Hi, I’m the creator behind Balys ! I’m an entrepreneur with a million ideas and inspiration for all kinds of projects. Balys was born in 2014 when I started knitting and crocheting & I’ve learned everything by myself with video tutorials and by trial/error.

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In my day-to-day life, I’m a full time special care counselor in a psychiatric hospital and I have a bachelor degree in criminology, drug dependency and mental health. This job can be extremely hard and it’s emotionally & mentally challenging. To find my balance, I started knitting and crocheting to relax and to take care of my body and soul. This time of selfcare became my happy place and my peaceful garden to take care of my own mental health.

 

Along the way, I’ve learned a lot and I’ve changed for the best. Since 2018 - year of the creation of my website - I’ve decided to give back to my community by helping the most people possible. I want to make Balys a safe place for sharing and helping one another. 

I've started a Youtube channel with free tutorials to teach you how to knit and crochet and help you learn this beautiful passion. I also started making patterns so that we can all knit together and help each other.

 

One day, my dream is to make Balys a real physical place in Montreal - a local, a coffee shop or a store - where we can all meet, share, talk and knit together, and of course, have a good coffee :)

I'd love to have a day in the week dedicated for people with a mental health issue or any other issues to make them connect, to help them meet other people, to remove all stereotypes and develop their self-esteem. 

 

Anyways, my list of projects is sooo much longer and it’s all because of you guys. Thank you for sticking with me and thank you for making all my projects become so real. The best is yet to come. See you soon ♡ 

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- Lythicia

 

How to find the words to describe Benoît?

 

Ben is my right-hand, the only person who helps me everyday. He is my photographer, my model, my Instagram husband, my partner-in-crime who helps me figuring out absolutely everything. He is the one who rationalizes my ideas when I go a little too far in my projects and I burn too many steps (way too many).

 

He has always been there, since day one, since the beginning.

He was beside me when I made my first knitted piece, my first dreamcatcher, my first videos, my first website and so much more.

 

Ben is my counsellor for absolutely everything, for all my issues, all my opportunities and so many other things, even the insignificant ones. He doublechecks all my posts before sharing them, helps me with all the decisions I have to make and he supports me in any new ideas that I have, as crazy as they are. Overall, he brings his unique and thoughtful touch to Balys to help me grow the business and he helps me grow as a person along the way.

 

Finally, Ben is also passionate about digital marketing and advertising. He has been working in this field for almost five years in a start-up called GLO. So he is officially the responsible for all the marketing behind Balys, and so much more.