Entrepreneur and mother: Constance Hartig, founder of Canopea

“Starting a business is an obstacle course with its joys,
freedom, and sometimes bad surprises.
You have to know how to digest them quickly, learn from them and transform them into strength."

At first, it was the desire for independence, to create something new, to combine beauty with utility. Then it was the taste for adventure and the simple pleasures of family life that pushed her to become an entrepreneur. Constance Hartig, founder of Canopea, took the plunge in 2016 to combine two passions: creation and the great outdoors. In this interview, she tells us about her beginnings as an entrepreneur.

When did the idea of ​​creating your own business come to you?

Having my own company was not as obvious to me as it is today. Before launching Canopea , I worked for a long time in the cultural sector, in which you have to be versatile, autonomous and creative. I think that this way of working has greatly influenced who I am today and how I like to work. Creating a company is an obstacle course with joys, freedom, and sometimes bad surprises. You have to know how to digest them quickly, learn from them and transform them into strength. The pitfalls are endless but I like these challenges, that's how you learn, move forward and grow. Today I realize that entrepreneurship suits me 100%.

What made you decide to leave your job in cultural press relations to start your own business?

As a junior in a company, I was often a little frustrated by not always having the information in hand. I naturally asked a lot of questions because I wanted to know a lot of things, which was not always well received. I climbed the ladder one by one, then after ten years in communications, I wanted to find other issues. I was fascinated by how things were produced, how do you make a coffee machine for example, or where do our clothes come from and who makes them? I studied design ( Parsons School in New York) so I always knew that I would return to a more manual job at one point or another. I just had to wait for the right moment. So when I was pregnant with my third child, I was able to negotiate a mutual termination and said to myself "ok, it's now or never" . It's been 5 years and I've never regretted it!

I imagine that the idea for Canopea was born from your experience as a mother?

Absolutely! The summer after I quit my last job, I came out of a consultation with my dermatologist with an anti-UV t-shirt, a promotional gift (rather ugly) made of synthetic material. I was 6 months pregnant, with two other children aged 2 and 4, and once on the beach I wondered how to spread cream on them every day without running after them and giving birth on the spot! So they wore this ugly t-shirt all holiday, which ended up ripped at all the seams on the third day… I was looking for an idea to create my company, and my brother-in-law jokingly suggested that I make anti-UV t-shirts. We laughed and I decided to take up the challenge: to make a product that was then undesirable for most parents cool and trendy.

How did you get started?

When I returned from my vacation, I learned that a friend died of skin cancer at the age of 32. As I delved into the subject, faced with the alarming statistics, I realized that the number of people with skin cancer doubles every ten years in Europe , that children are particularly sensitive to UV rays due to their very thin skin and that our solar capital deteriorates from the age of 18. It is surprising that we are so poorly informed about this cancer when we have real means of acting to avoid it. I also understood that a simple cotton t-shirt does not protect our skin from the harmful rays of the sun (UPF 7, once wet it drops to 3). A Canopea anti-UV t-shirt offers a UPF 50, which means that it protects against 98% of UV rays. The young generation of dermatologists today affirms that the best sun protection comes from technical clothing. I quickly became aware of the need to create a reliable and effective product against UV rays, to compensate for the almost non-existent offer in France.

And you had no trouble convincing the parents: your anti-UV t-shirts were a success from the start!

I was clearly convinced of my idea, but with such a seasonal product, I had to do it well and quickly. In the space of a few months, I sourced fabrics – ultra-resistant and transformed from recycled fishing nets –, found a manufacturer, created a company, found a brand name, released prototypes, took photos in the studio, created a sales site, and launched an initial production of 1,200 anti-UV swimsuits in the hope that someone would buy some. Bet won! In three weeks everything was sold, I had to restock twice during the first season. I was clearly not the only one who wanted to protect my children from UV rays without finding clothes to my taste. There has also been an impressive change in mentalities about our behavior when it comes to the sun. Today, a young parent no longer asks themselves whether or not they should protect their child from the sun.

Parents are convinced, but how can we convince our children to wear anti-UV clothing on the beach?

