Bridgitte Anderson (00:02):
Hello there and welcome back to another episode of GVPOD, Greater Vancouver's business podcast where we explore the challenges and opportunities facing our region. I'm Bridgitte Anderson, President and CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. It is often said that small businesses are the backbone of any economy, and that is certainly true here in B.C. home to over 500,000 small businesses, which means in a province of just over 5 million people, one in 10 British Colombians are entrepreneurs of some kind. October is small business month. And to celebrate our pillar partner, RBC has sponsored the next batch of episodes. Today we are joined by Nancy, co-owner of Nuez Acres, who believes beauty should be sustainable and eco-friendly and with that goal in mind has created an entire line of waterless beauty products. Welcome, Nancy.
Nancy Wingham (01:01):
Hello. Thank you so much for having me over.
Bridgitte Anderson (01:03):
Well, let's start with your inspiration. So, what was it that really prompted you to start Nuez Acres and talk about your journey into the beauty product industry?
Nancy Wingham (01:16):
Yeah, so I grew up in Northern Mexico in a small town in the desert, the co-founder and my husband, Anthony Wingham. He was actually the one with the idea as I grew up in a small farm - pecan farm. So for me, pecans were something just regular day-to-day, something that I saw and used. So when Anthony came to my hometown, he was just amazed with pecans and everything that was being used for. So that's where the idea came from to create something that would give a little bit more value to the pecan other than just using it as food.
Bridgitte Anderson (02:01):
Okay. I have to stop you there because when I think of pecans, I think of pecan pie. I think of pecans and salads, and you're right, I think of it as a food product. So how did you come up with the idea, you and your husband, Anthony? How did you come up with this idea to use it as a beauty product?
Nancy Wingham (02:18):
Yeah, so the idea really came in 2018 when the trade wars were happening with U.S. and China. So the prices of pecans just absolutely plummeted. And as I mentioned, the hometown I grew up in is a really large producer of pecans. So there was a lot of producers that were affected and we're talking about very small producers where it's just small family farms. So they were really feeling the impact of the prices. So Anthony came and said, maybe let's try to figure out something where we're not just waiting for somebody to come and just buy the crop of pecans. Maybe we could do something different. And it's just really started with a simple lab test where we noticed all the minerals, vitamins, nutrients that the pecans have and that you can already find in skincare. So we saw an opportunity to do something in skincare, especially because pecan oil is now being used in skincare very widely at the moment.
Bridgitte Anderson (03:25):
And when you say like a waterless beauty product, what does that mean? Is it just using the oil of the pecan then?
Nancy Wingham (03:32):
Yeah, so the town I grew up in, it's a desert town, so we grew up with very little water. It rains maybe one or two days out of the whole year.
Bridgitte Anderson (03:45):
A little different than Vancouver. 
Nancy Wingham (03:48):
Exactly, Yes. So the importance of water, I grew up with my parents, especially my mom, always saying, don't waste any water, collect all the water. So that's something in the back of my mind. So for me, and sustainability really comes just the water is so important and in Nuez Acres, what it means is even our production, we don't use any water to extract the oils. Any of our products, they don't contain any water. So we are really conscious of the ingredients that we use. They have to be oil soluble.
Bridgitte Anderson (04:24):
So let's bring us along the journey then. So from this small village or town that you had in Mexico, now you're here in Greater Vancouver and producing this, what is maybe, the kind of operational line and the supply chains of how you get this to market?
Nancy Wingham (04:43):
So we get the pecans raw shelled into our facility in Langley, B.C., and then we use Expeller press to extract the oil, and then we do the extraction of the oil and then blending with other ingredients, which is mostly essential oils. We are also very proudly a zero waste company, which means we use a hundred percent of the nut. So nothing goes to waste. And this comes really from being an indigenous owned company. We really wanted to make sure we follow into the steps of using absolutely everything and not having -  zero waste. So we do the body scrubs with the pecan pulp, pecan flakes that we get the shells at the moment, stay back in the farm, and they're being used as a fertiliser for the earth.
