I've long been a fan of Julie Kalinowski and Angela Pastor, founders of The Fitzroy (Dress Rental Magic). Through their rental service, they bring an amazing assortment of designer dresses to women all across Toronto. Six months after my daughter was born I had a wedding to go to and decided to rent a gorgeous dress I never would have bought for myself. I hadn't felt that good in a long time. (It really is rental dress magic!)

When not wearing gorgeous designer clothes, they love kicking back in, you guessed it, our signature robe! We caught up with both founders on what lights them up, their daily rituals and how they face fears while going after their dreams.

What makes you light up/makes you come alive?

Julie: Definitely travel. It just re-sets my mind and lets new ideas and inspirations come through. Spending time with friends lights me up as well, just being surrounded by people who see you in your best light can really recharge you. I echo Ange that if I can combine travel and time with friends those are my favourite moments. Also our NY buying trips for Fitzroy are our most anticipated times of the year so I think we can both say that lights us up big time. My business definitely makes me come alive as well, anyone who knows me knows I’m a bit of a workaholic but I truly love everything about our business and the “dress rental magic” we create for our customers and with our collection. My kids and fam are pretty awesome too haha.

Angela: Travel & spending quality time with my favourite people! Preferably both at the same time, nothing beats it!

Tell us about your morning routine.

Julie: I always have a cup of Earl Grey tea with milk and honey (that’s my coffee) or a Matcha Tea Latte first thing to get the day started. I am pretty hectic in the mornings with getting my 5 year old son ready for school and now breast-feeding a newborn. I have to say I love that bonding time with my daughter though, and I am pretty damn lucky to have a really hands-on hubby who takes over with our son and things around the house. While, in general, I’d love to work out in the mornings I know I get my energy more so in the afternoon so I try to just be kind to myself in the mornings and allow myself that time to get ready, sometimes listening to music or an interesting podcast when I can.

Angela: Tea or coffee, emails & Instagram. Then I try to get in a workout before work - lately I've been loving Barry's Bootcamp - kicks my ass! 

Angela Pastor, Co-Founder of The Fitzroy

What habits or rituals support you while manifesting your dreams?

Julie: I take moments when I can to visualize the end goal of where I want to be in the future with our business and personally and find that helps me with daily decision making and planning. I try to listen to interviews and read articles about business success stories when I can to motivate and inspire ideas. Those kind of things always pump me up about my own business.

Angela: It sounds cliche but just trying to keep a balance between work and life. You can only give 100% to your dreams and goals (The Fitzroy) when you are taking the time to feed and rejuvenate yourself as well. So making sure to try to eat and sleep well, spend time with friends and family and slowing down when needed all helps energize me to give everything I can at work 

Tell us about your evening routine.Julie: I always have a chamomile tea at the end of the day and a healthy (or unhealthy) dose of reality tv or a Netflix series. I definitely feel like I need that at the end of the day at least for an hour to turn off my mind.

Angela: It's pretty uneventful, haha.  I don't have much of a routine other than a glass of wine, some cat cuddles and an early bedtime. 

What do you do when confronted by fear while working to achieve your goals?

Julie: I remind myself how far Angela and I have come, the knowledge we’ve gained and how hard we’ve worked to build our business from scratch. It’s cliché, but when you love what you do you’ll be successful at it and reminding myself of that while just keeping my head to the ground and focusing on the big picture helps me get through the noise and move forward more confidently.

Angela: I try to remind myself that everyone is in the same boat, we all experience fears and self-doubt, but we are all just doing our best and that is all we can continue to do. When things feel overwhelming, I find it's sometimes helpful to remind yourself how far you've come and how much you've accomplished already, so you can definitely handle whatever comes next. 


With love,

Kena xo

Kena Paranjape, Founder, All You Are