Born to engineer parents in a small town in southern Albania, I grew up surrounded by grapevines and fragrant lemon trees. Our family lived closely with the land and with each other, a way of life that always inspired me. Summers were spent by the sea whenever possible—a place that always felt like freedom to me. After school, my mother would occasionally take me to work with her, where I discovered another kind of magic. In a lab filled with green cabinets, beakers, and strong, remarkable women, sipping coffee, doing science, and simply being themselves.

But life wasn't all about trees and labs. At the age of 10, after the Albanian civil unrest, my family sought a brighter future in Toronto. Like many immigrant stories, ours came with its challenges. I traded family embraces and tree-climbing adventures for a new, unfamiliar landscape of long roads, flat land, and grey buildings—Toronto, a world away from Kucova and our family.

Youth and a new climate brought with them persistent battles with eczema and acne. After trying countless products without success, I turned to my mother, a cosmetic chemist, for help. Since then, we've been creating products together.

Everyday Chemist represents my journey of bridging two worlds—hot Albanian summers and icy Toronto winters, a European upbringing and a bustling metropolis, nature's embrace and scientific discovery. Through Everyday Chemist, I continue to blend these realms with boundless curiosity, reminding us that 'home' is wherever we find ourselves.

Beyond Everyday Chemist, we are also the team behind EC Studios, a cosmetic engineering studio.

Flavia, Founder