A Coffee with Rachelle Dubeau, Owner of Dani & Madi Boutique!

Grab a coffee and join us for an inspiring conversation with Rachelle Dubeau, the driving force behind Dani & Madi Boutique in Spruce Grove. 

Raised by entrepreneurial parents in St. Paul, Alberta, Rachelle’s work ethic started early—from her first job as an 11-year-old janitor to her years as a competitive college hockey player. Though she eventually earned her Chartered Accounting designation and began a career in industry, she found herself missing the personal connection of face-to-face interaction, which sparked the vision for her own women’s clothing boutique in 2018.

The road to her storefront was far from easy. After launching her online store in 2019, Rachelle faced the ultimate test when the pandemic hit just as she was searching for a physical location. Refusing to quit, she pivoted by hosting Facebook Lives and even building a "mini-store" shed for contact-free try-ons. Her creativity and grit through the unknown, including a series of successful pop-ups in Stony Plain, eventually led her to a permanent location

Now celebrating five years in her Spruce Grove storefront, Rachelle’s story is a masterclass in perseverance and finding joy in the pivot. From high-stakes accounting to the dynamic world of fashion retail, she proves that the path to success is rarely a straight line, but rather a series of brave leaps into the unknown. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to find their own path and turn a vision board dream into a thriving reality.

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Transcript

0:01

Hi, I'm Rachelle and you are listening to Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. Jennifer, do you know what this week is? It is your favorite time of year, Cam, it is Super Bowl Sunday. That's right, Sunday is the Super Bowl, and my favorite team in the whole wide world is playing in the Super Bowl. Go Hawks. Now, have you found a jersey? I have not found a jersey. I have been looking everywhere for a jersey. I could get one online, but here's what they say. You can buy a jersey online, but it's like 15 days delivery. The game is on Sunday. Well, maybe somebody's listening to this podcast, like someone from the Seattle Seahawks that might send you a jersey. Yes, that could be. You can send it FedEx. Just go to our website, www.coffeeinthepark.com and just put in a note, have sent you FedEx jersey and I'll be your friend forever. Okay, Cam, but I have a really important question for you. Yes. Because this isn't, we talk about this. Yeah. What is going to be your Super Bowl meal? Well, this is a good question because I have a Super Bowl, I see now, for total transparency here, I don't go to Super Bowl parties. I watch it by myself in my living room and there's a reason for that. Well, you get a little worked up. I get a little worked up and when I go to Super Bowl parties, people are always telling me, sit down, sit down, and I can't. I just, I pace, I yell at the TV, all that kind of stuff. So I watch it by myself and usually I have my own version of a Super Bowl game meal, but I haven't decided yet. Well, tick-tock. Tick-tock, I know. You better make this decision soon. Actually, this morning I was thinking of cereal. No! Cereal? I thought maybe I would have cereal. That's like after a hockey game meal. I know, but I just thought cereal is a good game meal. It's easy and you can just eat a lot of it and it's okay. Listen, I'll help you coordinate this after the show. Okay, thanks. We'll talk after. Anyway, I'm very excited and hey, thanks for joining us everybody. We want to tell you that we are coming to you live from the Wall Coffee Roasters in the heart of beautiful downtown Acheson. That's right. So if you hear some noise in the background, coffee machines whirring, people talking, kids screaming. No kids today. But it has happened. It's because we're live at the coffee shop. We're live. We're here. Cam. Yes. They have new drinks. They do. Yes. I didn't know this. Well, I didn't know it until I saw the sign. What do they have? A strawberry mocha. Come on. And a strawberry matcha. A mocha and a matcha. Yeah. I have no idea. Have you ever had a matcha, Cam? I have no idea what a matcha is. No way. I don't even know. They're usually green. Yeah, that's what I thought. Aren't they green? I think so. Matcha. Yeah. Okay. It doesn't sound like your kind of drink. And strawberry. No, it's definitely not my kind of drink. But it sounds like a spring drink. I think it is. Does that mean spring's coming? Well, it was Groundhog Day the other day. That's right. And apparently he saw... How does that work? If he sees himself, it's six more weeks. If he doesn't, it's spring tomorrow. Okay, but here's the problem. He saw himself, apparently. Is this true? It's inconsistent. One sees himself, one doesn't see himself. Can I just say that Punxsutawney Phil, that's his name, can I just say he's been around for like 80 years, I think he's got cataracts. There's no way, he has no idea what the weather's like when he comes out of that hole. I'm just saying. So anyway, I think again, it's one of those hoaxes in society, and now it's become a social, AI. Punxsutawney Phil is gonna be AI pretty quick. Well, he's gonna have to be if he's 80 years old. That's right, because maybe he already is AI. Maybe he's passed on to the great... What is he, is he a beaver or what? He's a groundhog. A groundhog? That's... Wow. Oh my goodness. Okay folks, so that just... As people tell me when I meet them, Jennifer is the brains behind that podcast. Without a shadow of a doubt, we have just proven to our listeners once again that you are the brains behind this outfit. I like to see where you're confused. They're similar. I don't know. A beaver, a groundhog. I don't know. They're all the same to me. Anyway, that caught me off guard. What grade are you in exactly? Anyway, so... And we need