How Maxine Laceby Grew Absolute Collagen From Scratch - Small Business Lessons You Can Apply Today

In this special remix episode of Small Business Growth Addicts Podcast, host Amanda Hughes revisits one of the most loved conversations from Season 3 – with Maxine Laceby, co-founder of Absolute Collagen.

We’ve stripped this episode back to the golden nuggets so you can treat it like a workshop. Grab a pen and paper, because this one’s packed with lessons you can take straight into your own business.

Here’s what we cover:

• How Maxine went from kitchen table to building a multi-million-pound business
• Why knowing your ideal client changes everything (and how she keeps hers at every table)
• The reality of risk-taking – from remortgaging her house to selling jewellery to fund the dream
• Why asking for help is a strength, not a weakness, especially as a woman in business
• The key leadership mindset that grew her team to 90+ people
• Her advice for anyone doubting themselves or wondering if they should start

Maxine’s story proves that success doesn’t come from perfect circumstances. It comes from resilience, purpose, and staying close to the people you serve.

If you’ve ever wondered, “Could I really do this?”, this conversation will show you that you can.

Enjoy 15% off Absolute Collagen here

Find Maxine on Instagram here

• Connect with Amanda on Instagram: @amandahughes.uk
• Growth Addicts Show Notes: Read the blog + grab freebies + guest links
• Be Mentored by Amanda: Join Get Seen Get Sales and get the support, strategies & accountability you need to grow your business on social media with confidence. Learn more
• Free Small Business Downloads: Access all of Amanda’s freebies in one place → Get them here
• Exclusive Discounts: Exclusive discounts on Amanda’s favourite small business tools & services → See discounts

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

Hello and welcome to the Growth Addicts Podcast. I'm Amanda Hughes, your host, and I am delighted to be spending the next hour with you. Thank you so much for being here. I escaped the corporate world with not much more than a burning desire to be self-employed. Fast forward 10 years and I'm running not my first, but my second small business and this time around it's with a passion to share all that I know, all that I've learned and all that I'm still learning with fellow small business owners like you. As the title of the show suggests, I am addicted to growing my small business and I know you are too. That growth means different things to different people though and that's why we talk about a whole host of subjects on Growth Addicts, whether it's a solo episode with just me or with one of my many awesome guests. Between us, we share actionable tips, Instagram strategies, real-life entrepreneurial experiences and inspiring stories. So grab a pen, a cuppa, a biscuit, obviously, and get ready to grow that small business of yours. This is a Growth Addicts Podcast. Hi everyone and welcome to another episode of Growth Addicts Podcast. Thanks for being with us today. Today is a slightly different episode. So as you will have heard if you listened to my last episode, which was the final episode of season three, the podcast is going to be going weekly from September. So this episode airs in August, the 4th of August. Had to turn away to check my calendar there. So this will be Aidan on the 4th of August. There'll be two episodes in August, including this one, and they're going to be a wee bit different from the norm. What we've decided to do in August is to remix two of our best performing episodes so that you can listen again and take some amazing tips away from them. We're going to cut the fluff, cut to the advice so that it's a workshop style where you can really learn from them. And what this does in the background for us is allows us, the whole editing team here and guests, etc., myself included, behind the Growth Addicts podcast, get ready for Maxine Laisby So this original episode was called how Maxine Lacey built Absolute Collagen from scratch and why she never took no for an answer. The episode was incredible. Maxine and I, who's one of the co-founders of Absolute Collagen, spoke about so much in this episode. We really did cover stuff from childhood. We spoke about alcoholism. We spoke about starting a business when you didn't even mean for it to be a business. How something that you were doing for friends and for yourself can easily turn into a business. And where Absolute Collagen is now, which is in a wardrobe is a multi-million pound company and what Maxine's role is now but there was some so many golden nuggets in that episode that I really want to pull out and highlight things like where Maxine spoke about her ideal client which is a topic I'm passionate about talking about small business owners to because you're nothing without knowing your ideal client it's incredibly important so wanted to pull that sort of information out where Maxine passionately talks about her who is her ideal client and how she follows her everywhere she sits with her at every meeting. Maxine also spoke about the importance of asking for help especially as a woman in business and the best sort of things she ever did she gives us the best piece of advice she wants to give us she gives us the best things she ever did for her business so although these are all in the first episode they are there's some really amazing nuggets that are hidden in amongst Maxine and I's amazing chat so for this episode I wanted to really pull them out really highlight them so give Get your pen and paper, make some notes and enjoy! If you know me by now, you'll know that I love social media and I've had great success growing my business there on various platforms. And now it's time to share that success with you. I've created a mentor group dedicated to helping small business owners just like you get seen and get sales on social media, aptly called Get Seen Get Sales. Not only will the group help you grow on socials, but it's a whole support system outside of that too, with live monthly workshops and things like email marketing, creating standout graphics and much more than that. So whether you're feeling stuck, overwhelmed with socials or just ready to grow your business, we have got you. Check out the show notes for the link and come and join us inside. I am delighted to have you on today and I know lots of our listeners are as well because I've already put out some... A request for questions from our Instagram community. We've got a few of them for you today as well.

