Spend just 15 minutes in a room with qualified skin therapist Kayla Houlihan and you can't help but walk out wanting to chase your stars (and implement an enriching skincare routine). Her refreshingly grounded perspective on business AND life, in general, is one that has gained the trust of thousands of Australian's. Did I mention she does business alongside her Golden Retriever Henry? Get to know Kayla in our interview below.
What does a typical day for Kayla Houlihan look like?
Not very glamorous! I think my job title should be ‘professional full-time emailer’ as I feel like that’s what I spend the majority of my day doing. I am definitely a self-proclaimed home-body so ecommerce land is the perfect place for me to spend my days. Plus, I have the lovely company of the Tribe staff most days so it’s a great balance between being super productive and having someone around to bounce ideas off.
What were you doing when you came up with the idea for Tribe Skincare?
I was working as a full-time skin therapist in a skin clinic that I founded with my sister. Our clients were screaming (not literally) for skincare for sensitive skin and at the time, there were no other brands on the market that focused on it. While skincare was heading in the direction of ‘doctor-formulated’ and ‘active’ I wanted to create a skincare brand that was heading in the complete opposite direction creating a super-gentle, all-natural skincare range.
A lot of us don’t know what we want to do after leaving school, did you always know you wanted to work in the skincare industry?
I wanted to go straight into beauty therapy after high school, but my teachers convinced me to go to University instead. I studied for 4 years to become a Secondary teacher and then ended up going back to study beauty therapy and skin treatments afterwards.
Tribe Skincare is incredibly popular but like all brands it had to start somewhere. How did you get the idea off the ground?
I definitely had a competitive advantage from having the skin clinic business for 3 years prior to starting Tribe Skincare, but it certainly wasn’t an ‘overnight success’. We had to work super hard on building brand trust as people with sensitive skin are hesitant to try new skincare (understandably). But when we started sharing real customers ‘before and after’ results and reviews, things really started taking off. We started doubling in revenue each month and it hasn’t slowed down since.
Out of all of your Tribe products which one is your favourite?
This changes daily! At the moment, the SPF30 day moisturiser is my absolute favourite but it hasn’t hit the market yet. We are super excited to launch it and get some feedback on it from the Tribe family. I also can’t go past the ‘Soothe Me! Anti-Redness Serum’. It’s so soothing and hydrating and people are getting the most amazing results with it!
It can be hard to not take things to heart. A lot of business owners are disheartened that they don’t receive the support they were hoping from their friends or close network, was this something you experienced?
It’s definitely something I have experienced, but I also don’t mind. I didn’t start the business to get support from friends and family, so I just think back to my ‘why’ in business and we are providing a solution for over 18,000 Australian’s with sensitive skin. Your friends may not be interested in business or what you are selling and that’s totally fine. Different friend and family offer different things in life and they may support you in other aspects of your life.
A part of being a business owner is putting your brand out there and by doing so many can, unfortunately, encounter trolls/ online hate. What would be your advice to someone experiencing this themselves?
I am really lucky that I haven’t ever had to deal with online haters or trolls. But I guess I would say ‘Hurt people hurt people’ and it’s a reflection of them and not you.
You are actually a gun at being a boss lady! Just saying. What do you do when you wind down and step away from work?
2 years into the business, I have become really good at switching off. I think it’s a vital skill for business owners to emotional survive business life. I have recently taken up pottery which is really therapeutic and relaxing. I also go to the beach with my dog every single day (rain, hail or shine) because he absolutely loves it!
Just for fun- what is the worst date you’ve ever been on?
Any first date where you know within 5 minutes that you aren’t clicking.
I actually met my current boyfriend at Lamby’s (trashy night club of Geelong) and we were both out drinking with friends. So that wasn’t the best ‘date’ scenario, but it was the right person so that made it a whole lot better.
Finally, what is the most valuable piece of advice you have ever been given?
There are 3 main aspects of any business – price, service and product. To be successful, you can only choose 2. With Tribe, we chose to have a high quality, Australian-made product and offer a great service of free express shipping to our customers, so we can’t offer this at a low price. Kmart has chosen to offer a great price and great service having lots of stores around the country, so the quality of their product is lacking. If you try to do all 3, you are likely to go backwards in business.
Store: www.tribeskincare.com.au
Insta: @tribeskincare
Fb: @tribeskincareau
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