1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:18,760 Hello and welcome to the Smart Beauty podcast. I'm your host, Viola Levy, beauty journalist 2 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:23,960 and founder of copy-led branding agency, Smart Beauty Creative. We're here to create your 3 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:32,880 brand voice and craft the story behind it. So today's guest is Lauren Bell, the inspiring 4 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:37,920 founder behind Cosy Care, a groundbreaking brand that's redefining how we manage itchy 5 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:42,320 eczema-prone skin. Lauren's journey began with a personal mission to create a safe 6 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:47,120 steroid-free solution for her brother, who battled severe eczema and topical steroid withdrawal 7 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:52,200 for years. What started as a university project has since grown into a multi-award-winning 8 00:00:52,200 --> 00:00:58,680 global brand, celebrated for its innovative, stylish and effective safe-scratching devices. 9 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,560 Lauren is not just a beauty founder, but a trailblazer who's turning personal pain points 10 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:07,800 into a thriving business that's helping thousands find relief. I'm so excited to dive into her 11 00:01:07,800 --> 00:01:13,200 story, her unique approach to product design and what's next for Cosy Care. Welcome, Lauren. 12 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:19,280 Hi, yeah, thank you so much for having me. Oh, it's a pleasure. So your brother's eczema 13 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:24,600 struggles initially sparked the idea for Cosy Care. I mean, it's an issue that I've personally 14 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,640 been affected by, my friends have been affected by. I mean, we know so many people that have 15 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:33,840 this issue. So how did you identify the gap for a safe-scratching device and what made 16 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:38,960 you confident that this problem could be solved? So yeah, my little brother has had eczema 17 00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:45,840 since he was about three, and I studied product design and engineering at university. So when 18 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:51,880 it was time to do my kind of final year major project, we were tasked to kind of solve a 19 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:58,360 problem through design. That was the kind of overarching theme. So I spent weeks thinking 20 00:01:58,360 --> 00:02:03,280 like, oh my gosh, what am I going to create? I was thinking of heels that you can wear, 21 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:08,440 flat and you know, like random things. And then I was like, actually, I want to solve 22 00:02:08,440 --> 00:02:13,800 a problem where that my family can relate to. And then I looked at my brother and thought, 23 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:19,520 oh my gosh, my brother's lived with eczema, itchy skin, the struggle of trying to help 24 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:24,680 him through scratching and just stop scratching or stop scratching. It's such a like famous 25 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:30,600 phrase in my household. So I focus like all my energy into solving that specific problem 26 00:02:30,600 --> 00:02:36,520 for my brother. And I think through my research, then realize how many people actually live 27 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:41,480 with the same condition, live with the same problems. And that there was nothing really 28 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:47,560 centered around instant relief. So that's kind of how it all started. And quite quickly, 29 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:52,160 I started to realize how, you know, how the sheer scale of the market and the sheer scale 30 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:53,160 of the problem. 31 00:02:53,160 --> 00:02:56,920 Definitely, because you're told sort of not to scratch, which is not very helpful when 32 00:02:56,920 --> 00:03:00,920 you're in the throes of it. And like your brother, I sort of became a bit addicted to 33 00:03:00,920 --> 00:03:04,240 topical steroid treatment myself. So I see. 34 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:10,280 Luckily, my ex was no longer an issue. But when it was, it was really bad. So it's, yeah, 35 00:03:10,280 --> 00:03:13,720 I think it's a massive issue that not many people talk about. 36 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:14,720 Yeah, of course. 37 00:03:14,720 --> 00:03:18,880 And I know you come from quite a creative and entrepreneurial family background. Can 38 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:23,040 you tell us a bit about how that influenced your approach to bringing this to market? 39 00:03:23,040 --> 00:03:29,640 Yeah, so my, my dad runs a business. My brother also runs his own barbering business. So I 40 00:03:29,640 --> 00:03:35,240 think naturally I've always been around very entrepreneurial people, kind of people that 41 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:40,880 have ideas and kind of want to do things to themselves in that respect. So yeah, I found 42 00:03:40,880 --> 00:03:45,120 my dad very inspiring in that way. And even when we, my brother, we're younger, we used 43 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:50,520 to like make cards and sell cards around like the neighborhood. It was kind of just like, 44 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:55,800 we were always a little bit creative and trying to think of ways to make money and try and 45 00:03:55,800 --> 00:04:01,120 think of ways to like to do stuff quite differently. So it's always kind of been in us. And when 46 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:07,080 I relate to like the problem with my family specifically, it's like my dad was the one 47 00:04:07,080 --> 00:04:13,000 that used to use things like cold flannels and different like feather dusters and different 48 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:17,480 things like tickle my brother and calm down my brother just, you know, just to have anything 49 00:04:17,480 --> 00:04:22,640 physical to kind of cool him down. So from like a creative aspect, my parents, my dad 50 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:27,720 specifically would kind of find objects and things to try and cool my brother's skin. 51 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:33,200 So that also like inspired things as well. And it sounds like it was a very emotional 52 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:38,840 journey. So what were the key moments that really stand out for you that that shaped 53 00:04:38,840 --> 00:04:43,520 the direction of the brand? Yeah, I mean, anyone who has eczema always 54 00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:49,000 gone through TSW, which is topical steroid withdrawal, will know that it's much more 55 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:57,480 than a skin condition. It can affect everything from mental health, school, diet, family relationships. 56 00:04:57,480 --> 00:05:03,800 So kind of all consuming, especially when you have more severe forms of the condition, 57 00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:08,080 you know, you could struggle to sleep, eat, go to school, like there's so many different 58 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:13,360 things that can happen. The biggest challenge really was kind of seeing my brother go through 59 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:18,720 TSW, like the realization through my research because he care that we always thought my 60 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:23,960 brother just had severe eczema for like 20 years. And gradually kind of in his early 61 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:29,240 twenties, then it hit a point where the steroid creams just didn't work for him anymore. So, 62 00:05:29,240 --> 00:05:34,360 you know, and then in parallel to that, I was at university doing this project and being 63 00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:40,120 online actually researching into eczema, the different communities, the different treatments. 