to tell everybody that we... This podcast, Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam, is brought to you by Wing Snob Canada. Where the wings, Cam, are fresh, never frozen. That's right, 16 flavors, 4 rubs, amazing wings. If you have never had a Wing Snob wing, you need to try one. 10 locations in the city of Edmonton, one in Calgary coming soon, and one up north coming soon. That's right, you can get traditional or boneless wings. Hey, you know what just hit me? Wing Snob for Super Bowl. Well, exactly. Better than cereal. Much better than cereal. I'm calling Mike Chadi right now, because Mike Chadi is the owner of Wing Snob, and I'm going to tell him, I'm having Super Bowl Wing Snob. You know what their motto is? And I believe it, because it's true, we've had these wings. We just have better wings. They do have better wings. So listen, if you've never had a Wing Snob wing, maybe this Super Bowl Sunday or tonight, if you don't know what to do for dinner, check out wingsnob www.wingsnob.ca. And we are also brought to you by Mprint. You said the M. Mprint. Not Im. Mprint. And they're the most amazing printers in the world. Whatever your printing needs, everything from business cards to booklets to brochures, to they will wrap your vehicle. They will wrap your vehicle. Maybe they'll wrap a window for Super Bowl. Oh, Super Bowl window. They should do that in my office. They should. That would be... I'm calling Jan today. Anyway, whatever your printing needs, wherever you are, hey listen, you got to call Mprint because Don and Jan, they are absolutely amazing. They're located right here in Acheson and they are the preferred printer of... Coffee In The Park with Jennifer and Cam. So check them out today at www.Mprint.ca. Awesome. They do amazing work. Anyway, I'm so excited about today and our guests today. So Jennifer, let's get into it because I'm really excited about this one. Okay. I'm also really excited about this guest today, Cam, because I like to shop. Yeah, you do. And there's no doubt about that. People are going to wonder why is she talking about shopping? Well, stay tuned. So, okay. Our guest today is Rachelle Fauche-Dubeau. Welcome, Rachelle. Welcome, Rachelle. Thank you. Awesome to have you here. This is really exciting. And so, Rachelle, now why, this is your show because you saw it, so why are you excited? Because Rachelle is the owner of my favorite women's clothing boutique, Dani & Madi, located in Spruce Grove, Alberta. Really? I have never been there, but it sounds pretty cool. It sounds pretty awesome. And this is exciting because this is an exciting story. It is, so let's kick it off. Way to go. We're going to start from the beginning. Rachelle, tell us where you were born, where did you grow up? Okay, well, this could take a while because I feel like I have a really long story. Coffee and conversation, as long as the coffee is hot, just keep going. This is great. I was born and raised in a very small town in rural Alberta called St. Paul. St. Paul. I know St. Paul. I'll tell you after why I know St. Paul. I can't tell you right now, but I'll tell you after. And I was born to two parents who have been entrepreneurs their whole lives, so that's all I know. I don't know anything other than working 24-7. Okay. What did your parents do? Oh, gosh. What didn't they do? So one of their first jobs that I can remember is they owned a jewelry store. So that's where the retail, I think, I'm going to say, stems from. So they had a jewelry store in St. Paul. Yeah. And that store actually was sold a couple times and then just closed, I think, around COVID actually. Okay. When it closed. Okay. But yeah, then they did insurance and mainly real estate was their thing. They also have a commercial building in St. Paul, so property managers and still to this day have this building. But for the most part, realtors, they had a Century 21 franchise in St. Paul that I had the pleasure of working at, at a very young age. One, actually, my first job was janitor, being a janitor. Really? In the jewelry store? No, in actually a government building. So we went every night. I was 11 years old. Can you imagine that? Well, say that's child labor. But listen, she's our second guest. That's been a janitor in a government building. Who was our first? Well, we've had actually a couple of guests. And that were janitors in government buildings? Well, yes. So, okay. So, it's not a common job. I know, but it's not. So, your parents owned a janitorial company? Well, not really. We just took it on as a family thing for about a year. And then it was like, it was too much. Provincial government or federal government? Provincial. Not that it matters, but yeah. Okay, good. So, at 11, you were cleaning offices. I was cleaning offices. Going to school all day. I don't even trust my 16-year-old to clean my house. Can you imagine? But we did a good job. School all day, cleaning all night. That wouldn't even be allowed today. It was an hour, so. I think there'd be like somebody to report you to the labor people. And then I was, back then we called it secretary, but now it's administrative position. So I did that for my parents after school. Every day I walked there until the office closed, and then also did the janitor work there. I did lots of babysitting and even had my own little aesthetics company. So entrepreneurship was like in my blood. You were just rolling in the big bucks. No free time for Rachelle! That's right. She's just the only girl in St. Paul driving a Ferrari. That's what I got to say. Well, I don't think I charged enough. I didn't understand a profit loss statement yet. Because what came in, went out. School of hard knocks. That's okay though. No, that's good. So then I really wanted to travel. I just wanted to leave my small community and go explore the world. So I wanted to go work on a cruise ship right out of high school. But I played hockey and all of a sudden I got