Today, we talk to Kathy Kiedrzynski, the entrepreneur behind Kiyomee Blends, a beauty supplements brand that is creating high-quality, natural skincare products designed to help make consumers feel more confident about themselves. With her years of experience as a beauty therapist, Kathy decided to strike on her own and bring her own values and ideas in a competitive market. Despite the challenges of a career, motherhood, and the pandemic, Kathy was achieved continuous growth since launching the brand.
ISB: What inspired you to launch your own beauty product brand?
KK: After 21 years in the beauty industry, I’ve seen a gap in education and nurturing our bodies and simplifying self-care, that could revitalise and nourish our bodies from within. I wanted to help women restore their natural inner glow. With so many products and brands on the market, it can be confusing to choose which best suits you. Which is what inspired me to redefine the future of simple and tasty ingestible beauty.
ISB: How were you able to successfully launch the brand while balancing it with your work as a beauty therapist and being a mother as well?
KK: It has come with its challenges and can become quite the juggling act, there were days I’d be running out the door feeling so anxious and like the room was closing in on me, but I kept reminding myself that nothing great comes easy. Fitting in work commitments, kids school and activities, groceries, cleaning my house, time with our friends and family became a struggle and there were even a few zoom meetings that I left pyjama pants on for, but with my amazingly supportive family, friends, clients and community we made it work ensuring we have a balance and still enjoy the fun times and are present.
ISB: What makes Kiyomee Blends stand out in a competitive beauty product market?
KK: We pride ourselves on education, transparency and creating trustworthy holistic beauty blends that taste amazing and nourish your body from within. Although we are a very new growing business, we have built ongoing relationships with a like-minded community that loves and shares our range. We don’t have endless cash piles for influencer marketing, and advertising so we rely heavily on the integrity of our beautiful community we have built. We get to work with amazing influential athletes, TV personalities, beauty businesses, gyms, pilates and yoga studios based solely on their love for all things Kiyomee.
ISB: As a business that values authenticity and transparency, how do you ensure these values are reflected in your customer interactions?
KK: We pride ourselves on customer service, we regularly reach out to our customers personally to ensure all their needs are met by our experts. At Kiyomee we care about you, your health and mindset. We deliver an experience not just a product, from the journey of ordering, to when it arrives personalised at your door. We like to be remembered because we care about you. Kiyomee signifies purity, sacred and beautiful which is exactly what we reflect within all interactions.
ISB: What is your vision for Kiyomee Blends in the next couple of years?
KK: We are working on a few surprises that will cater to the whole family’s nourishing needs, that can easily be incorporated daily and with no fuss. We hope to really break into the market and be recognised as a well-known trusted brand with only our customers’ needs in mind. Within the next two years, we are hoping to have launched another two products within our current skin-loving line and launch into the healing of our bodies with a completely new wellness range that will cater for specific health needs such as sleep, skin inflammation and we’ll keep the rest a surprise. We will also be launching a skincare line that has been used within my salon for the last 12 months and its changed people’s lives.
ISB: What is the most important lesson you’ve learned in your business journey that you feel other would-be entrepreneurs can also learn from?
KK: I think stepping out of your comfort zone can be daunting, however believing and backing yourself will prove positive in the long run. Invest in yourself, education is key. Also, develop close relationships with the people and companies you deal with, it’s so important to have that strong trust with each other. Believe me, you won’t always settle with the first company you meet. It’s not easy to find your team of professionals, but when you do you’ll never work another day in your life. Understanding each other makes for an incredible result and I consider myself grateful for those I get to work with to create this amazing range from development right to the shelf.
