, yeah.
When I say people that we areat Carrefour Laval, they say oh,
okay, it's a real company, it'snot just like online, we're not
doing dropshipping.
Where in Carrefour Laval areyou located?
It's in the Boho Boutique, nearthe science.
(09:02):
And as we're here, I want to dosomething.
Yeah, because you broughtsomething.
You're doing it because I'm inheels pausing your amazing
episode.
Just to give you a little bitof context.
So if you're curious about theamazing balance board that
katherine brought to the studio,head over to our youtube
(09:23):
channel to see it in action, soyou'll see exactly what it's
about and you'll have an actualvisual Plus.
We're running a special contest.
Thank you to Treasure Kids andCatherine for their incredible
generosity.
You could win this exact prizebalance board on Valentine's Day
.
So all you have to do is makesure you subscribe to the
(09:45):
podcast, wherever you'relistening to it, and leave us a
positive review with yourInstagram handle so we can find
you.
So don't miss your chance tobring home this incredible
product.
Now back to the show.
So this is one of your products.
Can you tell us a little bitmore about what it is and what
(10:06):
it does?
Yeah, it's a balance board.
It's really popular, like inthe Montessori era, so it's it's
to help children and this onethey even support adults to gain
their balance.
Young kids they often have toomuch energy, so with this thing
they go and they swing and theydo it in silence because there's
(10:28):
a mat under it so it doesn'tscrape your floors.
I love it, but our main it wasan additional project because we
are most known for our learningtowers, so the kids can cook
with their parents.
And we love multifunctionalitems Because when you become a
parent, like your house isfilled with like plastic toys
(10:48):
and we want to have like a nicefeel like wood and something you
can pass to other children orother people in the family.
So it's really our goal to havelike aesthetic and
multifunctional stuff.
Like my boys, they they put itdownwards and they play cars on
it, so there's many things youcan do with it, multifunctional.
(11:10):
I'm going to put this one on theside for now, but yeah, so
you're in coming back to yourstory.
Oops, okay, it's during COVID.
You're at home.
You're like, okay, let me startthis amazon, let me build this
business, and then you don'ttake it to the hobby, you take
(11:31):
it globally.
I know you're in 10 stores.
Well, for now, love it, and canwe talk about what you just
experienced, or is it still?
No?
Okay, confidential.
Maybe soon we're gonna seeCatherine and Treasure Kids on
tv.
(11:51):
I did a February in theinterview with oh interesting,
yeah, so I did that.
But like, bigger show maybecoming up, coming up soon, so
we'll see when this podcast isreleased.
Maybe we'll hint at littlethings, but we'll have to wait.
But there's some exciting newshappening for you.
I just feel like you have theMidas touch, in the sense of,
(12:13):
like everything you touch, youpour heart and energy into it
and it works.
What would you say is yourunfair advantage or your secret
to success?
I think it's likeself-confidence, like you have
to trust, like you can do stuff,even if people don't believe
you can do it, because like thatdrives me, like well, like I
(12:36):
love it when people say, oh, youcannot achieve that, and after
I do it, then so, so yeah, andit comes back.
I think it's every littlesuccess like you build your
confidence and you're trying todo more things.
And also like I think it's thepersonal skills, like to be able
to talk with people and toreally interesting.
I'm not selling stuff Like I'mdoing even I'm trying to bring
(12:59):
happiness at work with even myheritage but like if the people
need it, if they don't need it,that's fair.
And like I won't push.
I'm not.
I'm really about relationships.
Yes, I feel like you giveopportunities for people to
connect as well.
So, leading into what happens,after you launch um, treasure
kids, and now it's starting togrow and everything is that when
(13:23):
, when you started Event MountAir Hash, what was the timeline
looking like?
Yeah, yeah, at Treasure Kids,we started to sell in 2022, but
really like baby steps, liketrying to figure out everything.
But I remember I did my studiesin HR and my passion was always
like events and after the COVIDended, like in 2023, I was
(13:44):
missing like the HR world andthe, the events.
So, and also like I produce myitems in China spoiler alert but
because here the same productwould be four times the price,
and like the parents don't havethat kind of money usually to
spend.
So that's why we but since wedo it internationally, like when
(14:08):
I put some money inside to dothe factory, it can take up to
six months to come here, so Ihave to put a lot of cash in
advance versus a servicebusiness like, yeah, maybe a
little ads, but it's not likehundreds and hundreds of dollars
you have to invest in advance.