Bridgitte Anderson (05:36):
I imagine being an indigenous owned organisation, your values around sustainability has really driven the values in your organisation.
Nancy Wingham (05:46):
Exactly, yes. Yeah, it's in the backbone of the organisation, as I mentioned, zero waste sustainability, and then just being honest with our consumers as to what the process is. We don't hide any ingredients. What you see is what you get.
Bridgitte Anderson (06:02):
It's a fantastic story and there's more good news to come. But before we get to more of the good news, I think any entrepreneur who's listening knows that it can be a really tough road to get a business up and operating. What are some of the challenges that you faced and how did you address them?
Nancy Wingham (06:20):
I mean, there's so many challenges that come to mind and the landscape, economic landscape has changed so dramatically since we started. We just, with the pandemic, we started in 2020, 2 months before Covid hit
Bridgitte Anderson (06:38):
Such a difficult time.
Nancy Wingham (06:41):
Yes, we were not prepared or expecting to deal with that, but as a business owner, you're always just evolving. Your business is always evolving. So the biggest, I would say to people, just ask for help and surround yourself with people that you can ask for help, especially with the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. I mean, you guys have been amazing with us.
Bridgitte Anderson (07:06):
Oh, that's great to hear.
Nancy Wingham (07:08):
It's like great resources. You have connected us with so many incredible organisations like the Trade Commissioner, weBC, and I could just name so many other, and that is just invaluable to a small business owner.
Bridgitte Anderson (07:25):
So maybe just pulling on that thread a little bit, this was through the TAP program or the Trade Accelerator program through our World Trade Centre, Vancouver. So what made you get involved with that program?
Nancy Wingham (07:37):
So Anthony was actually referred by another organisation because we did the indigenous TAP cohort. So we were at the point where we were thinking of exporting, doing a little bit more online exporting direct to consumer. So they offer us the opportunity to join, and we just jumped into it. And it is been incredible. I mean, our business completely grew from that experience and connected us to many different organisations, as I mentioned, that have really helped us grow and expand the business both nationally and internationally.
Bridgitte Anderson (08:19):
And in fact, you got kudos for it too. You won the Trade Diversification Award, so congratulations!
Nancy Wingham (08:26):
Thank you. Thank you.
Bridgitte Anderson (08:28):
How is it now for your company? You talked about the pandemic challenges, but I think about those small business owners like yourself and Anthony right now where it's really clear that inflation and rising costs have been hurting businesses as well as families and individuals. But what kinds of things are you doing right now to address costs and inflation and labour challenges? A number of the issues that are facing small businesses right now?
Nancy Wingham (08:56):
Yes, absolutely. You named them all. The most important thing for us, I mean, because we are direct to consumer, we are really seeing the challenges that Canadians are facing in terms of disposable income because of inflation. So for us has been really important just to be able to keep our prices the same without raising them just to encourage consumers to keep spending in our business. Also, just being able to get the message out of why our product is important as opposed to buying something else. Also, offering the high quality, keeping prices low, and just being able to cut some costs to be able to keep operating. Because as you mentioned, everything has gone up quite a bit.
Bridgitte Anderson (09:52):
And you've been able to get into some new markets as well. Is that correct?
Nancy Wingham (09:55):
Exactly, yes. Yeah, we are shipping to many markets. We have shipped to Italy, UK, Australia, New Zealand, US. Right now, we're working with the trade commissioner to connect with Hong Kong buyers, which we'll be doing that next week and see where that goes.
Bridgitte Anderson (10:17):
Congratulations. I think starting any small business is tough, but I think about a small business like yours where it really is built around the values of sustainability. What learnings could you pass on to entrepreneurs who might be listening and thinking about their own sustainable business?