64 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:44,320 We actually through my research identified what my brother was going through. So then 65 00:05:44,320 --> 00:05:49,920 that took like a huge turn of, okay, stop using the medication. He actually got diagnosed 66 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:56,040 by his doctor as having a topical steroid addiction and withdrawal. And now he's pivoted 67 00:05:56,040 --> 00:06:03,040 to kind of like more natural, holistic approaches. So yeah, it was so challenging to have to 68 00:06:03,040 --> 00:06:07,720 be part of that discovery because it was really challenging for my brother to, it was almost 69 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:11,280 like a penny drop. Like, oh my gosh, this is what's making my skin worse, which was really 70 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:12,280 scary. 71 00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:17,240 Definitely. And I can imagine it was, yeah, it affects the whole family, I imagine, not 72 00:06:17,240 --> 00:06:21,840 just the individual involved. I've got a close friend who suffers from it terribly and she's 73 00:06:21,840 --> 00:06:26,880 actually trying one of your safe scratches and she was saying, she received it, she's 74 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:27,880 like, thank you so much. 75 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:28,880 Oh, yes. 76 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:33,520 I'm so grateful because, yeah, she's going through a really bad breakup and her eczema 77 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:35,360 is really, really bad at the moment. 78 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:36,360 Oh, I see. 79 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,560 It's everything sort of relates to it, doesn't it? Everything else that's going on in your 80 00:06:39,560 --> 00:06:41,360 life, it's all interconnected. 81 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:46,440 Absolutely. It can be triggered by stress or a change in environment. Like, there's so 82 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:49,960 many things that can trigger it. And I think what's challenging, because I've got eczema 83 00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:55,240 myself, is the like unpredictability of it. And it's kind of like not knowing when it's 84 00:06:55,240 --> 00:07:00,480 coming next or, yeah, it's so challenging. It's such a unique condition to have to explain 85 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:04,400 to someone, but unfortunately a lot of people can relate because they've been through it 86 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:05,400 themselves. 87 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:09,240 No, for sure. That's why I think, you know, it's such a great idea to come up with. But 88 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:13,280 obviously everyone has a lot of great ideas when they're at uni, but not everyone manages 89 00:07:13,280 --> 00:07:18,640 to bring a product to market and make a viable business out of it. I mean, so what kind of 90 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:23,360 main challenges with that? I mean, your story is so inspiring. How did you kind of navigate 91 00:07:23,360 --> 00:07:27,000 the, yeah, all of that journey? 92 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:34,240 Oh, thank you. Yeah, it's been kind of a crazy kind of journey, I guess. So I graduated 93 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:39,960 and then after graduation, we kind of did like an exhibition. So we kind of showed off 94 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:45,600 what we've been working on all year. And I was approached by an accelerator, a business 95 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:50,480 accelerator, and they said, look, we think you've got a great idea. Have you ever thought 96 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:55,280 of turning this into a business? And I was like, okay, well, not, I've always, I've always 97 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:59,400 known that I would have loved to have done that, but I didn't almost expect it to happen 98 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:00,400 so quickly. 99 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:02,400 It must have felt incredible when they said that. 100 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:05,720 I was like, yeah, me, since they were like, okay, put your application in, you can win 101 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:10,640 £5,000, we'll give you business mentorship for six months. And I felt like I'd won the 102 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:16,520 lottery. Do you know what I mean? Like a student getting five grand to do, you know, to continue 103 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:23,240 that kind of creative project was amazing. So I ended up getting that which was fantastic. 104 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:29,200 And then we ended up visiting manufacturers in China to try and understand, you know, 105 00:08:29,200 --> 00:08:35,720 how things are made, how do you scale, how do you actually turn an idea into a commercial 106 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:41,760 product? So yeah, it was, that's kind of what sparked it all. And then there was a huge 107 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:47,240 challenges with, as every entrepreneur will tell you, with raising funds and building 108 00:08:47,240 --> 00:08:51,440 a team and working out how to get to market and building your social media. There's so 109 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:57,760 many parts and components to a business. It's been like six years, pretty much of just full 110 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:01,480 time, every day, just figuring it out. That's how I explain it. 111 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:05,360 Exactly. A lot of people, they have other careers first, and then sort of into business 112 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:10,320 for themselves, but you had to really hit the ground running straight out of uni. 113 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:17,440 I was a student and I, my background is obviously design. So I had that creative skill set, 114 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:24,040 but I didn't necessarily have the kind of business understanding. I think there's definitely 115 00:09:24,040 --> 00:09:28,440 certain personality traits that make someone a good entrepreneur, but I think business 116 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:32,040 and actually starting a business is like some fundamental things you've got to learn. You've 117 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:36,880 got to learn about writing a business plan, you've got to learn about raising investment, 118 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:42,440 you've got to learn about hiring and HR. There's so many bits to it that you don't even think 119 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:44,440 about when you're fresh out of uni. 120 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:48,240 Definitely. And I think being a founder and being a CEO are two different things, but 121 00:09:48,240 --> 00:09:51,680 that people just sort of say them together, like founder and CEO, but they're completely 122 00:09:51,680 --> 00:09:55,680 separate. Definitely. 123 00:09:55,680 --> 00:10:00,760 And what advice would you give to other entrepreneurs as to how to really leverage those opportunities 124 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:05,560 to say like meeting with accelerators and getting opportunities like that? How would 125 00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:07,800 you advise them, make the most out of them? 126 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:14,320 I think the thing that we did really well is when we started the company, we did a lot 127 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:21,760 of research into what's available to us. So we were new graduates. We had recently set 128 00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:28,880 up a company. We were a really heavy R&D business, so a lot of research, a lot of development. 