a call saying, do you want to come try out for the Red Deer College Queens hockey team? I was like, where did they find me? Who saw me out in St. Paul, Alberta? Yeah. So I thought, you know what? I can't go travel for a year. If I come back, I'm going to come back out of shape and I won't be able to make the team. So I went to Red Deer College, took travel and tourism thinking it's part of what I wanted to do. Barely made the hockey team, fourth line goon basically, but whatever I made the team. Goon. Yeah, we were called the goon. You don't hear that on a women's hockey team. Here's a goon on a women's hockey team. So yeah, I made the team and it was an awesome year, a great experience, but I wanted to be closer to my friends in Edmonton and stuff. So I thought, you know what? I like that entrepreneurial spirit was in me. I wanted to do business. So I'm like, okay, well, let's go to school for business. So went over to Grant MacEwan and played for the women's hockey team there. Oh the Griffins, yes. And took business, just thinking I want to own a business, nothing else. Did you know what kind of business? Well, I've always had a passion for fashion. Okay, yeah, passion for fashion. But I didn't know quite yet because boutiques weren't really a thing. No, not then. Not then. It was like the big box stores, the malls, the Bay, all those places and I wasn't going to own the Bay. So I didn't quite know what. I just knew I wanted a business, my own business. So did Grant MacEwan get into my second year of school and they're like, well, you need to pick a major. And I thought, what? Okay. Well, marketing, like just the idea of traveling and advertising, that just seemed exciting, probably from TV shows and movies because it's not that exciting. Like it shows, portrays on shows. The Love Boat was not real. Let's just say that, right? Just for those who remember the Love Boat. Right. So I just thought, okay, well, I'll go with my best mark. And year one and two, you have to take all the different classes. So accounting was my best mark because math was good for me. I really enjoyed math, did well in math in high school and stuff. So I said, okay, well, I'll pick accounting. And then, okay, well, now I'm transferring over to the U of A and they say, well, what designation are you going to take? And I said, what do you mean designation? I don't even know what that is. No one in my family were accountants. But back then it was CMA, CGA or CA. Right. And I'm like, okay, I want a real good challenge here. I just don't want that social life. I want to work. I don't want that social life. I'm just kidding. Well, you went from Red Deer College to MacEwan. Playing on a hockey team. Now you're in the big leagues at the U of A. I'm at the U of A. You're at the U of A. Still found some time for Whyte Avenue, but I thought, you know what? I want just a really challenging, like that Chartered Accounting UFE exam is known to be super hard. Very Hard. Very difficult. Somebody told me in some ways it's harder than the law exam. Oh, really? Yeah, I believe it. I believe it. So I went that road. I said, okay, I'm going to go for Chartered Accounting Designation and so to get back then Chartered Accounting Designation, there was two routes. You could do the Masters in Professional Accounting Program in Saskatoon or you could do the CASB program. So I did apply to because I thought, well, at least if I get a Masters, I could teach in a secondary school. It gave you a few more options. So did that, got in, did that. And so I say I accidentally became a Chartered Accountant after all that. I wanted to travel and I accidentally became a Chartered Accountant. You want entrepreneur, travel, Red Deer, MacEwan. Chartered Accountant. U of A, Chartered Accountant. What a journey. That's a journey. That is a journey. My goodness. Yeah. So lots of tears in that process just because it was so hard. I started my career working at PricewaterhouseCoopers for a few years. The big dogs. Yeah. Realized that very quickly that was not for me. I wanted to go into industry. Went to McCoy Corporation for a little bit and then started a family with my husband, who's actually from the same small town area as me, but we did not meet in there because he's four years older than me. So we met in Edmonton. Oh, we need that story. You were both in St. Paul? He's actually from the Malake, so a little small town north of St. Paul, but the Malake people do groceries in St. Paul. You never met? Never met. Your paths never crossed? Our parents, our dads were on a board together. Come on. But you never met? Never met. How about that? Isn't that incredible? There's a story right there. Did you meet like when you're back in a small town at a family reunion, he's in his town, you're in yours, or did you meet in Edmonton? At the Christmas festival. Malake days or something like that, or what the St. Paul days or something? How did the paths cross? Well, so I actually did a work experience. I did the co-op program at U of A and did a work experience in Calgary at Imperial Oil. Crazy story, met a girl who was doing her engineering co-op term, whose friend that she played ring out with was married to my now husband's cousin. I love that, a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. This is a hallmark Christmas movie, right. This is, here we go, okay, yeah. So we met and we played on a slow pitch team in Calgary and we thought when we would go back to Edmonton, we want to find a slow pitch team. She followed a boyfriend to Lloydminster, I stayed in Edmonton, found this slow pitch team and I get to the ball diamond and I'm like, seriously, I'm trying to get away from St. Paul. There he is. And there's, well, I didn't recognize him, of course, but I recognize other people. From St. Paul. People on the team. They're all from, like, they're all from Malake. So anyways, we all became buddies and then, like long story short, we got