Nancy Wingham (10:34):
I think just do your homework. In terms of your chain, your raw materials, ensure that they're true sustainable, see how they're grown, how they're made. Because the last thing you want to know, you want to do is disrupt that. Once you have a product established, and also be honest with your customers, we have made so many mistakes and we are honest with our customers, and that creates trust, which is something,
Bridgitte Anderson (11:06):
How do you address that then when you have made a mistake?
Nancy Wingham (11:10):
So we have different avenues of communications, emails, social media, and just being honest with people Say, Hey, we tried this. It didn't work so well, and this is what we're doing to fix what is not working. And we have had a great response to that as opposed to just trying to put it under the rug and hope that nobody noticed. As I mentioned, that creates trust, which nowadays it's so important, especially with small businesses, you have to foster the trust in order to grow.
Bridgitte Anderson (11:47):
What would you say has been your biggest learning on this journey?
Nancy Wingham (11:52):
The biggest learning for us has been really in terms of branding, brand identity. I cannot tell you how many times we have changed either the packaging, the labelling, just figuring out, because as a small business, you don't have that initial capital to hire somebody that's experienced. Right. And
Bridgitte Anderson (12:16):
That can cost a lot of money, those kinds of branding exercises.
Nancy Wingham (12:20):
Exactly. Yeah. Tens of thousands of dollars, which you don't have to begin with, but that's something that it's okay. I mean, it's okay to change and evolve and do different things. The most important thing, and I always tell that to people, is just start your business and then just evolve as you evolve because it's not always going to be the same.
Bridgitte Anderson (12:44):
I think that's really important around just being flexible and adaptable.
Nancy Wingham (12:49):
Exactly. Yes.
Bridgitte Anderson (12:51):
So where do you see your business going? Let's even just say in the next three to five years, what are your goals for your business?
Nancy Wingham (13:00):
Definitely doing a larger US expansion and then product development. We really want to get into more an SPF formula for next year, which we see something that is really important, just protecting you and doing it naturally without the chemicals involved. Yeah, so just keep growing and growing.
Bridgitte Anderson (13:25):
When I think about pecan oil, it reminds me of Argan Oil, which I came across when I was in Morocco a few years ago. So the oil of the nut being really important. Are there any concerns? There seems to be a lot of nut allergies out there. Is your oil allergy free or how do you
Nancy Wingham (13:44):
No, it's not an allergy free. So the nut allergy is something very individual. We have had people that are allergic to almonds but not pecans, and they're okay using
Bridgitte Anderson (13:57):
Uh-huh
Nancy Wingham (13:58):
Product. And that comes with educating the consumer and then translating that into our packaging so people are aware that our product contains nuts.
Bridgitte Anderson (14:11):
That makes complete sense because nut allergies can be very specific or very broad.
Nancy Wingham (14:17):
Exactly, yes. So it is, and then, I mean, that's why we communicate. We are a pecan oil base, so all of our products contain nuts.
Bridgitte Anderson (14:27):
I would have to think that you're a big success story to your family and friends back at home in Mexico. What do they think about this?
Nancy Wingham (14:35):
I mean, it has been truly incredible and difficult working with family. My dad has been, and both my dad and my mom have been incredibly supportive. My dad has been in business his whole life, so he understands the difficulties of having a small business. And he always reminds me, there's always going to be upps and there's always going to be downs. So you just keep going. And also it's been incredibly to see him on the farm side grow. Now he has a cracking machine where he's cracking his own pecans before he used to take it to somebody else to do that, which means now that he has employed five indigenous women in Mexico, that helped him with that side of the business. So it's been very, very incredible to do that.
Bridgitte Anderson (15:37):
That's a great success story. So you and Anthony started the business together just before the pandemic. And when you say that you want to expand to the us, what kinds of support would you need to do that? How big would you need to build your team, for example?
