The Game Changer
We spoke to Lucy Goff, Co-Founder of LYMA on building a wellness brand that works and the new launch of a pioneering laser that’s changing the aesthetics game
Known for creating a wellness supplement that really delivers, LYMA in conjunction with doctors and scientists has developed a revolutionary medical grade 500mW laser that is safe and easy to use at home, with no downtime and no pain.
What do the first 30 minutes of your day look like, your morning routine? I’m not a morning person and I refuse to set my alarm before 7am. So, this gives me 30 minutes to get the family fed, dressed and out of the door, if we have any chance of making the school gates on time. Before I do anything, I take five deep belly breaths, which seems to set me off on the right track – I was introduced to diaphragmatic breathing during my first pregnancy to help with high blood pressure. It creates such a wonderful, relaxed state. Breakfast for me is non-negotiable, so I’ll either have some sourdough toast with salted butter, or if I’m feeling like a brain boost, I’ll add sliced avocado. My first drink is always boiling water with lemon and a tiny dusting of baking soda. I was diagnosed with acid reflux when I was in my 20s, and my grandmother was convinced this was the best way forward – I’ve stuck with it ever since, although it’s probably more of a way of keeping her memory alive rather than anything medicinal.
How did your previous roles support you being able to launch your own brand and how did you know it was the right time? My career as a journalist in fashion made me appreciate the power of innovation. During this time, I learned the importance of creating something really new, how vital it is to celebrate movements which challenge people’s preconceived ideas and make them reevaluate how they think. Around this time, I saw what Jo Malone was doing, taking a functional item, the candle, and elevating it by making it the best it could be in terms of how it worked and how it looked. These two things, along with my personal experience of how effective a nutraceutical could be, sowed the seed that grew into LYMA. What was the catalyst for launching LYMA? In 2012 I spent six weeks in hospital battling septicemia, riddled with toxins and with no real hope for recovery. Over the next few
months, I saw several leading physicians, each of them prescribing a convoluted cocktail of different drugs. I was taking a multitude of what I thought were effective supplements, but I was still suffering.
In 2013 I met Professor Paul Clayton, a world authority on preventative degenerative disease. He educated me and I learnt that almost all the supplements sold today deliver no provable benefits yet are still perfectly legal for sale. This seemed morally and ethically a million miles away from what I had been led to believe. Paul prescribed me a new protocol using peerreviewed, patented ingredients, each dosed at active levels and had a rigorous sourcing procedure. Within one month I was back at work, full of energy and feeling better than ever. I felt myself again and from that came the idea of LYMA.
How does your new revolutionary laser work and what results can we expect to see? The LYMA Laser works using cold near infra-red 500mW laser technology – a world first for at-home beauty devices – this is unlike every other at-home cosmetic device and is 100 times more powerful than LED. It’s a technology born from the medical industry called low level laser therapy (LLLT), which has been used for decades to treat a host of medical issues as diverse as rebuilding cartilage and healing tendons.
The LYMA Laser penetrates to the deepest layers of the skin (through the subcutaneous layer to the base layers) to completely remodel and rebuild it without causing any damage to a single cell in the process. Traditional laser devices work through the stress/damage response, inflicting injury to the skin in order to stimulate collagen. The LYMA Laser’s near-infrared laser beam is a coherent light but is dispersed so many times – more than 25,000 times – it removes all the heat from the laser, making it completely cold, because we’re not relying on the laser’s heat to damage skin, we’re relying on the nearinfrared cold technology to regenerate and renew skin. This means that the laser is completely safe to be used on darker melanin rich skin tones.
How often should we be using this? Consistency is key with the Laser and we recommend using it daily, for a minimum of 15-minutes. It is important to remember that everyone’s results are different and more mature skin can take longer to see significant transformation.
How challenging was refining the manufacturing process and ensuring consistency?
