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When Marilyne Gagné opened her first aesthetic clinic, she wasn't planning to disrupt an industry. She just wanted to solve the problem of overloaded doctors with no time for marketing or HR. Fifteen years later, Dermapure is Canada's largest premium medical aesthetics network with over 75 clinics, a partnership with L’Oréal, and a brand philosophy rooted in positive aging rather than perfection.
In a recent episode of the Growth Diaries podcast, Marilyne joined host Sudheer Koneru to share her journey from solo founder to board-level visionary, the secret to thoughtful scaling, and why being the face of your brand is about service, not ego.
Having studied business with a marketing and international commerce focus, Marilyne started out in Xerox equipment sales. When she started selling dermatologic technologies, she noticed a gap: Doctors loved treating patients but hated running businesses. She launched Dermapure to give them a better way to focus on care while she and her team handled all the rest: marketing, administration, communication, and HR. Her hands-on approach in the early days set the tone for the brand’s operations and customer experience.
“I saw that opportunity to support the doctors," Marilyne said. "So, I thought I’m going to create the first clinic. I was 30 years old. I purchased the name Dermapure.com for $5,000. … I had .ca [for Canada], but I thought I’m going to create something international – so, I need the .com. I created the first clinic in Sherbrooke, in Quebec, Canada, and hired the first doctor, hired a staff, and I did everything myself with them for the first year. So, phones, some treatments, meeting the patients, and built from scratch what would be the customer journey, and how I would really strongly support the doctor.”
For Marilyne, empathy is not merely a leadership trait. It's the foundation of customer trust and staff loyalty. Her hiring process prioritizes emotional intelligence over aesthetics knowledge and experience, as empathy is key to serving patients feeling vulnerable about their wrinkles, stretch marks, and cellulite.
The soft skill also underpins Marilyne’s leadership philosophy. From day one, she has hired people who believed in her vision, with many of her earliest team members still with the company today.
Marilyne is also the public face of Dermapure, and she embraces it as a means to connect, educate, and inspire.
“Social media is not about showing off. It’s about connecting with community to educate them. … It’s being generous. It’s being accessible as a leader.”
Her social presence isn't all product plugs and filtered perfection. It's real conversations, educational content, and the same principles she leads with internally: transparency, service, and heart. Ads and lead gen may have contributed to growth, but building a brand that people truly trust is key for Marilyne.
Dermapure has grown through acquisitions and partnerships, but never at the cost of culture. In fact, each new clinic is like a new member of the family. Marilyne believes culture isn’t static, evolving as the brand grows with best practices shared for every new partnership.
“It’s like building a community. The values we share are super important. … We care. We empower. We dare. We innovate. So, partners who recognize themselves in those values also nurture the culture.”
Marilyne's approach to mergers and acquisitions is people first. She highlights shared values, open communication, and plenty of time for integration. Even when deals are great on paper, they only work when people align.
Dermapure doesn't idealize youth. Instead, it champions what Marilyne calls positive aging, a holistic approach to wellness that supports people through the reality of getting older.
That's why Dermapure targets clients aged 35 and up. Marilyne believes younger clients should focus on self-confidence and skincare, not anti-aging. The real transformation begins when people are ready to invest in feeling empowered.
When L’Oréal invested in Demapure, it was their first entry into the service side of aesthetics. By then, Dermapure had already built a strong brand and ecosystem: integrated skincare products, a loyal patient base, and a leadership team with deep industry knowledge.
Marilyne Gagné didn't set out to build a beauty empire. She just wanted to solve a problem. By listening to her gut, leaning in with empathy, and staying focused on values, however, she turned a single clinic into a national presence. Her most enduring legacy is the culture at Dermapure, a place where doctors feel supported, patients feel seen, and every employee feels inspired to do meaningful work.
Want the full story? Check out the Growth Diaries episode on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or Spotify.
Post credit: Fame – The B2B Podcast Agency. Reviewer: Gita Mani, Zenoti
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