As BD reported late last year, former Alpha-H global brand manager, Jamee Parker, recently announced the launch of her very own business – a new website called 'a-Beauty.'
a-Beauty is committed to changing people’s perception of what ‘Australian made’ looks like in the beauty space. Because according to Parker, while ‘Australian made’ has always been a badge of honour, this hasn’t always coincided with a stamp of luxury in the past. However, the Australian beauty industry has come a long way over the years.
Below, BD chats with Parker to find out everything we can expect from a-beauty.
Congratulations on the launch of a-beauty! How did this business idea come about?
Thank you so much.
After a very busy few years travelling internationally for previous roles, one common theme kept coming up in discussions with media, buyers and industry contacts and that was a global infatuation with A-Beauty, aka. Australian Beauty. Beauty down under is viewed around the world as laid-back, low-key, pared back and effortless. After doing some market research I couldn’t really find a site that prioritised and championed Australian brands at the forefront, so here we are.
Can you tell us a bit more about yourself and your past involvement in the beauty world?
I grew up being surrounded by all things beauty. My mum, Alpha-H founder Michelle Doherty, was an incredibly inspiring woman and from a young age I was at tradeshows, press events or behind the scenes whilst she was on TV – so beauty has been an integral part of my life for the past 20+ years. After dabbling in PR and Journalism across both fashion and beauty, I decided that the beauty space is where I belong.
What can people expect to find on the site?
People can visit abeauty.co and find a curation of beautiful Australian brands, some that they may know and some they might not have come across yet. a-beauty will hero both the smaller niche brands as well as be home to some of the larger more established heritage brands.
It’s my hope that we can also change any preconceived ideas that people both here and overseas might have that Australian beauty brands are daggy or subpar to their international counterparts. The products coming out of Australia have come so far in recent years and I’m constantly being introduced to high-quality brands that favour premium ingredients, often with a commitment to keeping their formulas natural and clean wherever possible. a-beauty products really do know how to keep things fuss-free without compromising on results and that’s what I want to share with the world.
How does a-beauty differ from other beauty websites?
Our site is a platform that focuses on both editorial and eCommerce. I place significant value on ensuring that The Edit features brands that we sell as well as brands that we don’t. Our goal is to be the site customers want to visit when they want to learn about the latest and greatest in Australian beauty, even if that means that customers can’t shop every brand mentioned on our site.
We also feature interviews with industry heavy-weights, brand founders, discuss trends and topics and really try to shine a light on things we think are both timely and appropriate. We like to think of The Edit as a destination for consumers to come and learn and be inspired and educated. We hope that they are able to have a takeaway from each article they read.
Does social media play a significant role in your strategy?
I think social media has to play a part in any business these days. As a start-up, it is an integral way for people to discover us, for brands to connect with us and for us to spread the a-beauty word.
What has been the most exciting part of your journey so far?
Without a doubt the most exciting part of the journey so far has been discovering brands and connecting with founders that are so excited to have a website that’s focused solely on Australian brands. This year has been a difficult year and now more than ever we are seeing consumers wanting to support local – so it has been a very rewarding journey to date.
What has been the most challenging part?
Obviously as a new eCommerce site we are up against some of the bigger players with endless marketing budgets, so we have to get creative and stay in our own lane and not worry too much about what everyone else is doing.
What advice would you give to other beauty entrepreneurs?
One thing my mother passed on to me was, if you don’t give it a go, you’ll never know. If you’ve got an idea and the drive – then give it a shot.
How will the site be working with brands? How can they get in touch?
We will be working with brands in two ways: They can either submit their products for inclusion in The Edit, where we showcase new products, uncover the latest trends, interview brand founders and a plethora of other things. Or they can get in touch with us about inclusion in our curated assortment to be sold on site. Brands can get in touch via email at hello@abeauty.co.
What’s next for the site?
Who knows what 2021 will throw our way (off the back of this crazy and very chaotic year) but we hope it will see more brands launch on site, we hope to unveil some exciting new categories and an expansion to our current team of four.
