From alt-right trolling to $6m success: tbh Skincare

Summary

Podcast Summary: Style-ish – "From alt-right trolling to $6m success: tbh Skincare"

Release Date: October 29, 2024

Introduction

In this compelling episode of Style-ish, hosted by Shameless Media, the trio—Madison Sullivan Thorpe, Joanna Fleming, and Kate Emmerburg—delve into the remarkable journey of Australian beauty brand TBH Skincare. From navigating the challenges of alt-right trolling to achieving a staggering $6 million in sales, this episode offers an in-depth exploration of brand resilience, innovative marketing strategies, and the power of authentic employee-generated content.

---

Listener Letter: Navigating Personal Financial Choices

The episode kicks off with Madison addressing a thoughtful letter from a listener named Mia, who grapples with balancing her passion for high-end designer purchases against her friend's critical viewpoints.

Mia writes:

"I feel like she's judging because I'm not saving for the same things she would... I hate feeling like I have to hide my purchases from her so I don't get berated. Any advice would be so appreciated."
[02:13]

Host Responses:

Joanna emphasizes the importance of silent judgment, advising Mia to keep her financial choices private to maintain her peace:

"I think you can judge silently, but not outwardly... Everyone's priorities are gonna be different."
[03:01]

Kate concurs, highlighting the differing life stages that influence spending habits:

"She's a new mom, she's got other priorities... We're just at different stages."
[03:20]

Madison adds a practical perspective, suggesting that luxury items like handbags can also serve as wise investments:

"There is a lot of research out there that marks a lot of luxury handbags to be a great investment... But I do think there is also an argument there."
[05:14]

---

Trace Segment: The Rise of TBH Skincare

The core of the episode centers on tracing the meteoric rise of TBH Skincare, a brand founded in 2019 by Rachel Wild and her mother, Bridget Mitchell. Initially starting as a direct-to-consumer (D2C) enterprise, TBH Skincare has adeptly leveraged employee-generated content to build a loyal customer base and achieve significant financial milestones.

Founding and Early Challenges

Rachel Wild, inspired by her personal struggles with acne, discovered a groundbreaking technology capable of breaking through biofilm on the skin surface—a key factor in treating bacterial infections. Leveraging her corporate experience in the medical devices industry, Rachel, alongside Bridget, secured licensing rights to this patented technology.

"We went in with nothing to lose. The worst that they could say was no, but they said yes."
[15:03]

Product Development and Market Entry

Launching in March 2020, TBH Skincare introduced three initial products: an acne treatment cream, a cleanser, and a facial cleansing brush. Over time, the product line expanded to include pimple patches, moisturizers, tinted lip balm, and the highly acclaimed Rebound Serum, developed in collaboration with influencer and skin scientist Hannah English.

Joanna highlights the brand's effectiveness:

"I've seen really good results on acne clients... My favorite product is the Rebound Serum."
[17:06]

Strategic Marketing and Employee-Generated Content

A pivotal moment in TBH Skincare’s growth was their strategic use of employee-generated content. Joanna shares her experience from her previous role, underscoring the value of authentic, relatable content in fostering community and brand affinity.

"If they can identify themselves in someone in the content... they've got this affinity with the brand."
[09:15]

Rachel echoes this sentiment, emphasizing the importance of showcasing the brand's personality and building genuine connections with customers:

"People love to see the brand's personality who is behind the screen... It makes it easy to create the content."
[21:00]

Viral Success and Challenges

The brand's trajectory took a dramatic turn when an employee-generated TikTok video inadvertently attracted attention from Andrew Tate, leading to unexpected alt-right trolling. Despite the negative backlash, TBH Skincare capitalized on the increased visibility, resulting in a significant surge in sales and brand recognition.

Rachel reflects on the incident:

"If we're pissing off Andrew Tate, we are probably doing something right."
[34:58]

Joanna discusses the broader implications of such viral moments:

"There is an intersection where people believe that being intelligent and having fun are mutually exclusive."
[32:12]

Financial Milestones and Expansion

By early 2021, TBH Skincare had achieved $1 million in sales. Their partnership with Priceline in 2023 expanded their presence to 400 stores nationwide, and subsequently, Kohl’s added them to 857 stores, propelling annual turnover to $6 million. Additionally, a merger with Boost Lab to form York Street Brands provided the necessary resources for further expansion and innovation.

Rachel discusses the merger's impact:

"Through the merger, we finally had access to ample budgets for marketing, hiring... it gave me a lot of clear headspace to creatively."
[28:59]

Future Endeavors

Looking ahead, TBH Skincare plans to expand their Rebound range with new products, including a hydrating milk toner, a soothing overnight gel mask, and a nightly lip treatment. Rachel assures continued growth and innovation, maintaining the brand’s commitment to accessibility and customer satisfaction.

"We are about to release three additional products to the Rebound range... keep your eyes glued to the TBH Skincare social media channels for new products."
[35:32]

---

Conclusion

This episode of Style-ish masterfully intertwines the narrative of TBH Skincare’s entrepreneurial spirit with broader discussions on modern marketing tactics and societal challenges. Through authentic storytelling and insightful analysis, the hosts shed light on how resilience and innovative strategies can transform a fledgling brand into a multimillion-dollar success story, even in the face of unforeseen adversity.

