On this episode, Indie chats with UpCircle Co-Founder Anna Brightman. UpCircle is a UK brand known for pioneering the beauty industry by using organic by products in their formulas.
Indie and Anna discuss the journey stepping out of the comfort of your day job, founding a business based purely on the passion for sustainability, and making it to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list of honorees. Listen in!
On this episode, Indie chats with UpCircle Co-Founder Anna Brightman. UpCircle is a UK brand known for pioneering the beauty industry by using organic by products in their formulas.
Indie and Anna discuss the journey stepping out of the comfort of your day job, founding a business based purely on the passion for sustainability, and making it to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list of honorees. Listen in!
And welcome back to coming clean with indie lay. I'm your host in delay. Now today's guest is co founder of up circle, Anna Brightman now upcycles, a UK brand known for pioneering the byproduct by product beauty industry. Try saying that five times fast. The line is now in over 2000 retail doors across the UK and the US. And Anna was recently named as one of Forbes 30 under 30 All right. Hello, everybody. And I have Anna here calling in from the UK. Oh, my goodness. I know, I know. I totally forgot about them like, oh, there's a time difference here. Okay, I am thrilled to dive into this because stewardship of the earth and sustainability has been something that's meant something to me, personally, prior to even starting in delay. But okay, you're still in your 20s. You
Unknown:Is such a good question is one that we do get asked all the time? And my answer to be honest is, it's exactly as you might imagine it to be. If you're someone with siblings, or even a best mate, or just your partner in any relationship, you can imagine how tumultuous it could be to then choose to go into business together. So we definitely have our big blow ups and our arguments and our
Indie Lee:Oh, for sure. Oh, for sure. I mean, you guys know what lanes you're good at. And I always say know what you're good at know what you're not good at, and then surround yourself with people who are phenomenal at those things you're not. And it really seems like you and your brother are a match made in heaven when it comes to that because you're you're really the ying and yang. Yeah, I
Unknown:definitely challenging. Like when it comes to personal, you know, actual family stuff. It's difficult for him and I not to end up going back into talking about business stuff, which is which is which is hard, but he's a bit more of a social recluse anyway, so I'm sure that doesn't bother him too much. But I'm
Indie Lee:I think it's awesome. And your parents and your family must be so proud of what you guys are creating. Okay, so I used to make, I mean, I still have scrubs in mind. But I used to actually made something that was called like the job of scrub and I was using use coffee grinds, so like to see that you're actually made a business app business model, Adam, like, warms my heart, and I love
Unknown:So yeah, it's a difficult one I look back at when I was a teenager. And the whole time through that period. I wanted to be a makeup artist when I was older. That was what I just thought I am really good at that. And I self taught through watching YouTube tutorials and all of that kind of stuff. But that was what I was really passionate about. And I can't go out without someone whether I
Indie Lee:That's pretty normal these days. I always say, like, I don't, how are you supposed to know what you want to do with the rest of your life when you're 21? I mean, I literally was starting to figure it out when I was in my late 30s. So
Unknown:exactly, I do think so many people can relate. And I think people can relate to the idea that you go into a more corporate world, and you choose that safe option in your younger years, because it's very scary option to take a leap of faith, and to be confident enough also in your idea, and also your abilities and your skill sets and your leadership at such a young age to say, oh,
Indie Lee:from that to where you're like, oh, wait, there's all this too. Awesome. Yeah, let me start to do a skincare. But now it makes sense, since you had a passion for. So you actually had the passion for beauty. And you coupled it with, you know, it sounds like both your brother and you had this sustainable, you know, stewardship of the earth mindset. And then he went in and said, Wait a
Unknown:So I would say that he is probably the true entrepreneur out of the two of us. And I think that probably comes from such confidence of having such a financial background. So he had that strength, and therefore he had that confidence. So you know, they often talk about having a problem and a solution when it comes to starting a business. So he found the problem. And then I said, Okay,
Indie Lee:I think it's fantastic. I mean, that's why you guys are rocking it, because Okay, so then you decided I'm going to do this, which is not a small undertaking. And I totally hear you as somebody who has a CPA or what you guys call, I think a chartered accountant, like that's my background. So I understand like, under getting what that means to start a business. But you still need
Unknown:It's the shark pretty much. Yeah.
Indie Lee:Okay, great. Well, you bootstrapped up until that point, like just you guys just figuring it out on the side.
Unknown:Yeah. So in the early days, it was all done from our personal savings, asking family and friends if they want to support us. So yes, exactly that then we got the Virgin StartUp loan, which was small, but it was enough to help us get our first round of packaging. And then we did a crowd fund, where we got a bigger bulk of money. And so that was I think we raised 215 100,000. So then that
Indie Lee:like, to me that's scarier than starting a business. You know, because you're doing in front of all these
Unknown:people. Yeah, it was, it was absolutely terrifying. But again, I do feel like when you watch that show, what you often find is that the point that whichever one comes unstuck is the money. So it was like I could be there to be the personality and to hopefully be likeable, although one of them really did not like me. So that didn't even work out. And then William could come in with all of
Indie Lee:But it proved out to be a good thing for you. Correct?
