THE STORY BEHIND ZENCHIES
Growing up- I always had a passion for hair, fashion, beauty, & art. After years of believing that I needed to pursue a career in health care to follow the same footsteps of many members of my family; I decided to listen to my heart & signed up for hair school.
I’ve now been behind the chair for 12 years, & feel incredibly blessed to be able to have a job in which I get to touch the hair & the hearts of those of many.
For as long as I’ve been styling hair, I’ve been consistently practicing yoga. Fast forward to 2018 & I knew it was time to for another challenge. I decided to sign up for my YTT! I knew that yoga teacher training would help deepen my practice, & open up the doors to possibly teach.
Our final assignment to complete for YTT was called the Dharma (purpose) project. There weren’t many guidelines given- but it had to somehow “give back”, & deeply resonated within each of our hearts.
I knew immediately that it was a perfect opportunity to connect my passions for hairstyling & yoga together. I remember as the rest of my classmates talked amongst each other, my mind began to wander as I sat there playing with the scrunchie in my hair. My eyes all of a sudden lit up, & I set down the scrunchie, & I started drawing circles in my notebook… LOL. On our break I was SO excited that I finally had an idea that felt right; so I immediately called my mom about my idea that I would design “yoga scrunchies”- to quite literally tie my two passions together.
I explained to her that I was tired of using scrunchies that barely held my hair in place, & how I felt that there was a need for high-quality, eco-friendly textiles to come into play in the accessory industry.
After mapping out my Dharma Project; I realized I put in the work to start a business, & create a brand. My purpose behind the scrunchies would be to provide eco-friendly, luxurious, & gentle elastic-alternatives. By making a positive impact on the environment, & our hair, it truly came full-circle when I promised to donate 10% of the net proceeds to CancerCare Manitoba with women’s initiatives; making a positive impact on the lives of each other.
I decided to name the brand Zenchies, for obvious reasons. Zen= yoga, chies= scrun’chies’. Next thing you know, I felt as if I was in a crash-course for business, & eventually found my way to this point in this journey.
Thank-you all for continuously supporting Zenchies, & helping my vision become a reality.
With love,
Samantha Thom