Notable Quotes:

• Joanna Fleming on silent judgment:

  "I think you can judge silently, but not outwardly... Everyone's priorities are gonna be different."
  [03:01]

• Rachel Wild on taking risks:

  "I was very lucky that a family member of mine had previously worked with the CEO... We went in with nothing to lose."
  [15:03]

• Rachel Wild on brand personality:

  "People love to see the brand's personality who is behind the screen... It makes it easy to create the content."
  [21:00]

• Rachel Wild on backlash handling:

  "If we're pissing off Andrew Tate, we are probably doing something right."
  [34:58]

• Rachel Wild on future products:

  "We are about to release three additional products to the Rebound range... keep your eyes glued to the TBH Skincare social media channels for new products."
  [35:32]

---

This detailed summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and conclusions from the Style-ish episode, providing listeners with comprehensive knowledge of TBH Skincare’s journey and the intricate dynamics of modern brand management.

Transcript

[Kate Emmerburg]

Foreign. This episode of Stylish is brought to you by Michael Hill and their new Pendant Bar collection. Curate a piece that's meaningful to you with Pendant Bar.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

This is Stylish, the podcast for all things fashion, brand, business, and beauty. My name is Madison Sullivan Thorpe. My co hosts are Anika Joshi Smith and Joanna Fleming.

[Joanna Fleming]

Hi.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

A team.

[Joanna Fleming]

Hi.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Hi.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

I just referred to us as the A team.

[Joanna Fleming]

I know.

[Kate Emmerburg]

I like that. Arrogant.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

We are C at absolute best.

[Kate Emmerburg]

I'm a.

[Joanna Fleming]

Any gossip for us this week, Mads?

[Kate Emmerburg]

I'm looking at you.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

I have no gossip. I did have an interesting chat recently, though, because a girlfriend was talking about a date outfit, and I know we've spoken about it before, and I know we get a lot of listeners who ask for date outfit advice, and I really threw myself on the hot coals for that one. But we were talking about what you wear to a date and whether you're dressing for the girls or for the day.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Okay.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

And I was like, I'm always dressing for me. And then I was like, okay. I'm also single, so maybe I shouldn't be the one suggesting what to wear.

[Joanna Fleming]

I always dress for the girls.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Always dress for the girls?

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Kate Emmerburg]

I always dress for me.

[Joanna Fleming]

I don't care what you're being married men think I look like.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Well, you've been with James for a long time now. What would you do?

[Kate Emmerburg]

I think back in my heyday, yeah. I probably would have tried to be, like, a little bit cute and flirty.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Yeah.

[Joanna Fleming]

But I think the older you get, the less you dress for the male gaze. If you're like a hetero woman, definitely. Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Yeah. Well, just an interesting one.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Can you do like a date, we dress for the girls and then a date, we dress for the guys and let us know how it ends.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Are you asking me personally to do that?

[Kate Emmerburg]

And we're going to poll the listeners on it.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Okay, great. So the sacrificial lamb once more. Okay. Today we're tracing the rise of Australian beauty brand TBH Skin Care. But we're going to get into that a little later. First, we've got a letter from a listener who needs a little bit of advice. And thankfully, this time it's not date related.

[Joanna Fleming]

It is an Opinions, please. Of course. So this is where listeners send in a problem that they have and we discuss it here and give you our.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Opinions, hopefully provide you the best answer.

[Joanna Fleming]

So today's submission is from listener Mia.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Hey. Stylish. I have a bit of a conundrum. I like to spend my disposable Income on fairly pricey designer pieces. Bags, shoes, and jewelry mainly. I've only recently started making enough money to do this, and I've decided that instead of saving for a house, I want to spend my money on beautiful pieces. I've noticed that a friend of mine always feels the need to comment on my new purchases and not in a positive way. She often says things like, why would you spend that much on a bag? There's more important things to be putting your money towards. And I feel like she's judging because I'm not saving for the same things she would. I know that her priorities are different because she's a new mum and has just bought a house, but. But I hate feeling like I have to hide my purchases from her so I don't get berated. Any advice would be so appreciated. Thanks, Mia. Do you think this is fair to comment on a friend's financial decisions or purchases?

[Joanna Fleming]

I think you can judge silently, but not outwardly. Keep it to yourself. Everyone's priorities are gonna be different. And in this day and age, for a lot of people, buying a house is not even on their radar. They're like, yep, that's just way beyond me. I'm not even gonna worry about that because it just seems like an impossible dream. So I think she can spend her money on whatever the fuck she wants to spend her money on.

[Kate Emmerburg]

I agree. And I think there's such clear, different life stages here as well. Like, she's a new mom, she's got other priorities. She's just bought a house, she's feeling the pinch, versus someone who's probably a little bit more independent into fashion, maybe earning good money, and wants to splurge on herself. Fair. Me too.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

But, yeah, same girl. Same.

