EP 65 Acacia Clarke
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Liz Nable: [00:00:00] A lot of business owners will tell me they're waiting on a journalist to get back to them, or they're frustrated. Their pitches haven't been picked up yet, or they're not sure who to pitch next, so they sit there. And they wait. But did you know you don't have to just sit there anymore and wait for the media to notice you these days.
You have this incredible tool at your fingertips allowing you to create the news as well as build yourself a reputation at the same time. It's called social media. The most powerful thing, in my opinion, you can do as a small business owner, isn't just to wait to get media coverage. It's knowing how to use your own platforms to create attention, build momentum, and turn a missed opportunity into something even bigger.
Because what happens when you finally get your shot and it falls through? Do you go quiet or do you use your voice to create a different kind of opportunity? I am joined today by Acacia Clarke, co-founder of Pure You. [00:01:00] She went from being a registered nurse, struggling with acne herself to building a multi-million dollar brand, helping over 50,000 people improve their skin, gut health, and confidence.
But this isn't just a conversation about skincare, it's about what really happens behind the scenes of building a product-based business. The realities are going up against big retailers. And how one major setback turned into a powerful community led movement that's now opening doors in ways, traditional strategies.
Couldn't we talk about the power of pr? What credibility actually looks like in a crowded market, and by being willing to share your story, even when it's messy, can completely change the trajectory of your business if you've ever felt like the underdog, which let's face it, as small business owners, we all know that feeling this episode is going to hit.
Enjoy.
Hello and [00:02:00] welcome to Medium Magnet, the podcast for female founders and women owned businesses, startups, and side hustlers who want to learn how to grow their business, leveraging the media and free pr. I am Liz Nale, and I'm your host, personal publicist, PR strategist, and dedicated hype woman. My goal with this show is to give you a behind the scenes tour of how the media works to break down the barriers between your business and the big MA heads.
So you can see how easy it is to get featured simply by giving journalists what they want. At Media Magnet, you'll also get access to the top journals, editors, writers, and PR people in your industry and beyond sharing their secrets and expertise on the how, why, what and when of pitching and getting featured in the media consistently.
I will share with you how to build your reputation as an industry expert so successfully. The media will be knocking down your door. When I first started [00:03:00] in small business 12 years ago. I had no idea what I was getting into. I had spent 15 years as a television news reporter working at several major networks in Australia, and then as a freelancer in the US and around the world.
I spent years dividing my time between working long shifts on a news desk and traveling the world chasing stories. It was unpredictable and exciting until it wasn't anymore. I decided I wanted a life where I was in charge of what happened next and where I was working to build my own empire, not someone else's.
There was a lot I had to learn about running my own business, but getting media and great free PR was not one of them. I already knew what the media wanted. I knew the secret formula for what made news, and I knew how to leverage those media outlets to build my business, get more exposure, and ultimately make more sales.
I was featured in every major media outlet in the country, [00:04:00] and I never spent a single cent on pr. I took that knowledge for granted until it dawned on me one day that I could teach what I knew to other businesses. Let them in on the secret, and they too could build their brands with organic media and pr.
Let me help you take your brand from Best Kept Secret to household name. This is Media Magnet. The podcast and I'm pretty pumped to have you here.
Hello Acaia. Thanks so much for joining me on the show.
Acacia Clarke: Thank you for having me.
Liz Nable: Um, you are coming to me from the sunny Gold Coast. Um, I hope your weather is beautiful up there. It's actually a pretty nice day out here today, so winter is coming. Um, but I wanted to get you on the show because I've been following you.
I actually dunno how long I've been following. Um, [00:05:00] pur you, your business online, but it stood out to me because of your brand story, I guess, and. Your, the way you've transparently shared that brand story online and the huge response that you've had from that. Can you start by telling me a little bit about pure you, the business and sort of how it came about?
Acacia Clarke: Yeah, sure. So, um, at Pure U we essentially sell like natural supplements for skin health, acne, gut health. Um, and the brand started back in, we launched in March, 2020. So, um, writer's COVID hit Australia, um, which was. Fun. Yeah. But pretty much the idea and the, the story behind the brand came from, um, mine and Reva Reva is my partner, also my co-founder.
