Squamish residents Meghan Conyers and Quincy Samycia step into the Dragons’ Den on Oct. 12, in the hopes of securing investment from the CBC TV show for their Squamish-based clothing company.
“Meghan basically started the company,” said Strongbody Apparel co-founder Samycia. “From 2012 to 2013 she researched the industry, and everything about making clothing.”
Strongbody Apparel is a men’s performance brand of active and casual wear, designed using eco-friendly technology.
“It’s a lifestyle brand,” said Samycia. “We have everything from underwear and joggers to jackets.”
The pair started their first Kickstarter campaign for the brand in 2014, hoping to crowdfund their clothing dreams.
“Meghan was working on this and I provided support until 2016, when I quit my job to work full time on the brand,” he said. “One of the things we did was apply to appear on the Dragons’ Den. All our friends and family were encouraging us to do it, however we kept saying we wanted to wait until everything was perfect and ready. Eventually, we decided there was no better time like the present and just applied.”
Dragons’ Denis one of the most successful Canadian reality programs, reaching one-quarter of all Canadians. The show gives entrepreneurs the chance to pitch their business to a panel of Canadian business moguls for a chance at securing investment.
But, the pair didn’t hear back until March of last year, when Conyers and Samycia, who are childhood sweethearts as well as business partners, were getting married in Maui, Hawaii.
“It was quite the nice wedding gift,” he said.
The episode has already filmed, and airs Thursday at 8 p.m.
Samycia is closed-lipped about what will happen on the show.
“We can’t say anything until after the show is aired,” he said. “We can’t talk about specifics, but I think it will be good for the brand.”
Appearing on Dragons’ Den is just the tip of the iceberg for the company, too, according to Sanycia.
“We plan on adding a women’s line in the New Year,” he said. “And, we are projecting over $2 million in sales for 2018, which is significant growth for a company that started out from a $5,000 credit card.”
Strongbody Apparel makes its pitch to the Dragons Thursday, Oct. 12 at 8 p.m. on CBC.
For more on the company, go to strongbodyapparel.com.
