EP186. Taking indie beauty entrepreneurship global

I recently took a long summer break, which was actually the first time in a decade, can you believe it, that I'd had a holiday where I hadn't still worked for Formula Botanica. Oh, the joys of being an entrepreneur. So I gave my team five months to prepare for my absence and then I deleted all of the work apps off my phone for six weeks and I didn't take my laptop with me anywhere. It was bliss. And when I came back, I felt refreshed and I decided to delve into our student database to see if we'd welcomed any new students in countries where we'd never taught before. Now, if you follow Formula Botanica, then you'll frequently see us talk about the number of countries we've taught in. So just so you know, there isn't a magical counter somewhere that keeps tabs on this for me, this has been me with a spreadsheet manually searching through our student database for 10 years. I do it because I love seeing how far and wide our formulation teaching is spreading. Cosmetic chemistry has typically been a subject that's only taught at a few universities in the US and UK for instance. And the skills of formulation have really been lost over the last centuries, which means that this knowledge isn't available everywhere that it should be now through our award winning online courses at Formula Botanica, Obviously we are changing that. So exciting. But we're doing more than that. And this is something that really came across in my interview with our graduate Jui Kao last week. Now Jui is in Indonesia and she shared in her interview her vision for creating a global premium skincare brand from Indonesia to rival the current big players in beauty. I think that's amazing. That's so inspiring. And we briefly touched on the Eurocentric standards put forward by the cosmetics industry and how they need to be changed by brands like Skin Dewy and others from all over the globe creating formulations for people that are more suited to where they live that change the way we view beauty. And that's why this week's podcast is an opinion piece from me in which I'm going to set out the vision for a better cosmetics industry. Hi, it's Lorraine Dallmeyer, chartered environmentalist, biologist and CEO of award winning online organic cosmetic formulation school Formula Botanica. I host the Green Beauty Conversations podcast and these are my green beauty opinions in which I share my takeaways from the podcast interview we released last week and set you a challenge to make the green beauty sector a better place. If you want to be the first to hear all of my latest episodes. Make sure you subscribe to this podcast. So when I came back from holiday and started combing the student archives, I discovered that we taught in seven new countries. So I bet you want to know what they are, right? Well, in the last few months, we've welcomed new students from Equatorial guinea, from Montenegro, from the Republic of The Congo, from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, from Sierra Leone, from Liechtenstein, and from the island nation of Palau, which only has a population of 19,000. And one of those 19,000 people is now a Formula Botanica student. So this means that Formula Botanica has now taught in an incredible 191 countries and territories. Now, full disclosure for the geography experts listening along with me. There are 195 official countries in the world, and I record both countries as well as overseas territories. And I also include countries that are disputed, such as Kosovo or Taiwan. Now, picture the world map in front of you. Virtually every single country and territory has a Formula Botanica student in it. And I'm not telling you this to blow my own trumpet, although obviously I am insanely proud of this fact. I'm telling you this to show you that formulation is becoming a skill that is spreading like wildfire around the globe. We and others are democratizing formulation so that everyone can do it. And by the way, if we have any listeners here in North Korea, in the Vatican, in Antarctica, we're waiting for you. So in the process of democratizing formulation, we're encouraging the brands of tomorrow that are going to rival those Eurocentric ideals because exactly as Dewey said, imagine being able to create formulations for the people that live near you. For instance, Dewey's in Indonesia. And Indonesia generally has a higher humidity level than Paris or New York, where so many of the big beauty brands historically originated. Surely a local formulator would have a much better idea of what to actually make for their customers. But it's more than that, because, of course, many of the big players now have regional hubs and regional labs. But those localized brands can also talk to their customers and connect with them significantly better. Those entrepreneurial formulators understand that they're customers because they are part of that same community. I think there is enormous potential here. It's the entrepreneurs who aren't scared to challenge the norm who are going to do the best. It's the ones who push themselves out of their comfort zones who will succeed the most. Now, they're also going to have the bumpiest ride to get there. But you know what? As Dewey said, you have to have that higher purpose to drive you forward. And if that purpose is to create the new big brand that changes the entire landscape of the beauty industry, then I for one, will be cheering you on every step of the way. So my challenge to you for this week is to remember that you need to buy local. I've said it before, I'm going to continue saying it. If you look at your bathroom shelf and it's covered with huge multinational brand logos, I think that means it's time to shop around for local beauty brands instead. If you need help on where to start, head over to the Formula Botanica website. Click on Graduates. It's right at the top of the page. Find your region of the world and start scrolling. I promise you, you are going to love what you see. So let's help those brands change the landscape of beauty. Thank you for listening to my green beauty opinions. Remember to visit the Formula botanica website@formulabotanica.com to try our free online formulation course. And if you haven't subscribed yet to the Green Beauty Conversations podcast, please make sure you do so now in your favorite podcast app. Leave me a five star review if you enjoy the conversations. I host and I'll be back soon with my next episode.