129 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:33,400 And it was just about knowing the different parts of money and opportunities available 130 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:43,760 to you. So I ended up applying for 506 student-based competitions, so Mayor of London, Santander, 131 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:50,320 Tata and a couple of others. And there's like really, really incredible like little parts 132 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:57,160 of equity free funding available. So Mayor of London gave us 25 grand. Tata offered us 133 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:02,440 15 grand. We had 25 grand of Santander. So all these little parts of money, I say little, 134 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:07,160 obviously that is substantial for a new business. But that all adds up. And we ended up raising 135 00:11:07,160 --> 00:11:12,880 about 150 grand in equity free fundings. We hadn't even given a percentage away, but 136 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:18,360 we really leveraged all these little opportunities. And I think another great tip that I would 137 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:23,840 advise anyone starting a new business is consider local parts of funding. So if you're based 138 00:11:23,840 --> 00:11:29,720 in London, if you're a Welsh-based business, really try and understand like different government 139 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:34,960 supports, like networks, different parts of money in your area, because there's loads 140 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:42,200 of opportunities, especially if you're an innovation company doing something new. There's 141 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,120 so much money out there. There's so much opportunity out there. It's just about knowing where to 142 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,120 look, I think, and just taking the time to understand what's available. 143 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,600 That's the thing. I think people don't know about it. So they just, yeah, or believe it. 144 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:56,360 They just almost don't love. Yeah, I think, I think if you've got, for example, like my 145 00:11:56,360 --> 00:12:03,760 businesses within healthcare, we were based in London at the time. So Mayor of London 146 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:09,480 was perfect competition for us because their objective was to invest in innovation in London. 147 00:12:09,480 --> 00:12:15,480 So that kind of specific part was perfect. But if you're a company in Wales, Development 148 00:12:15,480 --> 00:12:20,960 Bank of Wales, for example, you can get little loans, you can get, I think they offer like 149 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:25,120 different networking opportunities. So it's just about putting yourself out there and 150 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:29,600 never think it, oh, this isn't quite right for me, or I'm not quite there yet. When I 151 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:35,920 applied for Mayor of London, I had one prototype. And to be honest, I'd never pitched before. 152 00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:40,880 I went into that and I didn't quite fit into any of the categories either. So I was kind 153 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:47,160 of just winging it a little bit. But I think the key is just to enter it with confidence 154 00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:53,560 and tweak your pitch to kind of answer the objectives of the funding. So the Mayor of 155 00:12:53,560 --> 00:12:59,440 London, for example, was all about how are you making London great? Why is London a great 156 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,600 place to start your company? So just tailoring your pitch for that, it, you know, it goes 157 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:10,000 a long way. And how did it feel kind of when you were pitching to these investors? Was 158 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:15,480 it, you know, was it kind of a bit like Dragon's Den? Yeah, it really was. Like so one of the 159 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:22,720 judges was Richard Reid, who's the founder of Innocence Movie. So he was a personal kind 160 00:13:22,720 --> 00:13:27,640 of idol of mine, because I had watched some of his documentaries on how he started his 161 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:33,920 company and like he he did like amazing things for like company culture and kind of challenged 162 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:39,120 that a little bit. So yeah, having him in front of me was was amazing and had some great 163 00:13:39,120 --> 00:13:42,600 feedback from him. So yeah, I was very kind of like thrown in at the deep end a little 164 00:13:42,600 --> 00:13:48,520 bit, but it was a great way to kind of meet people and just get things going, really. 165 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:52,920 Definitely. And I think as a female founder as well, there's a lot of chatter. I see a 166 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:57,360 lot of chatter on LinkedIn about how it's such a struggle for female founders in particular 167 00:13:57,360 --> 00:14:02,960 to get investment. Yeah, yeah. So it's just a huge, you know, it's just a huge issue, 168 00:14:02,960 --> 00:14:05,840 isn't it really that people are still kind of tackling, but it's so great that there 169 00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:10,960 are companies like yours that are getting that funding and are sort of being allowed 170 00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:14,720 to take their business idea to the next level. I think that's brilliant. Definitely. Yeah, 171 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:19,280 I think the biggest challenge with female founders is there's so many opportunities 172 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:24,320 for us that that specifically are around support. I think there's so many great kind 173 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:30,760 of like networks of support systems, mentorship and networking opportunities, but ultimately 174 00:14:30,760 --> 00:14:38,080 just like any business, we need funding. So I think it's great to have that network element, 175 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,840 but ultimately we need investment. And I think at the current state that we're in, I think 176 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:47,080 it's something like a one to four ratio, men versus women who get funding, do you know 177 00:14:47,080 --> 00:14:52,240 what I mean? And even my experience in raising investment, the majority of people I pitch 178 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:59,360 to are men. So there's not even a lot of female VCs, female investors, angel investors. 179 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:04,560 It's, yeah, it's a difficult space to be in. But I think, you know, I, in my career, 180 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:08,480 I've met some incredible female founders and, you know, it's getting better, but I think 181 00:15:08,480 --> 00:15:12,000 there's definitely more to be done for sure. Oh, for sure. I think it's important just 182 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:17,360 not to be brought down by the negative, you know, the negativity surrounding those conversations. 183 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:21,320 100%. It's quite a depressing story, but then there are success stories like yours that 184 00:15:21,320 --> 00:15:26,840 goes to show that, yeah, there is a way it can be done. Yeah, definitely, definitely. 185 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:33,560 I think it's just about, you know, really just going for it and not to feel kind of 186 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:40,160 intimidated by any statistics or any, and, you know, any kind of room that you walk into, 187 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:45,840 you know, if you're one of a couple of women, try not to let that kind of dull your sparkle 188 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:49,280 a little bit or kind of make you think, oh, maybe I'm not worthy to be here. Maybe I'm 189 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:53,360 not big enough, fast enough, strong enough, do you know what I mean? Like just kind of 190 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:59,040 being that mindset of, you know, I deserve to be here too, and I deserve to have the 191 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:03,240 investment just like anyone else. I deserve to be part of the conversation. So just have, 192 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:08,320 I think, confidence for me has been something that I've tried to actively work on in those 193 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:13,160 kind of situations. It's really key, isn't it? And do you think having a strong story 194 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:22,080 is crucial to getting investors on board? 