[Kate Emmerburg]

But it's like, it is. It's very circumstantial, and I totally appreciate it. Some of my girlfriends often have this conversation with me where we're talking about in the group chat, oh, I just bought this. Do you like my outfit? Like, tick of approval. And they're like, like. So in a position where they're just focusing on, like, okay, I've got to make ends meet. I've got to, like, focus on my mortgage, raising my children. And we're just at different stages.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Yeah.

[Kate Emmerburg]

So sometimes I do find. I do kind of tone it down when I'm speaking to certain friends. But you should still not feel judged by your besties for what you're spending your money on.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

I really liked the outward verse inward, because I think we'd all be lying if we sat here and said, we've never had that internal thought of, I probably wouldn't have spent that, or where did you get that money from? I mean, we've spoken about income transparency before. I think that comes up a lot. I know. I've definitely thought it, but I can't really think of an occasion where I would ever judge someone for that decision, because ultimately, it's their money. They can do whatever the hell they want with it.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah. Yeah. It does feel like there could be a little bit of an element of jealousy here as well. Like seeing all the luxury things you're buying and being like, oh, I kind of wish that I could access that, but I can't because I've got all these other responsibilities in my life that prevent me from doing so.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Yeah, definitely. Like, my friends with kids are definitely spending more on things related to their.

[Joanna Fleming]

Children and nappies at Kenna's warehouse that I'm not buying.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

And that money goes to us for our things or, you know, pets or whatever else.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Exactly. We invest in our pets. Even some of my friends as well, they invest more in family holidays and family experiences. So I could argue as well, you're spending on those kind of moments, which I may be necessarily not. And there's so many different ways you could look at this, but I would never judge about that holiday. Take the vacay, Bow.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

I also think as well, like Mia's reference that she's buying luxury handbags and jewelry and they're kind of the things I think at the end of the day as well, there is a lot of research out there that marks a lot of luxury handbags to be a great investment. We only have to look at Chanel's classic flap over the last 10 years with the price rises. Hermes, we've covered them before on Trace. Like, there are incredible investment luxury handbags. Not saying every luxury handbag you ever buy is going to be an investment, as much as I would love to believe that personally. But I do think there is also an argument there.

[Kate Emmerburg]

I agree.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

But where those investments.

[Joanna Fleming]

So maybe Mia should add some of those stats to her notes up for next time she's having a chat with this friend, and she can just whip those out and prove that she's not completely wasting her money on things.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Totally.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Yeah.

[Joanna Fleming]

But that takes us to our traced segment for today, which I'm really excited for, because today we are tracing the brand TBH Skin Care, which is a brand that I actually recommend to a lot of my own own clients. But just a note before we do jump into this trace. Shameless Media has done paid work with TBH Skincare before, but this trace is not sponsored. It's purely editorial. No part of our editorial content is ever influenced by brands, and I just felt like that was really important to make a note of. So let's get into it.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Yes, let's get into it. As Jo said, we are very excited for this one, but I want to start by asking, what does a Gen Z boss, a miniskirt and prominent misogynist Andrew Tate have in common? It's a question Rachel Wild, co founder of Aussie skincare brand tbh, has been asking herself since a very harmless office TikTok found its way onto the wrong side of the Internet earlier this year. In case you missed it, back in July, the TBH Skincare team posted their answer to the boots and a slicked back bun. I can't. I can never say it without seeing it. It was a trend that was all over TikTok in which women were essentially chanting in circles, largely in the office or on the street. It was very wholesome, silly, goofy, very girlhood coded. I would say it was a really popular trend. I feel like anyone on TikTok would be hard pressed to have missed it in their feed.

[Joanna Fleming]

I don't know if it ever made it to Reels.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

No, I don't know that it did.

[Kate Emmerburg]

That's when you know it's over, right?

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Yeah.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Quote unquote.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

I mean, we even had our own version because a house. Everybody has a secret. Obviously. Within the Shameless Media family had their own version of it, which I adored. Some of the team were in it. It has nearly a million likes. We're going to jump and play the clip just so you can enjoy it because it is very enjoyable.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Chronic over pink and a hoop.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Chronic over pink and a hoop.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Do attachment issues. Do pushover and a nice p Cat Pushover and a nice pukeet is morpher And a perm.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Bonnie. Just Scorpion and a perm.

[Kate Emmerburg]

People plays her in a scarf People plays her in a scarf People, please come.

[Joanna Fleming]

I love so good.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

I have a feeling of all of those views. I was probably about a thousand of them because I just kept rewatching it. Unfortunately, TBH Skincare's video did migrate from TikTok over to Twitter, or X as it's referred to now, where professional misogynist Andrew Tate reposted it with the caption, if you do not escape the Matrix, women like this will be your boss.

[Joanna Fleming]

Ugh. You never want to end up on his feed for Any reason?

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Yeah. And you might be thinking, why did tbh's skincare video find its way onto Tate's for your page? And how has employee generated content changed the way brands market themselves to potential customers? And today we're going to trace the success of TBH Skincare and how they've utilized largely employee generated content to reach new audiences. In this case, some of them unwanted. But we were lucky enough to actually speak with their co founder, Rachel Wild in prep for this episode. So we'll have some quotes for Rach that are going to be peppered throughout to share with you along the way. But first, can we chat about how much employee generated content online has just really exploded? And I want to chat through why we think it's happened.

