Marie-Pier Vaudry: entrepreneurship to bring a human touch to aging
A personal ordeal gave rise to an entrepreneurial idea benefiting public health. Alzheimer’s is a frightening word. Marie-Pier, founder of Éditions Chachacha, decided to create products tailored to people living with the disease. This coworking enthusiast tells us more about a career path that turned into an unexpected passion: aging.
“She radiates freshness and openness, despite her expertise in a serious subject: Alzheimer’s disease,” says Nathalie Dubreuil, collaborative energy generator at Montréal CoWork.
Empathetic, generous and sociable, Marie-Pier immediately stands out for her warmth and gentleness. “I love being around her,” Nathalie adds.
Yet behind her long chestnut hair, light-coloured eyes, broad smile, easy stride and slender figure is a remarkably efficient entrepreneur with a very full schedule.
Without her knowing it, her entrepreneurial journey began with bad news. It all started in 2009, when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The news came as a devastating blow: she was only 58.
“Within 15 years, these diseases will affect more than 1 million people in Canada and 360,100 people in Quebec, an increase of 70%.” Société Alzheimer de Québec
At the time, Marie-Pier had only just begun her professional career. “I didn’t have children yet, I was working at Bombardier as a project manager, and I’d just returned from France, where I spent three years,” she recalls.
While resignation is not part of her vocabulary, creativity certainly is. Over the past 15 years, Marie-Pier has taught herself to become an expert in products for people living with Alzheimer’s—without even realizing it.
Éditions Chachacha offers books, games and other resources adapted for people living with cognitive impairments.
One of the difficulties with this disease is short-term memory. “My mother wrote pages of notes because she couldn’t remember the characters or storyline of the book she was reading,” Marie-Pier explains. “Here, there’s an illustration that recalls the action on the page, and each page has a different theme,” she continues.
The need is clear: to help her mother, but not only her. “The health care system won’t be able to meet the demand*. We have no choice: we need to find solutions that encourage aging at home, with greater social participation by older adults,” she warns.
Although her commitment to valuing aging grew out of a personal need and reality, that situation marked the beginning of her adventure—and it all happened within a coworking space.
An entrepreneur at heart
The turning point came when she followed her partner to San Diego without a work visa. “It was the right time; everything lined up. My background in communications, in management... everything came together to make this entrepreneurial project a good idea. And it really came from the heart,” she sums up.
A strong work ethic, determination, vision, creativity, risk-taking and a need to communicate: while these qualities are essential for any entrepreneur starting out, the environment also plays a key role.
In San Diego, Marie-Pier was already a regular user of shared workspaces and loved the concept. “I need other people to survive,” she says, bursting into laughter. Getting out of the house and seeing people is important. But when you own a social-purpose business, the appeal of working in a coworking space also lies in the people around you, both professionally and personally.
Mutual support: part of Montréal CoWork’s DNA
Back in Quebec, Marie-Pier joined Montréal CoWork in September 2024. There, she rediscovered the kind, professional human connections that support her in all her projects.
“A few days ago, I needed someone to help me with InDesign. I posted on Slack, someone replied, and someone saved my life,” she explains, looking relieved.
But that solidarity goes beyond professional networking: it extends into personal life too. Having a network can ease a daily routine where family life and entrepreneurship intertwine, and everything must be managed at once, no matter what.
Marie-Pier found a good fit with Derya, who is passionate about cooking and prepares meals for coworking members for a fee. “She cooks one or two dishes a week for me. It helps me save time on Monday and Tuesday evenings, when my children have soccer or gymnastics. Everything is already ready,” says the appreciative founder of Éditions Chachacha.
Today, Marie-Pier wants to give back to her entrepreneurial community, ideally through a lunch-and-learn where she can share her expertise. She is currently completing her master’s degree in gerontology at the Université de Sherbrooke.
“Aging has become a passion. I’ve absorbed all this knowledge, and now people hire me for it,” she explains. She has certainly become an expert.
Her first book became a bestseller, selling more than 3,000 copies in Quebec. Unstoppable, she has written two more.
Indeed, aging is not easy, especially in a society that glorifies youth and practises ageism every day, often without realizing it. Take the familiar “You don’t look your age”: a phrase offered as a compliment, but doesn’t it suggest that aging means becoming a lesser version of yourself?
Looking beyond clichés and appearances, Marie-Pier decided 15 years ago to put her creativity and work ethic at the service of the health and happiness of people living with Alzheimer’s and their loved ones—because the latter face setbacks every day.
“If I had a parent with that kind of need, I would definitely sit down with her to talk about it and get advice,” concludes Nathalie Dubreuil, collaborative energy generator at Montréal CoWork.
In the meantime, the best advice Marie-Pier can offer is simple: Carpe diem.
*Older adults make up a significant share of the population, particularly in Quebec. They are the well-known baby boomers, the children of the postwar years.