SPEAKER_00: 4:38

What I'd like to say is when Amanda first contacted me about the podcast, I said to her, no, I'm not doing any more podcasts. I've done my story so many times. And it wasn't me being rude. It was like, you know what? I've got to wait to offer something else. And what I'd like to say is about perseverance and doing it in the right way, because you did persevere, but you did it in a very respectful way. And that's the

SPEAKER_01: 4:59

difference. Thank you. I really appreciate that, Maxine, I do, because I feel like I'm determined, but you never want to be annoying or harassing or anything, you know, but it's something I felt passionate about. And having heard your story, and we've got a load of small business owners listening, and I just know that they are going to love hearing this, it's going to give them something, you know, the topics we're going to talk about today could be life-changing for someone that's listening. Life-changing, but yeah. Absolutely, there could be someone sitting out there on an idea for a business and they just don't know where to start or they could be about, they could feel that it could go to a bigger level but they're nervous and whatever and to hear your story, it could change someone's life. Oh, thank you. So let's go for it. Go for it. ideal client is something that I am passionate about and I believe no matter the size of business it's the foundation you have to know who you're doing this for and when I've heard you speak Maxine you talk about her and I love it you are so clear on your ideal client but you care about this person because am I right in thinking that you almost imagine this person as someone you know like a mother or a sister or a friend

SPEAKER_00: 6:07

she sits at the table constantly every meeting we have she's here with me now So when I say, oh, she's an absoluter, even if she's not taking our product, that means she challenges, confident to challenge, she gets shit done, respectful. That's the four qualities I would say an absoluter has. And generally, they're everyday women. You know, my email sign-off is everyday woman. Oh, my God, you're not. I am. I'm just little old me doing my thing. And, you know, I say to anybody starting up, everything starts in one cell, right? We start one sale. We're all equal. Nobody is better than anybody else. And I see these brands and I see the founders rise to this air of support. And I'm like, Jesus, celebrity status. And I'm like, get over yourself.

SPEAKER_01: 6:55

You said something to me, which I'm pretty sure will stick with me for the rest of my life. We're talking about small business. People are applauding you for putting your hand down to help others and you were like, wait, right there. I don't put my hand down to help anyone. I put my hand across the table because we're all equal. It actually makes me emotional to say that.

SPEAKER_00: 7:16

And here you are walking the talk. But do you know what really frustrates me about that? And it is human nature. I get it. I absolutely get it, right? No one took me seriously until I was turning over£10 million and that's frigging sad. Jeez. Could not get my bank to return my call. Nobody, nobody took me seriously. That's why today I will be the woman that was not there for me because, again, hand down. No. No. No, no, no, no,

SPEAKER_01: 7:45

no. Hand

SPEAKER_00: 7:46

across,

SPEAKER_01: 7:47

you know. Well, it does keep you grounded, Maxine, because obviously life must be quite different for you now. You know, you're You're on a lot of podcasts. You're doing a lot of speaking, public events, whatnot. You're out there on social media. So how do you sort of stay just Maxine amongst all of that?