[Joanna Fleming]

Well, I actually had firsthand experience with this when I used to work for Adore Beauty. We started doing this thing called Tell Us Tuesday in the office. And this was pre Covid. So this was very early days of employee general generated content. And it absolutely went nuts. Like people were begging for it in our DMs, wanting to know what people in the office were choosing. And I think it's that development of community with your audience. And people want to see themselves in somebody.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Yeah.

[Joanna Fleming]

So if they can identify themselves in someone in the content that is just a regular person that works a day job just like you, they've got this affinity with the brand. So I think that's where we've seen a massive explosion in this employee generated content. But I don't feel like it comes without risk because I think it can get a little bit messy when staff are not remunerated for this commitment and it's not in their employee contract. Like, when you work in content, often it is in your employee contract. And there are employers that very much fairly compensate their staff for being in sponsored content or content in general. But there are a lot of businesses that haven't quite wrapped their heads around the contracting side of that. So I think it can be a little bit dangerous for businesses that think, oh, why don't we just film this content in the office and then it goes viral? And. And what do you do if the people in that video are not happy about that going viral?

[Kate Emmerburg]

That's such a good point. And I always ask the team before we do any kind of content, like, do you guys want to be involved in this? Are you sure? And actually, generally it's their idea and they're like, we want to film you doing something. And I'm like, yeah, like, I don't want to be in it.

[Joanna Fleming]

You're like, I don't consent. I'm like, no.

[Kate Emmerburg]

But it's definitely that general interest on what goes on behind closed doors. And I feel it's so interesting that you say that about a door, because I think, as we've discussed on the podcast, my job is so interesting to people. To me, it's just my day to day, but people are literally like, to me, what the hell does that mean? And what do you do? And we always find that when we kind of post behind the scenes or us like come with us on a trip to New York Fashion Week or we're doing this, our engagement goes through the roof and people are genuinely just so interested in that aspect. Employee generated content does kind of give people the opportunity to peek inside and have a look at what goes on inside these roles. And I think for people like Gen Z or even anyone starting out wanting a new career, it gives them a snapshot into that dream role of could that be something I could actually apply my skill set to and be really good at? Yeah. So I find it, yeah, really interesting.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Yeah. I think as well, I love the point that you spoke about of people being able to identify themselves in it, because I think ultimately we've had so many years of seeing just beautiful models as the ones promoting and these like highly curated, edited pieces of content coming from brands, it's like a little bit uncut, unfiltered. They're real people. It humanizes a brand and gives you that peek behind the curtain which I think people just love.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

And TBH has done this really well. I mean, the brand was founded in 2019 by Rachel Wild alongside her mum, Bridget Mitchell. And Rachel was 23 at the time of starting the brand. She'd been working in marketing for a medical devices distribution company, which is quite different for where she is now. But the company she worked for distributed a large variety of devices, from joint replacement to hospital equipment. She told the Daily Pretty, it was a very corporate environment and taught me a lot commercially that I still carry with me today in business. Whilst I loved my time in this industry, I've always been an avid beauty consumer and always wanted to get into fashion and the beauty space eventually.

[Kate Emmerburg]

And that she did.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

It was actually her work in the medical devices that helped Rachel enter the beauty space. Though a long time acne sufferer herself, Rachel's interest was piqued when she discovered a company had found a way to break through biofilm on the skin surface. Now, Jo, I'm not even going to pretend to know what that means. And so we're really going to throw to you for this one to unpack it for anyone who is as clueless as I am.

[Joanna Fleming]

Well, I love this background story of how Rachel discovered this because it really is quite groundbreaking. What she ended up doing in accessing this technology, I guess you could call it, but biofilms aren't unique to skin, just FYI. But basically, biofilms refer to an overpopulation of microbial cells and they're typically protected from the action of our immune system. So Rachel did actually describe it in a quote for us. She said it's a colony of bacteria that has a very hard to break through protective layer and it plays a key role in treating bacterial infections. So this technology has a large application across hospitals and healthcare, but also happens to have a very important application in skincare, specifically in this case, obviously in relation to acne. So it's often used in wound care and infection control, essentially.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Wow.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Very impressive. But before we get into how successful this technology would prove to be, let's hear a word from today's sponsor.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Hey, Kate, were you ever into charm bracelets while you were growing up?

[Anika Joshi Smith]

I mean, who wasn't? But I think we're going through a real resurgence with the bag charms and layered jewelry that we're seeing lately.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Yes. I just love how expressive you can be with this trend. And I've seen that Michael Hill has created a beautiful pendant bar collection to help you build your own bracelet or necklace. Right.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

And there really are no rules around it. You can create a truly meaningful piece that is both elevated and personal. What's your favourite way to wear this look?

[Kate Emmerburg]

I'm really into classic pairings and gold tones, such as this beautiful Belcher bracelet. I've paired this with some personalised pendants, such as the emerald gemstone as an ode to my business sage, and the initial J, which is for my husband, James.

