End of an era: Tearful CEO Lise Watier steps down
L’oréal exec takes helm of beauty company founded in Quebec 40 years ago
“When you understand that beauty is emotion, you know much more than any man who wants to launch a beauty company.” LISE WATIER
A tearful Lise Watier stepped down Tuesday from the selfnamed cosmetics company she founded 40 years ago and nurtured to become a formidable player in the Canadian beauty industry.
With her husband and business partner, Serge Rocheleau, at her side, and her miniature poodle, Folie, charming the media in the warehouse at company headquarters, Watier named Pierre Plassard, a Frenchman with 17 years of experience at L’Oréal, as chief executive of the company.
“If I had been a businesswoman, now I am a woman of heart,” Watier said.
For several years, she has been stepping back from the running of the company and devoting her attention to the Lise Watier Foundation, which is dedicated to helping women emerge from poverty and violence, and to building self-esteem for girls.
Six years ago, investment fund Imperial Capital Corporation of Toronto became the majority shareholder in the company. Watier and her husband will keep their minority stake and continue to sit on the board of directors. With 175 employees, the company does about $90 million in retail sales annually with a broad range of skin care, makeup and perfume. The vast majority of sales are in Canada, and it will be up to Plassard to grow the company internationally, said Edward Truant, a partner in Imperial.
“It all started for me as a little girl from HochelagaMaisonneuve with a dream,” Watier said. “A dream that began to come true: to conquer the world, to have a Quebec company that could elicit the interest of women around the world.
“I am the Céline Dion of business,” she said, breaking down crying.
“For 40 years, I steered a ship. There is an exceptional team in place now. This will allow me to put all my energy into the foundation,” she said, adding it was time for a new generation to take its place. “It’s difficult to leave a business that I built with passion, with all my being.”
She will now put all of her passion into the foundation, whose first project was the Lise Watier Pavilion, with 29 apartments for women who had been homeless. And through the sale of two lip products — Sparkle of Hope lip gloss and Rose Tendresse lipstick — the company has raised $600,000 for the foundation, which is partnering with groups across Canada.
Watier began her career appearing on Quebec variety shows.
In 1968, she founded the Lise Watier Institute — basically a charm school — which gave her the push to start a beauty business and which she credits with helping her understand women.
“Beauty is emotion,” she said in a recent interview. “When you understand that beauty is emotion, you know much more than any man who wants to launch a beauty company.”
Over the years, she has garnered many distinctions, including a recent appointment to the Order of Canada.
“One does not replace Madame Watier,” said Plassard, who spent years directing the active cosmetics divisions at L’Oréal, leading divisions in China, Morocco, Poland and western Europe. “One follows her.”
Truant said Plassard’s task is to build on Watier’s success and to bring the brand “a more international scope.”
He could not say what the international strategy would be; the U.S. would be the natural place to go, but the options are still open.
He expects Watier will continue to bring her creativity, energy and passion for the brand to the company from her seat on the board of directors. The company will continue to support the foundation, he said.
When asked whether the best opportunity for growth is in active cosmetics — skincare products with anti-aging properties — or in makeup, Plassard equivocated, but then conceded the fresh thing is skin care. Lise Watier is strong in makeup across Canada, he explained.
And the next big thing? “Labrador tea,” he said, naming an ingredient in Lise Watier’s top-of-the-line beauty creams.