SPEAKER_00: 8:02

I'd say I don't take myself seriously. I take my business seriously. I take my team seriously, but I do not take myself seriously. I am still ill old me. And also absolute collagen is the success of every single person that's been at the table, right? If it was just me, it wouldn't. And you have to respect that. You have to remain humble. And I also think as my upbringing, I am a kind-sized kid, right? I will never forget that. So we spoke about a lot

SPEAKER_01: 8:31

of earlier life experience there and where you are now. So we won't call it a tough upbringing because you say it was what it was. You brought a lot of resilience. You learned a lot of resilience and how to survive and how to get things done, which has served you very well in life. Well, I live and breathe the absoluter. But at that point, when it was turning into a business, And you started to approach marketing and get this out there. And gosh, it must have been quite an exciting but nerve wracking time. But what was your personal circumstances in life there? And the reason I'm asking that is because I think there's often an assumption when we see someone, a woman with a multi-million pound company, we think, oh, she probably came from money. But what was your personal circumstances at that point, that turning point when this started to turn into something different? Would you mention that?

SPEAKER_00: 9:16

Yeah, of course. I think it's really important. So I just divorced my husband. Well, a few years prior to that, I divorced my husband. Obviously, I've been with him 13 years. So I got a settlement. I bought a house. I put all the money in the house because I just thought if it's there, I can't spend it. So when Absolute Collagen came along, I remortgaged my house. I sold jewelry. I sold one of my engagement rings. I had two, very spoiled, I know. Argo's had the other one. I sold my motorbike. And I borrowed money from a friend. And yeah, that's what I did. And was that scary? Yeah, that was hell that was scary. But I knew, so borrowing money from my friend was not a risk because had it all gone tits up and I just sold the house, remortgaged the house to the full amount, you know, one of the reasons I went for investment, which we'll talk about at some stage, was because I'm a risk taker. All of those things. And yes, I am a risk taker. I think the problem is, And also the success of Maxine is I don't fear fear. When I say that, it's really weird. I was brought up with fear my whole life. I was always insecure. I didn't know when we were going to eat. I didn't know if mum was going to be drunk. I didn't know if I was going to be bullied at school for being scruffy. All of those things. So I always lived in fear. So when I say I don't fear fear, it's kind of something I just get. And don't get me wrong, I don't fear anything today. As in, you know, I have responsibility for my team and the absoluter, but I'd no longer wake up and go, because that's what I used to do. I

SPEAKER_01: 10:53

love to hear that you're speaking to young kids in that sort of situation, because gosh, how good that is to hear from someone who's been there and done it and can tell you that, you know, this will pass, you will come out the other end and you're going to take some bloody good life skills with you

SPEAKER_00: 11:09

and you take some battering you take some beating but you know what's what makes it you get up you get battered again you get up you know people say kids have got anxiety and some of the people here say I've got anxiety or I'm anxious and it was the word that came out of the pandemic and I said that we all it's part of a human condition it's what anxiety keeps you safe it's there to question what you're doing it's okay we are all human beings with human conditions. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01: 11:35

So here we are. So we've started a business. Collagen is on its way. You've got your formulator. You've got your packaging. Was it always yellow?

SPEAKER_00: 11:44

Yeah. I just wanted my product really stick out, stand out. And I knew the look of it is really important. I went to an agency. A friend had already gone to that agency. He'd gone to loads of agencies, actually, and he picked that one. So I went to them, still use them today. In Shrewsbury, somebody called Sauce, they're brilliant.

SPEAKER_01: 12:04

Love that, that there's so many that you started with who are still with you today, and why not? And they've

SPEAKER_00: 12:08

got me, because that's the key. You and your brand will become aligned, and whether you like it or not, it happens. In marketing, they say never use yellow. They used, and I wanted yellow because it's sunny, it's happy. The yellow for me is signifying spotlight. I'm giving her for her to see herself. something in time he knew that this has to stand and it certainly does

SPEAKER_01: 12:34

yeah it certainly does pop and I love that when you're at shows and anything everything is just so you see instantly and you know that's absolute collagen you can tell the shade of yellow and just the energy and the whole vibe from it I'm a great believer in energy you get back what you give

SPEAKER_00: 12:49

off yeah

SPEAKER_01: 12:49

so once you kicked off then you've got your packaging and you're starting to sell direct to consumer when did the business start making money and you were able to pay some of that borrowing back quite soon because we're d2c awesome yep so cutting out the middleman just selling straight to the