[Anika Joshi Smith]

Oh, such a beautiful piece. You too can shop the pendant bar in store or online at Michael Hill.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Thank you so much to Michael Hill for making this episode of Stylish possible.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

So, to recap for the listeners, Rachel discovered a company who had developed the technology to break through biofilm, which had the potential to change the game for those experiencing acne. She trialled the acne products from the lab on her own skin. As we mentioned, she herself was an acne sufferer and was so impressed by the results that she decided she had to be the one to take the tech to market. And when we asked Rachel about the process of applying for the rights to distribute the technology. She said. I was very lucky that a family member of mine had previously worked with the CEO of this medical R and D company, so was able to set up the meeting for us to pitch. My mum, who is also my co founder, and I went in together to pitch for the licensing rights, showing what we would do with the tech from a brand perspective, how we would launch it, how we would position it, etc. We went in with nothing to lose. The worst that they could say was no, but they said yes. We won the licensing rights to a very novel patented technology for acne. As Rach said, she enlisted the help of her mum Bridget, who had built a 25 year career across global law and professional consulting. Mum's obviously very impressive, but her mum helped to assist with the operation and financial sides of starting a business. From there, the two founded TBH Skincare, a name that officially stands for the Biofilm hack but also doubles as to.

[Joanna Fleming]

Be honest, I didn't actually know that it was the biofilm. I didn't know that's what tbh. I always assumed it was to be honest.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

But as we mentioned, it doubles as to be honest and it's a great representation of how TBH successfully blends cutting edge technology with a warm, trustworthy brand voice. So Rach And Bridget founded TBH in September of 2019 and spent the next six months raising money among friends and family. At the time of the launch they had three products. They had a hero acne treatment cream, a cleanser and a facial cleansing brush. The brush has since been discontinued, but the other two about that still remain. Yeah, I can almost guess why these days. The line includes the original acne hack spot treatment, a range of pimple patches, three cleansers, two moisturizers, a tinted lip balm, and their Rebound Serum which is in collaboration with Hannah English. But we'll get into that in a little moment.

[Joanna Fleming]

I recommend this brand all the time. As I said in the opening, I really enjoy this brand because not only is it really affordable, but I've also seen really good results on acne clients as well. Now I'm not one to like recommend an entire range to somebody, so I wouldn't pull every single product and recommend it to a client. But I certainly have integrated this brand into a lot of my clients routines that are dealing with acne. My favorite product is the Rebound Serum. It's got niacinamide in it which is really good for balancing oil production, supporting barrier function, reducing inflammation. So that's really beneficial in an acne skin that's really dehydrated and in someone that's been using all of those acne prone products that are typically on the market containing things like benzoyl peroxide, which none of these products do. So it is very unique in the market. If you know anything about acne and the treatments for acne, it's a brand new kind of thing to target acne concerns. So I really love to recommend it.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

If you're getting the Joanna Fleming tick of approval, it's a very good product.

[Joanna Fleming]

You're doing something right.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

100 and Joe, we always trust Back to the timeline. While Rachel and Bridget raised roughly quarter of a million dollars amongst friends and family, Rach made the decision to leave her job in the medical device industry, which was a pretty risky move for Rach given the brand hadn't actually launched yet. We asked Rach about this decision and how she knew it was the right time to leave. And here's what she said. I am an all or nothing type of person and I feel like the only way for me to do this was to go all in from the start. I think maybe if I had had an easy out or a backup option, I would have given up halfway through. I was lucky enough to have my partner who is a corporate lawyer to fall back on if I absolutely had to. We felt more confident taking a risk with my income because his was relatively stable, which I love this partnership. Just as a total side note, just to be like, I've got you if you need it.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

And for her to just go all in because it is a big move and she's 23. Like we are talking about a 23 year old at the moment. And so Rach and her Mum Bridget launched TBH Skincare with their standalone website in March of 2020. By December, they had $500,000 in cumulative sales and they'd also been featured in the likes of Body and Soul, Buzzfeed, Broadsheet, Mamma Mia, and the Sydney Morning Herald, which I don't think anyone in PR would shy away from how impressive that is.

[Joanna Fleming]

And I'm not going to lie, I was really sus on this brand when it first launched. I knew nothing about this technology. I looked at the ingredients list and obviously didn't pick up anything in there. I'm like, how is this targeting acne? What is this? And then I heard the whole spiel about the technology. I was like, oh, okay, I get it now. So it took me a little bit of time to get my head around it, but Once I actually understood it, I was like, okay, yeah, this is going to be a game changer.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

And now it's in the consulting books.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah, Exactly.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

So by Jan 2021 they were the most searched brand on Beauty Directory and had reached 5000 unique custom tbh started out as an entirely direct to consumer business. Like many successful beauty brands of the last 10 years, until about late 2021, D2C only brands were totally disrupting the beauty and personal care industries, really using social media to build meaningful connections with their customers which would see them shop exclusively through the brand's own E Com channels. Rach, Bridget and the team made the decision to update their channel strategy in 2022 and we're going to get into that in a moment, but for now let's hear about how TBH built meaningful connection with their customers through their social media channels. Rach said, I always knew who TBH was as a brand personality. Being so personally tied to the brand, it is almost like the brand evolved as I did. I would say my vision for the brand, its tone of voice and its customer group has been very clear from the start, but how we executed this on socials was pretty much a fumbling mess of trial and error before we really got it right.

