StyleNest take five minutes with mum of two and creator of Childs Farm, Joanna Jensen to bring you her top tips on children’s skin concerns as well as tips on how to set up a new business.
From the birth of the business to how she balances being a working mum, Joanna Jensen talks to StyleNest about the stresses of running a business and what she does to unwind.
You had a career in finance, what made you swap your career for the skincare and beauty industry?
I stopped working just after I had Emilia in 2006, but the plan was to breed more horses and ride lots. However, that wasn’t to be, and suddenly I found myself with a toiletries business. There was no plan, it just happened. I struggled to find products for my own kids, and my husband told me to just get on and do it myself…so I did.
How important is using organic skincare on children’s skin?
We all spend time ensuring that the food that we feed our kids is free range, organic, ‘free-from’ and the best quality we can afford and we should treat anything we put on their skin with the same thoroughness.
Natural is more important than organic when it comes to ingredients like food, and given that our skin is the largest living organ on the body, it needs to be treated with the same respect as you would your tummy. With children, there is a more likely instance of sensitivity to products as well and natural products typically don’t cause reactions.
Can you tell StyleNest readers about the thought process behind Childs Farm?
I wanted to create products that kids wanted to use, that are fun to look at, have a story behind and have contents that mums can trust. The fact it looks good on the shelf is an added bonus. The themes I stuck to are what I know which is ponies and farm animals. Living on a farm, and breeding horses meant the imagery was easy for us.
The girls on the packaging are my little one’s and Oscar the boy, is my cousin’s son so it’s close to the heart. As a child and watching my own children now, children have an affinity with characters in books and on telly, so I wanted a ‘healthy’ role model for my children’s generation that wasn’t processed or from a cartoon.
From the fragrance to the bottle, the brand takes inspiration from Britain, how important was it to make this a heritage brand?
Buying locally is part of our way of life. Coming from a rural community all my life I have been aware of the issues faced by farmers and rural businesses when challenged by cheap imports. It is only in recent years that the public in general have realised that buying locally gives you top quality and means that what you like will still exist in five years – the use it or lose it philosophy. So, a heritage brand would have always happened with us because it is part of our way of life.
We love your fun and colourful branding, what was the thought process behind it?
My little darlings have always been a touch on the feral side, so baths and particularly hair washes have been a low priority for them. I wanted them to want to wash, by giving them a pony to look at; it was the perfect distraction from the task in hand. It also helps having different coloured lids when you are doing a double act in the bath, and one needs a shampoo, the other a conditioner – telling them to grab the pink one, or the turquoise one is a lot easier that saying shampoo for me. We find it pretty hard to get rid of an empty bottle here, so we save them to use on our stands at Trade Shows.
How do you juggle a successful career with being a mum?
With extreme difficulty. Anyone who says it’s a doddle is either fibbing or has hot and cold running staff. It is a balancing act of time versus guilt. We have time before school, then at 5pm I’m off duty (most of the time) I was told off for always working by my seven year old the other day, and that really hit home. So, subject to weather, we are trying to ride a couple of evenings a week after school. I have reached Olympic standards of multi-tasking, and tell myself every day how very lucky I am to have my office at home. If they are very good, Olivia on the Childs Farm team will give them a riding lesson too.
Mums are often expected to be ‘supermum’. Do you think there is too much pressure on women to be perfect at everything?
Women put the pressure on themselves. If you have an ounce of common sense, you realise that the fab looking babes in the glossies have been airbrushed, that everyone has a bad hair day and that the world is a garden in which many different flowers grow. If we were all the same, how dull would that be? The most important thing is to have a go – we are only here for a very short time, so live your life with no regrets and learn to delegate.
As you get older, this becomes so apparent and we see life in perspective. We were laughing the other day about what we would be doing 200 years ago and decided we would be excellent at needlepoint but very bored. Today, with email and mobile phones, everyone is contactable at any time, which heaps on pressure for everyone. There will be a time when I move to the highlands of Scotland to be far from a signal or 3G, but then I’ll start pining for the buzz.
Can you clue our StyleNest readers on any exciting projects you are working on?
