It’s not enough to become the boss when you take over a family business. For Kathrine Mathieu, owner of Regitex, it was not only necessary to trust her abilities, but also to free herself from the fear of not being present enough with her children.
“It was anchored in me that I would not sacrifice my children and in my equation, it was not possible to be a present mother and a business leader”, says the young woman, who is expecting her fourth baby.
Kathrine spent a few years running her small essential oil shop, while raising her children. When she closed it in 2019, she started working full-time at Regitex, expanding the business and the people. Over time, she was recognized as a successor to her mother, Lisa Fecteau.
“At that time, I didn’t know much about Regitex, but my mother told me that there was a gang of experts around me who would each take a piece. I was scared, but they were the ones who helped me take my place and trust me,” she recalls.
A different management style
Regitex, a manufacturer of yarns for protective textiles and upholstery, is a company like no other. In modern management jargon, it is called a liberated enterprise. But when you say that, it gives the impression of employees liberated from employers.
It would probably be a bit anarchic. And for this reason, Kathrine prefers the term “empowering company”, a place where everyone can unleash their full potential, by taking responsibility. Decisions are made as a team at Regitex, where collective intelligence is used. When a change is coming, everyone is consulted.
“It’s not always unanimous, but the understanding that everyone has makes everyone adapt more easily. When you understand the meaning of decisions, it’s easier,” observes the entrepreneur.
His mother started this mode of management in 2014, an avant-garde in Quebec. The management titles have been removed, not to feed ego and power games, but above all to say that no one is inferior to another in the group. At the same time, it is a way of distributing responsibilities and allowing the entrepreneur not to carry everything on his own shoulders.
“I thank my mother because she set the table to make the rest possible for me, that is to say to reconcile family life and business manager”, says Kathrine.
Leadership stimulated by challenges
It’s been a tough ride through the pandemic for Regitex, which ran out of orders at the start of 2020. Fortunately, the company has bounced back well by focusing on very specialty yarns, like those used for firefighters’ garments and police officers.
In these months of challenges, Kathrine’s leadership unfolded. Where the fear of disappearing gained some members of the team, the young woman chose to keep faith. Then, at some point, she told her mother that she was ready to take over. Everything was done smoothly, so that both of them felt good in the transition. In the spring of 2022, it became official.
“We were often told that it was beautiful as it was harmonious. There’s money involved in a business, but I was talking to my mom. Our relationship had to come first. »
Now that Kathrine has reconciled the role of leader with that of mom, she wants to be an inspiration to her children by showing them a mom who does what she loves.
REGITEX
- Year of foundation: 1998
- Founder: Lisa Fecteau
- Location of registered office: Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce
- Activity area: Textile manufacturer
- Number of employees: 60
Profile of Kathrine Mathieu
- Job : Owner
- Age : 37 years
- Education: Bachelor of Fashion Management, UQAM