|
Featured Article:
France Di Paola
Confident Image Chez France
47 Scott Street West, Unit 2
St. Catharines, ON L2R 1E1
905-931-0686
confidentimage@rogers.com
France Di Paola has made the idea of helping
others feel good a mantra for her business, Confident Image Chez
France. She believes that this business "found her".
Like many mothers, she found herself at a
point in her life where she wanted to escape the long hours and
hectic pace of the corporate world and find more quality time
with her young family. Her desire to be self-employed,
however, was tied to a desire to find something with meaning and
purpose.
 While searching online for a business concept,
a friend introduced her to Christine Twinn, an aesthetician who
was retiring and selling her business equipment. After spending
three hours with Christine, France had found her calling, and
left the meeting "shaking but exhilarated!" After discussion
with her husband, she decided to take the leap into business
ownership, and feels that it's the best thing that she's ever
done. Although she doesn't argue that owning your own business
is a 24/7 proposition, she
says that her business doesn't feel like work at all.
- photo provided by France Di Paola
In a world obsessed with how women look on the
outside, her
business, a clinical day spa for women only, centres on making
each client feel good about themselves and rebuilding their
self-confidence. 
France trained with Christine Twinn after
purchasing her equipment, took the Business Development Centre's
entrepreneurship program, and launched her business in her own
home, offering professional electrolysis to start. It only took
her a few months in the program to realize that her single
offering wouldn't supply enough revenue, so she took additional
training, crunched numbers with her advisor Larry Bitner and
with Charles Curley, one of the BDC's financial consultants, and
invested in her "dream machine" to be able to add microdermabrasion to her services.
She began to network and build a clientelle,
but her next realization was that she needed to
raise her business to a different level of credibility by moving
it out of her home. France was fortunate to find both a great
location and another therapist - Reflexologist Lynne Hancox - to share the space with,
creating a partnership that enhances business for all of them.
France also provides referrals to Relaxation and Stress Relief
Practitioner Gayle Chu rch
as an additional service. The spa is located on a quiet street with ready access off the
highway, and France, inspired by her namesake country, has
created an elegant, serene ambience - soft taupe walls, large
windows, a little light jazz playing in the background.
France tests each and every one of her
products and services on herself before offering it to clients.
Her featured product is Aqua Folia, a Canadian line of
all-natural plant-based skin care products that combat some
of our worst enemies: aging, skin inflammation, blemishes and
wrinkling. They're designed to help any sensitive skin type,
especially those with acne and rosacea.
- photo provided by France Di Paola
France has visions for her future: promoting
the new grape-based facial and body scrub that only she offers
in this area; delivering a series of wellness seminars together
with her partners; expanding her space to create a complete
escape for women who need some TLC. Whatever she creates, it
will be a win-win situation for both her and the women of the
Niagara region!
|