This is the crux of the matter! And one of our main concerns. Our fabrics block the sun's rays without chemical filters thanks to the very tight weave of the fibers, which means that our anti-UV swimsuits remain effective even when wet or after repeated washing. It is also a light and breathable fabric, which is important to avoid causing skin irritation. The anti-UV t-shirt must act like a second skin, for this we respect three criteria: it is easy to put on thanks to the three buttons on the shoulder, the labels and seams do not scratch, and it dries quickly (20 min max). If these three criteria are respected, the child will forget that he is wearing an anti-UV t-shirt, he will adopt it without worry and will remain well protected.

Was it difficult to learn a new profession?

I had no training in textiles when I launched Canopea, so at the beginning I mostly worked on instinct. I also know what my limits are, so to help me build my project, I followed some accelerated training courses from the city of Paris: in accounting, styling and pattern making to understand what the issues would be for a pattern maker on my type of product. The first two years were very intense because with little means, I had to wear all the hats, sometimes at the same time: managing the website with its CSS codes, accounting, monitoring production with its ups and downs, preparing and shipping orders, communicating with Instagram which was becoming an ultra-time-consuming but already essential tool. I didn't sleep much at that time, but as I had just had my third child, I already had very disturbed sleep!

How did you cope during this period between your three children and your business?

I didn't hesitate to get help, first from my husband who was an angelic support and patience. Then from nannies and an army of young girls who took over for school outings and activities. Then quickly thanks to the success of the first collections, I was able to surround myself with professionals who took over for logistics, social networks, customer service... I now manage a team of 8 people with whom I am in contact in turns almost daily. I worked hard but I also think I was lucky to come across the right product at the right time.

As a woman and a mother, do you feel that it is easier to manage daily life when you are an entrepreneur or is it rather the opposite?

I find the way women entrepreneurs are viewed always a bit pejorative, even more so when they are mothers. I often heard at the beginning, "Oh great, you'll be able to spend more time with your children." Would you say that to a man who is starting his own business? Even recently, when I presented my brand to a big businessman, he replied, "Well done, you must have a very rich husband then." I found that hurtful and deeply unfair. Of course, daily life is easier to manage because I don't have to ask permission for a doctor's appointment or a school trip, but I work ten times more than when I was in office, because there is always something to do, we don't count our hours and we always fight a little against the clichés of the "mompreneur" who tries to keep herself busy in her free time (not that there's anything wrong with that, but why do we constantly have to justify ourselves?). We realize that even among entrepreneurs, the road to parity is damn long!

3 years ago you moved to Geneva, how do you organize yourself with a company and offices based in France?

Between a community manager based in Paris, a customer service based in London, an accountant based in Toulon, a web developer based in Oise, our workshops in Portugal and a stylist in Arras, moving to Geneva has not changed much professionally. I keep offices in France and I regularly return to Paris for appointments, or to visit our logistician, or the showroom of our distributor. I manage to organize concentrated 48-hour trips and take the opportunity to see friends or family. We always find our balance!

How has this move changed for you and your family life?

In fact, our quality of life changed a lot when we moved to Switzerland. I will always have a soft spot for Paris after living there for 8 years, it's where we lived when we were newlyweds and where our children were born, but I always knew we would leave one day. We wanted this change for the children, to expose them to more outdoor activities, to experience things with our friends rather than seeing each other at dinners. We live in Geneva because we remain deeply urban but in 10 minutes we are on the lake, in 50 minutes in the most beautiful mountains in Europe... I had read somewhere that each city corresponds to a decade, so after a childhood in Japan, a teenage year in New York, a twenties in London and a thirties in Paris, I am delighted to start a new decade where we are.

What’s new and what’s latest at Canopea?

The 2022 collection is ready, and I think it's my favorite collection so far! We have continued to develop the women's line, which is very popular, with an expanded range of swimsuits but also t-shirts, anti-UV suits, mix and match lines with children, new colors... We have released a new baby range that starts from 3 months with more suits and Liberty bonnets with anti-UV lining. Always with a concern to reconcile style and protection. We also have some nice surprise collabs in the pipeline for 2022!

From the interview for leslouves.com

Discover our collection of anti-UV swimsuits here .