My name is Stacey Hollands and I am a Sunshine Coast based business owner, wife, and mother of 2. I am a beauty therapist by trade and am also the proud CEO & Founder of Australia’s leading clean beauty brand Lust Minerals. Lust Minerals is passionate about educating, empowering and inspiring millions of people worldwide to live a cleaner lifestyle. Lust Minerals offers a clean and high performance range of mineral makeup and clean natural skincare products that are also vegan, cruelty free, and are better for our skin, our health and the environment.
When did you start your business?
Lust Minerals was founded in 2014 with a purpose to redefine the beauty industry. After sadly losing my Father to Cancer at a young age I experienced first hand the effects that chemicals and toxins can have on our health, and it really made me realise that we don’t get a second chance at life. That’s why at Lust Minerals our aim is to offer confidence without sacrificing the health of women and men all over the world.
What was the inspiration behind starting this business?
I was inspired to bridge the gap between natural and conventional beauty products and to prove that cleaner alternative products do have the high performance power to change your skin, your life and leave the planet a better place. Whilst there were already plenty of natural based beauty products out there, few married “clean” and “high performance” to deliver real results for men & women. I made it my mission to provide people with an alternative to synthetic and harmful chemical based beauty products whilst still ensuring they were both affordable and superior in performance to offer real results for our customers.
What are you most excited about in your business?
What excites me most about this journey is that I get to live the life that I truly always envisioned for myself. Each day I wake up with so much passion and purpose knowing that I am helping so many men and women make long-lasting positive changes to their lives by making the switch to a cleaner lifestyle.
What has been the most challenging thing about starting your business?
As the business grew, so did our Team and for me, going from running the business solo and wearing all the hats to now managing a Team of over 22 staff who are all so different was a huge challenge at first. I think what supported me through this was definitely working with my personal coach to further develop my leadership skills and style so I could ensure I was being the best Leader for my Team, and also ensuring that I was onboarding people who aligned with the brand and our missions and values, as after all a brands success is a reflection of its team. The Team culture we have cultivated over the years has played an incredible part in Lust’s success and I am so grateful to have such an incredible team that supports me in continuing to strive for better.
What advice would you give to other women thinking about starting a business?
The first piece of advice I would give to other women thinking about starting a business is to get clear on your purpose and your “why” because this will be your biggest motivator. I think it’s also important to understand that to start with you will have to do a lot of it on your own, and you will be wearing all the hats. However, this is such an exciting opportunity to really understand your own strengths and weaknesses within the business and from there, you can build out an incredible team that supports you and the business needs. Most importantly, you need to back yourself. There will be constant setbacks and hurdles, however if you push through these and continue to show up everyday, this is where the magic and growth happens. Always remember to celebrate the wins and the milestones along the way, no matter how big or small.
Why did you enter the AusMumpreneur Awards?
I love what the Ausmumpreneur Awards stand for. It can be incredibly challenging, however also really rewarding juggling business and motherhood so to be surrounded by like minded women and to be celebrated for this is truly such a blessing.
I have also learnt so much in the last 8 years, and I would love to share my knowledge and experience with this community. I would love to use this opportunity to create a start up business directory to allow other mums in business to truly design a life that they envision for themselves. After all, we don’t get a second chance at life so I am so passionate about encouraging everyone to live it to their fullest potential and how they have always dreamed they would.
What did you enjoy the most about being part of the awards?
What I enjoyed most about being a part of the awards was the opportunity to meet and connect with other ‘Mumpreneurs. This year, I also had the incredible honour of being a judge and this was a huge highlight for me. To be able to listen to other inspiring women and mothers in businesses share their stories was truly so empowering for me.
What surprised you most about the awards?
I think you naturally put people that attend these events on a petal stool because you hear about all the incredible things they are doing and achieving and it can be quite daunting to attend, especially in person for the first time. However, aside from all the success stories, these women are truly everyday people like you and me, and they are so real, raw and down to earth. It was such an honour to be able to connect with them on a personal and a business level.
How did the awards help you in your business?
The awards really helped me as it essentially provided me with another support network. Through these awards you really do meet so many incredible women and the best thing is they are all on the same journey as you are, juggling business & motherhood.
What advice would you give to other mums thinking about entering the awards?
Do it, no matter the outcome because the real win overall is the community you gain and all the incredibly inspiring people you meet.
What has been the best thing about starting your own business?
I am so passionate about helping women all over the world and educating them to be the best version of themselves. I love to give and I love to inspire, this is my absolute calling. Being able to do this each and everyday through Lust truly ignites my passion and it has been a dream come true.
What’s happening next in your business?
We want to continue to learn and grow and to understand our community so we can ensure we are supplying them with everything they need to live a life full of confidence with limited risks to their health.
Our customers are our everything and we truly value them so much. We will continue to push forward to ensure that not only are we offering products that are clean, but ones that will be a long-term solution and treatment for our customers instead of a “quick fix.”
What are your big plans for the future?
We are really focussing on leveling up and becoming a Global, Iconic Beauty Brand. I would love to see Lust Minerals featured in one of the largest beauty retailers in the AUS, US and UK as we really do want to be readily available for our customers worldwide. This should in turn help us to accelerate further into the US market which really excites me.
What is your website and/or social media links (eg. Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram)
Instagram:
Personal- https://www.instagram.com/stacehollands/
Lust Minerals lust__minerals
Facebook Community – Join our Clean Beauty Club here https://www.facebook.com/groups/lustmineralscommunity
