Embrace the lows (there will be a lot of them)
Co-Founder: Lyn Chen
Located: Kingston, Ontario
Start-up: TUF Candy Inc.
Education: Currently entering her 2nd year in Economics @ Queen’s University
So, what is TUF Candy?
TUF Candy is an award winning, Canadian food innovation, and marketing start-up. In the few months since their incorporation in January, they have made leaps and bounds, including $18000 in funding. Their current focus is on biodegradable and edible, confectionary cutlery, with their first focused product called Candy Cutlery. Their goal in making edible products is to promote sustainability and to reduce waste.
TUF…What does this mean?
TUF: Tasty, Unique, and Fun. This name was inspired by Lyn’s passion for powerlifting. TUF is for tough and strong. It represents both being powerful and empowering others. Their team consists of 11 people, and they embrace a culture that respects diversity and fun (working and playing together as much as they can).
TUF Candy Inc.
...working...and playing together! :)
How it all began
Lyn’s entrepreneurship journey really took a leap when she attended an event called Y2, which is where she met her first co-founder (her co-founders are: Daniel, and Liyan). This sparked a memory of an event one month prior, which involved her, a bowl of ice cream, and a plastic spoon. Her mom took the plastic utensil and container from her and started washing them, to reuse. Lyn considered herself an environmentally conscious person, but realised how little she knew on this topic. Lyn started searching online for answers, becoming passionate about the environmental impact of plastic, and learned the affects of plastic use on animals, to the water we drink. That is why TUF Candy has set a goal for themselves: by 2020, they plan to mitigate 1 million pieces of plastic from the landfills. In the first few months of operations they have already mitigated 10000 pieces.
It’s all about the lows
Embrace the lows because there will be a lot of them. When you are starting a business, there is no balance. Things will take priority. For example, the day I spoke to Lyn, she had 8 meetings, and within all that, her goal was to make sure that all the important things got done. This means a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of questioning why you, in fact, chose the entrepreneurship route when you could be doing other hobbies. Something Lyn always takes with her during the day, is a quote from Brian Chesky, the founder of Airbnb: “make sure 100 people love you instead of 1000 people like you.” With this quote in mind, Lyn and her team have pushed to achieve certain goals with clients, and to get through one day at a time.
Before the beginning
Growing-up, Lyn was passionate about the arts, so business or even entrepreneurship never really crossed her mind as a potential career path. However, little did she know the arts would lead her to entrepreneurship. When she was younger, she would sell cartoons for a $1 or $2, which she would put towards paying for books and drawing lessons and has led her to TUF Candy…A start to her entrepreneurial endeavors? I think so.
Mentors are so important
Entrepreneurship isn't easy and you will have a lot of moments you just want to quit and cry. You need to remember why you are putting so much effort into something that might succeed. One great thing to help maintain your focus is to find a support system, including mentors. Her biggest takeaways from her mentors are to always have an eagerness and hunger to learn. Her mentors, such as Lucas Chang, have always kept her humble, and have brought years of knowledge. As a young entrepreneur, sometimes people don’t take her seriously, and the first advice she received was that she is not just a kid and there is so much she can achieve. Do something with purpose and something you love, and work with the right people.
Get to know Lyn a bit better!
If she wrote a book, she would call it Power of People. She values people and people are the reason she works so hard everyday. Find your support system!
Something unexpected: Lyn thought business was all about climbing the corporate ladder and backstabbing each other, but she noted that entrepreneurship is not at all like this. Everyone is so encouraging.
Nerdy…She has quite the list. She enjoys powerlifting, and enjoys food (probably a good reason for starting a food start-up). She’s also crazy about elephants because they are strong, beautiful and kind; and, she thrift shops religiously.
She wish she knew prior to starting how fantastic and exciting the journey would be. She cautioned entrepreneurship is not for everyone, but if you are ready for the ride, the ups will be some of the best moments in your life, and you will have just as many lows. You get to meet so many inspiring people, and to learn so much about yourself through your journey.
Remember if you are starting, a new day means a whole new pitch competition and a whole new day to improve from the last. Keep looking for opportunities wherever you go, and it doesn’t matter what age you are, you can start something new and exciting. Lyn is more than happy to help anyone looking to start their entrepreneurial journey, and you can contact her or check-out Tuf Candy. If you would like to reach-out to me, please contact me through social media (would love to chat!).
