Fascinating lessons from a curious entrepreneur

When Rowena Bird joined Lush Cosmetics UK in 1981 she started with her knowledge as a beauty therapist but evolved her skills by saying yes to every learning experience in the company be it formulation marketing meetings ingredient sourcing customer service ethics policies Today after 45 years Bird continues working with the same enthusiasm as she excitedly shows us their global Diwali launches diya and jalebi bathbombs and a mango kulfi and lassibased body care range and discusses her trip to India and their new Mumbai store at Inorbit Mall in MaladWhile here she visited the Ajanta and Ellora Caves signed up for a Bollywood tour even took a photo outside Shah Rukh Khanrsquos Mannat Bird discusses the lessons she learned as a female entrepreneur in the crowded beauty and wellness marketHow does one keep evolving as a founderI think the journey is about saying yes always and never thinking lsquoI canrsquot do thatrsquoItrsquos about always thinking what else can I do The expression we have in the UK is lsquoYes andrsquo That is what people have to do If you want to get ahead and you want people to recognise your worth you do your lsquoyes andrsquo You do say no mdash when somethingrsquos not morally right like social media Itrsquos a challengehellip But we truly believe that right now social media isnrsquot a safe place for so many especially younger people who are easily influenced We wouldnrsquot put a Lush store at the end of a dark alley because we wouldnrsquot want our customers to go there social media to us is this dark alley It doesnrsquot mean that wersquore not on it Because influencers see our products they love it they talk about it And for that wersquore very gratefulPiciStockWhat have you learned from taking a moral stand as a business ownerI donrsquot think wersquore political we are humanitarian We will give both sides of the picture mdash a balanced view mdash and educate If making a campaign or sharing a public opinion we always share both sides and then itrsquos for you to make a decision as to what you do with good balanced information For example we would always say use your vote but we wouldnrsquot say who to vote for If we see an issue or a cause or we see harm or injustice then we will use our business as a voice For example we sell naked products without packaging which last three times more than the packed ones but we have to do an offering of bothItrsquos the customerrsquos choice So wersquore all about giving you a choice but hopefully steering you towards the more conscious choicesHow do you balance product innovation consumer demands and sustainabilityNot thinking therersquos any other way We have to make enough money because we are a business so we reserve the right to have a profit to keep the company running so everybodyrsquos employed But not at the cost of the environment at the cost of animal testing at the cost of how we buy our raw materials If another company bought us today they could immediately make more money and less impact but thatrsquos not the goal For example we used to have a colour cosmetics brand which used mica and we learned that despite having fair certifications mica extracting practices were still illegally employing and killing children so we decided to not use natural mica ever We always go for natural but at this instance went straight to syntheticAdvice for women who want to start their own brandBe your own person Men do not know everything mdash sorry guys Make sure yoursquore working with people that you really like and trust and have a longterm relationship with Donrsquot be taken over by somebody else Understand what you want and how yoursquore going to do it and then stick with thatWe work very well as a group of six cofoundersEach one of us has a different skill set but all the skill sets interlock Respect within a team is most important If yoursquore working yourself employ people to work for you that are stronger than you in the different areasAmbition vs risk how important is it to tell yourself the truthBelieve in what yoursquore doing If yoursquore starting a business and are not passionate about it itrsquos easy for somebody to derail you and tell you itrsquos no good because yoursquore half thinking You have to be like your Bollywood star that kept telling himself he was the best Find people to support you The beautiful thing about having six partners as founders is that when one of you has a wobble yoursquove got five people behind you cheering you onItrsquod be very lonely doing it on your own but itrsquos certainly not impossible