We both struggled with acne for a really long time. My acne struggle was for more than 10 years. Um, and [00:06:00] obviously over that journey, I tried many different things. Everything that you are told to try, um. And ultimately none of it ever worked. And then I started seeing, um, naturopaths who educated me on the gut skin connection.
And when I started fixing my gut health, that is when my skin started to clear up and we were able to fix our own skin from fixing our gut health and basically realized that, you know, so many people have this exact same struggle and it's not something that is spoken about. It's not something that is easily accessible.
You know, naturopaths can be quite expensive as well, so. Basically, how can we make this more affordable and accessible for the everyday person to help people clear their acne for good. So, um, yeah, that's what started the brand and we've been going for six years now. Okay.
Liz Nable: Wow, that's really, really interesting.
So it sort of was, the business was born out of, uh, [00:07:00] I guess an opportunity you saw in the market to fix a problem that you and your partner had experienced. Um, how, so how do you, how does the business work? So you online business or bricks and mortar stores, how do you sell the product? Is it a subscription or tablets or?
Acacia Clarke: Yeah, so, um, primarily e-commerce. We have just started our journey into, um, distribution, which we will touch on 'cause that has been a journey. Um, but yeah, pretty much just online at the moment. Um, so direct to consumer and our acne program itself is, um, people take it for like a set period of time, depending on how, um.
Severe their symptoms are. So we've got like a 30, 60, 90 day program and then you use that to um, get to the root cause and clear your skin for good. And then we have like maintenance, um, products. So got a few products behind me here. But, um, yeah, we've got, um, like gut health focused collagens. We've got gut fibers, so very like [00:08:00] gut focused products.
And then we have like a maintenance range that kind of keeps your skin on track long term as well. 'cause obviously there's so many things that. Impact your skin. Um, so we kind of just wanna keep it clear long term and yeah, we offer subscriptions and all things like that.
Liz Nable: Yeah. So it's, um, so it's vitamin tablets, is that right?
Yeah.
Acacia Clarke: Yeah. So we've got powders and capsules. Yeah.
Liz Nable: Right. Okay. And tell me a little bit about, so you obviously, um, went onto your own research journey when you, when you were started to be educated by naturopaths about how to fix that connection between your gut and your, your skin health. Can you tell me a little bit more about that?
Like, do you use special products that no one else uses or you discovered products and, and how did that happen?
Acacia Clarke: Yeah. So, um, I guess one thing I forgot to say is that before starting the business, I was a registered nurse, so I was always quite like interested in, you know, the body, the science, like [00:09:00] health in general.
Um, but on top of that I always had a really. Big interest in like holistic health. So I always enjoyed doing things like the natural way. I was very into, you know, healthy eating, lifestyle, all that kind of stuff. And, um, yeah, I guess one thing that I realized working in the medical system is that doesn't really support that.
Um, so I always, you know, found it hard to get that kind of holistic advice until I started working with naturopath. So, um. Yeah, I guess working with a naturopath, I, they began to educate me, like when you sit in a consultation with a naturopathic and go for like two hours. And I just remember learning so much about how the gut impacts the skin, um, you know, detoxification processes, like how your cycle and your hormones come into everything as well.
When I just thought like. Wow, this is also interesting. And because I already had that underlying interest, I would just go away and like research so much more. I remember like I would read books and then I would get Riva to learn [00:10:00] about it too, and he was like, I don't care about this. Like, he would just do what I would do.
Yeah. Um, but yeah, I just found it so interesting. I just started learning about it more myself and then. Yeah, and I guess when it came to the like, formulation process, so our products are, um, TGA listed, so it all kind of goes through a very like regulatory process. Yeah. Anything that's in like a capsule form is obviously like TGA listed TGA approved in a sense.
Um, and we use obviously experts to formulate the products, but um, the products as a whole, it's not like. We don't have like, patented ingredients or anything like that. Um, it's more so the approach of the formulation. So a lot of products out there is just like, you know, singular products that you can get from like, chemist Warehouse, and it might be like one capsule, um, with, you know.
Five ingredients in it at a very like minuscule amount, just enough that they can make claims, but it's not actually gonna do anything for you. Whereas like our [00:11:00] formula, we approached it in like it's a program, so all of the ingredients in there, it's a comprehensive formula where they all work. Together.
