centre stage

winter 22 interview centre stage

When Maxine Laceby started Absolute Collagen from her kitchen table aged 50, she didn’t know the business would take off to such stratospheric heights in just a few short years. She had no idea she’d be recognised in the street as “the Collagen Lady” or win awards including the prestigious CEW Award (the Oscars of the beauty industry) and an Everywoman award, or create a brand beloved by thousands. She just knew her collagen supplement worked and could help people - and that was where it all began.

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Fast forward to today, seven years after that initial breakthrough in her kitchen, and Maxine makes up the inspirational speaker line-up at the Entrepreneurs’ Forum Together We Can Take on the World 2022 conference. As a result of growing Absolute Collagen from a kitchen table start-up into an ecommerce empire, Maxine has become a leading beauty entrepreneur known for trailblazing and empowering women everywhere, though she is the first to admit she struggles with identifying as an ‘entrepreneur’. “There's absolutely nothing special about me whatsoever,” Maxine comments. “I'm just little old me doing my thing. People say I'm an entrepreneur. I don't think you see it in yourself. I would definitely say I'm more of an inventor. “If we go back to when I was 22, I invented the intercom answering machine without launching it! I was living in a flat in the centre of Bath and I never knew when people had been around when I was out. I thought why can’t I put an answer machine on my intercom? It was just logical! “I even went to see a solicitor and they said it was brilliant but I just didn’t have the confidence or finance to take that idea any further. I’ve always had that inventor’s mindset I think. I just fell into the role of entrepreneur purely by accident by just being me I guess.” Despite not having the ability to take this initial invention to market at the time, Maxine never lost that innovative spark that eventually led to her creating Absolute Collagen from her kitchen almost 30 years later. This need to problem solve and innovate was a skill Maxine developed as a child, more so out of necessity to help her family than anything else. “I knew I would do something. I just never knew what that thing was,” Maxine explained. “That sounds quite obscure but I've always had that belief within me. I think that comes from when I was a child. Brought up on a poor estate, after being adopted by a single mother who worked three jobs to try to make ends meet, Maxine credits her challenging upbringing with igniting that creative spark within her. “We had nothing. I always had to provide. I always had to find solutions. “I remember being about nine years old and our iron blew up. We couldn't afford a new one, so I literally unwired the iron and stripped the wires back, put it back together and it worked.” Years later, when she started a family of her own, Maxine promised to devote all her time to her daughters, giving up her job in sales to become a stay-at-home mum. Then, at 50 years old, when her daughters had flown the nest, she decided to do something for herself and enrolled in university. “I'm not frightened to have a go. I am absolutely not frightened of failure. “Due to my childhood, fear is an emotion I am used to and I’m comfortable with, in fact I rather like the adrenaline fear produces. The mixture of fear and adrenaline makes me operate from a place of being considered and present, two qualities that have made Absolute Collagen the success it is today.” Whilst studying towards her fine art degree, Maxine started brewing bone broth which she drank to boost her hair and skin. “I was back in the house with a bit more time on my hands so I started making and drinking bone broth because I’d heard it could be really beneficial to your health. “The broth had an amazing effect on me. I later discovered it was the collagen in the broth that was making the difference. My point of reference has always been the product worked - I knew it worked because me and my friends were all taking it but I didn't know that collagen was going to be the next best thing!” Since its initial inception Absolute Collagen has gone from strength to strength, leading the market with subscribers that get the product delivered to their door. With success comes copycats and Absolute Collagen certainly has its fair share of businesses looking to take their crown. But Maxine’s commitment to being the industry innovative leader, along with best in class customer service and top of the line quality is what’s kept her brand on top, not to mention her community of ‘Absoluters’. According to Maxine, what has contributed to Absolute Collagen’s success, and distinguished it from its copycats and competitors, is the values on which it was founded upon - the power of ‘SIR’. Whether you’re an Absolute Collagen team member, or an Absoluter, Maxine believes every individual deserves to feel ‘Safe, Important and Respected’ – the very same values she raised her daughters with too. From product development to marketing to customer service, every part of Absolute Collagen operates with this message at its heart and the flourishing community of Absoluters is testament to the success of this mantra. “What I say to people is it's not difficult to be great nowadays because so many brands aren't,” Maxine adds. “Most customer service is rubbish and it really winds me up. It doesn't take a lot to be good nowadays. It’s really important to us to keep our customers at the forefront of everything we do. “Creating the Absolute community is something that happened by accident. Somebody called themselves an Absoluter one day and I was like, oh we'll have that! “We’ve even got a private Facebook group filled with Absoluters who are just so positive about the brand. We were only just discussing recently how much of a great marketing tool the group could be but currently you can only get involved if you’re a part of the group. “There was some talk about should we make this public? And for me it's an absolute no! Our Absoluters need to feel that their group is a safe space where they can be who they are. It's really important to maintain that for us.” As we move into 2023, the Absolute Collagen movement shows no signs of slowing down and neither does Maxine Laceby! “Next year for Absolute is about new product development, listening to our customers and really asking what are their needs and desires? Because it’s their brand, it's their investment and Absolute Collagen is all about investing back on to our community,” Maxine notes. “It’s about how we can best serve our Absoluters. In terms of product development, it has to be the right product. Anyone could launch a product tomorrow but we’re not about that. “It’s also about sustainability. We’re committed to becoming a more sustainable company in all aspects of the business.” For Maxine, giving back in all areas is inherent to her both in a personal and professional capacity and is the reason why she became a patron of the Prince's Trust in 2021. As an ambassador for the charity, and its 'Women Supporting Women' initiative and young enterprise in particular, Maxine is helping to transform the lives of young people across the country, providing them with the inspiration needed to get into work, self-employment, education or training. By sharing her story with others, and giving talks within The Prince’s Trust Young Enterprise Programme, Maxine hopes to inspire confidence, selfesteem and inner strength in others. “I love being the voice of underestimated women because I am the underestimated woman. No one believed in me. When I started Absolute Collagen, not only did I have no business experience, I'd created a category that didn't exist so I can understand why no one believed in me. “But everything I do now is about spreading the word and empowering people, whether it's through Absolute, my role at the Prince’s Trust or my own personal journey. Empowerment is what I'm all about and encouraging everyone to feel confident in their own skin.”

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