How Boreal Folk Built a Seven-Figure Skincare Brand by Treating Email Like a Relationship

Boreal Folk didn’t start in an office, a co-working space, or a pitch deck. It started in the Canadian wilderness.

According to founder Raphaëlle Gagnon, Boreal Folk started as a van-based skincare brand built around tree planting, foraging, and handcrafted soap. Early on, products were made using plants foraged sustainably from the Canadian forest and sold at markets while the brand’s story was shared on social media.

At the time, ecommerce wasn’t their focus. Interest grew organically as people followed along and asked how to buy.

“We were creating these products with plants that we would forage sustainably around the Canadian West Coast,” said Raphaëllele. “People were emailing me like, 'How can I order products?’ We didn’t even have a website or anything.”

That early demand shaped how Boreal Folk approached growth, and to them, transparency mattered. Over time, the business evolved from traveling across Canada for craft shows to purchasing a 32-acre farm in 2023, where all products are now handcrafted.

Today, Boreal Folk operates with a small team and runs a seven-figure ecommerce business growing roughly 50 to 60% year-over-year. Email has been part of that growth since the early days.

The Challenge

Growth brought pressure. Boreal Folk remained a small, hands-on operation, with marketing largely handled internally. And as Raphaëlle describes, the brand was “very grassroots.”

Raphaëlle manages newsletters, social content, and coordination with a Meta ads agency, while also handling product formulation and day-to-day operations. With so many responsibilities, marketing needed to be effective without becoming overwhelming.

At the same time, Boreal Folk never wanted email to feel transactional. Email needed to support sales while still feeling personal. It had to reflect the same values customers saw on social media and at markets. Education, inspiration, and transparency mattered just as much as promotions.

As the business grew, relying only on one-off newsletters wasn’t enough. Email needed structure, consistency, and adequate support behind it.

The Solution: Using Email as a Relationship Channel

Boreal Folk joined Privy in 2018 during the Mailchimp and Shopify split. From the start, email played a central role.

“Newsletter is huge for us,” said Raphaëlle. “It's a big chunk of our income.”

Email addresses had been collected since 2017 through the website and in-person events. Over time, newsletters became a consistent way to communicate directly with customers.

Today, Boreal Folk sends six to seven newsletters per month, often paired with SMS messages. Every send has a noticeable impact. And the impact with Privy is huge as Raphaëlle said, “Every time we send a newsletter, our sales go up.”

In 2021, Boreal Folk added email flows to the mix. That shift helped support growth without adding manual work. That bottom-line impact was meaningful, too.

“I found that that’s made a really big difference.”

Flows allowed Boreal Folk to consistently stay connected with customers, even while attention was focused elsewhere. Welcome messages, post-purchase communication, and ongoing lifecycle emails helped maintain continuity without changing the brand’s tone.

Where Privy Really Shines

Privy’s role didn’t stop at the platform. Every month, Raphaëlle meets with a customer success manager to review performance and make decisions about what to do next. That hands-on support matters, especially for a founder without a technical background.

“Every month we get together, and we kind of take a look at what’s working, what’s not working,” said Raphaëlle. “I’m not necessarily a super tech-savvy person. Having a real person that’s there, literally helping you create them [emails] during these calls.”

The Results: Growth That Feels Sustainable

Email now supports a predictable rhythm for Boreal Folk. Each month includes two promotions:

• One sale and one value-added freebie.
• These offers are coordinated with Meta ads and shared through newsletters and SMS.

All the while, Privy supports the brand with strategic and operational support every step of the way. Boreal Folk grew by about 60% last year and expects similar growth again. Email continues to play a direct role in that momentum.

Looking Ahead

Boreal Folk is entering a new chapter. A full rebrand is underway, with new packaging and refined formulas launching in spring 2026. The focus is shifting toward growing more plants on the farm itself and replacing overseas ingredients with Canadian alternatives.

“What excites me the most is starting to grow a lot of plants here on our acreage,” said Raphaëlle. “For me, Privy is instrumental to having an ecommerce business in this day and age.”

Through all of this change, email remains a constant. It continues to support growth, communication, and trust.

Are you ready to see what Privy can do for your email, newsletters, and SMS? Connect with our team today, and start exploring.