‘We’re now stocked in 135 stores!’ Light-bulb moment
Catkin wemyss, 53, lives in Sussex with her husband David, 55, a builder. They have three children, oliver, 21, Isobella, 19, and Hebe, 14. Catkin founded BRYT Skincare in January 2014. now it’s stocked in waitrose, ocado and independent pharmacies. My grandma taught me how to cleanse and moisturise when I was eight, and ever since then I’ve followed a strict beauty regime. In my twenties I started working in fashion and beauty PR but took 15 years out when I had my children. As they hit their teens they’d ask me for advice on how to combat problem skin and I realised there weren’t many affordable, natural skincare products out there. But it wasn’t until I went on holiday to Costa Rica in 2012 that I decided to take the plunge. There, after trekking through the jungle, I started chatting to a local medicine man, who taught me a lot about plants and their properties and I decided I’d create my own skincare range that would be 99% natural.
First steps
It was a huge risk, but we decided to re-mortgage the house to invest £50,000 in the business. I then found a lab and chemist that would help me turn my ideas into a product and we tested them on consumer groups.
The launch
My website went live in January 2014 but I wanted to stock the products in-store too. I emailed Waitrose and by July they were being sold there. As soon as I found out they were being stocked I ran down to my local shop to buy my cleanser – I was so excited! Now we’re in 135 stores – last year we made £250,000.
Biggest challenge
One of the hardest things I’ve had to learn is how to work on my own efficiently. A lot of the work – marketing and actually producing the product – is farmed out to agencies, so I don’t have a team around me. It took a lot of getting used to – especially as I love people! ✱ brytskincare.co.uk