A Check-in with Mackenzie Snow, Past Entrepreneurship Award Winner

by Kayla Demarest | May 16, 2020

While we may not be able to be physically together right now, technology has granted us the ability to check in on members of our community. Over the past few weeks, we had the opportunity to talk to past Tales of Triumph 2019 Entrepreneurship Award winner, Mackenzie Snow, to see how her life has been affected due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Mackenzie owns La Luncheonette, a community-based eatery in Montreal. From the very beginning, she decided to close her restaurant completely. “I felt my business was a non-essential service and what was more important was the safety of everyone, including the staff, customers, and my business partner, Jesika Starnino, who has an underlying health condition. If I couldn’t guarantee their safety, I felt as though I shouldn’t be open.” In order to cut unnecessary costs, Snow canceled all operating expenses such as rags/apron services, all wholesale food purchases, and stopped all automatic payments like Hydro Quebec. Generally, she worked to defer as many payments as she could.

For brick-and-mortar businesses, rent is often one of their largest expenses. When asked about her experience, Snow shared a wonderful story that captured human compassion in times of adversity. Approaching the landlord with much nervousness and stress, she asked if there could be anything done considering what was happening. He said that he knew that she ran a successful, profitable company and that since we weren’t sure how long this shut down would be, not to worry about it for now and that they would reconvene once everything was back to normal.

“It brought me to tears, honestly,” Snow recalled. While it is undoubtedly a difficult time for small business owners, moments like this remind us to maintain faith in others. Snow recalled how “the weight of all the stress that I had at that moment (including the ‘under the radar’ stress as she called it), went away! I honestly feel quite blessed.” Snow is currently at her cottage enjoying time with her family. When she feels as though the conditions are safe for everyone involved she will reopen. For now, she is happy to know that she did what was best for the health and safety of her patrons and staff. Snow is currently at her cottage enjoying time with her family. When she feels as though the conditions are safe for everyone involved she will reopen. For now, she is happy to know that she did what was best for the health and safety of her patrons and staff.