Meet Desiree Dupuis | Founder & CEO

We had the good fortune of connecting with Desiree Dupuis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Desiree, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit, and I had been running my own insurance businesses for 10 years before Voes & Co was created as a solution to a problem I had been personally facing as a vegan woman. When I first had the idea to create a global fashion brand in 2016, two things had been culminating in my mind. First, was the lack of designer footwear available not made of leather, suede, or alternatively synthetic petroleum based material like PU and PVC. Second, I realized that there wasn’t (and still isn’t) a global brand that represents the movement based on love and compassion known as Veganism. So let’s back up a bit. When I first learnt about the atrocity of the animal agriculture industry in 2008 I stopped eating and wearing animal products. Over time, I began to be increasingly frustrated and disappointed with the lack of options for designer footwear and as I began to learn even more about the devastating harmful effects animal agriculture has on the planet, I realised I didn’t want to trade one harmful product for another, saving animals by not buying leather but then harming the environment by purchasing synthetic leather. As a woman who loves fashion and footwear it was my frustration and the lack of options available that inspired me to take it into my own hands and create my own brand that could represent Veganism, starting with ethically made, sustainable designer footwear made with next generation plant based materials.

What should our readers know about your business?
It’s certainly not easy being an entrepreneur. I think it is very glamourized – the idea of being your own boss, working whenever you want, making a lot of money, having all of the freedom in the world. Of course, all of this can be true, but the reality is that although entrepreneurship does come with a lot of freedom, in my experience it has meant that I am always working. I don’t have the ability to clock out and go home, and now with mobile phones, laptops and zoom, there really is no escape, I can always be working and just because I am working, it doesn’t mean I’m necessarily making a lot of money. And in most cases, the money isn’t always consistent, it goes up and down and all around!

For myself, what I am most proud of has been my ability to persevere, follow my intuition, be resourceful in order to execute and produce results. What I want the world to know about my brand Voes & Co is that it is truly a values driven mission, I care so much about animals and the planet and I am doing what I feel I can in order to help move the needle forward. Ultimately I want to do my part to make products that are healthier for the planet and in turn contribute to the well-being and safety of as many animals as possible. Pioneering the use of next generation materials in fashion, is not easy. It has required a lot of trial and error, a lot of failure and mis-steps, and at the end of the day it is the strong conviction of my ‘why’ and the reason I am doing this that keeps me going.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
For the past 2 years I’ve been living as a Digital Nomad. Most of my belongings are currently in a storage facility and I have been spending my time during the winter in South America – primarily Argentina to enjoy their warm summer, and then in Vancouver to enjoy summer on the West Coast. If I were to take my best friend somewhere, I would take her to Buenos Aires, specifically to stay Palermo Soho/Palermo Hollywood and hit up all of the coffee shops, restaurants and shops that are on every corner. From there I’d love to take her to LA and stay in West Hollywood so we could have lunch at Gracias Madre and hit up all of the shops on Melrose Ave, especially Wolf & Badger. We’d also spend a day cruising the streets on foot hitting up all of the shops from Abbot Kinney Blvd in Venice to Santa Monica.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I‘d love to give a shout out to the two ladies, Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin, who are the authors of a book called Skinny Bitch. Skinny Bitch was published in 2005 and is one of the first books to expose the animal agriculture industry by including graphic information about where meat comes from.

Website: https://www.voesandcompany.com

Instagram: voes_and_co

Linkedin: desireedupuis

Facebook: desireedupuis