If you haven’t been gifted with long fluttery lashes, fear not! Get it Magazine’s Laura Broad sat down with Lash Therapy Australia founders and best friends Emma Spilioupous, Lauren Rugolo and Jess Arths, to find out the secret behind their viral lash products.
How did you come up with the idea for Lash Therapy Australia and what inspired you to venture into the eyelash and brow products market?
It was at the beginning of the Pandemic when all beauty salons closed, and our lash extensions were quickly falling off. We were left with bare and brittle lashes, and we were on the search for a solution to that. Whilst searching for this solution we found there was no natural ingredient lash serums for people with sensitive eyes. This is when the idea came together, and we set out to create a range of products that we were assured would provide results without any risk of irritation or damage to our health.
How has being best friends impacted your business model? What’s it like working all together?
Working with your best friends is great. However, we are all so close now we consider each other family more than friends. We started out with a solid base of respect and understanding for one another. And while it also comes with its challenges as conflict is of course going to arise in any work environment, it is the way you cope and build strategies around these problems that arise to prevent future complications from becoming an issue again.
We are all extremely hard-working people and share the mutual goal of wanting the best for each other and the business.
What sets Lash Therapy Australia apart from other brands in the market? How do you ensure the quality and effectiveness of your products?
Lash Therapy Australia is different from what is currently available on the market as we offer a natural alternative to eyelash growth products, currently the market is flooded with hormone-driven products known to have harsh side effects.
We have developed an online cult following for our real results and being the ‘side effect free’ lash serum.
How important is social media in promoting and growing your business? Can you share some strategies you’ve used to engage with your audience and build a strong online presence?
We pride ourselves in bringing out products that actually work, sharing our amazing before and after results is what drives a lot of traffic and reflects the authenticity of our brand. We utilize every social media platform to do this. Our biggest platform would be TikTok as we have a cult following with many influencers also sharing their “lash routine” and “GRWM” using our products.
What challenges did you face when starting Lash Therapy Australia, and how did you overcome them? Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs in the beauty industry?
We didn’t anticipate our rapid growth, so managing stock levels during these periods and selling out constantly was very stressful.
The advice we would give to young entrepreneurs is to just go for it and don’t give up. You don’t need to know every aspect of owning a business from day one, you learn and grow along the way. Keep passion and persistence. Hard work and dedication pay off.
How do you stay up to date with the latest trends and innovations in the eyelash and brow industry?
Constant research and being heavily active on social media would be key to our success, we also ask our customers in Q&A’s what new products they would like to see in our range.
In terms of sustainability and eco-friendliness, what steps has Lash Therapy Australia taken to ensure its products are environmentally conscious?
We aim to deliver premium natural beauty products, with only the best ingredients. Throughout our lives, we faced the common struggle of ineffective, overpriced, harsh chemically enhanced beauty products. We set out to create a range of products that we were assured would provide results without any risk of irritation or damage to our health.
All of our products are cruelty-free, and we also have a line of vegan beauty products.
How do you handle customer feedback and ensure that their needs and preferences are met? Have there been any instances where customer feedback influenced product development or improvements?
We regularly read reviews and touch base with our customer service team that bring up any issues, particularly within the mechanics behind a design and how we can improve it within our manufacturing process. If there are any issues, we always ensure we trial products and receive a lot of samples until we perfect the product run for it to launch successfully preventing fewer problems.
As influencers in the beauty industry, how do you balance authenticity with the commercial aspects of promoting products? How do you maintain trust and credibility with your audience?
Sharing real results from real people maintains authenticity and trust within our brand.
We are very selective with the promotion style we use and only partner with influencers with a genuine love for the brand and products.
What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned since starting Lash Therapy Australia? Is there anything you would have done differently in hindsight?
A big lesson we have learnt through our business journey is to accept help from others and to delegate tasks. As our business rapidly grew, we were very hesitant in the beginning to share the responsibilities and tasks outside of the 3 of us. When we eventually implemented a third-party logistics and hired customer service support we were able to truly dive into the important tasks of growing the business while maintaining high standards for our customers’ experience.
We are constantly learning new ways to improve our business on the daily, however we believe this will always be the case. We are passionate about evolving as society does and tailoring our business to suit anything life has to throw at us.
