Happi Staff11.05.20
Elizabeth Grant
Elizabeth Grant (Founder/CEO), Marion Witz (President), Margot Grant Witz (VP)
Headquarters: Toronto
Founded: 1948; relaunched 1999
Hero Product: Supreme Essence of Torricelumn
How did Elizabeth Grant become a family affair?
Elizabeth: To me it’s always been a family affair, I worked side by side with my husband Sydney and when he passed away I immigrated to Canada. I have a very special relationship with Marion, who is my daughter-in-law, I look at her more like my own daughter and best friend. There’s something so special about women supporting each other and building something spectacular. I have always believed in women having a voice and being independent, I have found that work gives us that independence launch pad. So, when Marion approached me and said why not try Elizabeth Grant Skin Care here in Canada, I jumped at the chance, we just had to figure out how. Margot, joined the company in 2003 (by choice) and I was thrilled beyond belief. To have my granddaughter, who I used to put in my makeup chair when she was a little girl join us, it was a perfect full circle moment. To this day I am so grateful to be blessed to have these two women who are family, but also friends, by my side.
What is the best part of working with family, and is there also a not-so-great part?
Margot: I think I can speak for all three of us when I say the best part is knowing that no matter what, you have someone in your corner who will support you, but who will also be able to tell you the truth. In business, there can be push back, there can be challenges and there can also be “yes men” but you need someone in your corner who will always have your back to guide and support but also be able to ask the hard questions to ensure we are doing the best job individually and collectively as we can. The not-so-great part, I would say is work can dominate our lives and spill over into the dinner table, holidays and weekends, but we love what we do so much. It’s hard to remember to remember to take your work hat off and put your family hat on after hours.
You recently expanded in the US on QVC.com and appeared on air too.
Margot: This has been our dream and goal for 22 years; QVC USA is the biggest shopping network in North America. We are part of the QVC family overseas but thought to ourselves, “okay, it’s now or never;” it was time to take the leap from the previous channel we were on for 14 years, and really push ourselves to go after for what we have always been striving. The on-air experience was amazing, a little different than our regular launches due to COVID-19, as instead on in studio it was live on Skype. But the channel is spectacular. The crew and people behind the scenes are the best professionals. They made everything so easy and smooth. It was just a dream come true.
What has been your biggest challenge as an indie?
Margot: We don’t advertise and we are not in retail. Our primary distribution channel are the teleshopping networks and, although we have been around for over 70 years, there’s still an education curve we have to climb when we are on new networks. But we overcome it because of who we are—three generations of women who have all experienced the same aging concerns of our customers and who genuinely try to connect with our community. Our customers are not merely people who buy our products, they are women and men who inspire us every day to continue to do what we do and strive to do it better.
Elizabeth Grant (Founder/CEO), Marion Witz (President), Margot Grant Witz (VP)
Headquarters: Toronto
Founded: 1948; relaunched 1999
Hero Product: Supreme Essence of Torricelumn
How did Elizabeth Grant become a family affair?
Elizabeth: To me it’s always been a family affair, I worked side by side with my husband Sydney and when he passed away I immigrated to Canada. I have a very special relationship with Marion, who is my daughter-in-law, I look at her more like my own daughter and best friend. There’s something so special about women supporting each other and building something spectacular. I have always believed in women having a voice and being independent, I have found that work gives us that independence launch pad. So, when Marion approached me and said why not try Elizabeth Grant Skin Care here in Canada, I jumped at the chance, we just had to figure out how. Margot, joined the company in 2003 (by choice) and I was thrilled beyond belief. To have my granddaughter, who I used to put in my makeup chair when she was a little girl join us, it was a perfect full circle moment. To this day I am so grateful to be blessed to have these two women who are family, but also friends, by my side.
What is the best part of working with family, and is there also a not-so-great part?
Margot: I think I can speak for all three of us when I say the best part is knowing that no matter what, you have someone in your corner who will support you, but who will also be able to tell you the truth. In business, there can be push back, there can be challenges and there can also be “yes men” but you need someone in your corner who will always have your back to guide and support but also be able to ask the hard questions to ensure we are doing the best job individually and collectively as we can. The not-so-great part, I would say is work can dominate our lives and spill over into the dinner table, holidays and weekends, but we love what we do so much. It’s hard to remember to remember to take your work hat off and put your family hat on after hours.
You recently expanded in the US on QVC.com and appeared on air too.
Margot: This has been our dream and goal for 22 years; QVC USA is the biggest shopping network in North America. We are part of the QVC family overseas but thought to ourselves, “okay, it’s now or never;” it was time to take the leap from the previous channel we were on for 14 years, and really push ourselves to go after for what we have always been striving. The on-air experience was amazing, a little different than our regular launches due to COVID-19, as instead on in studio it was live on Skype. But the channel is spectacular. The crew and people behind the scenes are the best professionals. They made everything so easy and smooth. It was just a dream come true.
What has been your biggest challenge as an indie?
Margot: We don’t advertise and we are not in retail. Our primary distribution channel are the teleshopping networks and, although we have been around for over 70 years, there’s still an education curve we have to climb when we are on new networks. But we overcome it because of who we are—three generations of women who have all experienced the same aging concerns of our customers and who genuinely try to connect with our community. Our customers are not merely people who buy our products, they are women and men who inspire us every day to continue to do what we do and strive to do it better.
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Isaac Kusi, founder of Krismark, asks: How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect your packaging and production? With the nature of our business we were still very busy with COVID-19, something we are very grateful for, but we had to become more strategic in our production and packaging purchases. For production, because we are considered an essential business, we were allowed to stay open but we did so on a skeleton staff. This made production that much more challenging because we still had the same volume of orders but much less production staff on the floor (under 40). For packaging and our PO’s, we wanted to ensure we streamlined our orders so we had what we needed in house or a plan B in case something was delayed or unavailable due to our vendors facing their own challenges with COVID-19. Truly it was about planning, support and, most importantly, gratitude to our employees who helped us continue to achieve our success while following COVID-19 safety protocols.—Marion Witz |
