Glow Journal

When I first started planning season 1 of this podcast, that I thought would be a mini series, back in 2018, I wrote a list of dream guests- bucket list, beauty industry stalwarts whose brains I wanted to pick. Jo Malone was, of course, on that list, and on her most recent trip to Australia last month, we made it happen.Jo’s story is unlike any other, and while we all know her name, I don’t believe as many people know her story as well as they probably should. Jo grew up in South East London and following a very, very early introduction to the beauty industry, she discovered her sense of smell was a bit of a superpower. She built her own brand, opened her first store in 1994 and sold that brand to Estée Lauder in 1999 while staying on as Creative Director. In 2003, Jo was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer, and although she beat it, she completely lost her superpower- her sense of smell. She chose to exit the brand in 2006 and, exactly one month into a five year non compete, her sense of smell returned. Following what she describes as probably the hardest five years of her life, she launched Jo Loves in 2011- her second global fragrance brand and one she describes as bringing the best parts of herself to the world. This was so, so special for me, I’m so grateful to have had this time to physically sit down with Jo- no one tells her story like she does and I hope you love hearing it as much as I did. In this conversation, Jo shares why she has her father’s work as an artist to thank for introducing the Jo Loves brand to a new generation, why we can thank a woman named Doris Hilderbaker for Jo’s love of beauty, and what happens both physically and mentally when you walk away from a brand with your name on it. 

In episode 127 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks to the founder of Viviology, James Vivian.When I connect with someone over a love of beauty, whether it’s on this podcast or away from it, the thread or the through line always comes back to a feeling. I think it’s that feeling that separates people who truly love this industry from the people who do view it as solely superficial, and it’s also the feeling that you get from James when you listen to or sit down with him.What drew James Vivian to beauty, initially, was how good a facial made him feel, and because he is so giving by his very nature, he wanted to be able to give that feeling to other people as well. He spent years studying beauty and the science of skin, he founded his own mobile facial business some 14 years ago, he later opened the first James Vivian skin clinic which is now one of the most popular clinics in the country, and in 2022 he launched his own skincare brand, Viviology. James is so, so passionate about ensuring people feel welcomed into the beauty space and feel like they belong, and I am so glad I had the opportunity to facilitate this conversation because I know the barrier to entry can sometimes feel really high, even as a consumer, but this conversation with James was a really beautiful reminder of what it’s all about and why we all love beauty in the first place- it’s about feeling good and helping others to feel the same. In this conversation, James shares how he’s working to ensure everyone feels at home in his skin clinic, how he launched his own skincare brand with one of the country’s biggest beauty retailers, and how he went from an Australian Idol finalist to one of Australia’s most in demand dermal therapists.Read more at glowjournal.comFollow Viviology on Instagram @viviologyskin.Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at hello@gemkwatts.com

In episode 126 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks to the founder of Yours Only, Ashli Templer.We obviously talk a lot on this podcast about identifying a gap for a product and developing out of a really genuine need, and I think the Yours Only story is probably one of the best examples of that that we’ve covered across all 6 seasons.Ash grew up, in her words, “not being able to eat any cake at birthday parties.” She’s always had many, many food allergies, and things were only heightened in her 20s when she was diagnosed with both Hashimoto’s and a salicylate intolerance. It was following prolonged exposure to mould that Ash’s health was at its worst, and for an extended period there were only 7 foods she could consume. After having to overhaul every single element of her daily routine, she realised that there were only very few skin and haircare brands that she could use- and none that she particularly wanted to use.Ash launched Yours Only in 2020, a skin and haircare line for dramatic skin, and has cultivated one of the most incredible communities I’ve ever seen online. Ash started her founder journey with a wish to change lives and, as you’ll hear here, I really believe that’s exactly what she’s done.In this conversation, Ashli shares how she rebuilt after losing her entire inventory in an arson attack, why she uses her customers as models, and the serendipitous story behind how she found her manufacturer.Read more at glowjournal.comFollow Yours Only on Instagram @yoursonlyStay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at hello@gemkwatts.com

In episode 125 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks to the founder of IKKARI, Adrian Norris.I have thought Adrian Norris to be one of the most interesting brand founders in the country for many, many years now, since he co founded fashion house Aje in 2008, and I have loved watching him enter the beauty space upon founding skincare and wellness brand IKKARI last year.There’s so much about this brand and Adrian’s story that I love but one thing in particular that I found so interesting, and I think you will too, is Adrian’s passion for retail. It’s been a while since I’ve had a founder on who can talk to the retail experience the way that Adrian can, given that Aje and Aje Athletica currently have 48 standalone stores. One of the reasons Adrian is so passionate about the experience of bricks and mortar retail is because he is so, so customer focused, which is something he talked a lot about in this conversation. The other reason that touchpoint is important, and a factor that just blew my mind when I first heard about the brand ahead of its launch last year, was that IKKARI launched with 72 SKUs. That’s 72 individual products and 5 plus years of development, which I find so interesting at a time when we’re seeing so many brands launch with a singular hero. In this conversation, Adrian shares how his first ever business plan was written up out of boredom, whether Aje and IKKARI have any mystery investors, and, of course, exactly WHY he chose to launch a brand with 72 SKUs. Read more at glowjournal.comFollow IKKARI on Instagram @ikkari.australia.Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at hello@gemkwatts.com

