Get out there and talk to people
Are you an active person? Body builder? Runner? Or, a yoga lover? Well, you may be happy to hear about this awesome start-up! I had the chance to speak with Ashleigh, Co-Founder of DYME Fitness. Both Ashleigh, and her Co-Founder, Fred Lacasse, are both avid sports enthusiasts and they realized there was a gap in the market. You may walk into a supplements store and be a little overwhelmed with all the options and all the large containers. So, they came up with something a little simpler…Their current product line includes personalized, single serving nutrition supplements for the active individual. Just grab, and go!
Ashleigh is South African-British, and grew-up in Dubai. When it came time to go to university, she had to choose whether to go to England, Australia, or Canada…And once she chose McGill, there was no turning back. She studied management with 3 concentrations, and began her entrepreneurial journey. Once she met Fred, her Co-Founder, who is a French-Canadian, avid surfer and skier, and all around fitness-freak, they started working on projects together, took every class together, and just couldn’t stop working together (lucky for us!). She noted they work really well together; he is the creative mind, and she is the “get things done” mind. The first competition they worked on was an app in 2014, which they entered into the McGill Dobson Cup. They thought they would put it into the competition, see what happened, and learn from it.
A year later, in their final semester at McGill, they had a project and came up with the idea of fitness supplements. She was training 5 times a week in the gym, and wasn’t taking supplements because nothing really excited her in the market. They then decided to enter their concept, then called Pulse Nutrition, into the McGill Dobson Cup once again and ended up winning second place and received first-time funding. So, they decided to take it on full time. Ashleigh noted that Fred takes full credit for her staying in Canada because he formally asked her to stay and work on this project after they graduated, and she has never looked back since. They spent the following year in Montreal working full time on their venture, DYME Fitness out of the District 3 Incubator, and recently moved to Toronto to participate in the Next 36 accelerating program, while working out of the DMZ space.
The duo are currently creating their second product line, going through taste testing, and are partnering with a massive supplier in the US. They pitched to one of North Americas leading dairy manufacturers and supplement companies, and were able to secure a great partnership with the company, even finding a mentor in their VP of ingredients. Ashleigh noted the company was just as excited to see young entrepreneurs trying to enter an industry and change things up. They are hoping to create a sleek brand and get peoples’ fitness regimen in order and get people excited about it, especially for those who aren’t necessarily aware of what supplements they should be taking when exercising.
As smoothly as it all sounds, they have come across some road blocks. Ashleigh noted a challenge in the product world is that the minimum order quantity is huge. Any manufacturer says it will do the order with 300,000 units, but they only need about enough for 200 users in these initial stages—these are huge upfront costs. Ashleigh also noted trying to mitigate packaging costs can also be an issue given you only make money when your economies of scale go up. To reduce these challenges, she suggested to use your network, if you are young and a student make sure to tell them that. She noted don’t try to be just a new client—build a relationship. In the end, people usually want to help you.
As a start-up, it can also be hard to find funding, so you try to cut costs in every way possible, and operate as lean as possible. For Ashleigh, that means teaching herself everything, building and designing the website, creating the brand as a team, with the last resort as paying someone to do a job. She noted she could find someone to make a website and not have to spend 14 hours on it, but then on the flipside, you could pay someone, but they would not do it to your standard and you’re stuck not knowing how to fix it. She noted that both she and Fred are both perfectionists and as entrepreneurs you can’t wait until your product is 115% because you won’t get there. You need to be happy with 80% to your standard and you can always make changes and learn along the way. Things are constantly changing, and you need to get comfortable with that! It is also hard to keep yourself going; you need to surround yourself with people to motivate you when things get tough. And help make your environment positive! Ashleigh noted that team is super important and being surrounded by people you can trust and depend on because it won’t stay rosy all the time.
Ashleigh noted that one of the most important things when starting a business is to have people you can rely on, talk to and ask questions. Growing up, she didn’t have anybody to look up to in the entrepreneurial field, but she learned from her Dad who worked in telecommunications and her Mom who worked as a teacher; she noted they have been very supportive throughout her entrepreneurial journey so far. She also has some great mentors in the entrepreneurial space now and mentioned one of their strategies is to have a mentor for every different section of their business, one in each area of product, financials, marketing, and packaging.
Get to know Ashleigh!
If she wrote a book…she would call it How to really make the most of your life and enjoy it to the fullest. She noted as a teenager she sometimes got so stuck on things and didn’t want to change her ways. Now growing-up, moving countries, starting a business, she realised you are here only once. Enjoy yourself, have fun, relax, learn, and make mistakes.
She gets inspiration from the Deep House Music scene and any artistic related fields! She has just returned from Burning Man, where she noted the demographic of free thinkers, innovators and artists are truly inspiring. With an incredible environment full of music, art, creativity, and innovation, all play a major role in motivating her.
When I asked if she had any nerdy stories, she noted a friend explained to her the difference between a nerd and a geek. She noted that she would label herself a nerd in the sports, which is not typical of the nerd status, but she loves finding new training types, workouts, and healthy recipes.
Her favorite place she has traveled is Berlin. She noted it is such a quirky city with an interesting, artsy vibe.
Prior to starting, she wish she knew that you need to just get it done and get your product out there. Learn as fast as possible and keep going. Get out there and talk to people. You have to keep going and find ways to motivate yourself and build a tougher skin.
Ashleigh has some great advice! JUST DO IT! Just try it out. Give yourself 2 months and just put something together. Fake it till you make it. Pretend you know it and see if it is actually possible. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, get into the start-up scene. No one is going to ask you about your idea, you have to tell them you are here and have an awesome idea. People will listen and respond.
Thank you for reading this post about Ashleigh and her new start-up DMYE Fitness! If you would like more information, please check-out their website and facebook page. If you have any questions or advice for me please contact me here.
