In this episode of Out of the Clouds, host Anne Muhlethaler speaks to her friend, the beauty entrepreneur Bridgitte Dempsey Klein, founder of French natural skincare brand Yanne Wellness.
In their conversation, Anne gets to ask Bridgitte to tell her about her journey from Toronto to London, where the two met thanks to their mutual friend Stephanie. Bridgitte shares about her love of travel, how important her French mother’s influence was on her, and how she moved from studying at the London School of Economics with diplomatic pursuits in mind before making a switch to work in retail, later landing in beauty PR and communication.
In a super pivot, Bridgitte shares how she left her role at Lancôme to set up Corbin, a bespoke fur business in Paris. The two explore Bridgitte’s experience in brand building, and creating unique pieces in the French capital, with all its savoir-faire and artisans, and how this has in turn informed her approach to Yanne Wellness. While she was establishing Corbin, Bridgitte also worked for her Canadian family’s business, The Dempsey Corporation.
The Franco-Canadian entrepreneur shares how she also drew inspiration from her grandmother for Corbin Paris, and later her mother, Yanne, whose influence can be felt at all levels of the new venture Yanne Wellness. Bridgitte also shares the stories of the several key moments that culminated in the pitch for this natural brand that combines innovative skincare and food supplement systems in what she calls a new kind of wellness.
Anne and Bridgitte also talk about authentic ingredients, the French spa culture, neo-thalassos, the future of beauty and how Bridgitte wants to bottle up the goodness of the sea to bring vitality and glowing skin to Yanne’s clientele.
A warm, inspiring and generous interview. Happy listening!
Selected links from episode
You can find Bridgitte on LinkedIn Brigitte Dempsey Klein
Disocver Yanne Wellness at Yannewellness.com
The Canadian family company The Dempsey Corporation
Thalasso, short for Thalassotherapy via Wikipedia
A Suitable Boy, the novel by Vikram Seth
The Out of the Clouds Playlist including Bridgitte’s chosen song ‘A Hard Headed Woman‘, by Cat Stevens