Ethics Run Deep /
How Christchurch skincare brand Linden Leaves took on the world.
Celebrating 25 years of Linden Leaves
Sitting
on a couch on the terrace of her Christchurch home, sporting a blonde bob, sleeveless black shirtdress and white trainers, her skin glowing, it’s hard to imagine a better advertisement for local skincare company Linden Leaves than this: the company’s founder and still-verymuch-in-charge owner. About to celebrate a significant milestone, one that might have meant retirement not so long ago, she is instead a businesswoman at the height of her power. The world has certainly changed since Brigit Blair launched her skincare business 25 years ago and had to have someone co-sign for her first business credit card, such was the rarity of a female entrepreneur.
Linden Leaves was ahead of its time in other ways too. Founded on a strong ethos of treating the earth kindly, ‘sustainability has been part of our business for 25 years’, explains Brigit. In that time there’s been a sea change in the value consumers place on the ethics behind the products they buy. But for Brigit, the commitment to ethical business is no passing fad: it has always been a cornerstone of her approach.
The story of a New Zealand business founded at the kitchen table may be a familiar one, but seldom do such businesses reach this level of success – or survive long enough to celebrate a 25th anniversary. Driven by desperation – a solution to her children’s severe eczema that didn’t involve steroid cream or coal tar – Brigit set about creating skincare products using nourishing natural ingredients. ‘If it ’s good for you internally,’ she figured, ‘why wouldn’t you use it externally?’
Finding her own solution probably had something to do with ‘that can-do Kiwi attitude’ says Brigit, but for her that approach runs deeper than most, inherited from a mother raised on a backcountry farm and a granny who grew up in the Chatham Islands, where there was no choice but to grow all your own food. ‘There was no doctor on the Chathams,’
Brigit adds, ‘so you had to stay healthy!’
Brigit began researching, experimenting and creating a line of body oils. ‘I got the idea that oil must be good,’ says Brigit, ‘because you don’t need to add a preservative, an emulsifier, etc.’ But the utilitarian look of oils currently on the market wasn’t going to cut it. For this busy mother combining work and family, skincare had always equated to self-care: a moment of time to yourself. ‘I have a theory,’ she says, ‘that if you pick up something beautiful, it uplifts you. Like nice shoes or a nice meal. It makes you feel positive and that extends out to others.’
Encouraging responses from friends and family led her to wonder, why aren’t I selling overseas? ‘We were a strange company, exporting before coming into the domestic market.’ But for Brigit, who already owned a business importing antique wooden chests from Korea, it made sense to capitalise on her connections and start exporting Linden Leaves to East Asia.
It is typical of Brigit’s approach: following her instincts rather than following the crowd. By ‘sheer coincidence’ she met the ‘perfect fit’ for a business partner, who knew how to navigate the grey area of Korea’s import regulations. In typically audacious style, Brigit started exporting Linden Leaves to Korea. Says her daughter, Juliet Blair, now the Auckland-based Creative Director, ‘She is good at letting people have a say, but then happy to make the call.’ Marketing Manager Katherine Thomlinson calls her ‘fearless’.
The business grew quickly but was not without setbacks, including a shop destroyed in the collapse of the Sampoong Department Store. As Juliet explains, however, ‘Mum never gives up. After a setback, she just gets up and carries on.’ Brigit herself acknowledges the need for resilience. ‘There will always be ups and downs, so you need enough passion to ride through.’ There was the expansion into Japan too, under