In episode 124 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks to the founder of Hairification, Jordan Mylius.You’ve heard of Hairification- from a distribution standpoint, they’re the fastest growing haircare brand in Australia having launched into 840 Coles stores in 2023 (that’s 840 retail locations from day one) and, as of last month, hitting the shelves of all 470 Priceline stores. Quick maths- Hairification is available in over 1300 retail locations in less than a year post launch. Jordan has entered the beauty founder space with a really interesting skill set and perspective. He bought a tanning and beauty salon when he was 21, more or less on a whim, and fell in love with the transformative power of beauty. From there he’s spent about 15 years in the beauty industry, having been poached by Tuscan Tan for his sales skills and spending over 7 years helping to grow Bondi Sands into the best selling fake tan brand in the world. I’m always fascinated by how a beauty brand tackles new customer conversion in such a saturated market, and I find that education piece particularly interesting when a brand launches into grocery, a space where most shoppers are purchasing habitually. Jordan’s approach to customer conversion is clearly working- despite that already eye watering number of retail locations here in Australia, this year will see the brand’s expansion into the global retail market. In this conversation, Jordan shares how he identified a gap in the market and saw an opportunity, why his focus was accessibility as opposed to the luxury beauty sector, and his advice on hiring and why you often do have to start slow and scrappy. Read more at glowjournal.comFollow Hairification on Instagram @hairification_haircare.Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at hello@gemkwatts.com

In episode 123 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks to the founder of Maison Crivelli, Thibaud Crivelli.I’ve made no secret of the fact that fragrance is probably my favourite category to talk about, particularly from a storytelling perspective. Thibaud talks about fragrance in a way that is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before and that is, again, why I’m so fascinated by this category. I love asking people how they either construct a fragrance or brief it into their perfumer, and this particular answer went so far beyond anything I could’ve imagined in that Thibaud actually doesn’t just focus on the scent- his role feels almost more like a director putting an entire scene together. We also had a really interesting chat about how nuanced the wider conversation around raw materials needs to be, which I think is actually true of the need for nuance when we talk about sustainability in general, not just in perfumery. Early on Thibaud told me that since childhood he’s wanted to create a cosmetic brand, and the longer we spoke for the less surprising it was to me that he’d had such clear vision from so early in his life- when you listen to him it becomes very clear that he is a founder who is in this industry because of a deep, deep love of it, which is always my favourite kind of guest.  In this conversation, Thibaud shares why there’s no room for ego in perfumery, how you can tell if a product will be popular within about two days of its launch, and the one emotion that every Maison Crivelli fragrance is linked to- the feeling of surprise. Read more at glowjournal.comFollow Maison Crivelli on Instagram @maisoncrivelli.Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at hello@gemkwatts.com

In episode 122 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks to the founders of Sunset Daze, Alessia and Marco Angele.What I love about talking to founders at this stage in their brand’s development (for context, Sunset Daze launched their first product, Liquid Rays, in December of 2022) is that all the really tactile bits that come with a launch are still so fresh in their minds- they’re not looking back on their launch through a wistful lens, there’s no revisionist history, the advice they can share feels as current as it is practical. The whole ethos of Sunset Daze is “Feel Good Beauty,” and I felt that tenfold in our chat. These are two founders who are doing this for the love of it, and they’re coming at it from a really interesting spot too (which we spoke about) in that they loved the jobs they were in pre launch, so they weren’t starting something of their own so they could escape where they were at, so rather than the process having this sense of urgency, they could actually take their time with it. In this conversation, Alessia and Marco share their take on staying at your job while building a brand on the side, their thoughts on self funding vs bringing on investors, and the risks of launching with a singular product rather than a full suite. Read more at glowjournal.comFollow Sunset Daze on Instagram @_sunset_daze_.Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemdimond and @glow.journal, or get in touch at hello@gemkwatts.com

In episode 121 of the Glow Journal podcast, host Gemma Dimond talks to the founders of Fresh, Lev Glazman and Alina Roytberg.This is one of the best founder stories I’ve heard in over 5 years of hosting this podcast. I don’t want to give anything away, but there’s just so much gold in here- particularly a story Lev towards the start of our chat. I could have sat and listened to Lev and Alina talk for a full day, with ease. It was honestly a joy to just facilitate this conversation.We recorded this towards the end of last year and I wanted to open season 6 with it because it was such a beautiful reminder of why I started this in the first place. I knew Fresh was founded in the 90s, I use a lot of their products, I was aware that a majority stake was sold to LVMH at the turn of the century, but you can’t ever truly get to the heart and soul of a brand without conversations like this. I think it’s that heart that ensures the brand still feels so current, despite the product offering including products that have remained largely unchanged since the brand’s inception in Boston thirty plus years ago. In this conversation, Lev and Alina share the great lengths they’ve gone to for beauty, what that historic LVMH acquisition meant for the brand, and the story behind Fresh’s now iconic oval soaps. Read more at glowjournal.comFollow Fresh on Instagram @freshbeauty.Stay up to date with Gemma on Instagram at @gemkwatts and @glow.journal, or get in touch at hello@gemkwatts.com

We're back- and with a whole new surname!Gemma Dimond (fka Gemma Watts) returns to host Season 6 of the Glow Journal podcast from January 31.