Running a business and a family is a challenge, albeit a rewarding one, in itself. When those two worlds collide in a family-run business, both the rewards and the challenges are amplified.
Marie Jenkins, Founder and Managing Director of Kosmea Australia, is one woman who has beat the odds and managed to run her family and business together in harmony for an impressive 20 years. We sat down with Marie to find out what inspired her to start her natural skincare brand, how she’s juggled her commitments, the challenges she’s faced in running a family business, and more.
RESCU: Happy 20th birthday! What a milestone. What inspired you to start Kosmea? Was there an ‘aha’ moment that cemented your decision to start up?
Marie Jenkins: I was a stay-at-home mum with three young children when I first got the idea, back in 1993, to launch my own skin care business. I’ve always had a passion for natural skin care and mixing up my own concoctions using ingredients like avocado, yoghurt and herbs. Thanks to my Greek origin, my mother had always taught us the natural way whether it was with food, medicine or skin care. One day, I was mixing up a mask recipe that called for rose hips, so I headed to a local rose farm in South Australia, and asked them if I could pick some of their rose hips. They happily obliged and handed me an article about the healing and nourishing qualities of rose hips and rose hip oil – how it was being used in hospitals for healing burns and scar tissue.
I drove right home and started to research how I could get hold of some rose hip oil to bottle and sell. I found a supplier in Chile and sold the family car to buy my first drum of rose hip oil. And that’s how Kosmea was born. My family and I spent long days and nights around the kitchen table, filling and labelling 4,000 bottles with the oil and over the next few weeks I visited every health food store in South Australia – about 80 stores in all. Rose hip oil wasn’t even heard of in Australia at this time. I gave each store owner a bottle to try, knowing that once they used it they’d be hooked. Sure enough, within six month’s I’d sold all 4,000 bottles.
After that I secured a bank loan to buy more rose hip oil and started to develop more skin care products for the range. Within a few years, we began exporting to Hong Kong, the UK, Canada and New Zealand.
RESCU: Can you tell us a little about the early days of Kosmea and how you juggled three young children and your business?
Marie Jenkins: Ooh, that’s a very difficult one! Babysitting was juggled between my husband, mum, and sister… you are always torn between your passion, dream and your family and there are always moments when the guilt kicks in. I always tried to find time on the weekend to spend with the little ones and also on school holidays we would go away camping etc.”
RESCU: We know all your children have been involved with the business at some point and your youngest, Olivia, has had continued involvement. Has keeping the family involved helped you achieve a work/life balance over the past 20 years?
Marie Jenkins: It has definitely had many benefits, as we are able to travel the world together and see some amazing places that we ordinarily would not have been able to see. For example, South Africa, Italy, Spain, France, UK, Greece, USA, Hong Kong and Singapore.”
RESCU: Are there unique challenges have you faced by working so closely with your family?
Marie Jenkins: Oh always, when working closely with the family you can become a little too relaxed and it’s a fine art to keep the professionalism up, as you have a tenancy to be yourself.
RESCU: What one piece of advice would you like to share with women thinking of starting up their own business?
Marie Jenkins: Follow your gut instinct and never give up.
RESCU: And one piece of advice for women struggling to find balance between work and family?
Marie Jenkins: Don’t beat yourself up with guilt trips, as you are never going to be a perfect mother – there is no such thing.
RESCU: What’s in store for the next 20 years (and more) of Kosmea?
Marie Jenkins: Oh that is a big one! Kosmea will continue to expand into new countries that we’re not currently stocked in, and of course we’ll focus on new product development. Hopefully I can retire in a few years’ time and let the protégé take over running and building the brand.
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