Rebecca McLeod is the founder of Made4Baby Natural Skincare, as well as being an Executive Board Member of Cosmetics New Zealand. She is passionate about providing babies and children with safe and natural skincare products. Here she talks about how she launched her business and their plans for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
I’ve always had a love for cosmetics. At school I developed an award winning lip balm for Youth Enterprise, when I lived in Paris I worked at the O.E.C.D on the impacts of chemicals in skincare for 34 countries and, after the birth of my first son 13 years ago, I realised the lack of natural skincare options available to babies so I developed Made4Baby and subsequently Made4Kids. Currently, I’m also an Executive Board Member of Cosmetics New Zealand.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
Walking down the beach of Mount Maunganui with my husband and co-founder James McLeod after he’d just survived his 13th corporate restructure, made us decide it was time we took control of our destiny. I begged the leading natural skincare manufacturer in New Zealand to work with me to develop my range, something they were very reluctant to do with start-ups. We picked up our first order with a borrowed horse float and, between my son’s sleeps, I ran the business out of a converted garage in our house in Orakei, Auckland.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
Not an innovation but a stroke of luck: being featured on a Chinese reality TV show that is viewed by 75 million people every episode and with no idea of how or why they featured Made4Baby Foaming Hair and Body Wash – but very happy they did!