[Kate Emmerburg]

I love this. I just feel like it's so raw and real and you can tell she went all in. She took that dive and it's just proving that she really believes in her brand and I feel like that passion kind of resonates the whole way through this interview. Like you can just tell she's really committed to it. I'm really excited to see where she goes next.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

And if you have a quick scan through TBH Skincare's social channels today, it shows a mix of employee led content, trending sounds and memes, and product specific videos. They even had Travis Kelsey commenting on a video where they did like a Taylor Swift parody. Yeah, so safe to say they're in the zeitgeist. But the TVH team weren't always the stars of their own social videos and early on their TikTok videos showed a lot of user generated content, which, you know, that's content created by independent social media users who aren't influencers and don't have a particularly large audience rather than employee generated content. We spoke to Rach about the move to feature more of the TBH team in their social videos and how their audience have responded to these kinds of videos and this is what she had to say. People love to see the brand's personality who is behind the screen and who they're purchasing from. I think it is also a little more relatable than the other beauty focused content. As a viewer, you develop what feels like a personal relationship with the brand and the characters involved with it behind the scenes. We love to engage with our community in that way. It's super genuine, which makes it easy to create the content. Have either of you seen their content across Social?

[Joanna Fleming]

I have, yeah.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Yeah. What do you think of their team members being so heavily involved?

[Joanna Fleming]

I like it. I'm used to that strategy and I feel like a lot of businesses are doing that now. So I like to see who's. And I like to follow Rachel as well. I follow her on her personal platforms and I like to see how she goes about business. I like to see the behind the scenes of, you know, going to events and things like that. She only recently just posted about being like super burnt out from all the things that she's been running around doing, trying to, you know, execute everything that goes on in a business of this size. Yeah, but I think it's really interesting to see that side of the business.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Yeah, for sure. I think it's really relatable as well. Like, I think for something that is quite high tech, like you were saying before, it is really nice that they're softening the tone, making it really approachable and it kind of feels like the serious topic is actually more friendly. Like, I love the element to it and even their marketing, everything about their branding, it's so fun, it's vibrant, it's girly. And I feel like she'd be totally a good girls girl. Don't know her, but I'm just like. So, like, I'm rooting for you, Rach.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

And let's fuck Social for a moment because this is a really impressive business and there's been some major milestones for them. So quick refresher. They've founded the brand in 2019 and launched in March of 2020. By the end of 2021, the brand hit $1 million in sales.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Whoa.

[Joanna Fleming]

Huge.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

In 2022, they then collaborated with influencer and skin scientist Hannah English to release Jo's favorite Rebound serum, which did $28,000 of sales alone on its launch day.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah, I mean, Hannah's pretty influential in her own right. So I think her tick of approval on a product is equally as huge as mine, if not bigger. So I think that was the perfect collaboration for them. They couldn't have worked with a better person, I think to launch a product like that. Hannah was Just the perfect match to work with that brand.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Yeah. And I think it just goes to show the power of collaboration when you're working with the right person.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

So they've had Hannah and then Abby Chatfield gave the brand an unexpected shout out on her national radio show, which Rach said was a huge turning point for the brand. Abby had organically mentioned our hero product on radio and the segment was forwarded to me. I filmed a blind react video in my car, posted it to my personal TikTok and it took off overnight. From this point onwards, we were hiring a new casual every few weeks to come into the office and help us pack our orders. We started running out of stock and the business turned profitable and has remained profitable ever since.

[Joanna Fleming]

Wow. The Abbey Chatfield effect. I really think this is a great example as well of how widespread acne is as a concern and how many people are impacted by acne. And the brand up until recently has purely been acne focused. Until they extended the rebound collection. Only I think it might have been last week or the week before it was completely acne focused. There was nothing else in the range. Like you normally see a brand that launches with all of these other products that target different concerns, and they were only targeting acne. And I also really respect Rachel's approach to pricing this brand because they very easily could have gone, we've got access to this unique technology that no one else has and they could have come in at a much higher price point and instead they've come in with a cleanser that's 2495, which is, I think, a very respectful way to approach it. Because people with acne are in a place of desperation a lot of the time when they're buying products. And to make this accessible to most people, I would say is just like a really honest way of doing business, I feel. So I really like that approach from Rachel. And she only recently posted as well that they've revised the price of rebound. It was 59.95. They've now brought it down by 10 bucks. So they had found ways to make it cheaper. And so they pass that saving onto the customer, which I think as a customer you just go, oh, wow, okay. That business actually genuinely cares about me shopping from them.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Totally. And I definitely have such a customer first attitude, which I think is so humbling to see as well. For a business that could be really pocketing even more than what they're doing now, but just being approachable, being friendly and having that customer attitude, love.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Totally. And I think at the End of the day as well. I'm nearly 30. I have suffered acne, but it has been the worst in my early mid-20s. And I think that is the time, generally speaking, that majority of people will be suffering acne. Late teens, it's a time of your life you can't afford to spend, yeah, eighty, a hundred dollars on skin care. So I think she's tailored her pricing to her target market as well. So remember how we said that they had started as a direct to consumer brand? It all changed in 2023 when they partnered with Priceline to bring their products to 400 stores nationwide. Rach said that this deal resulted in a huge level of growth for the business.