Some of them by themselves might not make sense, but in a grand scheme of things, they're all working together to, yeah, essentially target the root cause of acne. So, you know, gut health, hormones, inflammation, stress response, all of these things that's happening inside your body. And the formula targets all of those different pathways to get clear your skin for good.
So it is very different to what else is on the market, which again is why we have like struggled a little bit on the retail side of things because you know, they haven't really seen anything like it before. Um, but that's what makes it so different and so effective. Like we've helped a lot of people, which is um, yeah, obviously really amazing and why we started the brand in the first place.
Liz Nable: So you, um, obviously I'm assuming in your industry you would get, you know, like you said, experts [00:12:00] to try different formulas. You are not in the, the research lab yourself grinding up like vitamins. They're doing it for you and you are testing it on yourself and thinking, oh my God, this works. Or like, how did that like Yeah, that light bulb moment where you were like, holy shit, like this is actually working.
Acacia Clarke: Yeah, so I guess going back to the early days before we even launched, we were obviously, we were working on the product that is now the acne program, and initially it was in like liquid form. So anyone who's seen a naturopath, you'll know, you know, you can get like herbal liquid tonics and they work, they're amazing, so powerful, so potent.
Um, but they taste. Disgusting. And I would do it because I, I was willing to do anything to have clear skin. 'cause it just impacted so many areas of my life that I would do literally anything. So I was taking all these herbal tonics. Um, but Riva, he really struggled to be consistent with it because it was disgusting.
But we saw that it was working. And so [00:13:00] then we, you know, went back to the naturopath, um, who she works alongside like microbiologists as well. So they're like all formulators and you just. You know, you, um, contract them to formulate products for your business. So this is a product that I was taking, um, and as I was taking it, you know, I was like, it's working, but is there a way to do this in like a more convenient format?
Because we would love to be able to take this to, you know, like. Other people and help other people with their skin, but no one's gonna take this liquid shot that makes you cringe every time. And then every time you go to take it, you don't wanna take it. Yeah. And therefore you're not consistent. Um, so yeah, each time I, you know, we would just go back and forth and then we would try, um.
Capsule forms of it. And one thing that happened when we put it in the capsule form was the, like we have probiotics in the product and the probio spoiled. So then you go back to the drawing board and you go, okay, why did the probio spoil? How [00:14:00] do we fix that? Um, so yeah, it was a lot of back and forth. So we basically started as like a liquid product that was.
Very powerful and worked and then made our way to like a capsule product that was easier for people to take. Um, and we tried that on, you know, ourselves. That's the product that cleared my skin and reba's skin and friends and family as well. Like anyone in my circle who had acne. I was like, just try this.
And then that was essentially the reviews and the results that we launched with.
Liz Nable: Wow. Well, your skin does look amazing. I was gonna say that at the beginning of the, the.
It feels so you, so you knew that like in a niche market, if someone was gonna go to a naturopath, these, these tonics and these herbs, these potions worked, they tasted disgusting. They weren't really commercially marketable because the masses weren't gonna take them. So you saw that business opportunity, which is incredible, and obviously why you are such a successful entrepreneur thus far.
But you were biting off a lot, weren't you? Because this is a competitive industry. I know that there [00:15:00] was no product like yours yet. But I would imagine, you know, similar to lots of different industries, you would've been up against big, big, you know, companies who were dominating the market in this space.
Yeah.
Acacia Clarke: Absolutely. Um, and when we first launched, like, you know, we have no business experience whatsoever. We thought you launch a website and people find your product and they buy it, and, you know, it was a, it was a rude shock when we realized that's not the case.
Liz Nable: Always is. Always is.
Acacia Clarke: Yeah. So then for the first, I would maybe say like six months, it was very.
Very slow burn and we were just basically sitting on stock and not making money. And then we had a few breakthroughs actually with pr. Um, we got a few because obviously we launched during COVID. Um, and then we got a little bit of success and that was, you know, I guess something that wasn't being spoken a lot about during COVID.
It was all very. Doom and gloom, what was happening in the [00:16:00] world, which was awful. And then there was this little glimmer of hope, I guess, in this success story of these people who have launched this business in the midst of COVID and it's going well. And then we got a few headlines about that. Um, and we had some breakthroughs there.
