The makeup we all currently wear is filled with a whole host of nasties that damage our skin whilst also being hazardous for our health. Just imagine a world where makeup is hydrating, soothing and healing just like your skin care, not loaded with petro chemicals, potential carcinogens, free radicals and nasty fillers. A world where your makeup doesn’t cover up your imperfections, but actually works on healing and soothing, to reveal your best skin ever. Well that world is here: introducing MG Naturals! We spoke to business founder Kailah Shannon about how she got her business started.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
My babies. When my first daughter was born I was blown away to find all the unsafe chemicals and toxins that were in our foods and the products I was using. I had no idea! This sent me on a journey to detoxify our lives, pantry and cupboards. When searching for truly safe, natural cosmetics I couldn’t find any that really fit the bill. They all contained ingredients that I didn’t feel were 100% safe, so I began formulating my own. From these very humble beginnings MG Naturals was born.
The Launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
Very small and humble. The business really grew by word of mouth. I knew nothing of advertising or marketing and social media. I just formulated the products and my customers spread the word for me. It took a while for me to realise, wow, this is actually a business, not just a Mummy Hobby.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
Setting up our own website, now we can interact with customers on our own terms and offer the loyalty and rewards programs we want to. Before we were constrained by the platform we were using and we couldn’t offer our customers the incentives that we really wanted to. It feels so good to be able to finally reward our customers for sharing and loving our brand so much.
Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
It’s a constant juggling act. I am lucky that I have a great team and we all work from my home, so I can work around my girls’ needs. As much as I would love to work more and really push the business forward and get MG Naturals in the hands of more women across the globe, I have to remind myself that my girls will only be small for such a short time and that this is where I am needed most. They are my reason for getting up each morning and doing the dual job of Mum/Boss, because one day (very soon) they are going to want to wear makeup and I will have 100% safe, pure makeup for them to experiment with.
The Drive: What challenges have you overcome?
Getting our name out there has been a challenge, because for the first few years I was fixated on creating the safest, best products we could. Formulating makeup without toxic ingredients can be quite time consuming and challenging to get the same effect and feel as conventional makeup. But now that I have taken the step of assembling a dedicated team there is so much more time to concentrate on letting the world know we exist.
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