The biggest challenge with the Laser was that we were trying to do something that had never been done before. We succeeded in harnessing the power of LLLT – a medical grade laser – and putting it into a safe, handheld, portable device, that is completely pain free. Despite the fact the device is a laser, it is completely cold and is so safe it can used around the eyes without the need for safety goggles. The consistency with the quality of our products is non-negotiable.
How has the brand scaled since it launched and what have been the biggest challenges as part of that process to date?
Within the first year we were shipping the LYMA Supplement to over 70 countries. The biggest challenge we’ve experienced todate with our growth is launching the LYMA Laser into the US. We finally received FDA clearance in May this year, but the process took almost two years. We created a new category in the FDA and the LYMA Laser is the first FDA surgical-grade cosmetic laser cleared for use at home.
How do you balance the creative and commercial sides of the business, and do you feel more drawn to one than the other? It’s exactly that, a balance. We need to be creative to stand out, but equally if it doesn’t make commercial sense it isn’t going to work. I am, however, a creative person, so naturally I’m drawn to and I’m most excited about that side of the business, whether it’s our latest marketing campaign, creative shoot, or working with our global team of experts and scientists on the new product pipeline – watch this space.
How do you balance wholesale with retail and why did you decide to extend your brand to ecommerce platforms? LYMA is a DTC (Direct to Consumer) ecommerce business, and this continues to be our priority. We work with retail and wholesale partners that we carefully select for brand awareness and brand alignment. These retail partners include the cutting-edge wellness retailer GOOP, Hong Kong’s luxury beauty destination JOYCE, Harrods, Saks 5th Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman.
How many people are in your team now and did you start out alone? We started as a team of one (me!), but my entrepreneur husband became excited about the opportunity we had to do something transformational for the industry, so we quickly became a team of two. Fast-forward four years and we’re now a team of 20.
What would be your advice to other entrepreneurs regarding taking on investment from external parties? Is it necessary? My advice would be to explore your options and only work with an investment company you really feel understands your brand and your vision. When I first had the idea for LYMA so many investment companies refused us based on our price point. They saw no place in the market for a medical-grade supplement and refused to believe people would invest this much in their health. After much deliberation, my husband and I took a huge risk and decided to seed fund LYMA ourselves. We launched and sold out in two weeks and all the investment companies that had turned me down, contacted me again wanting to change their minds. We did receive external investment from Pembroke VCT in late 2018 who absolutely believed in our mission.
How have you found social media in terms of supporting brand growth? Mind-blowing. When we first launched LYMA, we sold out of the supplement within a week and this demand was driven by PR and power of social media. I’m always amazed at the power of a post from Kim Kardashian, Cara Delevingne or Hailey Bieber – an influencer or industry-leading expert can resonate with an audience more than any other form of promotion can.
It continues to be a powerful tool, but equally changeable in terms of what the audience wants to consume on these channels – more than ever we need to communicate the right message, at the right time and on the right channel to reach the right customer.
How do you approach scaling without compromising on quality? Quality is part of our DNA, so we would never comprise on it. Our approach is to be agile and fast. Whether it’s the launch of a new product, a new market entry or a new awareness campaign, we meticulously plan and forecast but ensure we can act quickly should something change from what was originally set out.
Have you had any mentors along the way and if so, what knowledge did they impart? My husband Simon has been my mentor. He has a talent for leveraging technology, innovation and insight to target pockets of opportunity left unexplored by confines of traditional verticals, which in part is testament to LYMA’s success. This journey has and continues to be even more special because we’re in it together.
What advice would you give to your younger self? Try anything at least once, only then are you allowed to have an opinion on said thing.
This is The Pioneer Issue – what does this mean to you? Incredibly humbling. When LYMA launched, we set out to change people’s lives – it came from a place of necessity and frustration with lack of efficacy in the wellness industry. Being asked to be a part of The Pioneer Issue, in light of the work we’ve done to reshape an entire industry for the better is something I could have only dreamed of when we started out. Thank you.