Curves Ahead
Ce Soir Lingerie’s Carol Yaschuk is a risk-taker.
“You have to be to start your own business,” she said. You also have to trust yourself, she said.
One of the first risks she took was using her investments to start the business, placing the order to cash out one day before the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. The economic impact of the event wiped out half their value.
But Yaschuk, and Signy Syms, her business partner at the time, carried on. The business grew as customers also learned to put their trust in Ce Soir.
“Bra fitting is not a science – it’s an art form,” said Yaschuk. “We practice the art of the glance,” she said of making customers feel at ease, “there’s no judgement, no matter your size, shape, gender or religion.” And finding a bra that fits and feels good is akin to a religious experience. With more than 155 sizes in stock, Ce Soir will be able to find something that fits.
It’s rewarding work for Yaschuk, who was thrilled to see a recent online review of the store from a trans woman early in her transition. It reads:
I was there today for my first-ever bra fitting. I’ve never worn a bra before. I was nervous if not terrified. I felt safe and at ease after only a couple minutes. And I left knowing I was for sure coming back. Ce Soir Lingerie is transgender friendly. So if you’re trans, go there. If you’re not, but supporting locally owned tran-friendly establishments is important to you, go there.
Yaschuk builds relationships. She’s has had the opportunity to follow people from their first bra, to nursing bras to some of the more unfortunate passages in life, such as a breast cancer diagnosis. Initially, Yaschuk didn’t want to fit patients recovering from a mastectomy.
“I thought it would be too sad, talking with people who were battling cancer,” she said. It turns out the opposite was true. “They have a beautiful outlook. And the best part is that I’m the one who gets to help put them back together again.” Ce Soir is a CancerCare Manitoba approved retailer, and her previous reluctance now accounts into approximately one-third of the store’s business. All staff members are trained to fit mastectomy clients with breast protheses and the bras and swimwear designed to work with them. All the products are on full display, as part of Yashuck’s philosophy that this part of many women’s experience shouldn’t be hidden away.
The store’s regular stock is also in full view, including transparent pricing. “We don’t sell here. We impart information for people to make good purchase decisions.”
In 2016, Yaschuk partnership with Syms ended amicably. That was also the year a data loss wiped out the store’s customer records. It took two years to manually key in information for more than 20,000 customers lost in the software failure.
In 2017, she set out to learn how to sell online, a difficult assignment for such a personalized service. “The nature of the business it to try bras on. It’s tactile.” But for people who know their size, online sales offer convenience and access.
In addition to keeping the business nimble, it also provides a way to direct her energy. “I have ADHD,” or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, she said. “As a kid it was a problem because I couldn’t finish anything. Now I know I can move from one thing to the next and come back around,” perfect in a setting where she has to fill roles from janitor to webmaster.
“I’ve learned so many lessons,” she said of her 18 years with Ce Soir. But the greatest is to trust your own instincts.”
All photos by Claudine Gervais
