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From international cosmetic brands to entrepreneurship, meet Linda Stephenson

Linda Stephenson is the ultimate beauty guru, and has the education to back it up. With an honours degree in chemistry and biology, with a minor in botany, Linda put her degree to use and oversaw product development for world-class cosmetic brands. However, after becoming a mom, she realized her skincare regime was too time consuming. Putting her knowledge to good use, Linda sat down and rewrote the beauty formula. Mèreadesso was born: a single-step solution that rendered her own regime obsolete. It is now carried online at mereadesso.com, at select Nordstrom locations, and at nordstrom.com. We asked Linda about her journey into entrepreneurship.

 


My first student job ever was…

Tutoring high school kids at my school. I offered a guarantee—if the kid didn’t score two grade levels higher than they did before I started working with them, I’d give their parents their money back! Word spread like wildfire. I had to turn kids away.

I decided to be an entrepreneur because…

I love the autonomy with decision making and the flexibility with work hours, especially when I became a Mom. You can’t find that in corporate culture. Someone once said that the only way a woman could have it all is if she is in charge of her own schedule.

My proudest accomplishment was…

Hmmmm…. I’m still working on it—not done yet! But I’ve had a lot of proud moments along the way.

My boldest move to date was…

Starting my own line of skincare (Mèreadesso) and now competing with all the majors in the marketplace.

I surprise people when I tell them…

I am a graduate of Second City Improv and I was on a national television comedy show.

My best advice to people starting out in business is…

That the first cheque you write should be to your Patent and Trademark Lawyer. It’s not fun or sexy but it will save you a lot of grief in the long run to make sure that there are no challenges to your brand’s identity.

Related: Meet the woman that designs celebrity baby nurseries, entrepreneur Tori Swaim

My best advice from a mentor was…

This is from my Dad: when making personal choices for business; always choose the path that leads to the most learning – not the most money or recognition. He always said that would come later.

Linda_400x400My biggest setback was…

When a supplier let me down by discontinuing my packaging without any prior notice.

I overcame it by…

Scrambling to find a plan B and being honest with the consumer and moving forward.

I balance work and life by…

Surrounding myself by amazing people—both family and colleagues that support me in the tough times. Somehow by the grace of God, it all gets done.

Being a woman in international business is…

Exciting but sometimes challenging. Exciting because you’re learning about new consumer preferences, yet challenging because you’re dealing with a variety of cultural expectations from women in different parts of the world.

Working with larger brands before starting my own line helped me…

Tremendously in order to understand the big picture. It helped me see the path from where I am now to where I want to be in the future.

If you googled me, you still wouldn’t know…

Laughter is like air to me, I love to cook and I’m a little obsessed by cooking reality shows involving adults and kids.

I stay inspired by…

Creating new products and having people love them and want to buy them.

The future excites me because…

Mèreadesso will be opening with Nordstrom in my hometown (Toronto) which should be a lot of fun!

 


 

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