married. Love was in the air. Love was in the air. Who asked who out first? Come on, be honest. You know what, I'm not sure. I'll say he did. There's nothing bad. Well, I know this is, her husband's gonna listen to this and he's gonna go, of course it was me. And she's like, I don't think so. I think it was me. Well, I don't know. It was on Whyte Avenue, so. Hence why she can't remember here, Cam. There is a reason. I know you can ask where on Whyte Avenue. No, don't ask, because I don't want to see where. Because I know Whyte Avenue all too well. But anyways. Chartered Accounting sounds professional, but our meeting did not. We met in the office. No, we did not. Okay. So how long did you date? Just a couple of years, but we were buddies already. We were buddies for a couple of years, and then we dated for a couple of years. So buddies for a couple of years, dated for a couple of years. That's the long road. My shattered nerves. Okay. Now, I have to mention that Rachelle's husband works in the suburbs of beautiful downtown Acheson. But, he sure does. That's right. That's right. We can say it because he works for JEN COL. One of our favorite people. I know. Oh, yeah. We've sat in that boardroom many times. Many times sat in that JEN COL boardroom. Yeah, he's in the suburbs. That's right. The suburbs we call it. That's right. Because this is downtown. Anyway, we digress. Okay. So you met. You were buddies. Yeah, we were buddies. I'll always love that one. We were buddies. And then we dated. Then we dated. Then we got married and had some kids. So yeah, we got married and had some kids. We had some kids. How many kids? We have two kids. So we have this. He's now 16. We have a boy named Gabriel. And then we have a daughter named Brianne, who's 13. And we were living in Bonnie Doon in Edmonton, which was a commute for him. Right? Like this is like downtown Acheson. It's far from Bonnie Dune. You know, especially in those days, because there was no Henday. No, I know. Yeah. I lived in Bonnie Dune for a while. Oh, yeah. It's beautiful. But yeah, it's far from here. So, you know, there'd be mornings or days he didn't see our kids because he'd leave before they got up. He'd be home after they were in bed. Right. So it was time to make the move out. And, you know, I as much as like I won't ever go back to St. Paul only because I love the city. The Spruce Grove is a great like compromise, I guess, right? You still get that small town feel, but you're nice and close to the city. That's true. For those who map, you're close to the mall. For some people that matters. You know, I'm too close to the mall. Well, anyway, okay, so. But now they're close to Dani & Madi, so they don't need the mall anymore. That's right. Forget the mall. Well, you still have to go to the mall. I still have to go to the mall. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. All right. We'll talk about that in a minute. Okay, so. Okay, so we just made the move out to Spruce Grove, and in the meantime, I started helping my dad out with an aggregate company. It was purely on the side. I actually started while I was at PricewaterhouseCooper still It was a small venture, just doing some bookkeeping. So when we moved out to Spruce Grove, by this point, I was at McCoy Corporation on my second mat leave, though. The aggregate business is now taken off, getting really big and busy. Basically didn't have a mat leave with my second, just because we got so busy. So now this is my full-time job, and I didn't go back to McCoy Corporation. So I'm working from home because we don't have an office or central location. But as I'm sure you can tell, I love to talk, and you know my dad, he loves to talk. Okay, so we're just going to stop here. We just found out before the podcast that your dad and I sit on a board together. Yes. I had no idea. Yeah. Yeah. He's an awesome guy. I like, he's great. I didn't even know this. It's a small world. The podcast brings- Do you want to sing that song? No, I hate that ride at Disneyland. Let's not even get into that. That's the ride to get stuck on it. Anyway, that's a whole other story. But anyway, yeah. And so, well, I just can say the podcast brings us together. Yeah, it connects us, doesn't it? It does connect. It does, because I'm still in awe of this. That's your dad. Anyway, okay, so now you're working for your dad, you're working from home. Working from home. You got kids going on. Got kids at home, hired myself like a live out nanny because it's impossible to work with kids at home. But I like to talk and I like to be around people. And, you know, I said I'd go to the grocery store and the poor teller would be like get like not clean up on aisle tw, but like someone has to get this lady out of here. So I just really missed that connection and meeting people and getting to hear people's stories. Yeah, because that's the conversations that happen at Dani & Madi. So I decided, you know what, I want to start like a women's clothing store because now boutiques, women's clothing boutiques are starting to come up. So what year was that? This was 2018 that it came into my mind. That is what I wanted to do. So as a family, we sat down and did made vision boards. All four of us had our own vision boards. I put a store on mine and we have them set up in our just at the top of our stairs. So every day, well, you go up your stairs, like how many times a day a lot and you see your vision board. So you're reminded of this. Because people will be going, what's a vision board? So your manifestations on paper essentially. One thing I have to say, it was really hard to do because you find old clippings from magazines. Well, you can't find magazines anymore. Everything is online. So I went to Value Village and bought a bunch of old magazines, brought them home and so we all did our vision boards. My kids each had a dog on theirs and we now have a dog. They manifested the dog. I like this. This