Infusing ritual into our routines: meet Becky, founder of the crystal-charged botanical skincare Holistica.
Every conscious business starts with the dream and purpose. Please tell us yours.
To empower women to elevate their relationship with their skin (and in turn the world), through crystal-charged botanical beauty and the rituals of modern wellbeing.
How important is social media for telling your story and building your community? Which social media channels have had the most profound impact to your business?
Community has always been at the heart of what I wanted to create with HOLISTICA. Not only has social media helped me to grow brand awareness, but it's also allowed me to discover so many amazing women and brands to connect and collaborate with.
Instagram is a firm favourite as I'm so aesthetically-inclined. I've found it to be such an amazing way to tell the story whilst creating the story. A rather meditative way to curate the brand's visual identity.
Describe your visual identity. How do you curate it and how is it helping you to tell your story.
This has been both accidental yet incredibly intentional too.
Ritualistic beauty, radical self-love and a preference for natural living are at the very heart of the brand - and I try to communicate these themes in a very accessible millennial-friendly way.
I've chosen a crystalline meets monochrome colour scheme to ensure a consistent feel, and select content that blends product shots and brand ideals.
Products are only a facet of HOLISTICA and I've never wanted to exclude people from the community by suggesting that if you're not buying products, you don't matter. This is why you'll never see product shots one after the other. Fundamentally, I never want the brand to feel like a hard sell.
I grew up between California and the UK, so experienced very polar ends of the wellness spectrum.
London to me has always felt very physical in it's approach to wellness, with fitness and nutrition being the main pillars. California on the hand, is definitely at the other end of this spectrum, covering the emotional and spiritual facets of wellness.
With HOLISTICA, I'm looking to bring a very well-rounded approach to skin and self-care. Infusing ritual into our routines, marrying the science of skin with the spirituality of it and feeding not only the physical body but the emotional one too.
How would you describe the wellness landscape in London ? How do you feel like your brand contributes to this sphere?
With HOLISTICA, I'm looking to bring a very well-rounded approach to skin and self-care. Infusing ritual into our routines, marrying the science of skin with the spirituality of it and feeding not only the physical body but the emotional one too.
How important is UGC for your brand? How do you engage and build your community and reward them for their loyalty?
I absolutely adore UGC! Of course for the obvious reasons that it evokes authenticity and credibility, but also because every tagged post or story mention is a tiny win for the hard work and consideration that's gone into the whole brand. From the product development and packaging design to the customer unboxing experience!
I'm quite lucky that about 90% of direct customers actually share of their own accord, but we're definitely looking at ways to invite and incentivise this going forward. In fact, we're actually working on a membership option with exclusive products and perks at the moment. The hope is that not only will customers feel rewarded for their loyalty, but they'll also become more engaged in the brand itself.
Do you intertwine offline & online presence? If yes, how important is creating offline experiences for you?
From the get-go, I've chosen to place importance on both online & offline experiences. In some ways, online is the easiest thing to focus on because as long as you have creative content, it only requires an input of time and energy. But for me, the real fun lies in the real world! Offline is all about curating events, prioritising collaboration and connecting with women. I'm currently co-creating a series with Giselle La Pompe-Moore from @Projectajna. The series, named "mirrorscope" looks to illuminate the space between skin and soul and is touring three amazing venues in New York in November!
Tell us your favorite tips for balancing work and life. How do you wind down from running your business?
One of the underpinning ideals for HOLISTICA is a focus on self-care and skin-love. Which makes it somewhat easier to come up with ways to unwind!
That being said, I'm not always great at carving out space and making boundaries. It's a constant challenge to put down the pre-occupation and focus on just being present, but when I do it I really notice such a huge difference.
Oh my goodness so many - always!
@Natalia_benson, @amylaviniawhite and @lifebyleese for inspiring me to put more of my authentic self into my brand. @astaracollective, @madamedry and @lipintimatecare for their incredible way of adding creative variety and story-telling to their social communication.
Finally, special mention to @flex who manage to both promote and educate into a totally new product space! No mean feat!