(14:30):
So it was to help the cash flowand also to see, like my
passion and like use what Ilearn and what I'm good at.
Yeah, you, you leverage a skillyou already had since, like
years and years and years ago.
You, you're doing thatbeautifully and you know the
world because you've been in itin a position of challenge, and
(14:51):
you, you're able to bring thatto the people.
So I remember when you did yourevent here, you mentioned that
HR and marketing they take careof everyone, but then you wanted
to give back to them by takingcare of them.
So do you think that's um,something that should be more
(15:12):
emphasized in the world of HR?
Yeah, I think it's absolutely,and the goal was like to give
back to people that take so muchtime for others and, like in HR
, like you're always the onethat is giving the Christmas
gifts but you don't give one, orlike you do the raise their
meetings for everybody butyou're the last one to get the
(15:32):
raise or stuff like that it'sit's pretty common when I talk
to the community.
So, yeah, that's, and I thinklike everybody needs to have a
little self-care sometimes.
So that's why I talked aboutthis event with my friend Marine
, and I love Sabiatu, so it wasa great collaboration to do.
I love that so much.
(15:53):
That's beautiful.
So you started that business.
Now what is the goal for thenext few years?
Do you focus on marketing to HRand helping them create events
for their staff?
Who's your target market?
Yeah, I'm working with a lot ofpeople for now and because we
(16:15):
offer different kind of serviceand like I'm the only one in the
Montreal area that do that andsometimes people say, oh, it's a
weird mix, but it's me likeboth of my company, like they
seem not to be related, but it'srelated because it's had to do
with me and my heart and whatI'm interesting and loving.
So in hr, like I'm doingconsultation to help like
(16:36):
smaller businesses who don'thave hr in a permanent head, to
help them with some recruitmentsor like training or really like
strategic HR stuff.
So those are less big companiesBetween like I have a client
they are four and I have aclient they are 50 in that area
(16:59):
and after for the events, it'smore like bigger company.
I'm a lot of real estate and Ihave multinational.
And now for 2025, I'm going toorganize my first event with the
government.
It's Service Québec.
I'm organizing the WomenLeadership Day.
We will have a lot of guests.
(17:21):
It gonna air on the january.
So, yeah, so for that, I workwith it really at different
kinds of it's really broad, butit's really personalized
whatever they need.
And with the even notreconnaissance, I really like
got to realize a dream in 2024 II organized a corporate trip
(17:43):
and we went to san die Diegowith the company and organized
like the whole trip for likefive days and there was like
four events per day, was superintense, like like a retreat,
yeah, but it was like thedistributor meeting, so they
have it was like team buildingand like the, the Canada head
(18:04):
office plus like distributors,and so they wanted to have a
bond and they do that every twoyears and it was the first time
they had hired someone outsidethe company.
Okay, because it's challengingto organize such a big scale
event when you already have yourday-to-day job.
Yes, so, yeah, so I did allthat and it was amazing.
(18:27):
It was like living a dream forme because I love events and I
love to travel.
So travel events together likemy goal for 2025, like I would
like to do that again, but like,maybe in Dubai.
More abroad travel Dubai yes,dubai, let's do it.
It seems nice, like I want todo that.
So anybody that wants to do acorporate event, they call me,
(18:48):
let's go in Dubai.
I love it so much.
As you can tell, catherine is abubble of energy and I want to
touch on that because you are amom.
You have multiple businesses,you have real estate investments
.
If there's a mom right nowlooking at you and she's like I
just need some of the coffeeshe's getting in the morning, I
(19:08):
don't even drink coffee, so Iwant to know what would you tell
them?
Where do you source your, yourenergy from?
Where you're always passionateabout what you do?
Because in every instance thatI've seen you, it's not like one
day you're out of it and oneday you're in it.
(19:29):
You have an ability to sustainthat level of passion and to
infuse it into your projects.
So what would you tell a momright now watching at home and
she's like totally overwhelmeddiapers everywhere, she hasn't
showered in two days and she'sjust like how am I even supposed
to start a business right now?
Yeah, but it depends, like atwhat age your baby is, because,
(19:52):
honestly, like the three, four,the, the first three months,
like you're a mess, you're justtrying to survive because you
don't sleep and this is like themost like difficult physical
thing I have ever done, even if,like your breastfeeding, like
it's like sucks the energy outof you, like it's really intense
.