is good. Maybe you and I should do one. I was thinking for the podcast, we should do a vision board. We'll get tips from Rachelle after. You got to put your Seahawks jersey on your vision board. Signed. Yeah, and our yacht. When we're famous, Joe Rogan. Anyway, I got to learn more about that. I think this is fascinating vision boards. This is a good, and you did it with your kids. We did it with our kids. That's really cool. Yes, it is cool because they totally talk about manifesting all the time now. That's something I wish would be taught in school. What is the, is it a year out or two years? How far do you go on your vision board? I guess you go as far as you want. We didn't really put a timeline. In their little brains at that time, they're thinking what I want now. Whereas my husband and I are a little bit more like a few years long-term, like a little bit retirement, vacation, and stuff. I think this is fascinating. I've never heard of this actually, and I just think it's fascinating. I've heard of storyboard. We do storyboards actually for some of the videos we do, but we never, a vision board is pretty cool. Yeah, it is cool and we need to update it now. Do you still do it? Well, like I said, we need to update it because a lot of things on our vision board has come to fruition. So now we need to put our new dreams. Family night, pizza, and root beer, and vision board. Yes, absolutely. So that was September of 2018. Come January of 2019, Tony Robbins comes to town. I have a really good friend actually who also owns a business in downtown Acheson. Can I say it? Sure. It's Well Hung Doors. Oh, they fixed my garage door. They fixed mine first. I'm just saying. Its not a competition. It is a competition because I told you about Well Hung Doors. And they're right around the corner. Yes, they are. And my garage door broke one morning and man, they were there like that. We got to get them on the show. I know. Okay, anyways. Okay, so my friend Terry, the two of us love going to all those kinds of things together. So we went and spent the day at Tony Robbins. And if you haven't been, I highly recommend it is life changing. So this on my vision board, the store was in the next five years, wait for the kids to be older, need more time. But after that day with Tony Robbins, I said, no, I'm doing this. I'm doing this right now. I don't know what I'm waiting for. I need to do it right now. That's so cool. Yeah. So that's how life changing is like in a day. You know, things change. So in the next couple of weeks, of course, I got my Chartered Accountant hat on. Sharpening your pencil. Doing the budget. Getting the budget. Yeah. So the first thing I did was went and registered, started a corporation, registered my business name, which I'll tell that story in a second. But yeah, so so the reason I wanted to get that part done is because to get into the buying shows, which one is in Edmonton, Western Canada shows in Edmonton. Where you go buy the clothes. Yeah, you bet, and order for the next season. Right. You needed to show two pieces of ID, like proof of business ID. Right. So one was like your business number, federal business number. The other ones are like registration, corporate registry. So I went and got that done. And then that allowed me to go into the next buying show, which was March of that year. So now we're March 2019. Right. OK, so I started ordering some clothes and just started bringing a few things in and just putting it in my basement for now, because I thought, you know what, let me get online, bring in some cash flow, bring in some cash flow and put it in my basement for now. Just have some close friends come, do some private shopping parties. So September rolls around, I start getting on the website, but geez, that's a hard thing when you're an accountant and not techie. It's hard to figure out. So hired a couple of different people. So fast forward to the next January. So now we're January 2020. My website has launched, and I'm ready to sell some clothes to my friend. So it's not like lots of bucks are coming in, but enough to cover some of the expenses. But in the meantime, I've used our savings and tightened up some cash. We haven't traveled now as a family. You're spending money. We're sacrificing a lot. Our kids are sacrificing a lot. Not really understanding or knowing that that's what they're doing. But you know, so January 2020, I thought, okay, it's time to find a place. So downtown Spruce Grove, we start looking. And of course, like my dad's and my parents are property managers. They have a commercial building. So I have that expertise. And then I got my husband who's in construction and carpenter by trade. So he can help with renovations. So we go and look at a spot. My hopes are through the roof, through the roof. And the property manager there is saying, owner's great, you throw him an offer, he's really good to work with, flexible, like really give like an offer, right? So we're like, okay, you know, I got the construction side of things budgeted. And then I got, you know, my, my parents' expertise with the lease side of things. So we prepare this big thing, worked on it for a couple of weeks, sent it off. And then a couple of days later, I get a response. And I can't remember if it said no thank you or no. It was basically no. The owner of the store says no. Just a no. Just no. Was there a reason? No idea. No idea. So. You should have come to the ABA. We could have helped. Anyways. Not even a hello. No. It was just no. Wow. Do you think they're listening? No, I don't think so. Because if they are, it's got to be more than no. That's not right. And you know what? Their loss. Well, their loss. I guess, yeah. But that's just not right. No. That's just not right. Yeah. So my dreams are now crushed. Oh, of course. Because you're starting all over again. And you thought that was the spot. And I thought that was the spot, right? That was