Glow Journal

In episode 101 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Watts talks to the founder of Saint Louve Skincare, Elly Seymour.

The wheels of Elly Seymour’s career journey were set in motion when she was a child with a very specific dream of wearing surgeon’s scrubs. Elly decided she wanted to be a cosmetic nurse when she was just a teenager, convincing her parents to allow her to study a Diploma of Makeup in lieu of Year 12. Her reason was a pragmatic one- when she turned 18 she’d be able to enrol as a nurse, and a beauty qualification would allow her to freelance on the weekend to supplement the cost of the nursing course.

In 2019, with several years and even more qualifications beneath her belt, Elly opened and funded her own clinic in a similarly pragmatic way, electing to continue working as a registered nurse in her local hospital simultaneously to save money, build relationship and maintain those acute skills.

In March 2020, only a few months in and with a client waitlist close to 150 people long, the pandemic forced Elly to close the clinic’s doors indefinitely. Where many would, understandably, have crumbled, Elly used the unknown to her advantage. She used the clinic’s social media platforms to cultivate a reputation for herself as an industry authority, she took a permanent position at the hospital, the more secure income from which allowed her to fund her next project, and underwent further study in cosmetic formulations.In August 2022, the aforementioned project came to life- Saint Louve Skincare, a topical skincare brand that she runs alongside her well-and-truly up-and-running again Louve Skin Clinic.

In this conversation, Elly shares her take on going all in with a startup versus maintaining a secondary source of income, when and why to allocate budget to outsourcing elements of the business that aren’t your areas of expertise, and why being a forward-facing founder has been of such great benefit when it comes to brand education.

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Follow Saint Louve Skincare on Instagram @saintlouveskincare.

Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected]

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We're back! Season 5 of the Glow Journal Podcast begins on Feb 1st.

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In the final episode of Season 4, host Gemma Watts talks to the founder and CEO of Floral Street, Michelle Feeney.

Michelle is, quite literally, a beauty industry icon.

Headhunted by Estée Lauder Companies in 1993, Michelle is largely responsible for turning Crème de la Mer into a cult product before becoming Vice President, Global Communications of MAC Cosmetics, helping to increase the company’s net worth from $65 million to $1 billion in less than 7 years bringing mainstream awareness to the MAC AIDS Fund, and then spending 4 years as the CEO of St Tropez and transforming the tanning industry in that time.

Michelle launched Floral Street in November 2017, the story of which she shared back on Episode 53 of the Glow Journal podcast in 2020.

In this bonus episode, recorded at Mecca Beauty headquarters, Michelle and Gemma chat personal fragrance, scent scaping and the changing face of sustainability in beauty.

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Follow Floral Street on Instagram @floralstreet_.

Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected]

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To celebrate 100 EPISODES of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Watts talks to the founder of Paula’s Choice, Paula Begoun.

Paula was my first ever international guest back in 2018, Season 1, Episode 3, and I still receive messages about that episode to this very day.

To celebrate 100 episodes and 4 seasons, we’re taking it back to basics and doing what Paula does best- myth busting. Should skin flake when we first try retinol? If a product makes our skin tingle, does that mean it’s working? Do you really have sensitive skin, or have you caused your sensitive skin?

On a personal note, I want to say a sincere thank you to everyone who has listened over the last four years and every brand founder who has trusted me to tell their story. I cannot begin to put into words how grateful I am for each and every one of you. I love you!

Read more at glowjournal.com

Follow Paula’s Choice on Instagram @paulaschoice and @paulaschoiceau.

Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected]

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In this Bonus Episode of the Glow Journal podcast, Trinny London founder and CEO Trinny Woodall returns!

It has been three years since Trinny’s last visit to Australia and her last appearance on the podcast, so I headed to her suite on her most recent trip to catch up on three years worth of beauty and business (and for Trinny and I to do our skincare routines together, which you can see on my TikTok).

Since we last caught up, Trinny has launched an entire skincare range, which she trialled on a whopping 3600 women ahead of its launch to test and perfect the range.