And then we started to, I guess, be recognized because if you're put on a news platform, obviously you have a lot of eyeballs on you. And we actually got a message from. A founder of a very big, well-known brand, and she messaged the brand directly and was like trying to pull, uh, pull apart things on our website that like we had copied from them and like, you know, we hadn't, it was like, you know, a very big stretch what she was reaching for, but like this massive brand had.
Noticed us just, uh, about eight months into business and was messaging us directly saying like, you can't copy us, blah, blah, blah. And here I am thinking like, you know, like, we are no one you, you are making millions like a brand that everyone would know. Um, [00:17:00] and yeah, so like crazy, crazy things like that that made me think like, wow, like this is who we're up against.
Which is scary, but also exciting because if you're intimidated. That means I'm doing something right and I'm gonna keep doing it.
Liz Nable: Oh my God. I was just about to say that it's like when people troll you on social media, it means you're rocking the boat in some way and there's no one wants to be trolled, but you also know you're getting people's attention.
Um, which is interesting. So, um, tell me a bit about the pr, because obviously that's what I do and I think particularly in your space, and I don't know exactly what, what's your category called? Is it like. Whole, whole health or whole, like what would you say your category is called?
Acacia Clarke: Yeah, we kind of sit between like skincare and like gut health.
Right. So we, we do sit primarily in the gut health category. Right. Which is obviously a, like a massive market.
Liz Nable: It's a massive market. Yeah. Yeah. And, and it's. You know, you need [00:18:00] credibility in that space and that's where media and PR, in my humble opinion, can do, like, can move mountains a bit. For you, obviously you need some consistent media and pr, but what sort of media were featuring you and did you pitch for that or did they just notice you?
Acacia Clarke: Um, so to my memory, so the, the first, um, the first few like PR pieces that we got was on like news.com. This was the one that was like during COVID, so it was like news.com daily mail, and. I believe we pitched to them. So we were just doing like manual outreach, like kind of, there's this, I can't remember the name of the tool, but basically that tool that you can put in on LinkedIn and it like scans a whole heap of emails.
And then we were, um. Like picking out the best kind of, well, what we thought, like we saw like news.com daily mail, and we're like, oh. So we would write individual pitches specifically to them. Um, [00:19:00] all of the smaller ones, we would kind of just like mass blast. But the ones that we really wanted, we were doing very individualized pitches, being like, you know, we launched six months ago, um, made no sales, then lockdown hit.
Things went crazy and this is what we've done so far, and I think just, you know, the current climate back then journalists were like, oh my God. Like, you know, it's in relation to what everyone's speaking about, which was COVID and lockdown. But it's also a success story that people like getting around.
Don't get me wrong, you've got a lot of hate on it as well because it's like, you know, people were going through it, which I understand, but like you said, you always get a bit of both. But um, yeah, that was like manual. Um, outreach that we were doing. And then a few other pieces we've got since then was through a PR agent maybe three years ago now.
Um, we scored like a nationwide segment on Channel seven News, which was like [00:20:00] crazy. Um, amazing. Just
Liz Nable: the, just in the like evening news or the morning show or,
Acacia Clarke: uh, the evening news.
Liz Nable: Yeah.
Acacia Clarke: Yeah, so it was like midweek peak time, evening news, like a two minute segment about like this breakthrough acne solution.
And I think we, like, obviously we had a little bit of experience with like the power of pr, so we had. Expectations to an extent, but it just, it was crazy. Like, and the, the funniest part is like, I always tell this story the morning that the segment was going live like it, I think it was a Wednesday and it was going live that evening and that morning our website broke.
It would not, it just kept, um, and our developers were in the UK so completely different time zone. And something weird was happening where you basically, anything you would click, the website would just reload. And it was just stuck in this reload cycle. And so we were like, we have eight hours to fix this because we know that we website traffic is gonna be crazy.
And if we can't capture that [00:21:00] interest and attention and demand, well then. This is all for nothing. Totally. Um, and we spent the whole day. I remember we did not leave the office and we hadn't eaten. I think I was still in my PJ's, like it was, it was crazy. And we basically had to bring back one of our old websites, which was so extremely outdated.
