It's a pop of colour this week with flamboyant, fabulous founder Pauline Paterson from Dr. PAWPAW. Pauline founded her company in 2013 with her husband Johnny, when their daughter developed eczema as a baby. The doctors recommended steroid cream but, being a hairdresser, Pauline knew how harsh chemicals could be — and just how delicate a baby's skin was. Back in Australia, the paw-paw fruit (a.k.a. papaya) is widely used for its soothing qualities. Once she put it on her baby's skin, the eczema cleared up straight away. Seeing the huge gap in the market, she created a clinically proven, multi-purpose, paw-paw-infused vegan balm — and Dr. PAWPAW was born. She's since used the same base formula to create a whole range of products, from hair care to lip tints.
Pauline talks about working with her husband, how she's grown a huge business from scratch with no formal training, and her passion for developing her products. Intrepid and daring, Pauline is all about saying yes to life — climbing mountains, travelling far and wide, and most recently joining 50 entrepreneurs on a hair-raising tuk-tuk drive coast to coast across India to raise money for girls' education.
Describing herself as a maximalist and a compulsive jewellery buyer, Pauline whittled her \"bits\" down to some fascinating pieces — including a pair of vintage sapphire and silver rings she bought in Egypt on her honeymoon. She also shares the story behind a moonstone ring: how it cracked, and how a woman in a crystal shop told her something evil had come her way — and the crystal had defended her. Down to earth and funny, Pauline also faced most parents' nightmare: losing a beloved cuddly toy and brings a pair of matching toys for each of her kids to show us.
She keeps herself grounded amid an all-consuming business by carving out time for exercise and lives by the mantra \"Work hard, play hard, be kind\". She firmly believes there's rarely a difficult situation that kindness can't solve.
Dr. PAWPAW is available in most high street stores — see the full range at www.drpawpaw.com. Find Pauline at @mrspawpaw on Instagram and @drpawpaw. @showusyourbitspodcast
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