Today’s Notable Young Entrepreneur is Gregory Macdonald, who, together with business partner Mathieu Chabot, launched Bathorium to create some of the highest-quality bath bombs on the market today. We caught up with Gregory to find out what inspired their business and what advice he would share with other young professionals…

WORK

Describe what you do in less than 140 characters. Go.
We produce the highest quality bath bombs on the market today with a selection of 13 unique varietals, and have set out on a mission to #BringBacktheBath!

What was the inspiration for your career route?
What inspired me was the desire to create products that would give the user an affordable retreat from today’s fast-paced, plugged in world. Having been an avid bather for years, I was never completely satisfied with the options on the market. I wanted to create a product that not only would give the bather a unique experience, but also be able to reap the benefits both physically and mentally. This revelation came to myself one day while sitting in the tub – I call this my Oprah ‘ah-ha’ moment. Soon after I called my soon-to-be business partner, Mathieu Chabot, and thus we began our Bathorium journey.

What is the most memorable milestone in your career so far?
For Mathieu and I, our most memorable moment would have to be December 10, 2014. At this time, we had only been launched for three months and were a participating vendor at Union Station Holiday Market. On December 10th we had sold out our entire inventory and had to shut down our online store. We were 160 orders back ordered and at this time we were making the bath bombs ourselves by hand in a studio no larger than 200 square feet. After countless 18-hour days, and recruiting many of our friends to help, we made it through!

Where do you see yourself in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?
We never imagined ourselves to be where we are today- so we are quite excited to see where the next five years takes us !

Do you have any advice for other young professionals?
Advice that I wish someone had told us when we were beginning our venture with Bathorium is that sometimes your greatest accomplishments come from your biggest failures.

Do you support any charities? If so, which one(s) and why is it (or they) important to you?
We are looking forward to supporting Main Street Community Services in the fall, a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to supporting children, youth and adults with special needs. It’s a charity that is close to my heart and helped my two younger brothers for over twenty years. We plan to launch a bath bomb of which a percentage of the proceeds will be directly donated to Main Street.

What is one major challenge that you’ve had to overcome in your career? How did you overcome it?
For me, a major challenge has been finishing my final year in business school here at George Brown College. Communicating to my professors and showing them my business has allowed for extended accommodation and additional mentoring. For Mathieu it has been continuing to work full-time in addition to Bathorium. Mathieu though can always somehow work on 4-5 hours of sleep.

What does the word notable mean to you?
For us notable means being role models for young entrepreneurs with integrity in our everyday operations and a commitment to constantly growing our business while always sticking true to our core values.

PLAY

Where is your favorite place to wine/ dine in your city and why?
Toronto has many incredible trendy restaurants that we could speak for hours about, but our favourite would have to be Bar Isabel on College.

What is the most visited website on your Internet browser? The most played song on your phone?
www.ellentv.com has to be the most visited site, requesting tickets daily to see the show ! No luck yet… Most played song for myself would be anything Garth Brooks, and for Mathieu it is top 40 in R&B. Two very different styles !

Whose one person you think everyone should be following on social media?
A great person to follow for young driven professionals is Richard Branson. On Instagram his account features great inspirational quotes and amazing photos. #LifeGoals.

What’s your favourite country to visit and why? And what’s the next one you plan on travelling to?
Mathieu and I have both been to London, England at separate times and always discuss how much we love that city. Next country would have to be Papua New Guinea – why not?

What gives you the greatest FOMO?
Eating out and looking at what everyone else ordered. I always regret my decision immediately.

What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
Binge watching Netflix shows.

What’s something you wish you didn’t spend so much money on? What’s something you wish you spent more on?
Mathieu and I consistently eat out and never shy away from the ‘we’ll take one of everything appetizer’ motto ! I wish I spent more money on high quality suits, the cheap ones don’t last.

And finally, what does success look like to you? Work, play, or otherwise…
Success for us is loving what you do and being surrounded by great people who can share in our past and present accomplishments.