Most is far too top secret I’m afraid, but we are looking at expanding the range, starting with a fab hand wash and hand and body lotion with Grapefruit and Tea tree oil which are due out in the Autumn. Then in the New Year – there will be lots more stuff on the horizon. But everything’s under wraps in our barn for now, so no peeking…
Little one’s are often susceptible to skin concerns such as eczema and rashes. What advice would you give mums if their little one’s are having a breakout?
First, look to their diet. There are many known foods that cause dermatitis, and getting to the root of what you consume is the place to start. Dairy is the usual suspect and even cutting dairy out for a day can transform a child’s life. Just make sure you have lots of green leafy veg in their diet and a decent supplement to provide the calcium they need.
Keeping a food diary is the easiest way to see what foods aggravate skin problems – you would be amazed at the patterns you see. Before using a skin product on a child with sensitive skin: do a patch test on them first. You can put a dollop of a new product on an out of the way patch of their skin, and it will react within 5 -10 minutes if it’s going to. When skin is open, use nothing on it and leave it to clear up. Homeopathic remedies for skin can be taken orally and I would strongly support these. I had chronic eczema and asthma as a child and we were only ever treated homoeopathically.
What advice would you give to our readers who want to set up their own business?
You have to have drive, ambition and determination in spades. The business will take over your days, nights, weekends, holidays (what are those?) and your social life. Get as much help as you can afford, initially though you end up doing everything yourself, and that means you are the Chairman, cleaner and bookkeeper.
If you have never been stubborn, determined, bloody-minded and belligerent before, then think again: because you need to be all these things if you are going to succeed. I started my first business when I was 21, so I have never been frightened of working for myself, and it is in my blood. Corporate life was a bit of a compromise too far for me – my straight talking was a bit much for some – but it paid for my horses and my country cottage. I have always been diligent and wanted to do the best I possibly can and you have to have that inbuilt in you to set up your own business (and an ability to live off crisps).
How important are natural products to you and knowing what goes into your skin?
A fundamental part of my life. I use products that are as free-from nasties as they can be. I’m a great fan of REN skincare products and use the Childs Farm hair care products on myself. I try to keep it simple and use things that are fragranced with citrus-based essential oils. I was very sensitive to the sun as a child, and my eldest has the same problem, so we follow prevention as far as possible because I don’t want her having steroids on her skin. Like with the animals, our first port of call when something is wrong is homeopathic and only when things don’t clear up do we go mainstream.
What is your everyday skincare routine?
Cleanse in the shower in the morning with EVE LOM cleanser (I’ve used it since my first facial with her 15 years ago). I then moisturise using REN older skin products, with an SPF, and then always swish a bit of Lanolips Lemonaid Lip Aid on because it is just the balm of the gods.
In the evenings, it’s Eve Lom again to clean my skin, then a facial oil and a night moisturiser, again all REN and another swish of Lanolips Lemonaid Lip Aid. Once a week I exfoliate my face, neck and upper arms with REN. My hands and feet tend to get quite dry so a couple of times a week I have a soak in Childs Farm organic tangerine bubble bath which gives me a bit of escapism and leaves my skin really moisturised. I then put Lanolips 101 cream on my toes and I’m away.
Obviously your role as a mum never stops, but how have you balanced being a working mum over the years?
Trying to be less hard on myself and accepting the fact things just happen for a reason and that the kids don’t keep a stop watch on the time I spend with them. They have a great loving family around them and treats like going to fashion shows with Mum or even better, a morning in Harrods before it opened, make the job awesome as far as they are concerned.
When you are not busy working, what do you enjoy doing with the family?
We love our horses. We have so many of the blighters that we have to keep on top of them. As both girls have decided they are going to be international eventers they need to practice and after two years of being dry, the winterbourne which flows through our fields is full, so we are looking for more sunshine so we can swim in it. We also have puppies at the moment – so lots of cooing!
Being a working mum of two, you have your hands full. What do you like to do for some well deserved “me time”?
Just fishing out a dictionary to see what that term means.
For more information visit www.childsfarm.com.