SPEAKER_00: 13:03

customer yeah d2c so i think it was about three months when we get in we're putting straight back into marketing of course

SPEAKER_01: 13:10

so you're we're the first company to introduce a liquid collagen supplement is that correct and do you look back on that and are you proud or are you just like oh that's what happened that's what we did

SPEAKER_00: 13:21

You must feel proud. I'm really, really proud. We created an industry. We created a market. I'm proud. I'm also a little frustrated that it's not regulated. You know, supplements not regulated. That terrifies me. With an unregulated market, you get a lot of thunks. Of course, you guys just did

SPEAKER_01: 13:37

a clinical research study and you're the only company who did that.

SPEAKER_00: 13:41

Is that right? The collagen brand has done their own clinical, the biggest, most robust, gold star, double standard, placebo, We're the only one to have ever, ever done that on their own product. What the other brands will tell you is they've got theirs, but they are their ingredient suppliers. Now, we all know they could be skewed. That was really important to us. Traceability is really important, not all collagen is equal, and it's become a commodity now. They'll fill the animal with hormones and antibiotics. We moved away from somebody years ago because they wouldn't give us a certificate. We... audited our supplier. We've been out there. I can tell you from the back of a sachet exactly when that fish, you know, when it was packed, everything. Really, really important to me. The consumer doesn't see that, but I have a responsibility for that. We're talking about getting things right. So things that the consumer doesn't know, the absoluter doesn't know, goes behind the scenes. Like we've looked at, should we have more than eight grams? Absolutely not. That does not do any more. It actually puts your body under stress. Our clinical trials on eight grams. There's also an impact on sustainability there let's go and put 12 grams in because that looks better yeah but what about the sustainability is that right for the planet no we'll be traceability we've never done a powder you know the traceability of i'm not saying we never will by the way if we create our own ones out at the moment aren't good enough for us what offered so we might create our own i did try one before absolute collagen yeah don't agree with me and You know, marine collagen, bovine collagen, the traceability of bovine collagen is really scary. So you do, you put it in your body and it so frustrates me that it's not regulated. Honestly, I can't regulate it because I've got a brand. Just do your homework before

SPEAKER_01: 15:27

you get involved in any of these things, eh? Okay, quick pause from our conversation because I'm wondering how you'd feel if I said I could give you a free£50 today. Yep, if you have been thinking about moving your business banking recently or perhaps you don't have a business banking account, then I can highly recommend more And if you're opening an account with them via the link in the show notes, you are getting a free£50 for nothing, just for joining. Monzo is free to bank with. I bank with them personally and it's so easy to use. And also they won the best business banking provider in the UK 2024. So if you don't have a business bank account yet or you'd like to change from where you are just now to free business banking and£50 on your account, the link is in the show notes today. Head over there and get it done. So I'd like to finish off with a couple of questions from, I guess, my version of the absoluter, if that's okay. Of course. My Instagram community, which is so important to me. One of our Instagram community there has asked, have you ever had a falling down moment? A proper falling down, kicking the teeth moment? And if you have, what stopped you walking away?

SPEAKER_00: 16:35

Do you know what? There's loads of falling down moments. And I'd be here for hours if I told you. There's loads. What stops me walking away? Her. I can't let her down. I have a belief in the product, but I think what stops me walking away or what has stopped me walking away is purpose. You have to have a purpose. You have to have a reason to exist. My purpose is her. I want to empower her not to make her look 21 again. You've got to have A purpose. Without a purpose, you've got nothing, I believe.

SPEAKER_01: 17:09

The Absolute Collagen, the whole brand and being part of the Absolute Collagen community and the product itself can bring that out, can bring out the best in you.