100%. I think people buy into why you do something 195 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:27,640 versus what you're doing always. So that's why the best pictures I've ever watched, they 196 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:33,600 always lead with why they're doing it. So, you know, is it a family member that's inspired 197 00:16:33,600 --> 00:16:40,080 you? Is it an event in your life that's triggered this idea? So starting with the why is always 198 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:46,440 the way to kind of capture someone's interest. I think if you, the best and the worst pictures 199 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:50,760 I've seen, the best is definitely story-led. The worst pictures I see are often people that 200 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:56,880 just reel off stats and data and facts, and you don't have that emotional connection to 201 00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:02,080 what they're saying. So I think there's no heart to it. There's no heart to it. You know, 202 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,480 people relate to people, and I think, you know, having a great product is obviously essential, 203 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:11,160 but don't lead with that. Lead with like you as a founder and like why you're doing it. 204 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:13,960 I think that's there's always so much more strength to that. 205 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:18,880 For sure. I think the story is almost as important as the product that you've got, isn't it? 206 00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:26,480 100%. Yeah. I mean, the story, I would say, is the reason we won most of the funding is 207 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:30,800 because people went, you know, I told my brother's story and the challenges he's had, and the 208 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:34,600 number of judges, people in the audience that would say, my gosh, my little girl's got 209 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:38,120 excellent, all my niece has got excellent, all my grandfather's got excellent. You know, 210 00:17:38,120 --> 00:17:42,920 there's that people instantly relate to it, and then they can kind of understand why you're 211 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:46,480 doing it. Then there's an element of trust, and then they know that you're coming from 212 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:52,640 a place of not financial motivation. And it's kind of an emotive motivation instead. 213 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:57,520 Of course. And not only is your product functional, but it also looks great. How did you find 214 00:17:57,520 --> 00:18:01,680 the right balance when you were creating it? Because obviously, I'm sure that lots of people 215 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:05,600 would have just gone down the medical clinic or you actually wanted something that looked 216 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:11,800 nice on the bathroom shelf. Yeah, definitely. I think the way that I approached it is that 217 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:17,800 having my eczema myself, my brother having eczema, and you'll know as well if you struggle 218 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:23,840 with it, when you shop for eczema clothing, eczema creams, it's all very white, it's 219 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:29,440 all very boring. And for children, there was that element of like constantly feeling like 220 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:35,160 you're being medicated. So the way I approached it is let's start off by making these look 221 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:42,400 like almost toys, and then working backwards from that. So very kind of like fun colors, 222 00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:46,800 nice shapes. All of our products are kind of like sea life creatures, because it's all 223 00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:54,480 about kind of that cooling element as well. So yeah, that's kind of where I took my inspiration 224 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:59,000 from. And I also wanted to keep it quite minimal as well. Like I think Apple do a really nice 225 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:04,080 job of very kind of like, even though our scratch star is a starfish and our roller 226 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:08,400 is the shark, and we've got some other like little puffed fish products coming out, even 227 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:12,560 though there's a nod to that character, it's still very like minimal. So that was the kind 228 00:19:12,560 --> 00:19:18,520 of a design approach that I took. Just looking at companies like Apple and how they kind 229 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:23,640 of design their products was really inspiring. Yeah, very chic, very streamlined, aren't 230 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:29,920 they? Yeah. And obviously it's a medical product. And I've got to do when I first heard about 231 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:33,560 it, because you know, there is like I say, you're just told, don't scratch, don't scratch, 232 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:38,240 and it's the worst thing you can do. Yeah, that kind of in mind, how did you make sure 233 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:43,120 that you were kind of adhering to all of the kind of medical regulations? I mean, I'm 234 00:19:43,120 --> 00:19:47,400 sure that was a huge challenge just to make sure that your product was safe and that was 235 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:56,080 considered like approved for use by the public. Yeah, definitely. So I did my first trade 236 00:19:56,080 --> 00:20:02,760 show when I first launched the brand, and I had six samples. And the way that I started 237 00:20:02,760 --> 00:20:06,880 it was just doing market research. I asked people to hold and fill the product. We did 238 00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:12,160 a user trial with over 200 parents and just got their feedback. That was the initial kind 239 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:17,360 of approach. And then when we got their feedback, we then categorized the product. So what 240 00:20:17,360 --> 00:20:23,440 do we want these products to do? And what are our claims? So our claims were itch relief, 241 00:20:23,440 --> 00:20:28,000 cooling the skin, soothing itchiness. So these are the main things that we wanted to claim. 242 00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:33,800 And then working back from that, we reached out to some kind of classification experts. 243 00:20:33,800 --> 00:20:39,280 So they classify medical devices, they put our product in the category of like a class 244 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:45,720 one medical device. So then that moved us on to a process that's kind of like biocompatibility 245 00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:53,680 testing, cytotoxicity testing. So all the materials are certified, say for skin contact. 246 00:20:53,680 --> 00:21:01,800 And then we also engaged with kind of like medical papers, medical research papers, looking 247 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:07,760 into cold and itchiness and the research that looking into massage and itchiness, looking 248 00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:13,400 into how different habit reversals and distraction techniques. So we took all this research that 249 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:20,160 existed around the efficacy and safety of cold, texture, massage, distraction. And we 250 00:21:20,160 --> 00:21:25,000 almost put it into one product that we then independently certified as well. So there's 251 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:30,360 all these layers. And something that we do do for all our products as well is we, we're 252 00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:36,280 not, we don't legally have to do this, but we get all the products tested under toy regulations 253 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:42,080 as well. So we do too. So we've got this like layer of safety. So just to make sure that 254 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:48,480 like things like for example, choke testing or drop testing or, you know, all these kind 255 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:53,760 of very toy specific things that we also do as a layer on top as well. So yeah, I'm a 256 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:58,200 bit of a nude when it comes to compliance. So I try and just do all the right things 257 00:21:58,200 --> 00:21:59,200 if that makes sense. 