Paintlounge

Samantha Chan of Paintlounge. / Samantha Chan, de Paintlounge.
  • Owner:

    Samantha Chan

  • Jobs Created:

    4

  • Inception:

    2010

  • Mentor:

    Lawrence Mitchell

  • Industry:

    Service

  • Location:

    Toronto, Ontario

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Business Profile

Paintlounge provides a fun social painting space for customers of all ages – giving them free-flowing access to paints and supplies, a canvas, and knowledgeable staff to get them started. Go freestyle, explore your inner Picasso, grab a drink from their cafe, and have fun! With a location in Markham, and newly opened space in Toronto, Paintlounge is the perfect social setting to be creative alone, with friends, on a date or when throwing a party.

My Story

Taking the leap into entrepreneurship

From banking to painting, Samantha Chan took a big step by leaving her salaried job with Citigroup to pursue her passion for the arts, but the marketing and accounting skills she learned during her banking career have been valuable assets to the success of her business. Samantha credits her grandfather with inspiring her move into entrepreneurship with his risk-taking, independence and passion about his work.

YMCA Business Centre connected Samantha to the Futurpreneur Canada where she received financing, mentoring and business resources and was able to build a solid foundation for Paintlounge to thrive. She was matched with mentor Lawrence Mitchell who provided valuable advice to help her start and successfully grow her business.

“A large corporation does not allow you to be fully submerged into every part of a business. As a business owner, I am directly exposed to every problem in each process of the business, and am responsible for developing solutions in order to solve these problems. This allows me to learn quickly from mistakes and make better and more informed decisions,” explained Samantha. The ability to grow within a business is what attracted Samantha to the entrepreneurial world.

Advice

My Futurpreneur Canada mentor helped me deal with the emotional stress of starting a business, something that was vital to overcome in order to get to where I am today”