JY is a thread that ties Junyi (Joey) Feng’s family together. Between herself, her sisters, and her cousins, they all share the same initials – J.Y. From its humble beginnings as a family touch-stone, these shared initials inspired Joey to apply that same spirit of connection and belonging to her business practices. JY Care is a company dedicated to providing sustainable, eco-friendly, health-forward products that reflect her own values – care for her community, care for the environment, and care for her employees.
With a masters degree in Economics from York University, Joey has a deep understanding of what a business needs to grow and thrive. When the opportunity arose to apply her skills and knowledge in the real world, Joey took a leap and pivoted from her PhD aspirations to join Jealousy Beauty Inc., an importer of cosmetics and beauty products from Japan and Korea. Her exposure in this industry allowed her to gain a greater understanding of consumer trends, as well as opened her eyes to the challenges of importing health products from overseas to the Canadian marketplace. With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic the always-agile Joey steered her attention to JY Care, where she blended passion and pragmatism in an industry ripe for innovation.
Joey’s aspirations for JY Care reflect her desire to keep her business firmly rooted in the Canadian communities it serves. One of the most compelling benefits of this is the impact on the environment. JY Care’s primary product offering is face masks, which was a booming market during the Covid-19 pandemic, but also brought with it an increase in plastic waste that ultimately ended up in the world’s oceans. Joey recognized the need to transition to more sustainable materials for face masks and began sourcing more eco-friendly options. Though she acknowledges that public demand for face masks is declining, her pragmatic business approach leaves room for the potential that another global health situation may arise that could result in an increased need for face masks and her company will be ready to provide a consumer option that better serves the environment.
While the public need for face masks may be lowering, Joey has identified another sector that has an increasing demand with a limited Canadian presence – “gummy”-style health supplements for the Natural Health Products market. This is an area where demand is high, but contains several market challenges. One of the more prominent pain points is the prevailing decision of many companies to produce gummy products overseas and ship them to the Canadian market. This poses several difficulties, including the risk of decreasing quality during the shipment process – gummies are notorious for sticking together and even melting at high temperatures. Joey also considers the ingredients of the standard gummy offerings to be an area where her company can gain a different kind of foothold. Traditional gummies are created using animal products, and there is an opportunity for her business to create organic, eco-friendly gummy supplements sourced from plant-based ingredients. This, combined with Canadian manufacturing, is a recipe for success in the Canadian natural health product marketplace, where many target consumers share the same quality concerns that Joey identified during JY Care’s successful pivot to the natural health marketplace.
JY Care’s environmental and business impacts aren’t the only reason for taking a community-focused approach. Joey envisions JY Care creating a company culture that establishes work-life balance, and ultimately one that truly cares about their employees. Joey, who herself likes to leave the office behind her when she leaves for the day, wants her team to have to enjoy their families and communities outside of work. This, combined with an empowering management style and an “open-door” policy, help create a work environment that Joey believes will be appealing to employees. She recognizes that employees have their choice of where to work, and she wants the best to work at JY Care. As far as CEOs go, Joey prefers to be hands off, allowing her employees to shine and perform the work they were hired to do without excessive interference. Ultimately, with a culture built around caring, JY Care expects their team members to put the same level of care they show their family into the products they help create.
Where does Joey see the company heading? Continuing with their emphasis on eco-friendly and non-GMO offerings, JY Care intends to enhance their market position by staying agile – this includes faster turn-around times and more flexible order minimums. Combining this with stringent quality controls and certifications, as well as focusing on organic and sustainable product lines, JY Care is a tough act to beat. Joey, with her experience in the Japanese and Korean cosmetics industry, is not one to stay behind market trends. She is as agile as her business, and has a keen eye for seeing where consumers are heading. Her analytical, data-driven approach gives her an edge for seeing the best way to get products in the hands of Canadians, while her financial acumen gives JY Care the solid foundation it needs to build future growth.
The initials J.Y., shared amongst her family members, are initials Joey hopes will weave themselves into the fabric of the Canadian natural health product marketplace. Her company is poised to respond to consumer product demands with a shared dedication to quality, innovation and environmental responsibility. Joey’s ultimate goal isn’t just the health and sustainability of her business, but establishing health and sustainability as JY Care’s core values. Afterall, Joey and her team aren’t just producing health products – they’re building a company and community culture built on the same blend of pragmatism and passion that inspired Joey to turn her attention to JY Care in the first place.
When Joey leaves the office for the day, you can often find her planted with her nose in a book, enjoying the complex and fruitful worlds of the novels she loves to read – although you still may find her paging through economics and business books, on the look-out for new strategies to drive growth and build culture. She’ll be the first to admit that it’s hard to stop caring about JY Care.