Nancy Wingham (15:56):
So we are looking into hiring two to three full-time employees, and then definitely the trade commissioner service. We are very reliant on them in terms of support and guidance on how to expand. Definitely on the sales side, that is a full-time job. And then we're trying to partner with distributors. We are very thankful that our product or manufacturing side, it's already set up for growth in terms of machines, fillings and things like that. So the team itself, we definitely need only about two to three people to start with and then grow from there.
Bridgitte Anderson (16:38):
And I would be remiss if I didn't ask you this question. So as you know, the Board of Trade, we advocate on behalf of businesses and particularly small businesses that don't have the capacity or resources to do this yourselves. And on the cost of doing business in British Columbia, we produced a report in May, which showed a dramatic increase in the cost of doing business. Just over a two year period, we saw an incredible increase of six and a half billion dollars being imposed by government on small businesses, particularly small medium businesses. So if you had a message for government about creating conditions to help your business thrive, what kinds of things could government do to provide support incentives to ensure that your business can continue to grow?
Nancy Wingham (17:29):
Yes, definitely. I think the financial side and the regulation side, I think in terms of regulations, they need to really take a look into and differentiate small businesses, medium-sized businesses, and then large corporations, which I think at the moment, everybody is put in a large pot, which doesn't fit us all. And then financing as well. Financing is incredibly hard. I think they should have micro loans for small businesses because it is impossible to get a business loan for small business like us. Right.
Bridgitte Anderson (18:08):
And you faced challenges like that, did you, Nancy?
Nancy Wingham (18:11):
Oh, absolutely. Yes. Yes, I can.
Bridgitte Anderson (18:13):
So microloan would've made a big difference.
Nancy Wingham (18:16):
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I'm talking about like $5,000 microloan from the business, I mean from the government that could help so many, many, many businesses that just keep the doors open.
Bridgitte Anderson (18:30):
Yeah, it's really creating those conditions that can help businesses grow and then thrive.
Nancy Wingham (18:36):
Yeah, and also too, I think the regulations, they need to really regulate the commercial leasing, the commercial rent, how much they're able to charge, right? Because we are seeing so many businesses that have been in the same place for 10-15 years, and then they get evicted or the prices just go up so much for them in the leases, rent for commercial buildings, and it's just not viable for small businesses.
Bridgitte Anderson (19:08):
And we found through an economic impact study that we did on industrial land, there's also just not enough of industrial zone land for businesses to expand. So another area that maybe you're not quite at that point yet, but hopefully one day you will be, and you'll be looking at expanding your space and hopefully we'll be able to find space to do that.
Nancy Wingham (19:29):
Exactly, yes.
Bridgitte Anderson (19:31):
So Nancy, with our time, almost at an end, I will give you the last word, inspiration for those entrepreneurs setting off think about where you were maybe in 2017 or 2018 with this idea that you had to start your business beauty products based on pecans. If there's somebody else out there who's struggling with their business idea, whether it's in the beauty products or in sustainability, what would you say to them right now? If they needed some inspiration?
Nancy Wingham (20:03):
I would say just start. Doesn't matter how you start, just do it. Once you do it, you'll just be, and allow yourself to be flexible, to be open and just keep going. It is okay to make mistakes and just be kind to yourself to be kind, to allow yourself to make those mistakes and continue on. And don't be afraid to ask for help because we all need help. It truly takes the whole village to make a small business successful.
Bridgitte Anderson (20:36):
That's great advice, Nancy. And congratulations again for winning the Trade Diversification Award. Trade Accelerator Program through the World Trade Centre is really helpful as you're looking to expand to new markets. And I hope when we talk again that I'll hear more about how you expanded into the US and other countries globally as well. Thank you so much for joining us.
Nancy Wingham (20:56):
Thank you so much, Bridgitte.
Bridgitte Anderson (20:57):
And that's the end of our show. Thanks for joining us, and thank you to our sponsor of Small Business Month RBC. Tune in next week for the next episode of this series.