From Addiction to Entrepreneurship: Saguenay Woman Finds Redemption in Herbal Tea Business

A Saguenay woman who was close to death due to her alcohol and cannabis addictions managed to fight her inner demons by launching a sparkling herbal tea business with her father.

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“Alcohol had become a miracle solution to overcome my anxiety,” confides in an interview with the Journal Pascale Boudreault, 30, co-founder of ÖZER plant infusions, which are prepared at her Aquafjord plant in Jonquière.

“I was taking a pack of cigarettes a day and cannabis. I’ve also had an eating disorder for a long time. I almost lost my life there, ”adds the one who had to be hospitalized several times at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal.

“In Alcoholics Anonymous [AA], we often say: “It’s the morgue, the hospital or the prison”. I have lived the great darkness of life. I turned on a ten cents, ”she summarizes.

dark times

It was last year that Pascale co-founded, with her father, her SME of a dozen employees in Saguenay. To give a nod to drinks like coffee and alcohol, which many people are addicted to, Pascale has concocted four flavors to “replace them”, morning and evening.

“My father worked for Pepsi, Coke and Eska water, so I’ve always been immersed in beverages,” explains the businesswoman.

His father, Sylvain Boudreault, managed the Coca-Cola factory in Haiti, that of Pepsi-Cola in Algeria, and he chaired the operations of Eska.

«Listen dad, I’m cured»

One day, Pascale had had enough of sinking into the maze of outbuildings.

She could see that the future was blocked and that her health was at stake. She then decided to take action by seeking help and multiplying therapies, then she managed to get out of it. high.

“I said, ‘Listen Dad, I’m 100% healed. We have had so many dark times as a family. We are starting a business to celebrate my victory over my addictions, ”she shares with emotion.

Today, she does not regret it and sends a message to Quebecers struggling with the same problems: there are resources to help them.

“When I was in my addictions, I had zero self-esteem, but today I know that we all have great strength,” she says.

A sign that things are going well for her, Pascale has just launched another company with her father, Fysi-k, “the first sports drink in Quebec”.

“I come from far away. I’ve been sober for three years and at my healthy weight for two years. I just started living. I appreciate what I have. When you come from so far, you appreciate everything that is bright around, ”she concludes.