it. Yeah. So I was super devastated in tears. And I thought, okay, I'll keep looking. So I found another spot, but I just didn't feel like it was the right spot. It's hard, isn't it? So now it's- It is hard. Because that was your first spot, though. Yeah. Well, and to have something like that, you're right. It has to be the right spot. Absolutely. I want to feel good about it. And I didn't really feel good about the second spot. So now we're February 2020. Right. So 2020. So then- 2020. So end of February, so my kids' school, they go to Broxton, so it's downtown area and I was driving them and I see a sign on another building for lease. So I call the number and right away, great person to work with and I went and looked at the spot and I was like, I think I like this. I think this could be it. So the new hope, 100 percent. It's Friday. When I went to look at it and I said to the property manager, I'm going to get my husband to come and we'll go look at it on Monday. Right. So this is the beginning of March now. So Friday, my hopes are just like through the roof and I'm super pumped because I feel like I found the place. I went to the Women and Wealth Gala that Saturday, had a great time for the last time in a long time. A very long time. Thinking of all these customers, all these ladies. Yeah. You're going to it, this. I'm networking. Yeah. Shaking hands, kissing baby. Yeah, this is great. Yeah. And then there was no more of that for quite some time. So Sunday afternoon, we get the announcement. Schools are shut, businesses are shut, the world is shut down. So there goes my dreams again. And just tell us, like... What? Were you thinking at that point? You lost the first spot you wanted. That was devastating. Now, this is huge because this isn't just losing a spot. This is a worldwide thing that's going on. And nobody knows how long. You're right. And the streets are empty and you can't go to stores. So what did you feel? Oh, I think I cried. I say that I cried for two weeks straight, but I think I'm being a little bit dramatic when I say that, but it felt like a solid two weeks. Because in the meantime, actually, no, my husband hadn't built it yet. So my, like, I don't even know where my husband gets us from because he doesn't really go to Tony Robbins and stuff. Mind you, he's done a lot of training with work and stuff, but he kind of just looked at me and said like, well, what's your why? Like, why are you doing this? Yeah. Like, it's not just about the clothes. It's not just about selling another piece of garment or something, because you could do that anywhere and buy that online anywhere. And so then I kind of like picked myself up and thought, okay, like, it's do or die. You have to start doing Facebook Lives and show your clothes online, because that is the only way it's going to sell. So that's fascinating, because that's the foundation of it, is the why. And we've had other guests who've started businesses during COVID, and again, it was the why. The why. Like, everything was against us in COVID, everything. I think for me, the thing was not knowing how long it was going to go on. So you just didn't know. So you start something going, this could happen, be going on for two weeks, or it could be going on for two years. Who knows? So the why is the key there. That's the driving factor. And the why, you'll make it happen no matter what. That's right. Yeah. And that's, I think, something that's been ingrained in me since I was that janitor at 11. Yeah, that's right. And I see that in my mom and dad too. Even in my husband, he's not necessarily a business owner, but I just see that from him too. But in life, it's why? Why am I doing this? Yeah. So there was no way I'm quitting, and I'm still to this day have that same mentality, even though it's hard. But you know what I love about that? What I love about that is it wasn't about the money. It wasn't about success, so to speak, in an outward, flamboyant way. It was this is what your passion was. This is what you wanted to do. You were passionate about it. That's the part I love. You got to be passionate about stuff. 100 percent. Got to be. Yeah. So, I decided, okay, well, we're home. So, all my clothes are laid out in the basement. I planned this Facebook Live. Yeah. So, my poor husband had to carry the phone around for two hours, filming me show every piece of clothing I had. You know what I thought you were going to say? My poor husband had to put the clothing on and model it. Because you weren't allowed to have a model come in. I was going to be like, okay, that's dedication right there. That's amazing. But luckily, he was a cameraman. That's good. Okay, good. Five years into the business, and I'm still trying to get him to be my model. I'm like, it'll be really funny. He's like, no. What's his first name? Renée. Renée, don't. Oh, he's still telling me no. He gets suckered into somethings. But that's one thing he won't do. So, how did you grow your brand and your business by doing Facebook Lives? Like, how did that turn out for you and where did that take you? So, before that Facebook Live, I was basically forced into doing it. I only took pictures and showed it on social media because I was too shy or too scared to do a video, right? The fear of the critics or, you know, being judged by how I'm doing a video. Well, that took that fear away because I had no choice. I may have had a little wine too that night. I'm not going to lie and actually I ran out of wine and we are... I may have had a little wine but I ran out of wine. Okay, there we go. Well, and the best part of that night was we have a walkout basement and my neighbors were watching the live and all of a sudden we have a knock on the basement door. They brought me another bottle of wine. Those are good neighbors. Those are the neighbors you want. You can't stop the live just to go get a wine, right? They see the need and they're there. That's fantastic. In