[Kate Emmerburg]

I was actually going to ask, what's next? Is it going to be wholesale? And I'm like, yes. I'm so happy to see these B2B partnerships.

[Joanna Fleming]

You're like, following this journey.

[Kate Emmerburg]

I know.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

In this episode, Annika is on the journey with you. So safe to say growth was exponential because later that year their annual turnover hit $6 million. So we've gone from one the year prior to 6 million now. And they found a second stockist in Kohl's who rolled out TBH products to 857 stores. So huge growth index.

[Joanna Fleming]

That's a massive opportunity, like, to be in that many stores in front of that many people. Massive.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Totally. And I feel like it's safe to say she'd be dominating the market now with her product. Literally just taking TBH to so many different areas. Probably most postcodes now in Australia. What is actually going to be next?

[Joanna Fleming]

She must be pinching herself with us.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Oh, yeah.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

And she's still so young.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

But that's not all they accomplished in 2023. As well as everything we've just mentioned, they also made the decision to merge with fellow Aussie skincare brand Boost Lab to form York Street Brands. And we asked Rach about how this merger impacted TBH and this is what she had to say. TBH was bootstrapped from the beginning and operated on a pretty shoestring budget. Through the merger, we finally had access to ample budgets for marketing, hiring. And it also just gave me a lot of clear headspace to creatively. It wasn't something we were actively looking for. But after meeting with Craig, the co founder of Boost Lab, and looking at both of the businesses and where they were independently at their journeys, we saw a lot of benefit in coming together to grow them both. We knew we could get there a lot faster if we combine resources and skill sets and that turned out to be very true. So by the beginning of 2024, TVH was unbothered, moisturized, happy in their lane, focused, flourishing.

[Joanna Fleming]

Love it.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

And then so then we get to what is still is a harmless office TikTok that changed everything. Or did it?

[Rachel Wild]

Stylish listeners, Ultra Violet's iconic queenscreen is back to bring you the perfect blend of skincare and sun care. Doubling up as the perfect glowy base with lightweight non greasy SPF protection. It's our go to prep step for makeup. Not only does this silky serum offer innovative new SPF filters, it's brimming with brightening, hydrating and antioxidant rich ingredients for more luminous and protected skin ready to be reacquainted. Shop Ultraviolet's Queenscreen SPF 50 Luminizing Skin Screen at ultraviolet.com au always read the label and follow directions for you use. Avoid prolonged skin exposure. Wear a hat, protective clothing and sunglasses when exposed to the sun. Reapply frequently.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Like we said in the intro, in July of this year the TBH team uploaded their version of the boots and a slick back bun trend TikTok. I think that's the first time I've been able to say that and not sing it. Apparently the video didn't go mega viral straight away. Rach was telling us that the video really started taking off in the early hours of the following morning.

[Joanna Fleming]

That's when you get worried. Oh, because you're on the other side of the world.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Exactly. So they wake up and by that time the video had reached a million views.

[Joanna Fleming]

Wow.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

And five days after the video originally debuted, someone reposted it to X or Twitter where it got some traction as part of a meme about HR layoffs, more comments, reposts and views. And then everything ultimately changed the next day when Andrew Tate decided to repost it with the gross quote that I mentioned earlier. At the top of the episode, Rach told us. From that point on, we saw a pretty fast increase in sexist commentary across our Instagram and TikTok videos. I think the men triggered by this have a real issue with women enjoying themselves and honestly thriving in their day jobs. There is a real perception that women who do express themselves in this way at work cannot possibly also be intelligent and competent individuals. Women's interests are often dismissed as frivolous and dumb, and I think this conversation we saw online was definitely an extension of this.

[Joanna Fleming]

Totally agree with that. Yeah, I couldn't have spoken a truer word myself. I too have landed on the wrong side of TikTok before, and I did not want to be there. And most of the comments are coming from middle America, and that is a scary place to be. A lot of sexist comments coming through on my own video. And I went and looked at the comments on her video as well, and, yeah, very similar kind of threads there.

[Kate Emmerburg]

So gross. Hey, I swear by that kind of saying, when you grow up, you've got nothing positive to say. Say nothing at all. And the fact that someone like Andrew Tate thinks it's okay to kind of come out and just, like, shame women and women in business, I'm like, nah, not into it.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

I think this is quite complex because I think there is. The part that he doesn't like is women having fun and thriving in the workplace.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

I think we've got a young female business owner and boss, and I think it's also fun and beauty and women being intelligent and living their lives on.

[Joanna Fleming]

The Internet and being successful at the same time. Yeah, yeah.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

And I think there is this real intersection at the moment where people believe that there is the concept that being intelligent and having fun or being silly or sharing your life on the Internet are two mutually exclusive things. And I think this is the first time that we're really challenging that. And I think that Andrew Tate quote, it just echoes all of the awful things that largely males think about women on the Internet.

[Kate Emmerburg]

It's so stuffy. I'm just like, get over yourself. Women can be sexy, they can be successful, they can be fun, they can be thriving, moisturize, whatever you said before, men. And it's like, it's just such, like, a silly mentality. And it's kind of like women when they power and band together, we are such powerful forces.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Yeah.

