Interview with the creator of Scrunchie is back: Marie Aragon

The Scrunchie team interviewed Marie, the brand's founder. We really wanted her to share her story.

Marie is 26 years old, she comes from Toulouse and moved to Paris about ten years ago.

Happy reading! :)

- Can you summarize your professional career in a few words?

I arrived in Paris after my baccalaureate to study, which I adapted as I went along. I started with a degree in accounting because I wanted to be an accountant. Looking back, I realized that I had mainly chosen this path not for the love of numbers but to be closer to business leaders and entrepreneurs .

After this degree, I went to ASSAS, where I did a Master's in Management Science. So I took a L3 and a Master 1 where I studied marketing, management control, finance... I ended up with a Master 2 in entrepreneurship at the Sorbonne . I did this M2 in work-study for a young ready-to-wear brand that closed during my work-study. It was a rather delicate situation because I knew that I wanted to launch a project but the only example I had was an entrepreneurial "failure".

I was lucky enough to meet an association that helps ambitious entrepreneurs develop their projects . I finished my Master's degree with a 6-month internship in this association called Réseau Entreprendre Paris . In the end, I stayed there for 2 and a half years on a permanent contract. It was a great experience for me because I was surrounded by entrepreneurs and I observed a lot of their way of working, their work rhythm, their way of thinking... I drew on their feedback to understand the keys to success and the causes of failure in starting a business.

After a year of permanent employment, I quickly felt that my place was on the entrepreneurial side rather than the employee side. I threw myself fully into Scrunchie is back alongside my permanent contract, working a lot on the project every evening, weekends, and often between noon and two. I gave myself 6 months to see if the project was viable, if the products were popular, if I could generate sufficient revenue. This was the case, so I resigned and was lucky enough to obtain a mutual termination agreement. I have been working full-time on Scrunchie is back since January 2018.

- How did you come up with the idea to create Scrunchie is back?

It goes back a bit. During my studies I always felt the need to create things from A to Z, to be at the origin of projects . It's my only way to have good self-esteem and confidence.

When I was 20, I was looking for good quality 90s scrunchies because they were coming back into fashion and I also wanted to learn how to sew . I asked my mother to teach me how to make scrunchies. One summer we went to the countryside and created dozens of scrunchies. When I returned to Paris, my friends loved them.

As I liked working with digital, I launched a site on Wix (e-commerce platform) and I created a brand called Hic et Nunc: the brand that advocates the return of the scrunchie . I developed this brand without really knowing where I wanted to go, I was too young to jump on the opportunities that presented themselves to me at the time.

Scrunchie is back came from a personal need and I think it's a good basis for a project because we are developing a product or service that must suit us 100% .

- Have you turned your passion into a profession?

I'm lucky to have two passions : fashion and business . I've managed to merge them. Scrunchie is back is a project that I embody 1000% !

- In 3 words, what is the brand image?

Feminine, vintage and made in Montmartre.

I would also say that Scrunchie is back is a digital , community-based and friendly brand.

Digital because we sell primarily on the brand's e-commerce , and we live through networks.

Community-based because we consider all the girls in the community. I want the brand to belong to everyone and not for the brand to be represented by just one person.

And friendly because the clients are our age. We consider them our best friends and we treat them as such!

- How did you manage before the arrival of the Scrunchie room?

When I resigned from my permanent contract and was therefore working from home, I was told to be careful because the line between private and professional was thin and that I had to find an office quickly.

My boyfriend also worked from home, and we were getting in each other's way a bit. The pace was alienating because I didn't feel like I was going to work, and I didn't have the satisfaction of coming home in the evening. Ultimately, I could easily work non-stop because I'm passionate about what I do.

The Scrunchie Room is our office and a place where we can meet clients in person. It was very important to me to have a place to create encounters with our community .

- Tell us a little more about the image you want to give to the hair accessory?

Hair accessories are a product that has a rather cheap and low-end image. Until now, hair accessories have been approached more from a hairstyle angle rather than a fashion angle . I am convinced that hair accessories can have a fashion dimension in the same way as a bag or jewelry. They allow you to assert a style and reveal a look.

- What do you hope for the future of Scrunchie?

A lot of things! You should know that we only sell to individual customers because we decided not to have distributors. As a result, progress is slower because we don't do large volumes. The challenge for us is to succeed in creating a real brand identity and a community, to develop a sense of belonging to the brand and to build loyalty .

What I hope is for Scrunchie to continue to grow digitally in France. For the brand to gain notoriety and for us to expand the product range .

We also want to expand abroad, there are a lot of things to do there, we are a Made in Montmartre brand, when we sell Scrunchie internationally, we sell a piece of Paris.

- What advice could you give to people who want to create their own brand?

Don't hesitate to talk about your idea to improve your project thanks to feedback. Then you have to test , test and test again . That's what I do all the time. Implement your ideas, take action . If it doesn't work, stop and try something else!

- Do you have a final word?

Thank you for reading this article to the end :) I hope you enjoyed it!

Don't hesitate if you have any questions!

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