BC Business
Vellum has seen 900-percent growth year-over-year, and in late 2019 its consumer base tipped to 55-percent male.
Life Story: Sarah Sangha knew from an early age that she wanted to be a journalist, and after earning a degree in political science from Kwantlen Polytechnic University in 2012 and a diploma in broadcast journalism from BCIT in 2014, she worked in corporate videography and took on a side hustle interviewing artists and creating videos for her Youtube channel.
“I was working 70 to 80 hours a week, and my skin began to spiral out of control,” Sangha says. “As soon as that happened, my self-esteem just plummeted.” The link between mental and physical health was something she noticed in the artists she interviewed, too—rappers in particular. Sangha, who found that using lemon oil helped her feel more relaxed and in control, began studying aromachology (“the science between scent and emotion”) in the hope of improving her own and others’ mental health.
She founded Vellum Wellness in 2017; her first set of products were custom-made for headliner Cam’ron and four other rap artists performing at a Vancouver concert. “They really loved itand they were all men,” says Sangha, who focuses on creating products that everyone can use.
Bottom Line: Vellum has seen 900-percent growth year-over-year, and in late 2019 its consumer base tipped to 55-percent male. Besides its own website, the company sells on Amazon.com and at Bed Bath & Beyond, Hudson’s Bay and Walmart. COVID-19 has been a roller coaster for Vellumsales dropped by 60 percent in the first half of March but shot back up by early April, as isolated people began to focus on wellness and skincare. The team of five plans to hire more staff in the coming months.