Anna Brightman – UpCircle
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The Business of Universal Kindness Podcast
Episode 1
In this first ever episode of The Business of Universal Kindness Podcast, I interview Anna Brightman, who co-founded UpCircle with her brother William.
Starting with just an idea to reuse coffee grounds from local coffee shops they’ve gone from trialling their formulas at trade fairs to building a unique brand that is challenging beauty industry norms.
Anna shares their journey of rebranding, gaining momentum over the last few years (including a stop by the Dragons’ Den) as well as how they’re navigating the current pandemic crisis and how they’re giving back. We learn:
What Anna wanted to be as a child growing up and how that plays into what she and William have created today.
How important it is to do your research to find the gap in the market and what Anna realised was their unique angle that would catapult their brand and mission.
The creative paperclip test they undertook to find out what “flavours” would be a hit with their customers.
The sacrifices they made to get their business off the ground. Would you be able to do this even though it might feel like taking a step back?
How they manage the constraints of reusing wet ground coffee and the incredible turnaround time from first life in a coffee shop to second life as a tube of scrub.
Their fascinating experience in the Dragons Den and what eventually happened after they were offered the deal they went in to get.
The heartwarming generosity from UpCircle to “give back”, inspired by thousands of NHS staff putting their lives on the line for COVID-19.
How they embrace social media and micro-influencers to position their brand and even leverage their collaborations for content creation.
Their unusual Black Friday email that skyrocketed sales while still embracing their mission of less waste.
SHOWNOTES
About Anna Brightman
Anna is the co-founder of UpCircle, a brand pioneering the by-product beauty movement. UpCircle elevates leftover natural ingredients, bringing them back to life as beauty products your skin will love. The brand name encapsulates their core purpose: sustainability and promoting the power of the circular economy. UpCircle also hints at ‘upcycling’, the process of making something better from things that already exist. “Natural” is the new “normal” – but UpCircle goes a step further with their waste-fighting formulations. What other beauty brand can claim that their products have saved literally hundreds of tonnes of valuable ingredients from ending up in landfill?
Website: https://upcirclebeauty.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/upcirclebeauty/
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