Arthur Kanunuck & Marissa Grootes (STIL Classics)

Jun 17

On this episode of Marketing News Canada, Darian Kovacs interviews Arthur Kanunuck and Marissa Grootes.

Arthur is the Co-Founder of tentree and STIL Classics, and Marissa is the CEO and Co-Founder of STIL Classics. Arthur is an award winning creative environmentalist and has been presented with the Entrepreneur Of The Year awards. Marissa grew up in Switzerland and has been included in the 30 Under 30 Awards. She is a product designer, photographer and organizer. Marissa and Arthur originally met on Bumble and that is where they quickly realized they were both entrepreneurs with a passion for working and furthering their careers.

STIL started as a passion project. Marissa saw a need in the market for simple planners to keep women organized in an aesthetically pleasing way. Marissa said, “STIL was originally for me but became for women around the world.” When she started the company she was 24 and had a desire to cater to the typical modern woman and empower women everywhere. In 2020 there was a significant increase in the number of men buying STIL planners.

Arthur considers himself an inventor. He states that, “I love to create, I love to come up with ideas, and that is what gets me up in the morning.” Arthur states there is still room for growth in the sustainability market. Two areas where he sees a lot of future growth are food and apparel. He believes there is a massive shift towards purchasing apparel second hand and that will continue to grow.

Arthur states that entrepreneurs often forget to celebrate their successes because they are too focused on what is next to come. They are so focused on the growth mentality that they forget to reflect.

Marissa believes that one of the most important things to fit into your schedule is time for yourself. Whether it be watching trash TV, working out, or drinking hot water with lemon, find time for the things you want to do. For Arthur, when it comes to working from home, a lot of people have just started neglecting their to-do lists. They don't take them as seriously because there is no one holding them accountable to ensure tasks are completed in a timely manner.

Advice Marissa gave was, “know what time you are your most productive self.” Everyone is productive at different hours of their day, and it is important to schedule harder tasks into this time slot.

Marissa and Arthur are both motivated entrepreneurs, their personalities complement each other and they make each other brands stronger by sharing and bettering their ideas. Tentree is constantly expanding and coming up with new products and so it STIL, for more information, visit their websites.

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