258 00:21:59,200 --> 00:22:02,360 Well, I think you have to be a nerd. I think you've got a medical product. I think it just 259 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:03,360 definitely. 260 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:05,360 You have to. Yeah. 261 00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:09,480 It sounds like it's a true labor of love. I mean, what were the most interesting insights 262 00:22:09,480 --> 00:22:13,320 from getting your customer feedback and doing all your research? Was there anything that 263 00:22:13,320 --> 00:22:17,880 really kind of jumped out at you that then shaped how the product developed? 264 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:25,880 So originally funny enough, all the tech, so all the bumps on the star rolled. So one 265 00:22:25,880 --> 00:22:31,120 of our initial prototypes that we tested with consumers was all these little bumps were 266 00:22:31,120 --> 00:22:35,680 kind of like rotating. And then one of the challenges we had there was like hygiene because 267 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:41,840 we didn't want any area of the product to be able to get dirty or have a bacteria or 268 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:49,920 be really difficult to clean. So we did some tests then we gave 10 people just non rolling 269 00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:55,280 bumps, 10 people rolling bumps. And we actually asked them to compare the sensation. And because 270 00:22:55,280 --> 00:23:00,920 it's smooth metal, it's actually really hard to tell if it's rolling or not. So we were 271 00:23:00,920 --> 00:23:07,080 able to improve the hygiene of the product without sacrificing feel. And then that drove 272 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:13,280 us into doing a one part metal plate versus all these like little rolling balls. But we 273 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:18,760 were able to keep the rolling ball massage aspect with a larger product. But that can 274 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:22,960 be disassembled and cleaned. So it was kind of like this, the scratch attack roller was 275 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:29,160 born from a challenge that we face the scratch star and then it ended up pivoting to two 276 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:34,640 blocks. But your product development is like that sometimes you just have to compare and 277 00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:39,200 contrast and get different feedback on different designs and everything. Sometimes the design 278 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:45,920 you think people are going to like. I thought the rolling ball is definitely the winner, 279 00:23:45,920 --> 00:23:49,680 even though it's a challenge with cleaning it, you know, sensation wise, I think it feels 280 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:53,200 better. But then when you actually speak to a group of people and they say doesn't feel 281 00:23:53,200 --> 00:23:59,360 any different than that drives your thinking then. Definitely. And obviously, you know, 282 00:23:59,360 --> 00:24:02,680 as you say, you have to be so patient with this process that you make sure you get the 283 00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:06,760 product that's actually going to work for people. Yeah, the product you brought it to 284 00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:12,560 market. And so let's talk scaling because obviously that's a whole other kind of challenge 285 00:24:12,560 --> 00:24:21,240 in itself. Yeah, it's so tricky. Yeah, because scaling is we had so we sold out of the scratch 286 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:29,760 star. I think we've sold out now four or five times. Because we couldn't quite crack like 287 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:34,440 supply and demand. So for example, we put a video on TikTok, we go viral, and then we'd 288 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:39,400 sell out and it was oh my gosh, I've got an out reorder, like you can't predict sometimes 289 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:43,600 like what video is going to land and how your marketing efforts are going to go. So that 290 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:48,520 was like a couple of years ago, one of the biggest challenges we found to make to strike 291 00:24:48,520 --> 00:24:53,480 that balance. But how we've kind of overcome that now is we've got we've got a couple of 292 00:24:53,480 --> 00:25:00,840 supply chains we just signed off on a UK manufacturing project. So a lot of our scratch 293 00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:05,560 stars now will be made in the UK, which is amazing because now what that means is that 294 00:25:05,560 --> 00:25:09,520 there's quicker lead times they're here we're selling them where we make them. So it's just 295 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:14,600 so much easier to order stock is lead times for example, you could be looking at three 296 00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:20,000 months for a batch, do you know what I mean? So yeah, managing that stock versus demand 297 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:25,000 isn't there's like an art to it that I think most hardware businesses will relate to is 298 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,680 really hard to crack in the early days. 299 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:32,280 For sure. Imagine you must feel like you have to clone yourself sometimes to sort of get 300 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:33,280 around all these different 301 00:25:33,280 --> 00:25:38,600 And you almost have to be a bit of like have a crystal ball almost to be like, okay, we 302 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:43,640 know we're doing a couple of posts on Instagram, but sometimes they flop and then other times 303 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:48,440 you get this amazing response and sometimes it's really hard to predict like how it's 304 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:53,560 going to translate to sales. So yeah, it's a bit of like a balancing act really and then 305 00:25:53,560 --> 00:25:57,400 obviously if if sales are picking up you then it's got a scale down your marketing so you 306 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:01,800 don't want to do big marketing activities if you haven't got the stock. So it's yeah, 307 00:26:01,800 --> 00:26:03,520 it's just like a balance constantly. 308 00:26:03,520 --> 00:26:08,160 Definitely. And I think a lot of brands sometimes make the mistake of thinking well they've gone 309 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:12,920 viral so that's it they don't have to do any more work. And look at the likes of Clinique 310 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:16,280 who's like Black Honey Lipstick. I don't know if you saw it like a few years ago it went 311 00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:18,840 viral on TikTok. Yeah. 312 00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,720 And then there's recently news that Sephora are like dropping the makeup line from their 313 00:26:22,720 --> 00:26:27,360 stores. So it just goes to show that you can go viral on social media but you need to kind 314 00:26:27,360 --> 00:26:32,200 of ensure that longevity over time. I mean, how do you kind of tackle that when it comes 315 00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:35,880 to kind of maintaining the shelf life of your brand in the long term? 316 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:41,520 I think the long term goal for us is to so I've worked quite hard to create a product 317 00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:49,120 range that is very kind of specialised. So every product that we launch is for a specific 318 00:26:49,120 --> 00:26:53,240 area on the body. So we've recently launched like a scalp scratcher that's specifically 319 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,520 for scalp psoriasis, scalp eczema. 