Women's Biz Magazine So, I choose the skincare sector out of necessity, but I am also driven to help other acne sufferers to restore healthy skin and confidence, because I know what it’s like to suffer from acne.
How does your brand stand apart in such a competitive market? When my own combination of high potency Vitamin B5 and other acne fighting nutrients, such as Vitamin B3, worked to clear my face and body completely, a light bulb moment went off. I realised the whole acne industry is approaching treatment the wrong way! All of the sudden it made sense why a holistic inside-out approach works, because our skin is the largest organ in our body.
Conventional acne treatments typically lead to side- effects because they are fighting with the body, rather than working with its own healing and restorative abilities. Even today, many influencer hyped acne products are still obsessed with targeting the symptoms with more creams and washes, rather than addressing the root causes. Many supplements that claim to clear up the skin are nothing more than a zinc or probiotic supplement that do not simultaneously address many interrelated causes of acne, which is a complex skin condition. To treat acne effectively with 18 | WOMENSBIZGLOBAL.COM
lasting benefits, it has to be holistic and multi-faceted, otherwise any benefits are short lived. The SkinB5 way reflects my strong belief in working with our body to overcome health issues, including acne. SkinB5 works because it supports the body at a cellular level through leveraging the restorative and healing powers of multiple synergistic nutrients, at clinically significant amounts to simultaneously address the main causes of acne. These include regulating skin oil, supporting healthy hormones, strengthening immunity and promoting healing. In addition to our patented nutraceutical supplements, our range also includes topical skincare products, with Vitamin B5 and natural extracts, to help restore and protect the skin barrier, because a healthy skin barrier can resist acne breakouts - that is the innate ability of our skin!
SkinB5 being a global brand - how did you strategise your marketing to achieve this? Having lived in many countries including Asia and the United States before I started SkinB5, I have always been keenly aware of the much bigger markets beyond Australia - and I have seen people literally from all walks of life suffering from acne. Acne is a skin condition that affects the majority of the world’s population in the same way. So my go-to-market strategy has always been globally minded. So when I learnt about Austrade (Australian Trade Commission), I presented to them that I was launching a nutraceuticalled acne treatment, and they immediately invited me to join their natural health delegation. From there, launched SkinB5 at Cosmoprof
Hong Kong. We immediately signed up distributors from the Philippines and Singapore from our first trade show! Back in Australia, we didn’t have enough money to launch into the retail channel, so we launched skinb5.com (not .com.au) a global eCommerce website, where we deployed low cost online tactics to be seen by acne sufferers, including posting on acne forums, which are mostly US based, and search engine optimisation, which reached people across the globe. I had doubts but was amazed when orders started coming through our website, not only from Australia, but also from the United States, Europe and Asia! This validates my suspicions that there are lots of desperate acne sufferers out there, like myself, who are willing to try something new, even unknown brands, in the quest to find a product that works.
What is the biggest lesson you've learnt on your business journey you'd share with other aspiring founders? My biggest lesson is pioneering something completely new that requires a paradigm shift takes a long time - it is only now, after a decade since I came up with the patented technology, that the mainstream customers are starting to understand more intuitively that the SkinB5 Way, which is a wellness approach to effectively manage acne and related skin conditions, is a sustainable way to manage problematic skin for long term results. When you are working on something innovative, you need 10x the ability to believe in your own vision, persist and not take ‘no' for an answer.