the meantime, too, our daughter, she was fighting with her brother and she's crawling on the floor and we're in the background telling them to be quiet. So anyways, from that point on, I knew the wonderful word of pivot was the COVID word. You had to pivot and even to this day, you think you have it figured out one day and then two days later, it's like, no, that's not working anymore. In a second, something doesn't work and you have to pivot. In an environment that none of us knew about. We didn't know, none of us knew, we didn't know how to do things. So yeah, you pivot in COVID, but you really sometimes don't even know because the externals of it are so unique. Yeah, you have no idea. What's your reference point? Exactly, there's nothing. One day, you're allowed six people in your store, the next day you're allowed four. And then you're allowed ten. Then it's back down to two. Today they all have to be in hazmat suits. Tomorrow they just have to be in masks. One didn't know. Yeah, it was really tough navigating that. But so then I got a kind of an idea of like, let's build a she shed. We can have a door on each side of the shed. If somebody wants to try on clothes, we'll put the clothes in there. And then there's no contact, right? In COVID, so my husband built the shed. And like we maybe used it like five times. And then, you know, I ended up finding the location. Do you still have the she shed? No, we sold it. Oh, you can say, or did he convert it to a he shed? No, we sold it. So it was kind of a good little investment, right? Yeah, made some money. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, so that whole summer, well, not the summer actually, like I kept doing the lives and I had like 100 people on our live. Like it was really good. So you were selling clothes? So I was selling clothes. And so then the joy was kind of back. I'm like, okay, this could work. This can work, right? So then, like that was March, that was mid-March. And then now starting in June, things are starting to open up. So I had a business in Stony Plain called Whimsical Vintage Creations. She opened up to me and said, I can't do my classes. Yes. And I have a thousand square feet of space. Would you like to come do a pop-up? Okay. She said, come every second week for three days. Yeah. I would haul, pack up all my clothes up in a trailer. Wow. Unpack them, pack them up and I would do this every two weeks. It was, I can't even believe I did that. I love pop-ups. There's so much work. I know, but it's becoming a thing again. Pop-ups are becoming, it's really cool. The owner of Whimsical was just unbelievable because she refused to take any fee from me. She was like, I owe so much to her for letting me do that because it really brought in the cash flow. Yes, of course. So by the end of that summer, I thought, okay, I have a lot of cash flow, well, not a lot of cash flow, but enough to start to open up a brick and mortar location, right? So I went back to that building that I was last looking at. They had another spot. A lady was retiring. It was smaller, more manageable, and that is the spot I am in today. All things work together for good. That's right. For those who believe. That's right. That's right. And five years later, I'm in there still. It hasn't been the easiest five years. But not for anybody, because recovering out of COVID has been tough for everybody. The fact that you're still there five years later is a testament to you're good at business. But tell us a little bit about the post-COVID challenges, because everybody talks about COVID challenges. But tell us what it's been like for you in that time period up till now. What have been your struggles, especially in the retail business? So, opening the store, going through that first year of business, I did almost all of it alone. Then I started hiring. So it was like a team of two. So we were actually quite busy. I think people couldn't travel. Some people are getting the government money that was handed out and are just needing to get out of the house, talk with people, connect with people, and for some people, spend their money. They had nowhere else to do it. So, it was actually not as bad looking back. Like that first year of business was probably one of the better ones. Maybe the second year, because people had nowhere to go. So, they wanted to come and spend their money with local shops. So, what was hard about that year is following the restrictions, staying on top of the restrictions. I was never home because I'm still working my accounting job at the same time. So, my poor kids, that's one thing. If I regret anything, it's just the working too much. But as the years have gone on, I mean, as we all know, inflation has gone through the roof, the price of groceries, the price of gas. So, I feel like it's almost become more difficult going into my year four and five. You know, you hear of small businesses, retail shutting down. I mean, I heard this morning Eddie Bauer has gone into bankruptcy or receivership. They're one of my favorite stores in the mall. They're amazing. So, you know, when you hear all that too, it's really discouraging. It really is. But at the end of the day, I'm not quitting. I also have my other job, thankfully. So, you know, I say my one job pays me like in money and the other one pays me in joy. Right. I enjoy working at my other job. I love that. It pays me in joy. Because it was your dream. It was my dream. And it still is my dream. And my daughter and I, I was driving her to dance yesterday and she talks about taking it over one day. Right. That's cool. Yeah. That's really cool. Yes. How many employees do you have? So at the moment, I have three. Okay. But I think I counted the other day that I had like 25 over the course of the last five years. So, you know, when you have people, it is tough. No, retail is tough. It's a bit of a revolving door. Well, then what do they say? Retail is the toughest business going, whether it's retail, whether it's restaurant, whatever it is, it's tough. Yeah, absolutely. What are your hours? So Mondays we're open 12 to 5, Tuesday to Friday, 11 to 6, and Saturdays 10 to 5. I need Sundays closed because even if I'm not there. I think that's great. And we're online 24/7, always. