Felicity Evans | Founder of Imbibe

In episode 146 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks to the founder of sans [ceuticals], Lucy Vincent. We’re increasingly seeing brands bring new sustainability initiatives to the table, but the reality is that the most sustainable thing you can do is to stop producing more things. Now that’s never going to happen, is it, so the challenge here is for beauty brands to figure out how we as consumers can still experience beauty in the way we want, without compromise, but with as minimal a footprint as is possible. I use the word “challenge” but that doesn’t feel like it has anywhere near enough gravitas when talking about what Lucy Vincent has achieved at sans [ceuticals]. She founded the brand in around 2007 and has always been very much ahead of the curve, across formulation, design, and sustainability, but this week has seen the launch of Perpetual- a completely waterless haircare range, housed in canisters that are designed to be held onto forever that have been crafted from waste to take existing plastic out of circulation, with refill cartons made from discarded sugarcane leaves that can be returned to the earth via compost when you’re done. In seven years of this podcast, I’m not sure that I’ve ever spoken to someone who has considered every single step of the supply chain so thoroughly. In this conversation, Lucy shares the importance of knowing how to do a number of roles within your business, why every day presents an opportunity for learning, and why your “recyclable” beauty products may not be all they appear to be. Read more at glowjournal.comFollow sans [ceuticals] on Instagram @sansceuticalsStay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 145 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks once again to Rachael Wilde- the founder of both Bouf Haircare and tbh Skincare. Rach has been on the show before, back in April 2022, to talk about tbh, but this is the first time a founder has joined me for a second time to talk about an entirely new brand. I wanted to talk predominantly about Bouf today, so if you do want to hear about the tbh launch and Rach’s story as a founder, you can find that episode back in season 4.That said, we did have over three years of tbh catch up to do and, in Rach’s words, the last 3 years have really been where everything has happened- the brand launched into over 400 Priceline stores in March 2023 and Coles later that year, merged with Boost Lab the following month to create parent company York St Brands, and rebranded earlier this year ahead of global expansion. Bouf, Rachael’s newest venture and the third brand within the York St stable, was developed in a similar manner to tbh- Rachael was presented with patented hair growth tech called the FGF5 protein, she looked at the clinical, tried it herself over several months, and upon seeing results, decided to take that tech to market in the form of a shampoo, conditioner, leave in treatment, hair growth tonic and a digestible hair growth supplement. In this conversation, Rachael shares the reason behind that now infamous Bouf launch campaign that saw brand ambassador Indy Clinton wearing a wig, the detail behind 2023’s York St Brands merger and tbh skincare’s subsequent growth, and how she and her team survived an internet hate campaign that, quite literally, captured the attention of the world. Read more at glowjournal.comFollow Bouf on Instagram @boufhaircareStay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 144 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks to the founder of Imbibe, Felicity Evans. Felicity’s founder story is really different to my usual guests in that she never really set out to create a “brand.” I thought this was a wonderful opportunity to show you how many different shapes the startup journey, so to speak, can take.The short version- Felicity wanted to overhaul her health, so she started making probiotic drinks in her kitchen. Her friends and family saw a change in her skin, her hair, her energy, and her health, so she started making up batches for them. Word spread, local retailers started asking if they could stock her products, and over a decade on Imbibe is a fully fledged beauty and wellness brand with SKUs spanning ingestible and topical skincare.There’s a lot you can take from this, but what I find the most interesting is the finding-the-right-manufacturer piece- if you set out specifically with the goal of becoming a “brand founder,” hearing the word “no” time and time again (a startup inevitability) would be really disheartening. In Felicity’s case, she didn’t necessarily want to start a brand, so hearing a “no” was kind of a straightforward “okay, well you’re not the right manufacturer.” Business wasn’t her primary motivator- her primary motivator was just getting a shelf stable version of her product to the people who wanted it.In this conversation, Felicity shares why the hotel space has become one of her most interesting and fruitful distribution channels, the many ways inflammation can show up in the body, and why she’s always used her customers as her biggest influencers. Read more at glowjournal.comFollow Imbibe on Instagram @imbibelivingStay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 143 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks once again to the co founder of Frank Body, Bree Johnson. This is something I’d been thinking about doing for a while and, for whatever reason, season 7 feels like the right time to do it. I had Bree and her Frank co founder, Jess Hatzis, on the podcast back in 2018, season 1- back when I thought this would just be a miniseries on the business of beauty. What I’d been wanting to do is bring back previous guests from the first few seasons and look at not just how their brand has evolved in the 7 or so years since I last interviewed them, but also get their take on the evolution of the beauty industry as a whole since we last did a deep dive and compare their answers from then to now. Bree was the perfect founder to do this with. She was SO down to compare her previous answers to today’s feelings, I’ve worked with Bree and the larger frank team a lot over the last decade, I MC’d their newest launch on Monday so it has been really fun to just immerse myself in the Frank world this week. On top of that, Bree is a branding and beauty MASTERMIND. So few brands have been able to achieve what Frank has achieved, globally, so this was a really fun chat for me not just from a beauty perspective but from a marketing perspective. Something I loved talking to Bree about was how she knew it was time to step away from her day-to-day role at Frank Body. Bree is still on the advisory board at Frank but isn’t there day-to-day anymore, so she’s got