Sotaria: From Research Lab to Grooming Table

This week I took a walk with Churmy Fan and her two dogs, Penny and Pi, where I learned how a love of dogs, an eye for aesthetics, and a background in science and research led her on an unexpected path: from researcher to entrepreneur, developing a line of dog grooming products that many say surpass anything else on the market today.

Sotaria is a line of grooming products for dogs, developed by Churmy herself and inspired by her needs as a professional groomer. The path that brought her here wasn’t straight, but full of the twists and turns that most of us experience. It is her ability to build on each chapter of her life that has positioned her to where she is now.

Dr. Churmy Fan, the Scientist

Before becoming a business owner, dog groomer, and product developer, Churmy was deep in academia, working full-time as a researcher studying chronic pain and how biological sex influences it. While at the University of Calgary, she completed her PhD in neuroscience just before COVID hit. It was during this period that she began grooming on the side and soon found herself at a crossroads.

“At one point I kind of had to make a choice with what I wanted to do more. I stuck around [the university] long enough to finish my paper. We published in a really good journal, and so I felt like that was a nice completion to that chapter of my life. And so then I wanted to try entrepreneurship and see how that goes. Why not?” Churmy said.

She began taking on more and more grooming clients, building her business naturally through word of mouth and social media.

Churmy recalled, “When I first started grooming other dogs, I started by cold calling. I approached some friends I had through dog sports who had dogs I was really interested in learning to groom, and somehow convinced them to let me groom their dogs”.

She would post the results on social media, and as people saw the transformations, her clientele grew steadily.

From Brain and Spinal Problems to Fluffy Dog Problems

This was also when she began developing the products that would become Sotaria. It started with a very practical problem: keeping her own dogs in show-standard condition while still letting them run, compete, and play as hard as they wanted.

Although Penny and Pi may look like princesses, they’re not afraid to get dirty. That meant she needed products that would protect their coats, restore them after rough play, and keep them healthy without compromise.

Using her expertise, she started formulating. “Developing these products is very similar to the research I used to do. All you are doing is solving problems. In the lab I had brain and spinal cord related problems. Here I have fluffy dog problems. You learn through research to be flexible and adaptive. At the end of the day, it’s all just problem solving.”

Once she had something she felt was ready, she shared samples with friends and fellow groomers. The feedback was immediate and enthusiastic. Sotaria quickly spread through the grooming community, with professionals saying they had never used anything like it.

With no formal marketing, just word of mouth, Sotaria products are now sold across Canada, the United States, and have even made their way to Europe and Australia. Recently, Sotaria was picked up by LYNN Professional, one of Canada’s leading grooming product distributors.

Final Thoughts

From the outside, Churmy’s journey might look like she “started over”, leaving neuroscience and a PhD behind for dog grooming. But her story is a reminder that changing industries doesn’t mean erasing the past. As long as you build on what you’ve learned, you’re never truly starting over.

In fact, it was precisely her scientific background that enabled her to create grooming products that spread through the industry by reputation alone. The performance spoke for itself.

What Churmy has demonstrated is that there’s no such thing as starting over. Your unique experiences give you perspectives and expertise that no one else can replicate. Sometimes, all it takes is a little courage to follow the turn in the road.

If you would like to check out her product line, you can do so using the links below:

www.sotaria.ca

www.lynnprofessional.com