SPEAKER_00: 17:16

Yeah, she deserves the best. I used to get really paralysed when I had a decision to make. What I realise is I actually go into myself and I go quiet and I clean the house. But it's my thinking time. And what I realised during the moments in that is sometimes you have to make a decision and you get to a crossroads. both ways could be okay you

SPEAKER_01: 17:38

just

SPEAKER_00: 17:38

have to make that because we're always thinking what if I do that it's wrong what if I do that sometimes either decision right once you've made the decision you get you do

SPEAKER_01: 17:48

it well that's a good bit of advice as well isn't it yeah it's not necessarily that one's wrong so don't put that pressure on yourself that one's wrong and one's right one's disastrous and one's not and talking about your team there so the absolute collagen team is 90 strong now I know that must be a great place to work. I just know it. You can just feel it. But what do you think makes you a good leader?

SPEAKER_00: 18:06

Yeah, well, we've just won the great place to work for women, actually. What makes me a great leader is I don't lead. I get people to follow. Okay. I think you need followership when leadership. And I think if you empower, I don't know how I do it, but I tend to get people to follow me. And I still today don't know why. Sometimes I'm like, why do they believe everything I say?

SPEAKER_01: 18:31

From my perspective, getting to know you a bit better, Maxine, it's just you're so sure of yourself. You're so confident. And you just think like, OK, if she says it sounds good, then let's do it. Let's try it because you're just so sure of it.

SPEAKER_00: 18:45

That's trust, isn't it? Yeah, there's a trust that just comes immediately. You have to have trust. You know, follow ship. If you want people to follow you, you have to create them a scenario where they can trust you. And that is allowing them to push their elbows out to get things wrong now and again. You know, I don't expect 100% from my team. I expect 70%. They're human. They've got another life, for God's sake. So they should have another life outside Absolute Collegiate. And you want a bit of them to be able to ramp up when you need to. But you've just got to respect them. You can't get anyone to trust you. You create an environment and you... expose yourself vulnerabilities and all for them to trust you and to realise that you're frigging the same as them you're just human right amazing

SPEAKER_01: 19:30

last question then and then we'll let you crack on with your day I'm sure you've got things to do places to be I thought this was a good question what was the best money you've spent so far on building your business

SPEAKER_00: 19:42

do you know I thought about that a lot And, you know, instantly I went to digital marketing, but it wasn't, I would say, the best money I spent to grow my business was getting investment. And that sounds counterintuitive. Oh, tell us a bit about that. So back in early 2020, I said to my team, it was probably, there was me, Darcy, Rich, who's still with us, Darcy's partner, and Brad, the tech guy. I said, what do you want? Because we could sell this company out. What do you want now? And they want to take the business forward. Again, it's not just about me, it's collective. And I said, okay, then we, I think we should go for investment because... We don't know everything, done a great job till now, but it's, you know, we need great people around the table. We need a great board. And actually Maxine is reigning in now and again and need to be questioned on everything. And that costs a lot of money. So obviously at the end of it, you get a check, but all that lead up to finding the investor costs money. Okay. So what were you spending on in that point then? Well, when it comes to I'd say the actual investment process cost us probably over 100 grand. So your solicitors, due diligence, there's so much involved. But that's because we were already a big company, I guess. So somebody thinking about, you know, I invest in brands myself and the smaller startups is different. But my personal circumstances were it cost a lot of money to get those people to get us to a point where the investor said, okay, I'm happy to hand over the check. The other best money I've spent is bringing in a CEO. What do they do that's taken away from you then? Lots. So I got the business to 17 million, right? Daughter Darcy, done a great job till then. Absolutely. What an achievement. We felt we needed great people on the table. When I went on the process to look at investors, I said, we'll not be CEO going forward. And first of all, they were like, actually, that's really good because founders don't normally do that. I knew what my max was. I knew I needed somebody that had done it before, walked the walk. Every penny that comes into Absolute Collegium belongs to her. How can we best serve her? So I need the best people at the table. And the CEO doesn't come cheap. Her experience is phenomenal. And actually, I got a really nice job. I don't have to deliver the crap. That definitely was one of the biggest great spends, which I thought about a lot at the time. But if you want to grow a business, you've got to spend.

SPEAKER_01: 22:09

And curious though, Maxine, then what is your role in the company then at the minute?