some really beautiful insight to share on knowing when the time is right for such a big change, navigating that change, and the identity piece that comes along with it.In this conversation, Bree shares her thoughts on how new businesses can cut through the noise on social media with a 2025 lens, why frank body has moved away from novelty launches and has moved into high performance body care, and we compare her take on the state of the beauty industry with the answers she gave me back in season 1. Read more at glowjournal.comFollow Frank Body on Instagram @frank_bodStay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 142 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks to the founder of Ficifolia Fragrances, Sophie Marcoux. Ficifolia Fragrances is only two and a half years old, in which time Sophie has launched 6 individual perfumes as well as the fragrance Flight Deck- a first-to-market offering that I consider one of the most a beautiful examples of thinking outside the box when it comes to converting customers, regardless of industry, that I’ve come across.I had some questions for Soph about brand building, as that’s really the cornerstone of her professional background. She said that for her, it’s about “creating a world that people want to return to.” I made note of that while she was speaking and it’s stuck with me. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? I think this was the perfect episode to start the season with because as much as we do talk about beauty and how that space lights us up, there’s so many business nuggets in here- why your journey to starting a brand doesn’t have to be linear, why the market circuit is so beneficial for startups, we talked a bit about the natural vs synthetic debate (which, as you can imagine, I have a lot of thoughts on)… just a really juicy but fun chat about a fragrance brand that I am personally obsessed with. In this conversation, Sophie the importance of bringing in someone objective to assist with making decisions that may be too close to your brand, how she’s giving e-commerce customers a tactile entry point to the world of Ficifolia, and we both share some of our thoughts on beauty dupe culture. Read more at glowjournal.comFollow Ficifolia Fragrances on Instagram @ficifoliafragrancesStay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back!I'm back on mic and it feels good. It feels different, and I feel different, but it feels good. Here's an update on why I've been so quiet on here since November, plus a little bit of a listener Q&A on ageing, botox, everything showers and switching off.Season 7 baby, let's do it. Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Wrapping up Season 6 with another solo episode!To wind up an incredible incredible year I'm answering your questions- we're talking my semi-recent PCOS diagnosis, 2025 beauty predictions, New Year's Resolutions and a few more career questions for good measure.Thank you once again to everyone who submitted such thoughtful questions. I will see you next year for Season 7 (!) of the Glow Journal Podcast!Stay up to date on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 141 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks to the co founder of Outside Beauty & Skincare, Maddison Brown. Outside Beauty & Skincare is not your average celebrity beauty brand. I already knew this, but it just becomes more and more clear the longer you speak to Maddison for. Given how impressive her career has been thus far (acting opposite Nicole Kidman when she was still a teenager, then spending 4 seasons in the role of Kirby Anders in Dynasty on The CW), you’d be forgiven for assuming this is another private label brand- an existing product with a celebrity endorsement attached. But this is so far from the case here.Outside Beauty & Skincare, which launched in January of this year, is just Maddison and her sister, Allyson. They’ve self-funded, they spent the 12 months prior to launch working through every single stage of starting a business themselves, and in just under a year they’ve brought four (five if we include the Kabuki brush) really, really beautiful sun protection products to market (with plenty more in the pipeline). In this conversation, Maddison shares the surprising differences in the response to Dynasty across Europe and Australia compared to the show’s home in the US, her refreshingly level-headed approach to social media (and the media in general), and why she thinks Australia’s famously strict regulations around sunscreen are a really, really positive thing.Read more at glowjournal.comFollow Outside Beauty & Skincare on Instagram @outsidebeautyskincareStay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In episode 140 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks to the founder of Airyday, Frances van der Velden. I knew this was going to be a great storytelling episode, because I was already reasonably versed in the Airyday backstory, but what blew me away in this conversation was how much actual tangible business advice Frances so openly shared. Frances was diagnosed with a Basal Cell Carcinoma, which led to her trying more or less every sunscreen on the market to find a formula she loved and would be happy to wear every day. When she couldn’t find one that ticked every box, she set to work on developing Airyday- an SPF wardrobe that launched in 2022 with four sunscreens. Beauty retail giant Sephora reached out to Frances a mere six weeks post-launch, and today, two years in, Airyday is stocked in Sephora stores nationally and through a whopping 600 clinic stockists. Frances explains that this was largely thanks to a high risk ad spend strategy that she explains far better than I can. In this conversation, Frances shares the realities of such major growth in such a short timeframe, how her marketing investment allowed Airyday to cut through the noise in a saturated market, and her advice on getting your brand seen by the decision makers at the country’s biggest retailers. Read more at glowjournal.comFollow Airyday on Instagram @airyday.officialStay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Six years in and it’s time for my first solo episode. The botox bit is clickbait. Hi! Gem here. This is probably the most honest and open I’ve been about a bunch of things on the internet. This was cathartic! We're talking my studies, how I got into the beauty industry, my career prior to leaving my job and going out on my own 8 years ago, career advice... you understand. Thank you to everyone who submitted such thoughtful questions. If you enjoyed this and would like me to do another solo ep somewhere down the line, please let me know. If you didn’t enjoy it, don’t tell me. Thanks!Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.