320 00:26:56,520 --> 00:27:02,160 In a couple of months we're launching a little finger scratcher. We're launching pajamas. 321 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:07,760 We've got pajamas coming in next month. So yeah, there's loads of products and projects 322 00:27:07,760 --> 00:27:14,600 happening. And what I want to get to is this beautiful range of products for every area 323 00:27:14,600 --> 00:27:20,000 of the body that will feel itchy. And every product is also designed to last a lifetime. 324 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:23,920 So it's not kind of like a moisturizer or something that you have to buy every month. 325 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:28,720 It's something that you invest in and then you almost got it for life. So I think when 326 00:27:28,720 --> 00:27:34,600 it comes to longevity, it's about making sure that we've designed products that are designed 327 00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:41,040 to last. So there's that trust and there's that, you know, that long term safety of using 328 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:47,760 the products. And then also there's that piece of creating a beautiful range where if you 329 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:53,440 do get a flare up on your scalp, you know, you've got a product to help. And then maybe 330 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:57,840 at some point in the future, then I would also love to do our own skincare. Like that 331 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:03,440 would be the dream. Yeah, like skincare that's perfectly designed to use with our products, 332 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:08,560 you know, we're a small team, but like we have got a lot of like new product development 333 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:10,040 happening, which is really exciting. 334 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:14,280 That's fantastic. And how do you decide what to kind of innovate next when it comes to 335 00:28:14,280 --> 00:28:16,080 like MPD? 336 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:23,680 Honestly, 99% of the time is driven by comments on social media. So the scalp scratcher came 337 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:31,260 from, he did a video with a creator called Rosie, who has lived with severe psoriasis 338 00:28:31,260 --> 00:28:35,800 all over her body for a number of years. And she suffers with scalp psoriasis. So we did 339 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:40,440 a collaboration video with her. And there were so many comments with people saying, I've 340 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:44,520 got it on my scalp, I've got it on my scalp. The scalp seemed to be the main pain point 341 00:28:44,520 --> 00:28:50,880 when living with psoriasis. So the scratcher wasn't suitable, the roller certainly wasn't 342 00:28:50,880 --> 00:28:56,560 suitable. So that then made us design something medical grade for scalp psoriasis. So it's 343 00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:03,320 very kind of community led. And I always encourage people if they are living with a skin condition 344 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:08,000 and itchy skin condition, and they have our scratched out or any of our products, and 345 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:13,280 they're not, maybe it's not quite suitable for a specific area or whatever it is, always 346 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:17,760 reach out because we're such a nimble company, we can actually design and launch products 347 00:29:17,760 --> 00:29:24,360 so quickly. Because we've got our medical suits now, we have that flexibility. So yeah, 348 00:29:24,360 --> 00:29:29,280 I always say speak to me because literally the scalp scratcher came from comments on social 349 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:36,840 media. So there's always a way to, you know, put your, you know, ideas in and actually 350 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:39,480 be part of like the journey with us, which is so exciting. 351 00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:42,480 That's fantastic. So they can just drop you a DM and you'd be like, okay. 352 00:29:42,480 --> 00:29:43,480 I make it. Yeah. 353 00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:46,480 Not guarantee I can make everything, but you know. 354 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:50,520 No, of course. I think it's definitely a benefit of being like you say, like a nimble 355 00:29:50,520 --> 00:29:54,720 indie brand that you can react to that very reactive. Yeah. 356 00:29:54,720 --> 00:29:59,480 100%. And also, when it comes to beauty and wellness 357 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:04,240 in general, I think there's a lot of overlap between the two categories. I think of what 358 00:30:04,240 --> 00:30:09,600 we were saying earlier about how the stories can be so emotive and people can connect a 359 00:30:09,600 --> 00:30:16,200 lot more and just, yeah, they can invest in the brand a lot more quickly. Do you see that 360 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:20,720 kind of growing over time, that kind of beauty and wellness category crossover? 361 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:26,720 100%. I think especially with our products, because we ask, we do sit within that medical 362 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:32,760 device zone, but there's a lot of crossover with kinds of, for example, there's a lot 363 00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:37,560 of scalp scratches on the market. There's beauty rollers. There's, you know, there's 364 00:30:37,560 --> 00:30:42,360 all these kind of other products. They're not certified, say for skin condition, but 365 00:30:42,360 --> 00:30:49,040 there is that crossover. If someone did have acne or did have sensitive skin by investing 366 00:30:49,040 --> 00:30:53,840 in our products, you know that you're getting that medical safety aspect, even though you 367 00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:59,600 might use it for a cosmetic purpose. So for example, my mum gets really puffy eyes in 368 00:30:59,600 --> 00:31:04,520 the mornings and she bought this roller and it was just awful. It was like really poor 369 00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:11,320 quality. It ended up staining her skin or something crazy. And then obviously her, her 370 00:31:11,320 --> 00:31:16,120 baby, my mum, she gets a lot of free cosy care products naturally. And you know, she 371 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:21,440 uses our rolling out. So there's a lot of crossover with like cosmetic needs and healthcare 372 00:31:21,440 --> 00:31:27,600 needs. So you may not have a skin condition. You may, for example, suffer with sunburn 373 00:31:27,600 --> 00:31:33,160 in the summer or you might suffer with puffy eyes or you might suffer with, you know, just 374 00:31:33,160 --> 00:31:38,280 just kind of like a cosmetic need versus like a medical need that these products work for 375 00:31:38,280 --> 00:31:42,600 as well. So we definitely sit within that space of like wellness slash medical. We've 376 00:31:42,600 --> 00:31:46,960 done all the work for medical, but there's the use of the product definitely causes over 377 00:31:46,960 --> 00:31:48,800 to kind of cosmetic needs as well. 378 00:31:48,800 --> 00:31:53,200 And what advice would you give other people who are looking to move into that space of 379 00:31:53,200 --> 00:31:58,160 like beauty and wellness, sort of in terms of just sort of creating a beauty brand? Whereas 380 00:31:58,160 --> 00:32:01,680 like, I guess when it's sort of, there's a wellness element, it's very different, isn't 381 00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:06,240 it? What kind of advice would you give people going into that arena? 