Sunday Morning, cocooning at its best

Stepping into the kitchen of Annie-Claude, founder ofDimanche Matin , is to curl up in the scent of fruit and comfort. Even if she was confused in excuses, because she received me in full preparation, I could only be charmed and won over. I like everything about this brand. The image, the purity, the values, the products.

Sunday Morning, it evokes a lot of sweetness, pleasures and memories. These are the brunches, the late mornings, the pajama days. For Annie-Claude, it is the same. If at the beginning, Dimanche Matin was spreads, it is now much more.

In a maze, towards entrepreneurship

Annie-Claude St-Jean didn't really know where she was going at first. But it's not entrepreneurship that she was aiming for! Studies in arts, criminology and cinema, dozens of different jobs, but – always – a strong interest in food. The ITHQ has already been part of her projects, but the working conditions in restaurants did not appeal to her.

Then, one Christmas, she decided to offer her loved ones homemade spreads. The gifts were so successful that her relatives quickly encouraged her to go into business. She did her research, found her inspiration, did some tests and created three flavors: strawberries & basil, pear & vanilla, mango & ginger.

Little by little, from experience to experience, the young entrepreneur in the making only received good comments. People were discovering the enormous potential of his products. In turn, she began to believe in herself, her product and her company.

Successful beginnings

While she had no expectations, she received a very nice response from the market: “the shops came to me; the media as well. In 6 months of existence, eight shops offered its spreads. Four years later? These are 70 stores, from Montreal to Chicoutimi via Ontario, in addition to its online store .

Even better? From its first year of existence, a great opportunity offered itself to it: Marilou Bourdon, from Trois fois par jour, asked her to offer her products as gifts to the guests at her wedding. Not only does she get the contract, but the successful company talks about Dimanche Matin on its social networks and in its magazine. For Dimanche Matin, it's very high visibility; for Annie-Claude, it is a source of inspiration.

Indeed, the entrepreneur becomes aware of the new possibilities: “it gave me the idea to get into wedding gifts and corporate gifts . It opened doors for me."

Sunday Morning and its endless possibilities

Three years later, Annie-Claude added another string to her bow: making candles. Now, in addition to offering nine flavors of spreads (including four seasonal flavors), the company offers five fragrances of soy wax-based candles. Inspired by her environmental values, Annie-Claude uses vegan scented oils made in Canada in addition to favoring soy wax.

With a name like Dimanche Matin, Annie-Claude gives herself the right to dare other projects such as a collection of textiles and a collaboration with Bkind for the creation of hand balms. The important thing is to remain in the sweetness, the thanks and all that evokes Sunday mornings.

It is increasingly easy for the entrepreneur to go elsewhere with her business: “what opens the most doors for me is that I don't really have any marketing to do anymore. I create and I try to sell, so I am freer to create”. Dimanche Matin continues to explore its possibilities and open up to different markets. Its goal is to stay local and quality, while remaining affordable. However, a recent trip to New York made him want to explore the high end.

Let your instincts guide you

Throughout our discussion, the entrepreneur speaks of instinct: “I go there by feeling . I let the ideas flow”. Whether at the very beginning, when she decided to launch Dimanche Matin, or last year, when she wanted to learn how to make soy candles, Annie-Claude allows herself to be guided, "because going there with your head, it's scary and I certainly wouldn't be there, ”she explains.

“The candles, I don't even know how the idea came to me. I like jams, but I wanted to create . I wanted to go somewhere else; I saw the lessons , I tried and I liked it. Looks like Sunday Morning is guiding me. Ideas come by themselves,” explains Annie-Claude.

Soon, in addition to her new website, Annie-Claude will launch a 2018 calendar in collaboration with Quebec entrepreneurs. Uncertain of the feasibility of the project (imagined about a month before its release!), it was by contacting Marie-Joëlle Parent, journalist, that Annie-Claude got the boost she needed. Even if the journalist was ultimately unable to participate in the project, other entrepreneurs jumped at the chance, inspired by Annie-Claude's idea. For each month of the year, an entrepreneur is introduced and writes a short text. The goal is to promote female entrepreneurship.

Lots of encouragement, help and a lucky star

Annie-Claude repeats it several times, she has a very lucky star and a lot of help from those close to her. She insists: “I am really well surrounded!” Her brand image was created by a graphic designer friend, her family helps her prepare recipes, her father helps her with deliveries, another friend helped her set up her site and she hires another when big periods, such as holidays.

Her mother, in addition to helping her every morning in the preparation, also had the idea for the cranberry & pineapple recipe: “I was traveling and when I got back, she had tested flavors for the holidays. She saw the holidays coming without a recipe being thought out and that was stressing her out, ”she adds with a smile. A few more tests and the recipe was ready.

In the end, it is under a lucky star that Annie-Claude and Dimanche Matin let themselves be lulled. The quick beginnings, the encouragement, the omnipresent help and even an ancestral home which will soon become his workshop. None of this was planned. Very grateful, the entrepreneur underlines all the efforts and the work put into this success, the path traveled since this Christmas when she offered delicious DIY spreads, until today.

To know everything about this magnificent company, to offer it as a gift or to yourself, visittheir member profile here !

Reviewed by Louise