Jo Brand’s journey into skincare began with an unexpected conversation over coffee and grew into a passion for natural and organic products. Jo’s Skincare Brand became more than just products; it offered comfort, science-backed care and confidence during some of her most profound moments. Building her business as a solo mother while navigating personal loss, she found comfort in the daily ritual of caring for her skin. Here, Jo shares the story behind her brand, the challenges she has faced along the way, and her hopes and dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
Skincare first came to my attention during a coffee chat that was originally about something completely different. The conversation soon turned to education around our largest organ, our skin. I’ve always loved learning, and the conversation flowed and led to me trialling a range of products that sounded too good to be true.
The other inspiration was the woman who was sitting opposite me. She was 63 years old at the time, but she had the skin of a 25-year-old. This sparked the conversation that led me into the skincare world – a journey that would forever change my love for self-care and skincare.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
Probably like many – messy, with a large dose of homework to be done!
What made it simple was trialling some products that aligned with my desire to use natural and organic products. I had never spent time understanding and learning about our skin and its layers, the effects of ageing over time and how to support that process by feeding it nutrients, much like we do for the rest of our body. Fuelling yet another organ – our skin being the largest.
I started with nothing but an eager attitude to learn after seeing the results from 30 days.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
The biggest breakthrough moment was when I had spent years learning, using products and trying to do everything on a very tight budget as a solo mother. One day, I shared my passion project with someone who loved the idea and offered investment.
What made it easier was trialling products that aligned with my values and desire to use natural and organic skincare. Before then, I had never really spent time understanding our skin, the layers within it, the impact of ageing over time, or how important it is to nourish and support it with nutrients – much like we do with the rest of our body.
I started with nothing more than an eager attitude to learn, especially after seeing noticeable results within 30 days.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Hmm, that’s a hard one for any parent, let alone a solo parent. However, my greatest accomplishment is raising my son. I find if you make the time to connect every day, laugh every day and have those baseline foundations in place, it’s not so hard. Communication has been key, and if I was overworked one day, I would make it a point to go and do something fun with my son, giving him my full attention, which has a give-and-take result. I love being a mum. It was important that even though I have dreams and responsibilities, nothing should take away from the simple act of giving your child a daily dose of “time and love”. That is set in stone and has helped me keep my own inner child very much alive.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
This answer is loaded. So loaded that I’m in the middle of writing Part 1 of my memoir, sharing the story of my first 40 years. It’s called Against all Odds ‘Words Unspoken’. To condense a long story, and not include anything prior to the age of 34, it would look a little something like this:
- At 34 years old, four years after having my son, I opened myself to the idea of dating a man. He was the first man I brought into my son’s life.
- Six months after we started dating, my big sister informed the family that she had stage 3 bowel cancer. This was the reason for sitting down for the coffee chat that turned to skincare. We were originally discussing cancer treatments.
- During the next nine months, my sister requested that if we were going to get married, we should do it soon if we wanted her there. Note: no one was thinking straight during this time, and my sister could’ve asked for anything and I would’ve said “yes”. I arranged a wedding within two months and set the date for around two months later. My sister passed away four and a half weeks before the wedding date.
- We married, but it was a blur as I was still in deep grief from losing our sister.
- A year after my sister passed, our mother passed unexpectedly from a ruptured aorta. I say that it was heartbreak. It’s not right for any parent to bury their child.
- After two deaths in close proximity, my new marriage then broke down and my husband left.
- COVID started not long after that, and I found us having to move house five times in five years.
- A year after Mum passed, we went on a family holiday to Hokitika and were enjoying a Saturday summer’s day, January 25th, when my niece’s partner, who was swimming in the river, got caught underwater and drowned.
- From the age of 32, I was building a health and wellness company to help workplaces in New Zealand get healthier and fitter. I started to launch this company around the time my sister became sick. Each time I launched this company with a team of 15 trainers in tow, someone died, and I would have to take a moment to breathe and then try again. I tried to launch my company four times, and COVID finally gave it the almighty kick into the ground that I could not recover from.
- This is a small peek into my past ten years, and the one thing that I could rely on to make me feel some sort of normality was my skincare routine. Without it, I truly feel I would look a lot older than I do after much loss and grief. Those who have experienced this know that you feel very dull during this period.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
If you love what you’re offering and it makes others feel good, that’s going to help you progress forward, no matter how fast or slow. There is much to learn when running your own business: marketing, accounting, understanding the FAQs and much more. But passion is important, in my opinion.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
I’m looking forward to extending my skincare range from six products to 13, adding products like a polishing scrub, clay mask, eye serum, Retinol A+E oil and more. I’m also excited to get this range into boutiques and businesses that share the same passion.
Visit the Jo’s Skincare Brand website to find out more, and connect with them on Facebook and Instagram.