382 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:12,560 I think the main thing is, oh, there's a couple of things. I think making your brand beautiful 383 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:17,640 is especially in the age of social media is so important. You know, people, there's an 384 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:23,360 element of trust. If they see you've got a beautiful logo, you've got beautiful messaging, 385 00:32:23,360 --> 00:32:30,880 a beautiful website, there's instant credibility. So I think investing in a really strong brand 386 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:38,960 visual early on is really important, not to name names, but there was, I entered a beauty 387 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:43,800 specific pitching competition and there was a couple of companies that are fantastic ideas, 388 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:52,200 like very heavy tech. It was like a wearable product, but it crossed over to like, it was 389 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:58,680 like a wearable ring, I think it was. And her pitch was about kind of, you know, it's 390 00:32:58,680 --> 00:33:04,800 fashion first and it looks great, but it also has this kind of wellness element to like 391 00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:09,920 track in your, I think it was your blood pressure and a few other things, similar to like an 392 00:33:09,920 --> 00:33:15,480 Apple Watch kind of thing. But the brand wasn't there and the investors didn't believe in 393 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:20,280 it because they couldn't see the quality of the brand. So I think having a brand that 394 00:33:20,280 --> 00:33:26,800 stands out visually, especially the age of social media is so important. And also really 395 00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:35,080 doing your research into what's out there already, having a clear idea of who your customers 396 00:33:35,080 --> 00:33:40,320 are, what they care about, what do they want to see from a brand. Like that's always really, 397 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:44,000 really important. And I think for us, just like building a community, like that's been 398 00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:50,280 the bigger strength is like really trying to connect with people, really trying to put 399 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:56,120 ourselves out there. I get mums, I get dads, I get parents constantly sending me videos 400 00:33:56,120 --> 00:34:00,440 and saying we love, you know, we love your brand and sharing that on our socials. 401 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:02,120 I love your story reporting. Yeah, it's lovely. 402 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,200 I think it makes a difference in people's lives. 403 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:07,720 Yeah, it's so nice. So I think, yeah, a bit of a waffly answer there, but there's so 404 00:34:07,720 --> 00:34:15,240 much that goes into, into kind of like your brand and your credibility. It's, yes, there's 405 00:34:15,240 --> 00:34:17,280 so many different aspects to it really. 406 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:22,760 For sure. And I'm sure you must worry about, because your product looks so great, you must 407 00:34:22,760 --> 00:34:27,640 be concerned about copycats. I don't know whether you've encountered any so far along 408 00:34:27,640 --> 00:34:34,360 the journey, but what is the best way of kind of safeguarding against other companies ripping 409 00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:39,720 off your design? I mean, is it just kind of just getting it patented or is it more complex 410 00:34:39,720 --> 00:34:40,720 than that? 411 00:34:40,720 --> 00:34:47,680 I think, yeah, so we weren't kind of crazy on our IP portfolio. So we're completely covered 412 00:34:47,680 --> 00:34:55,040 with kind of patents, trademark and design rights in the US, UK, Europe, China. Like 413 00:34:55,040 --> 00:35:02,880 we've really gone comprehensive with that. And I think another way to kind of safeguard 414 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:10,520 yourself from that is just really creating a quality product, because I think ultimately 415 00:35:10,520 --> 00:35:17,240 any good idea will naturally have ripoffs or copycats. You can't fight it. It's just, it's 416 00:35:17,240 --> 00:35:21,800 consumerism. It's kind of the world we live in. Everyone wants something for a cheaper 417 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:26,640 price. They want it quicker. They want it cheaper. But ultimately, I feel quite strongly 418 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:33,880 that I would, I'm not a parent, but just relating to my brother. I would rather invest in a 419 00:35:33,880 --> 00:35:41,200 brand that's done all the certification, all the work, all the safety features invested 420 00:35:41,200 --> 00:35:46,240 in really high quality materials to know that I can use this on my skin and I'm not going 421 00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:53,200 to get an infection or get harmed versus kind of winging it off a brand on Amazon, for example, 422 00:35:53,200 --> 00:35:57,760 for a similar thing. So I'm quite, I'm quite happy with the work that's gone into kind 423 00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:03,040 of safety and compliance. So because I want to be the Dyson of these products, you know 424 00:36:03,040 --> 00:36:08,480 what I mean? I don't want to be, you know, the next best thing. So I mean, yeah, there'll 425 00:36:08,480 --> 00:36:13,600 always be competition. I think we're in a good position at the minute. We've not seen 426 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:19,440 it yet. But I am not naive to the fact that it's probably coming. So yeah, I think the 427 00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:25,600 only thing I can control is doing things the best way I can do them and creating the best 428 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:30,760 quality products and then just relying on the credibility of our brand. That's kind 429 00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:33,680 of, you know, that's, that's kind of what I want to do. 430 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:37,080 For sure. And I was going to say, I think you're well on your way to giving James Dyson 431 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:38,080 a run for his money. 432 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:41,080 The female Dyson. That's what I want to do. 433 00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:46,160 Yeah, that's what we need. And I know that eXma as a topic, it's not traditionally a 434 00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:50,400 sexy topic and people as a result don't really talk about it. But obviously there needs to 435 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:54,520 be a conversation surrounding issues, like given what we've just discussed, that it affects 436 00:36:54,520 --> 00:37:01,920 so many people in such a, you know, severe way. And what is, what is like your brand 437 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:06,920 doing to help kind of move the needle in that respect and kind of help educate more people 438 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:12,880 about eXma and how it affects how it affects you and how you can treat it. 439 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:17,600 Yeah, definitely. That's such a nice question. So next week, we actually have a really exciting 440 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:24,440 campaign coming up called the hashtag just stop scratching campaign. So the idea is that 441 00:37:24,440 --> 00:37:29,560 that is probably the worst advice you can give to someone with eXma is just stop scratching 442 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:36,880 like it's so easy to do. So the idea is we're going to share some testimonials from children 443 00:37:36,880 --> 00:37:41,640 and adults with all sorts of itching skin conditions. So we've got models with harlequin 444 00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:47,160 xleosus eXma psoriasis, and they're actually going to share a bit of good advice on how 445 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:53,440 to live with a skin condition. And we're also giving away a free scratch saviour guide. 446 00:37:53,440 --> 00:38:01,480 So it'll have loads of information on why we scratch, coping mechanisms, mental health 447 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:07,960 support connections with the community, things that you can actively do to just stop scratching 448 00:38:07,960 --> 00:38:13,680 in brackets. And just that kind of, I want to do more of that free advice because we 449 00:38:13,680 --> 00:38:18,840 do so much research. And I think it's about not gatekeeping that it's about sharing that 450 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:22,840 100%. So yeah, so that's what we're going to do next week and that's going to be freely 451 00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:30,040 available. And yeah, we've got an app launching as well where we can connect, you know, patients 452 00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:35,960 with information and that will be a medical device in its own right as well. So yeah, 453 00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:41,480 we're actively trying to give back as much as we can when it comes to research, education. 