A major topic of conversation in our last episode was the strength of the Trinny Tribe, which Trinny explains really transformed into an even stronger support network for its members over the last couple of years and now consists of 34 tribes in 16 countries. Last month saw Trinny open two Trinny London pop-ups, one in Doncaster and one in Bondi, the openings of which served as an opportunity for Trinny’s Australian tribes to finally come together in person.

In this conversation, Trinny shares just what makes the Trinny Tribe so strong, the gap she aims to fill in the skincare space, and what we can expect to see next from the brand.

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Follow Trinny Woodall on Instagram @trinnywoodall.

Follow Trinny London on Instagram @trinnylondon.

Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected]

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In episode ninety nine of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Watts talks to the founder of Tribe Skincare, Kayla Houlihan.

Kayla Houlihan understands first hand just how debilitating acne and inflammation can be to a person’s confidence. It was her understanding of the impact skin heath can have on one’s confidence that led Kayla to study skin, and what drove her to want to help clients in clinic.

The idea for Tribe Skincare came to Kayla whilst running her own skin clinic in Geelong. Clients were presenting with all the signs of sensitive skin, and knowing just how many skin conditions come down to inflammation, Kayla wanted to recommend products to her clients that were suitable for sensitive skin but still delivered results. What Kayla discovered is that people with sensitive skin had very few active options- brands were creating simple cleansers and moisturisers suitable for sensitive skins, but there was almost nothing available that allowed those clients to reap the benefits of active ingredients without irritation.

Kayla entirely self funded Tribe, launching in 2017 with just four products. Well into the brand’s first year on the market, Tribe Skincare was bringing in over $90,000 per month. Last year saw Kayla and her team completely rebrand Tribe and shift the brand from being an ecommerce exclusive to available in physical retailers. That rebrand saw a 20% increase in sales overall and a 500% increase in sales from one product in particular, and this year Kayla launched Tribe’s Vitamin C serum to a 50,000 person waitlist with one bottle selling every 4 minutes in its first 12 hours post launch.

In this conversation, Kayla shares her strategy on choosing the right influencers to partner with, why a rebrand can be a double edged sword if you already have a loyal customer base, and the surprising findings that led the brand to STOP paid advertising entirely.

Read more at glowjournal.com

Follow Tribe Skincare on Instagram @tribeskincare.

Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected]

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In episode ninety eight of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Watts talks to the Chief Commercial Officer of Alpha-H, Tina Randello.

Alpha-H was founded in a garage on the Gold Coast, in 1995, by the late Michelle Doherty.

In the year 2000, Michelle launched Liquid Gold- a glycolic acid based resurfacing treatment the likes of which had never been seen before by the global beauty industry. Liquid Gold soon developed a cult following, elevating Alpha-H from Queensland’s best kept skin secret to a bonafide global beauty powerhouse and the authority, worldwide, in acid-powered skincare.

In July of 2020, Michelle passed away following a 2 year battle with cancer. In late 2019, Michelle was in the midst of succession planning the business and met with Tina Randello, with Tina telling me she connected with Michelle and what she was doing instantly. Tina became the Chief Commercial Officer of Alpha-H in January 2020.

Following Michelle’s passing, Tina and the Alpha-H team spent time together discussing how they could continue to embody Michelle’s values as a business. In 2021, Tina launched The Encoreship, an Alpha-H initiative that has brought together multiple brands to offer women returning to work following a career break a three month paid work placement, enabling women to upskill and supporting their return to the workforce.

In this conversation, Tina shares how she ensures she’s effectively communicating with consumers in a space where product education is paramount, the difference between being trend driven and trend aware, and why it’s so important to wait it out for an opportunity that feels right.

Read more at glowjournal.com

Follow Alpha-H on Instagram @alphahskincare.

Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected]

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In episode ninety seven of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Watts talks to the founder CEO of Vintner’s Daughter, April Gargiulo.

