02/28/2025
We had the privilege of partnering with several local/Canadian, businesses at our recent event including The Green Kiss and, while we knew how important it was to support these businesses with like-minded values in regards to health, we had no idea just how hard it's been for them in these recent years. Tariffs are just another bit of fuel being added to the already burning fire. Cultivating Wellness is happy to support businesses like The Green Kiss and we invite our community to as well.
Hi,
My name is Megan, and I am the founder and owner of The Green Kiss, a values based, Canadian owned, locally owned, women owned, healthy beauty store based in Victoria BC - serving all of Canada through our e-commerce platform. Established in 2011.
I feel an immense pull to “take one for the team” and share some truths right now. And by team, I mean Canada’s small business community during this recent “Buy Canadian” push.
We’ve always been praised for being as real as possible in a beauty and business world often filled with smoke and mirrors. So, let me be as real and transparent as I can possibly get.
We are approaching the five-year anniversary of the global pandemic. While we are fortunate to live in a world with modern technology and medicine that helped us navigate the medical crisis faster than many expected, the economic, social, and political fallout has been immense.
Life for small business owners in Canada has gotten worse, every year, since 2020. For us, we have dealt with the pandemic, lock downs, new safety measures changing the way we can showcase, demonstrate and sell products, polarizing health mandates, an atmospheric river halting supply chains, CEBA loan paybacks, a labour shortage, Victoria’s living wage increasing by $7 in a 5 year period, staff turn over as a result of the latter, BC’s new sick day policy, supply chain issues, supply chain chaos resulting from baby boomers retiring and people going into jobs that they really aren’t qualified for yet, the implementation of CARM - Canada’s new importing legislation, a completely dysfunctional system (with great intentions) launched with inadequate support for small business owners across our country halting tens of thousands of dollars of product for us at the border just weeks before Black Friday this year - with countless hours spent on hold for answers to no avail, CARM changing all courier systems creating chaos still with importing goods, a Canada Post Strike forcing us to remove international shipping form our site during the busiest month of the year resulting in thousands of dollars lost and hiked courier bills as we shipped our orders still across Canada, 95% of our orders coming in incorrect from the majority of our heart centred vendors who are also scrambling to deal with the devastating financial affects that the labour shortage, supply chain chaos, fulfillment or 3PL issues are having on their bottom line, the implementation of MOCRA in the USA, and now… the looming threat of tariffs.
It has been operational chaos, every day, for 5 years.
While trying to keep our lights on, small businesses across the country have also been yelled at for wearing masks, or for not wearing masks. We have been pinned to the wall, and told that people would never support us if we ever mandated vaccine passports (we never had to but our restaurant friends did). We get asked every day to donate to charities and support community initiatives across our country, by people who have never shopped here. We get messaged daily from “UGC Creators” asking for free product to create videos with no intention of building a real relationship with a brand. Twice now, we’ve even been asked to sponsor someone’s wedding, being asked to provide gifts for bridal party members.
I am exhausted. The small business owners you know? They are exhausted. But exhaustion doesn’t even cover it. Many founders are dealing with crippling burnout, holding onto the remnants of what once fueled their passions. I didn’t realize burnout was a mental health issue—like anxiety or depression—until I was diagnosed with it. I thought I had a handle on mine until recently. Now, my burnout affects my presence with my new family, my loved ones, and even my personal passions like music, which used to be a huge part of my life.
At the core of all these struggles is a larger issue: over the past five years, accountability for one’s actions has eroded. Every single one of us shapes the future of our communities through the choices we make—from what job you hold, how you parent, how you treat the gal at the coffee shop, WHERE you buy your daily coffee from, the restaurant you go to support for date night, the types of questions you ask your boss to show that you take accountability and ownership for your work, the conversations you have with your child’s teachers to ensure your child is taking accountability for their actions amongst their peers…. literally EVERY single thing we do, or don’t do, comes down to being accountable for the types of communities we want to live in.
We all wake up, with a responsibility to make our world around us better, or at least, “maintained”. What is happening lately is a massive blame game. Blame for governments, blame for the unhoused population, blame on anyone else OTHER than ourselves.
This brings me back to the “Buy Canadian” movement. It’s wonderful to see this push, and we have certainly benefited from it. But there’s a troubling side to what’s happening.
Right now, “Buy Canadian” feels like a bandwagon, and the real message that will have the greatest impact is getting lost. The focus shouldn’t just be “Buy Canadian”—it should be “Buy Local.” Supporting independently owned, values-driven businesses in your own communities is what will strengthen our economy and our country as a whole. Searching hours online for Canadian made alternatives, to in turn buy a Canadian-made product on Amazon - is not the answer.
Here’s what we’re seeing:
We carry 43 brands, all committed to excellence and ethical business practices. Of those, 27 are both Canadian-owned and Canadian-made. That’s huge. It’s not typical for a corporate beauty retailer, but it’s one of the many benefits of shopping with independently owned beauty stores like ours.
Yet, in the last few weeks, we’ve received calls from people asking if our products are Canadian-made, only to hang up angrily when they learn that part of our selection includes American brands. Suddenly, American brands are being vilified, but that’s missing the point. The American brands that we carry are deeply committed to integrity, sustainability, and social impact—values that, in some cases, surpass those of Canadian brands (ones that we don't carry), that lack corporate responsibility. And let’s be honest, most American brands have nothing to do with the person pushing for tariffs.
The message should be: Shop Local AND Canadian. Not just “Made in Canada.”
So, here’s my ask: take accountability for your actions every day to help create a better future.
Ask yourself:
Am I leading with kindness and curiosity in my interactions with others?
Am I taking responsibility for my actions and encouraging accountability in others to help shape a better future?
Is the product I’m buying aligned with my values? Those values could include shopping small (choosing a local Canadian business over a chain), supporting businesses that give back to the community, prioritizing sustainability, buying Canadian-made products, and choosing brands with integrity.
The world is changing. But our responsibility to ourselves, and to others, is not. It is up to us all, to take accountability and therefore action every day, by voting with our dollar to create the world we want to live in. Don’t just “Shop Canadian”, because Shopping Small, AND Canadian, is where it matters most.
If you’d like to see what we are all about, you can visit us at: www.thegreenkiss.com. And please feel free to reach out to us for via our website for any help you need - we love to help with customized advice ♥️. You’ll get a real human helping you, not AI or chatbot.