454 00:38:41,480 --> 00:38:47,000 I've done a lot of work as well in the press with BBC News on raising awareness of my brother's 455 00:38:47,000 --> 00:38:52,560 story with Topical Sarah withdrawal. One of our biggest videos on TikTok is me sharing 456 00:38:52,560 --> 00:38:59,360 my granny hands because of my steroid cream use. So yeah, I think just by sharing my personal 457 00:38:59,360 --> 00:39:03,640 journey, my brother's story and the research that we do every day, that's how we're trying 458 00:39:03,640 --> 00:39:04,640 to give back. 459 00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:07,360 It sounds brilliant. Well, I'll put all the links to that in the show. 460 00:39:07,360 --> 00:39:10,040 Oh, Millie said, yeah, thank you. 461 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:16,080 What is your kind of vision for the brand? Now, we've spoken about sort of product avenues 462 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:21,160 that you hope to go into, but do you have any other kind of long term plans for where 463 00:39:21,160 --> 00:39:22,600 you'd like to take the brand? 464 00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:29,480 Yeah, I mean, in my mind, our brand will be market leaders of instant literally around 465 00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:36,760 the world. You know, we've put that, we've put that work in with US patents, with comprehensive 466 00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:41,200 IP. So I would love to be able to, I mean, we get so many messages when you're launching 467 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:44,760 in the US, when you're launching in Canada, when you're launching in Australia. 468 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:45,760 What is that easy? 469 00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:51,520 I'm like, oh my gosh, if I could send products to you in America right now, I 100% would. 470 00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:58,080 But the red tape and the, I think what, and naturally why would you, but consumers don't 471 00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:03,480 realise like the challenge with launching medical devices in the States, for example, 472 00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:05,640 when you're not based there full time as well. 473 00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:09,760 100%. It's so hard. And you know, we've been working on it for a couple of years. We have 474 00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:17,120 now got officially our FDA registration. And we are in the process of figuring out logistics 475 00:40:17,120 --> 00:40:21,720 and actually getting set up out there. So it's coming. It's just a little bit of a slow 476 00:40:21,720 --> 00:40:27,040 burner just because of all the red tape. But yeah, I think for us, we want to go global. 477 00:40:27,040 --> 00:40:32,160 We want everyone to be able to access this. And I would also love to be able to work with 478 00:40:32,160 --> 00:40:36,960 you know, organisations like the NHS. So, you know, if you do go to your doctor and you're 479 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:41,880 diagnosed with eczema, instead of the first point of call being here's a steroid cream 480 00:40:41,880 --> 00:40:46,320 that in the long term, you could, you know, there's all these potential risks, topical 481 00:40:46,320 --> 00:40:51,160 steroid addiction and topical steroid withdrawal being the main ones that really kind of instill 482 00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:56,440 a lot of fear in people and rightly so because it is such an awful condition. Instead of 483 00:40:56,440 --> 00:41:03,400 going straight to that, if we can offer more of an educational piece on diet, lifestyle, 484 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:08,960 stress management, safe scratching and offer our products as a first point of call, then 485 00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:13,600 then, you know, we could potentially avoid millions of people needing steroids and millions 486 00:41:13,600 --> 00:41:17,400 of people having to use antibiotics because they've got an infection. So that's the kind 487 00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:19,800 of overarching goal, I guess. 488 00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:24,240 Incredible. Well, given what you've achieved thus far, I think you'll have no problem with 489 00:41:24,240 --> 00:41:25,240 the, yeah. 490 00:41:25,240 --> 00:41:31,000 Thank you. I'm going to keep cracking on in the background and fingers crossed we'll get 491 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:32,000 there in the end for sure. 492 00:41:32,000 --> 00:41:37,920 Oh, I have every faith. And how's your brother now? How is his eczema? Like is it, has it 493 00:41:37,920 --> 00:41:42,920 been a marked improvement since kind of you've got on this journey and created all these 494 00:41:42,920 --> 00:41:46,960 new products? Has he noticed like a tangible, I'm sure he, I'm sure there has been a tangible 495 00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:47,960 difference, right? 496 00:41:47,960 --> 00:41:52,680 He's no longer dependent on steroids, which is such an incredible achievement because 497 00:41:52,680 --> 00:41:59,000 a lot of people may feel kind of trapped in that cycle. So I think even him not using 498 00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:04,480 medication that is making it worse is such a huge win for him. Anyone that's gone through 499 00:42:04,480 --> 00:42:10,800 TSW will know that it isn't a linear journey. So he had, he's been going through it for 500 00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:16,720 years. He has had some incredible morts where his skin has healed. He went back to work. 501 00:42:16,720 --> 00:42:21,960 He was really thriving. He's recently had a really bad allergic reaction, which has 502 00:42:21,960 --> 00:42:26,520 thrown him back a little bit. But just like my mum, he's always got a lot of freebie 503 00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:34,000 cosy cares to use when he's struggling. And I think he, yeah, he's made like an incredible 504 00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:40,440 improvement since being addicted to the medication. When he first stopped using steroids, he was 505 00:42:40,440 --> 00:42:45,560 bedbound. He couldn't shower. He couldn't walk. He lost so much weight. His mental health 506 00:42:45,560 --> 00:42:52,240 was just horrific. But looking back to that now, he's back at work. He is thriving. He 507 00:42:52,240 --> 00:42:58,360 is able to swim, go to the gym. His quality of life has improved. He has had moments along 508 00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:02,560 the journey like recently where he's had an allergic reaction that's set him back. But 509 00:43:02,560 --> 00:43:08,480 overall, his life has just, he's so much clearer now on what his condition is versus before 510 00:43:08,480 --> 00:43:13,200 it was kind of like what's happening to my body. So yeah, he's so much better. And I 511 00:43:13,200 --> 00:43:17,720 went through TSW as well. But even though we're siblings, it just goes to show how different 512 00:43:17,720 --> 00:43:22,680 your journeys can be. Like I went through TSW for nine months and now I've been clear 513 00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:30,120 for nearly two years and I don't use any medication now. So yeah, it just goes to show like how 514 00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:33,160 different your journeys can be with a skin condition. 515 00:43:33,160 --> 00:43:39,000 Definitely. Well, do give him my best and I'm so glad he's doing well. Lauren, you're 516 00:43:39,000 --> 00:43:43,520 an absolute interviewer's dream. Like you've provided so much amazing insights that I think 517 00:43:43,520 --> 00:43:48,840 people will get so much out of. So thank you so much for your time and it's been really 518 00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:50,320 lovely chatting with you. 519 00:43:50,320 --> 00:44:05,720 Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. I've loved it. 520 00:44:05,720 --> 00:44:09,560 I hope you enjoyed that episode. All links will be in the show notes and feel free to 521 00:44:09,560 --> 00:44:15,040 visit SmartBeautyCreative.com or visit us over on Instagram to find out more about what 522 00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:19,320 we do. And if you enjoyed listening, please don't forget to rate and review Smart Beauty 523 00:44:19,320 --> 00:44:22,600 on iTunes as it helps people find us. See you next time.