[Kate Emmerburg]

We have fun. We kill it. When we are actually passionate about our jobs. And I think there's something about that as well. Like women in business who actually, we are quite innovative. We are quite empathetic. Like, we have all these maternal traits about us as well. I don't know. It's like this idea that women can't be successful and thrive if they're not a certain way. And it's like, no, it's just so. It's an old, old, old mentality.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

And what a shame that ultimately the success that is a small brand's TikTok going viral has found itself on this side of the Internet.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Yeah, exactly.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Because that should have been a celebration. Yeah, yeah. So despite the initial shock of finding themselves, as I said, on the wrong side of the Internet, TBH ultimately benefited from the huge virality of the video, their sales skyrocketed.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Can we APPLAUSE I just love this.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

So it opened up a really interesting debate as well about intern employee generated content and how a company should navigate going viral in a negative way. We asked Rach how she and the team navigated this experience because obviously her team members were also in that video and what they learned together as a team. And this is what she said. The backlash wasn't coming from our customers or a community we really cared to reach. So that made it a bit easier. At the end of the day, if we're pissing off Andrew Tate, we are probably doing something right. I think for the team, it was a bit of an eye opener. So now when we are filming content, we are really making sure everyone's going into it with that awareness that we can't necessarily control what happens with the content after we put it out into the world. You need to be somewhat prepared for the worst to happen because as we now know, it can happen. At the time of recording, the tbh Skincare TikTok account has 62.4000 followers. And remember, this brand only launched in 2020. That is an incredible result.

[Joanna Fleming]

I would have loved to know what they were prior to this viral video. I think that would have gained them a lot of followers.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Yeah, I agree. And then I think as well, there's something worth noting that this is a beauty brand because it can be really hard to connect with a customer, particularly Skincare, because I think makeup, you can see an instant result from a brand. Skincare is a little harder saturated. Yeah.

[Joanna Fleming]

Yeah.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

So although tbh's viral moment brought challenges, it also brought new eyeballs to the brand. And to round out this traced episode on TBH Skincare, we asked Rach what's next for her brand. And here's what she could tell us.

[Joanna Fleming]

There you go, Annika.

[Kate Emmerburg]

I'm literally on the end of my seat and I'm like, what's next?

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Rach, you tell us. Back in 2022, we created a co branded product, our Rebound Serum with the very talented Hannah English. It quickly became quite a cult product for the brand. And so now, two years on, we have just announced that we are about to release three additional products to the Rebound range. The three new additions to the Rebound range are a hydrating milk toner, a soothing overnight gel mask and a nightly lip treatment. In the meantime, keep your eyes glued to the TVH Skincare social media channels for new products. Not misogynistic trolls?

[Joanna Fleming]

We hope not.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

But if we've learned one thing today. It's that Rach and her team will take it all in their stride, turning fragile male egos into cold, hard cash one pimple patch at a time.

[Joanna Fleming]

Love it.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Obsessed slay.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

And that's all for this week's episode of Stylish. Thank you so much for joining us. And of course, thank you both very much. Annika Joshi Smith and Joanna Fleming, as always, an absolute joy.

[Joanna Fleming]

Thank you.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Mads, sorry that you had to listen to me as much as you did today. I loved it.

[Kate Emmerburg]

I was highly invested in that competition conversation.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

I know. It's like the first time you've heard it. And remember, you can drop us an email anytime at style-ishameless media.com or you can slide into our DMS over at style underscore ish au. And we cannot forget to thank the lovely shameless media team. Head of podcast Lucy Hunt and senior podcast producer Kate Emmerburg and researcher Chloe Wilson, who did a fabric fabulous job of today's episode. We'll be right back with you next Wednesday. See you then.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Bye.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Oh, a kiss.

[Kate Emmerburg]

Oh, beast of be, sir.

[Madison Sullivan Thorpe]

Ciao.

[Kate Emmerburg]

This podcast was recorded on Wurundjeri land. Always was, always will be Aboriginal land.

[Annabelle]

Hey guys, it's Annabelle here. Are you struggling this summer because all of your favorite shows are on break? Well, fear not, because our rich recently launched interview show Inherited is working right through the summer break. Yup, that means fresh interviews every single week. If you've not listened to an episode of Inherited, we ask our guests for the recipes, rules, relics and rituals that have shaped who they are today. My favorite interview so far was definitely with Lucy Jackson because of so many reasons, but mainly because of the way she opened up about heartbreak in all forms. Whether that's the aftermath of being cheated on, ending a 13 year relationship, or how situationship breakups are arguably the hardest. Here's a snippet.

[G]

I was with my same boyfriend from like 17 to 31 and when we broke up, any bad things that happened after that with boys or situations or whatever, I was so utterly shocked. I was just used to having a really great partner for years and years and years. So when things would happen, I did not not know that this is what people could do to each other. But I built up a resilience really quickly and then, yeah, then just got cheated on. I was kind of like, oh, whatever.

[Annabelle]

Search inherited on any of your favorite podcast apps and get listening. Your summer road trip is all sorted.