Unknown:Yeah. So we actually got three out of five dragons offered us investment. And we ended up shaking hands on air, making two of them do a collaborative offer. So it went really, really well. And they had some great things to say, of course, they also completely cut us apart in terms of some of the other bits as well. But we were actually in the middle of a big rebrand at the point at
Indie Lee:But then it airs. So then there's a lot of, there's a buzz around it too. And getting that brand awareness, which as a small brand is very even as a large brand. It's difficult to do, it still has its struggles. I mean, there's so much that goes into this. I know when I speak to other founders, I mean, but to have that where you're on, you know, for us, we would call it national, I
Unknown:So this was funny this is actually jumping back in the timeline before the Dragon's Den situation so we the on the very first day that we decided to launch the brand, this this show here called the London Coffee Festival, which is attended by 1000s and 1000s of people and it's a huge celebration of all things coffee. And at this point on day one of our brand we of course only had be honest we couldn't have asked for more
Indie Lee:wow I didn't realize that was day one day one it was literally day one macaroni as I would say because this is a family friend that's incredible. Okay, so tell talk to me a little bit about the the growth trajectory then so okay, I thought it was Dragon's Den then urban. So it was it was really day one you do this show. Then you kind of build a little bit then Urban Outfitters you're
Unknown:Yeah, to be honest, I feel like we so we've only existed for five years and as you probably Reno, we're sold all over the world. And we've got massive big name retailers behind us, the biggest struggle for us was convincing big retailers that our concept was scalable. Because as you can imagine, you know, we are collecting coffee, from cafes, and restaurants all over the city. But now.
Indie Lee:Because it's not just coffee anymore. I mean, it's really gone way back that so I'd love for you to talk to me in the listeners about the different ingredients that we you are using how you are creating a more circular business, which I think it's so important, you know, I I like to get away from the term sustainability because that just stays at status quo. But if we're talking
Unknown:Exactly. And it's so funny that you say that sustainability is the status quo, because that is pretty much the exact parallel of a phrase that I use all the time, which is that natural is the new normal and normal is boring. To stand out, you have to go further than that, right. So it's not enough anymore to just be vegan and cruelty free and natural and handmade, you have to take the next we've got loads of
Indie Lee:bits. Oh my gosh, that's incredible. Incredible.
Unknown:It's exciting. It's definitely different, which is why I think we've caught people's attention.
Indie Lee:Okay, so I have always believed that the ability to ask for help is a superpower right? So I don't think we can be good and we talked about this beginning like I don't think we can be good at all things. Curious, what was the best advice that you ever received or that you asked for help with?
Unknown:Ah, this is this is quite an interesting one but it is it is true. Firstly you I was going to say one but you've already said it which is that you shouldn't be put off by not being an expert in all things because a no one is and be huge Just hire people into those things. So you know, sometimes people say, Do you have a formal cosmetology background? And I say no, but that's not a problem
Indie Lee:No, it's recognizing your limitations. Yeah,
Unknown:yeah. But people should never be put off by thinking that they're not an expert in everything that they need to be because you don't need to be you just need to hire appropriately. But then the other thing I will say, which is a bit of a bit ironic, really, because it makes no, it's the opposite. It is to say that you don't have to take on board everyone's advice. And that's the best
Indie Lee:I love it. No, I couldn't agree with you more, you're not going to be able to be everybody's cup of tea. But the important thing is, knowing who that community is, and really servicing them, and creating the community around them. So 100% I love that. Okay, so I have to ask you this, because so fitting for your brand. And I happen to think one of the biggest issues these days with
Unknown:It's a really difficult one. And again, it's often the same with the whole idea that sometimes some of our, our core passionate audience will say, Well, why are you going into a big retailer? Like, why are you going mainstream? Isn't that watering down your values? And we say, well, no, because by doing that, what we are doing is pushing a less sustainable or less eco brand off the
Indie Lee:same thing. Yeah, I think it is having that open open honest dialogue. I mean we're very much like you we do not discount we have two sales a year and that is it. Yeah, we're never going to discount and and like most brands, we also absorb the the discount that we're offering. But we also want to say you know do something with somebody you know, for me that's what I've always been about
Unknown:Well, it follows on perfectly from what you've just said. And that, for me is time spent with family and friends. I am very much a social person. And, you know, you know, when they say that extroverts feel recharged by socialising, and introverts often feel the opposite. They feel drained and like they need time on their own. I know that I'm an extrovert for the fact that if I'm tired,
Indie Lee:That's amazing. I and I'm an introvert. I'm like, Okay, I need to meditate. I need to chip up. But you know, I think it's important. That's why knowing yourself and playing in and taking care of yourself. And whatever way works for you is so important
Unknown:being being the kind of the head of a brand. from Monday to Friday, you work so hard. And so my kind of self care at that point might be, you know, having a face mask on a Wednesday night, but then by the time I get to the weekend, I'm like, I have to be out the house.
Indie Lee:Well, I hear you on that one. I you know, we're still working remotely, mostly. And when it comes to weekend, I'm like, I gotta get out of the house. And you know, my husband's like, what would I just want to relax? I'm like, I've been in the house all week. I've got I can't look at this house anymore. I need to get out. So I completely get it. I completely get it. Okay, any news you
Unknown:Yes, absolutely. So you can find us on us. upcycle beauty.com is our main website. We're also with some retailers like Whole Foods, alter Pharmacopeia I have that's probably the main ones in the US, or our standard UK website is also upcycle beauty, and that's our Instagram as well. So all of our socials are at upcycled bussi. Big news would be that we have just released five new
Indie Lee:I'm going to I got some holiday shopping to do as I just said, Okay, well I go. Experiences only really good. Yeah, yeah, I know. But you know what, to me a candle is an experience
Unknown:a great set the mood for your experience?
Indie Lee:Absolutely. I light one every morning when I'm sitting and meditating. So I'm, I'm right there. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to chat with me. I greatly appreciate it.
Unknown:Oh, it's been my pleasure. Thank you so much for inviting me on.
Indie Lee:I hope you enjoyed this episode of coming clean with indie lay. If you like what you heard, please subscribe and hit the like button or leave us a comment. And if you have ideas for upcoming guests or ideas for upcoming topics, feel free to email me at coming clean at Indie li.com That's coming clean at Indie lead calm. See you next time.