Son’s passing inspires woman to fulfill her dreams

It’s not easy for any parent to lose a child to cancer but when Yolanda Gregoire, from Goodwill and living in St. Martin for the past 16 years, lost her 11-year-old son to Leukaemia, his passing inspired her to fulfil her dreams of creating her own line of perfume.

Gregoire’s son, Zachary Cocks, passed away on September 18th, 2014 at the Lyon Hospital in France and she has launched her perfume line named Zac’s and Zonisha in honour of her son she misses dearly and three daughters who presently resides with her in St Martin.

“Actually, my son inspired me to do this,” she told Dominica News Online (DNO) recently. “Zac’s is fresh for men and Zonisha, floral for women.”

She spoke of the painful passing of her son and how he inspired her to make her dreams a reality.

“In 2010 he got sick and was diagnosed with cancer so we flew to France to do his Chemotherapy. Before he started treatment we spoke about a lot of things concerning me and my future, but not knowing that he was preparing me for something else,” she explained. “During his treatment in France, he sent me different places which he could not go, places with animals, places with flowers…I could not pick the flowers so I took pictures to say that I was there. He asked me to promise him that I would go ahead and fulfil my dreams, because I always wanted to create my own perfumes.”

She explained that growing up in Goodwill she enjoyed picking different roses and other flowers at a tender age and she would crush them to make different scents.

Gregoire said following her son’s death, she returned to St Martin and after some time linked up with Tijon Parfumerie in Grand Case where she did a one-month course in mixing at the company’s lab. And as the old saying goes, the rest is now history.

So far the perfumes, which cost US$50, are being sold in St. Martin at Tijon Parfumerie and at Indulgence by the Sea at Divi Little Bay Beach Resort on the Dutch side.

Massaging oils are also available and cost only US$15.

Zac’s Perfume also comes with a soap which is presently being introduced in hotels in St. Martin.

In a message to other entrepreneurs Gregoire said, “Believe in yourself and have faith…try to succeed and if you fall, get back up.”

“The most important thing is when you get back up and you can start over again,” she advised. “I fell many times, but I never stopped.

In terms of perfume sales, she said so far the tourists and people in St. Martin are showing great interest.

Gregoire hopes to distribute the products to Dominica and other neighbouring islands.