#awinewith Samantha Hunter, Founder of Bloom Organics

https://bloomorganics.au/

In this episode we talked about...

* The supermarket moment that started it all: standing with her sister reading a soap box for her nephews' eczema, unable to pronounce a single ingredient, and deciding "we can do better than this".

* Researching her way from a COVID lockdown hobby to a handmade skincare and body care business in Airlie Beach - starting with a goat's milk, manuka honey and oat soap made for her family.

* Formulating for results, not trends: plant-derived ingredients, no unnecessary perfumes, and products that people with allergies and sensitive skin can actually use - because what you put on your skin ends up in your body.

* Why the weekend markets are her best business tool - letting sunburnt cruise ship visitors and curious locals try the product, no hard sell, and watching them come back an hour later saying "I'll have one of those".

* Letting customers write the product roadmap: the body butters, the Renew range for mature skin (tested by real women in their 50s and up, not models), and the men's all-in-one product - all built from conversations at her stall.

* The moment the "hobby that pays for itself" became a business - swapping the mindfulness hat for the business hat without losing the 3am creative buzz.

* Her current challenges, honestly: cracking exposure as a one-woman brand on a pocket-money budget (including her 30 Days of Bloom campaign), and streamlining small-batch manufacturing done entirely by hand.

* Her advice: if you've got something you love and believe in, just go for it - you don't need a course or $20k in the bank, and you're not struggling, you're learning.

Get more SPARK in your business…

SPARK Instagram Community | https://www.instagram.com/sparkbusiness.global/

FREE SPARK CEO Scorecard | https://sparkbusiness.global/the-spark-ceo-scorecard

$15k Quarterly Cash Grants for Women in Business | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-women-in-business-grants

Join The SPARK CEO Hub | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-ceo-hub

Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business.

Grant Winner Interview: Dr Bethany Fisher, Founder of Dr Bethany's Tooth Tales - Round 12 $10k Winner

https://drbethanystoothtales.com/

In this episode we talked about...

* From dentist's chair to centre stage: how regularly extracting teeth from four-year-olds convinced Bethany the real work was prevention - and that it should be fun.

* The two songs she wrote "just randomly", the photo shoot for a business that didn't exist yet, and the gap year that turned out to be 2020.

* Taking Tooth Tales around the country - early learning centres, schools, playgroups, and an Indigenous community four hours south of Darwin - and the joy it brings to a topic mostadults still dread.

* What the $10k grant is funding: Tooth Tales On Demand, her play-based streaming platform - like Twinkl and Netflix, but for teeth - bringing oral health education to kids nomatter how far they are from a big city.

* Why she applied, and applied again - she first entered in Round 2, kept changing her idea after each miss, and won with the very concept she pitched the first time, reframed forthe life and business she has now.

* The application as a strategy session: how so few words force you to get concise about where your business is really headed and what impact the money will have.

* Her advice for anyone on the fence: apply and apply again - not winning doesn't mean the problem is your business or your idea.

Feeling inspired? The SPARK $15k Quarterly Cash Grants for Women in Business are open to women in business all over the world, and yes, you can apply more than once. Apply here |https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-women-in-business-grants

Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business.

#awinewith Emma Grojnowski, Founder of My Beauty Swap

https://mybeautyswap.com/

In this episode we talked about...

* Thirty years in beauty: three award-winning Bondi day spas, a skincare range sold by the thousands in the US, and the garage-turned-salon where she's done treatments for the lastnine years.

* The moment behind My Beauty Swap - realising during COVID that she couldn't afford the very treatments she gives, and figuring there must be thousands of beauty professionals inthe same boat.

* How the platform works: verified beauty professionals only, swaps that don't have to be one-for-one, and a community-first Beauty Pro Hub with blogs, jobs, expos and rewards.

* The Rubik's Cube rebuild - throwing away a year of dev work, redoing it in a couple of months, and why she's grateful the disaster happened early rather than later.

* Launching city by city, starting with Sydney - and the self-control it takes to tell the UK and LA to wait their turn.

* Why staff was her biggest challenge across every business, and how running lean with freelancers lets her move at her own (workaholic) speed.

* Selling a business you've fallen out of love with - and how returning to hands-on treatments brought the love back.

* Her advice: just don't give up - if you believe in something and you're passionate about it, there is always a way (plus the matchbox key story that started it all).

Get more SPARK in your business…

SPARK Instagram Community | https://www.instagram.com/sparkbusiness.global/

FREE SPARK CEO Scorecard | https://sparkbusiness.global/the-spark-ceo-scorecard

$15k Quarterly Cash Grants for Women in Business | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-women-in-business-grants

Join The SPARK CEO Hub | https://sparkbusiness.global/spark-ceo-hub

Thank you to IP Australia for supporting the SPARK podcast and women in business.