So if you're in the first threemonths like relax, just be,
(20:12):
just survive, but after that,when the baby starts sleeping
and everything, I think it'simportant as a person for me.
I really cherish, like mycouple.
I want to be a mom, but I wantto be a person and to me, to be
me, I need to do projects.
That makes me happy becauseit's like a goal.
(20:33):
You have to achieve goals.
Like I'm an organized person,like I do lists and like I like
to check stuff.
So you don't have to do like abig thing to start, but just a
little thing.
Go outside your comfort zone,try to organize a and it does
not need to be like in evenplanning.
(20:54):
It can be just a feel that youlike you love bakery, like you
can start baking and you canstart selling it on marketplace
and see if it goes.
Like you just start small.
Yeah, just do it and dosomething you love like I ate,
like accounting I would be notthe same person if I was doing
accounting in my office like allthe day.
(21:15):
So when you do something youlove, it doesn't feel like you
you work.
So I think that's also to findsomething that you're passionate
about and try to make money outof it.
Because, like life is expensiveand like I think women can do
both and men too, but likemostly, like I think like often,
like mothers they just, theyjust forgot they are a person.
(21:38):
They are just like theextension of their kids and I
think that's sad, like it's okay.
You have like days that you'renot with your kids and you're
doing business and you havenight out with your husband and
like you can be.
They say they have this studythat shows that the children
that have mothers that are happyit's the big reflection on
(21:58):
their success, like in theirfuture life.
Yeah, I saw that.
I should send you the link.
I like, I love that.
Yeah, so, like, so a mother'shappiness is a predicament for
the child's success.
Yeah, wow, yeah.
So I think so, like when I doevents, or like I'm happy, I
like to engage with people andlike I come back to home and I'm
(22:21):
so happy to see my sons and Ihug them and but like they see a
better version of their momsand what I love that so much.
That's such a powerful messageyou're sending to moms right now
to take back their power andtheir identity outside of the
family home.
And when it comes to being awife, how is it Because you
(22:42):
mentioned you were the primarybreadwinner and now it's a
family of two entrepreneurs howdo you navigate not always
talking about business, stillhaving intimacy amongst all
that's going on?
Yeah, but yeah, me and myhusband husband we often talk
about business, but we love ittogether.
(23:03):
So like we do projects together, like all real estates, we're
doing it together.
Like we rent a house and webought another one and this
summer we bought a commercialbuilding was our first.
So like we're doing it togetherand I would say, oh, maybe we
can scale together.
And like we plan together andwe.
I think that's the force of ourcouple.
Like, for example, we did anauto construction of our house.
(23:26):
We built it ourselves, likeeight years ago when we were 23.
And people were saying, oh, youdon't have experience, it's
going to cost you way too much.
But like, it was our dream.
So we took the time to talkabout it and planned it and we
did like our plan and when wewent to the architect, he was
like, oh my god, you know somuch what you want, but we did
it together and I think it's thestrength, like, the more you do
(23:49):
stuff together, it's like it'sthe goal and we have grew up
together and everything.
So, yeah, we talk about business, but like it's it turned us on.
It's's like, yeah, you guys getexcited to do projects together
.
That's beautiful, yeah, and wetake time also.
For example, yesterday we didthe grocery together and I was
(24:10):
like, oh, I want a night withyou, but we put the kids to bed
and we enjoy a tartare together.
Just chill at home.
Nice, romantic supper, yeah,and we have a table pool
downstairs so we play.
So it's great.
Moments create moments.
I love that.
Oh, that's so amazing.
And what can you leave?
(24:31):
A sprinkle of dust, a littlebit of magic for people to be
able to experience life on thefrequency that you experience it
because you're very highfrequency of almost like a fairy
, like I'm just living life andI'm just enjoying every moment.
And that's beautiful in amoment where we're in the middle
(24:52):
of the winter blues.
People are very low energy,they're very conservative with
their heat or, yeah, just theirminds that's helps.
So, thank you so much,catherine.
(25:17):
It was a pleasure to have youon, very excited um, tell us
what's next.
Yeah, what's next likehappiness, family, more
businesses.
I want to grow the real estate.
I want to do more corporatetrip, help more companies get
happy at work and, yeah, andtreasure kids, have more stores
(25:41):
all around canada.
So, yeah, we have more projectsthan times to sleep, so I love
it.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, it was really niceand it was a pleasure seeing you
again.
Thank you, we'll see you in thenext episode.
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