SPEAKER_00: 22:13

So I'm chief absoluter officer. I love that. Not, and it's not official. I just call myself that. When the CEO started, they all said, what title do you want? I don't want to, I don't need a title, right? I really don't. I'm happy. If people ask me, I say I'm chief absoluter officer. That means she's my North Star. I'm always, every single meeting, I'm thinking how will this affect her? And that is my role. My son-in-law said to me once last year, if you could pick any job in the world, whose would it be? And I went, Maxine Laisby's. If you could pick any job in the world, whose would it be? He went, Maxine Laisby's. Because I don't have the shit. And that's not me running away from it. It's just that I've created a great team. I don't have to deal with that.

SPEAKER_01: 22:57

And you're very much still the face of the brand as well, aren't you? Along with your absoluters, because I know that you bring a lot of your absolute customers in to be involved in the branding, which is

SPEAKER_00: 23:07

really nice to see. We were the first people that ever did that. We only ever use absoluters. When we did our TV ad, we went to the agency and they were like, no, no, no, you're the producer, you've got to have models. I went, no, we're using absoluters. It was Darcy that said that, actually. And yeah, I mean, I can't believe I'm the face of anything, really. I don't think it's a face so much. I think it's the, you know, you have to stand in front. Well, you don't have to, by the way. I wanted to stand in front of my brand and be counted. I wanted to know that, do you know what? All my aptitudes are alongside me. We got this. Yeah. You're

SPEAKER_01: 23:40

the bright, shining

SPEAKER_00: 23:41

yellow ball in the middle

SPEAKER_01: 23:44

of

SPEAKER_00: 23:44

the brand.

SPEAKER_01: 23:44

I

SPEAKER_00: 23:45

agree. Yeah, I like that. And you know what? I do give somebody... I said the yellow and giving somebody sachets, allowing them to step into their spotlight, giving them permission. I don't mean to do it in a way with arrogance. It's more of a way of, oh, okay, I'm important in this too. Because I know from my own experience, when the woman does that, when the woman starts turning the dial, when the children are old enough, or the family members, you know we start turning the dial so it's actually you know you've got to look at yourself you've got to start care of yourself a bit more yourself because you can and I think the whole family follow there are small business

SPEAKER_01: 24:23

owners out there who are going to be listening to this and like do you know what I can fucking do that as well yeah you can do it you can I can do that you know and life is going to throw you curveballs of course it is and you know if you're really passionate really believe in things there's always a way there's always a way around them and of course I want to let everyone know where they can find Absolute Collagen if you want to try this it's an incredible product and it comes in a little sachet and you get your subscription I think it's every 14 days or something mine just pops through the post so I'm never without I actually had a friend had a spare box I had a friend visit a couple of weeks ago she's away with a spare box

SPEAKER_00: 25:00

I was like you've got to try this Absolute Loyalty Programme is fair So what that says is you will get all our other products at the best price possible if you subscribe. But we, you know, we know that people forget to take it. We will not say you've got to subscribe to 12 months. You know, there is leeway. We are fair. You have to be fair. But we know when you take Absolute Collagen every day, you get the best results.

SPEAKER_01: 25:24

Where can we find Absolute Collagen if anyone wants to go and have a

SPEAKER_00: 25:27

peek? Absolutecollagen.com is the website. You can get us on social media. Maxine Lacey, I'm on all the... social media platforms as well so feel free to reach out excellent and can I share

SPEAKER_01: 25:40

my refer a friend code bit cheeky there listeners but you get a tenner off so I can share that in the show notes if you do fancy trying it then there's a little discount there for you as well why not if Maxine's taught us nothing else in this conversation it's if you don't ask you don't get absolutely it's the way you ask Yeah, that's true. That's true. Thank you so much for joining us. I know you're a busy lady. And honestly, this is me as a small business owner. This conversation has meant so much to me. So thank you so much. And I know it will to other people as well. Bless you. Thank you for having me. Pleasure. Take care. Thank you so much for joining us today for another episode of the Growth Addicts Podcast. I hope today's episode has given you inspiration and tangible tips that you can use to grow your small business in a way that feels right for you. If you loved today's episode, please check out today's show notes where you can find details of our wonderful sponsor, KM Accountancy, and details of how to join my thriving email community so that you never miss an episode. Please don't forget to leave a review today. Reviews are invaluable to us in helping us get the show out there every single one is red and very much appreciated until next time