What inspired you to start your own natural brand?
The creation of The Beauty Chef evolved very organically and stemmed from my own skin and gut issues’and that of my family’s. Having experienced eczema and allergies as a child, my mum took me to see a naturopath who completely overhauled the way I nourished myself. This sparked an innate understanding from a young age of the link between gut health and skin health’so when my own daughter experienced similar issues many years later, I began to explore this link even more closely.
Initially my experiments in my own kitchen lacto-fermenting wholefoods were intended to simply support the health of my own family’but very quickly I discovered I was onto something and friends even began to comment on how much my skin seemed to be glowing. From here, the first iteration of GLOW ® was born.
What did your life look like prior to The Beauty Chef?
Prior to The Beauty Chef I worked as a journalist and early in my career I landed a job for a mainstream newspaper and was inundated with lots of beauty products from mass market brands. While initially this was exciting, after I began to research the ingredients in each formula, I became increasingly concerned about the toxic chemicals in skincare products. When women began writing to me asking for the best products to use for their eczema, psoriasis or acne’I knew that I couldn’t give them a straight answer. I had always understood that beauty was an inside out process and that nothing in these chemical-laden products would help to heal or soothe their skin.
It became my mission to shift the paradigm within the beauty industry and start to write about how women could look after their skin in a more holistic way.
What TBC product are you most proud of and why?
There’s no question that GLOW® Inner Beauty Essential will always hold a special place in my heart. It was the first product I launched back in 2009 and is the one product I think everyone should be taking 365 days of the year. I recently turned 50, so I’ve now transitioned from GLOW® to GLOW AGELESS™, which offers extra support in terms of bone health, thyroid health, hormone health and antioxidant support. It still has all the amazing benefits for your skin health, gut, energy and immunity, but with more specific ingredients for people over 50. They’re both delicious daily drinkable habits that make it so easy to get up and glow. I have 1 teaspoon every morning’that’s all you need to reap the benefits of these amazing fermented superpowders.
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What’s been the biggest lesson you’ve learnt in business, and in life?
Without question, to listen to my gut’and follow it. When I first launched The Beauty Chef, there was no inner beauty category and despite the many (many!) naysayers that told me there was no market for a product like GLOW®, I followed my gut and managed to not only bring my product to life’but shift the way the entire beauty industry thought about gut health. In business, there will always be people who tell you ’no’ or that something isn’t possible’but it’s essential to follow your instincts and listen to your gut first and foremost. And the same is true in life.
What does a typical day look like for you?
I usually wake around 5:45am and do my best not to check my phone or answer emails first thing. Instead, I try to go for a walk in nature’either along Bondi Beach or around Centennial Park. Walking has always felt like a moving meditation for me, it clears my head and it’s when I feel most inspired. When I get home, breakfast might be eggs with mushrooms, tomatoes and salmon or a hearty bowl of porridge featuring buckwheat, almonds and miso. And I always sip on a glass of GLOW AGELESS™ with one of our delicious elixirs mixed through. As CEO and creative director of The Beauty Chef, every day can look a little different’but much of my time is spent on calls or in meetings discussing upcoming creative campaigns, global distribution or working with our NPD team, microbiologists, nutritionists and naturopaths to develop new products.
What’s your top beauty or wellness hack?
To get up and glow! So many of us already have a morning ritual of sipping on a hot cup of coffee or tea’so my top tip is to ’habit stack’ and create a daily drinkable habit that will give your skin a serious glow-up. Just 1 teaspoon of GLOW® or GLOW AGELESS™ (for those over 50) is a super simple way to support glowing skin, gut health, energy, immunity and healthy hair and nails.
Where to next for The Beauty Chef?
I’m always looking for ways to innovate’and so at the moment we are continuing to explore new delivery methods to help even more people discover the benefits of good gut health for glowing skin. Our latest launch, Plumpers™, is our very first chewable product and the feedback so far has been immensely positive’they’re absolutely delicious.
