Lisa and Tarryn’s passion for hemp stems from the life-changing difference it made in their lives. 3 years ago, they found themselves feeling overwhelmed and over caffeinated, doing the impossible, day in and day out, and so were others around them. Whether it was overwhelm, creaky joints, restless sleep, or the effects of ageing, it was clear there were a lot of people, including them, struggling with worries and niggles and unable to tackle the day to day powerfully. Designed with busy mums in mind and using nature’s most skin-loving ingredient – hemp seed oil – HERBeauty products were formulated with one focus in mind: to restore the body back into balance. They deliver unique hemp-based wellness and skincare products using organic hemp seed oil, grown with love here in New Zealand. Here, Lisa shares their business journey so far with The Natural Parent Magazine.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
Taz and I were both entrepreneurial mums with businesses we both ran from home in the holistic wellness space – this is how we met back in 2018. We shared the passion for helping people to become healthy through nutrition and movement – particularly busy mums.
Hemp came into our lives super organically through our own personal experiences, and when we collectively saw the impact we could create with it, NZ Hempress was born, which later became HERBeauty.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
We started really grass roots.
I was a solo mum with my 2 children, Fletcher and Everly, both under five years old and Taz and her husband Nick had their son, Orly, who was only four.
Although we lived on different islands, we would all meet up and tour New Zealand, sharing our passion for hemp and all the amazing things it does. It was challenging juggling kids on the road, but we also created the most amazing memories!
Seminars, expos, markets: you name it, we did it, with families in tow. It was like a travelling circus sometimes, but we wouldn’t have it any other way! The kids LOVED it.
The growth for NZ Hempress was very organic and things grew really fast.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
There have been many breakthroughs – hemp is a very tricky industry to navigate so we have faced many challenges along our journey.
Our biggest breakthrough would have been figuring out how to market hemp products properly with all the barriers and restrictions we are faced with.
It’s still challenging to this day, however a few years into it now, we have figured out a thing or two that only time, trial and error could teach you.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
Tarryn’s husband Nick is our CEO so is in the thick of the day to day with us, and my partner Dan formulates a few of our HERBeauty products – it’s very much a family affair! Our children have grown up with us building NZ Hempress and I can honestly say they’re just as passionate as we are about hemp – it’s very cute!
We make sure we prioritise our quality time with family and find that balance to be able to get everything done! Sometimes that means super late nights working, rocking the same mum bun for a few days and not getting out of trackies and an oversized tee while we supermum it out!
We have designed our business to suit our family lives and it just works! The aim is to not trade time with our family, but instead to include them and have fun along the way.
