We recently chatted to Hannah Duder, CEO of indigo & iris, the vegan and cruelty-free beauty brand that's helping restore sight! Naturally, we wanted to share their story with our tribe.
Tell us more about indigo & iris?
indigo & iris is a beauty brand that gives a damn. We launched our first vegan & cruelty-free mascara, called levitate. It is made in Italy super-black and lengthening. Our mission is to give consumers the option of buying makeup that is not only going to make their life better but also improves the state of the world.
How is it a social enterprise and where do the proceeds go?
We are a socially conscious business, every decision we make we think about how it will impact people and the environment. 50% of our profits are donated to charities. Currently, 50% of the profits from the sale of levitating are donated to The Fred Hollows Foundation NZ who restore sight to people in the Pacific Islands and are on a mission to end avoidable blindness. You can read more here
Where are your products sourced?
Our mascara is made in Italy, but we are looking currently working with manufacturers in New Zealand, Australia, and Korea to develop our next products. For us, it is about ethical manufactures, who have good business practices and create epic products.
Tell us some real roadblocks that you came across when setting up the business?
There were a few and there are still roadblocks every day! Finding suppliers was tough, Bonnie spent a long time to find our manufactures in Italy and we had to travel there twice to get it right. Funding was another one, with huge minimum order quantities we needed a lot of upfront capital to buy the first batch of mascara. We raised capital through some private investors and then a Kickstarter campaign.
Any advice to anyone wanting to start a social enterprise?
Make sure you are passionate about the cause and the product or service. When those roadblocks hit, it is usually only your passion for what you are doing that will get you through. If you are driven by the money, or even if it's just the people you work with this may not be enough if you are not truly passionate about the cause and product you are creating.
My two big life mottos/things I say to myself every day are:
1. You cannot fix the world if you yourself are broken.
2. You can do anything, but you can't do everything.
Find them on @indigoandiris and stay tuned for a competition fam x