The idea for Vintner’s Daughter came to April when she was working on her family’s vineyard. She was pregnant and, as many do, was studying the ingredients lists of each product in her existing skincare routine. April wanted a product born from a similar ethos to that of winemaking- one centred around quality and craftsmanship, and how those factors drive performance.

Where most skincare products can be manufactured and bottled within about three hours, April was told her formula would take three weeks. What could well have been a deterrent had the opposite effect on April, as coming from a wine background she was used to working with products that take three years to create, and so Vintner’s Daughter was born in late 2013.

The brand launched with one singular product, and while the strategy was one embedded with risk, that product garnered a legitimately cult following. April’s mission has always been to create fewer products that did more, channelling all her resources into perfecting just one product at a time, and so four years after that initial launch, a second followed.

January 2023 will see the next iteration of Vintner’s Daughter’s “fewer, but better” ethos, with a third product due for release as the brand enters its tenth year.

In this conversation, April shares her advice for founders feeling the pressure to manufacture more, cheaper and faster, a few hints as to what we can expect from the brand’s next launch, and how she’s working to change the beauty industry to one driven by joy, confidence and gratitude.

Read more at glowjournal.com

Follow Vintner’s Daughter on Instagram @vintnersdaughter.

Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected]

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In episode ninety six of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Watts talks to the founder of Holme Beauty, Hilary Holmes.

Hilary discovered her love of makeup in her final year of high school, and although she tells me that initial affinity for beauty may not have come from the right place, to this day she connects to the transformative energy she felt upon that discovery.

Despite her love of makeup, Hilary studied and worked in agriculture. In 2009 the recession hit, and after being made redundant, Hilary relocated to London where her sister was living. She soon found a job on a cosmetics counter, and so her career in beauty was born.

After returning to Australia and building up her freelance business, Hilary opened the first Hilary Holmes Makeup location in 2016 and a second only four years later. It was from within these spaces that Hilary’s now-iconic Masterclasses were born- classes designed to empower women to back their own beauty, rather than following a formula they’d grown up with in women’s magazines.

In 2021, following years of product development and a truly serendipitous encounter with her now-manufacturer, Hilary launched Holme Beauty. The brand launched with a single SKU, and over the last 12 months Hilary has carefully and consciously expanded that range to an edit of four, with a fifth product set to launch only a fortnight from now.

In this conversation, Hilary shares the importance of finding the right people to help you grow your business, the links she’s discovered between beauty and her own mental health, and the story behind the man she calls her “$30,000 husband.”

Read more at glowjournal.com

Follow Hilary and Holme Beauty on Instagram @hilaryholmesmakeup and @holmebeauty.

Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected]

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In episode ninety five of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Watts talks to the co-founder of Korres, Lena Korres.

When Dr Clara Hurst opened Perth skin clinic, Blanc, having relocated to Australia from the UK, she sought the help of a pharmacist to compound prescription skincare to her clients. That pharmacist told her that, just down the road, there was a GP prescribing the very same ingredients and having them compounded into solutions for her patients. That GP was Dr Deb Cohen-Jones. Upon realising that they shared the very same philosophies around the science of skin, their pair decided to go into business together.

The Secret, the country’s first prescription-only skincare brand, began in early 2019 as a singular cream, only available to those who had an appointment with one of the doctors. Within six months, over 300 jars of The Secret had been sold and the pair began working on new formulas. What started as one “magic cream” has since grown to a line of 13 different products.

In 2020, Dr Clara and Dr Deb launched The Secret’s digital platform, allowing patients anywhere to complete a consultation online and have their prescription skincare compounded and sent directly to them. This year has seen The Secret introduce new sustainability practices including refillable packaging, while the coming months will see the launch of The Secret’s retail range.

In this conversation, Dr Clara and Dr Deb share the real differences between prescription and retail skincare, how they turned a mid-pandemic launch into an ecommerce boom, and their advice to business owners trying to avoid fast trends.

Read more at glowjournal.com

Follow The Secret on Instagram @the_secret_skincare.

Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected]

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