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. Wow. So, yeah. That's pretty cool. Okay, but I have to ask you, because I was there shopping, as we talk about my shopping habits, I was there on Saturday. Okay. And I don't know which of your employees was working Saturday, but I want to give her a shout out because she was, her customer service was amazing. Okay. Awesome. So, for the women out there, sorry Cam, I'm going to digress a little bit. Yeah, no, that's all right. He's used to this. For the women out there, over a certain age, looking for pants, it's a challenge. Yeah. It is a challenge. And the pants I am wearing today, these are my favorite pair of black dress pants, and I bought them at your store. Nice. Awesome. Well, thank you for coming. I appreciate that. No, we actually recently, I hired a guy to come and do some customer service training. Yeah. And it's a game changer because the reality is, in my line of business, I'm hiring young staff. Yes. And they don't have that life experience yet. And I don't expect them to. So we've got to do lots of training. And that's one area I need to improve on and grow on and help them with. But of course, I'm being pulled in all different directions. So it's hard. So I just hired the guy and said, come in and do this training. And it was awesome. It's an incredible story. Really, for the record, I actually, I'm going to say this, I actually spent a lot of time in the dress department. Because I'm going to tell you why. Because my mom was a single mom and I was an only child. And when my mom needed to go shopping for clothes, I got to go. I sat in more women's clothing departments in Woodward's, Sears, The Bay, Eaton's. So I, hey listen, I'm good. No, I'm good with it. I'm totally good. Yeah, no, I'm good with it. It's good. And I think it's fabulous that you're, I just think it's fabulous that you're a boutique, because I love that, that we got to get back to boutiques and family-owned businesses and shop local. And shop local. I agree. Yeah. Well, you know, I always, you know, it's, I try not to go on the rants of like shopping local and stuff like that. But what I want to, just everyone to understand is that when you're raising money for your kids' hockey team, for your kids' dance team, the first place that gets hit up are the retail stores. Yeah, absolutely. And the ones that are the hardest business. So if those stores go away, then what? Where are you going to go? So I just really, really encourage. We can promise to spend the whole podcast right on that. For sure. And I never say no, I never say no at all to a donation. So I mean, if you're looking for that, like always happy to give that. But it's important to support them in turn, right? I agree. Wow. What a story. This is an incredible story. It's fantastic, actually. I know. Can't believe we're at the final question. Final question. This is it. We ask every guess this question. Every guess. Rachelle, what is the best piece of advice you've been given, either personally or professionally, that you carry with you to this day? Oh, my goodness. That is a loaded question. Well, my goodness. I have, you know, one of the, it's not so much advice. One of the best quotes that I live by and love reminding myself of is getting comfortable with being uncomfortable. Yeah. Yeah. If you can just go by that and think, it's not gonna be easy. So don't think it's ever gonna be easy. I think I thought at one point it was gonna be easy. You know, but no, that's not so good because just being comfortable, you kind of get stagnant. You don't grow. And that's the thing, right? Pivoting and being uncomfortable and coming up with these challenges, it forces you to grow. The hardest thing to do. Yeah. Right. Absolutely. For people. This is great. This has been fantastic. The store. Give us the address. Where can people go? It's number 6, 280 King Street in Spruce Grove. So we're in the downtown. We're considered downtown Spruce Grove. Beautiful downtown Spruce Grove. Okay. King Street. Website? www.daniandmadi.com Cool. Okay. www.daniandmadi.com. Yeah. Ladies, I'm telling you, it's the place to go. I 100% agree. Check it out if you haven't checked it out. That's right. This is first hand experience right here with Jennifer. Yes. And so everybody, check it out. It's absolutely amazing. But more than that, what a great story. And so if you're listening to us today, maybe you're, you got a dream. Maybe you're doing, what do you call those? Your dream. Vision board. Vision board. Vision board. Do your vision board. Yeah. And then follow it. Because that's really cool. And I think it's amazing. And what a great story. It just always excites me when I hear these stories. It's really cool. Yeah. Absolutely. And hey, don't forget, everybody, thank you to Wing Snob for allowing us to do this. Best wings ever, fresh, never frozen. And thank you to Mprint as well, go check them out for all your printing needs. So listen, everybody, thanks for listening today. Make sure you tell everybody about this podcast. Tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell your enemies. If you don't have any friends, go make a friend, just so you can tell them about the podcast. And what are we saying these days, Jennifer? Subscribe. Subscribe. Subscribe. Subscribe. Subscribe. And then you won't miss an episode of Coffee In The Park. It'll just be there. Thursdays, it will just show up on your phone. There it is. You don't have to go looking for it. It's right there. And it will be awesome. So thanks everybody. And we'll see you all next week. Thanks everyone. See you next week.