I don't even want anyone to see it. It needs to be burnt. But we had to bring that back because that was the only functioning website that we had. Um, and yeah, we managed to get that live before. The segment went live in the evening. It was crazy. I think we had like 5,000 website visitors at one point.
Like the power of PR really is insane. I think especially like in, in every category to an extent. But I think especially this category that we are in, um, you know, we had experts speaking, speaking to it, which is like, you can't put a price on that.
Liz Nable: No, that, that you took the words outta my mouth. You, you can't, you can advertise until the cows come home and you can throw money behind meta ads until forever and a day, but money cannot buy, [00:22:00] um, a credible expert or a media outlet saying that, especially in something like I.
Curing acne, which is, you know, a very emotional, um, it affects your confidence, you know, your, you know, a lot of teenage kids like who are experiencing that, or young adults, like, it's a very highly sensitive topic. And if someone says, I have the cure for that, and they're backed by experts who say, yes, this actually works, like that, is like, it's a game changer in your business, right.
Acacia Clarke: Yeah, a hundred percent. And it's still, it still is to this day. Like we, you know, we still lean on that. Like it's not something that, it's just like a one on one and done. Like it has just paid off tenfold. Like you can't even, yeah, like I said, you can't put a price on it. It's just something that you always have there.
Like seen on Channel seven news, seen on, seen on Daily Mail. Like people, you, I think sometimes as business owners too, we don't realize the impact of those things 'cause we are so in the business that it's these. [00:23:00] I guess not little things, but just these things that you do that you are like. If you can say you've been on channel seven, if you can say you've been mentioned by the Daily Mail.
You don't know what that does to a consumer like on a subconscious level even. You know, it's just these little bits of credibility along the way that people need to see, and that could be the thing that gets them over the line to buy your product.
Liz Nable: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, it, its. So true. Having those logos on your website, sharing it on socials in your edms to your, to your subscribers, um, you can continue to use that over and over and over.
I bang on about this stuff all the time, so I'm glad we're on the same page. Um,
Acacia Clarke: definitely.
Liz Nable: So, so obviously we talked a bit about before we hit record, you know, obviously media and PR as one aspect, um, you know, one of those, um, aspects of your business that can really, um, take your business to the next level and build that credibility as, um.
You know, the go-to expert in your space and, and for your product or your service. But you've also shared really, like candidly on social medias. I [00:24:00] think it's in like the last six months. Uh, I'm not sure actually how old that is, or maybe I've just come across you in the last six months about some of your other challenges getting out into bricks and mortar, um, businesses.
Tell me a little bit about that story and how that. I guess that that problem or that challenge in your business has really morphed into, I don't know if you, maybe it is something that you expected, but it's not something I would've expected. You could have turned into such an amazing opportunity for your business.
Acacia Clarke: Yeah, and I definitely didn't think that as it was happening too. So, yeah. I guess to, to give a bit of a backstory, um, much like, you know, how we're speaking about media, um, and PR legitimizes you. We know that as a supplement brand, something that people are ingesting, they probably wanna see it in a chemist or somewhere in a shop where they can go pick it up, they can feel it, they can ask a pharmacist, Hey, [00:25:00] what's this?
Do you recommend it? Um, so since launching the brand, that has been a massive goal is to, you know, get into retail and distribution. And it's something that we. Um, tried to do or have been trying to do since the start and many different pictures, you know, connecting with different people, um, trying to find details of buyers, category buyers for, you know, price line, chemist, warehouse, Terry White, like whatever there was, um, available to us and.
We were doing that for, yeah, like the first three years with no, no traction, no interest whatsoever. And we just kept trying. And then towards the end, uh, towards like mid 20, 24, we, um, finally had a bit of a breakthrough and we got locked in for a range review for a, um, very big. Pharmacy chain here in Australia.
One again, that everyone would know. [00:26:00] Um, and a range review, you know, essentially is where they. They listen to everyone's pitches, but to even get a range review is, is very hard. You've gotta have a really strong, like, pitch deck initially to even get to that point. So that in itself, we were like, oh my gosh, like, you know, we're getting somewhere here if they wanna listen to our, um, face-to-face pitch.
Like they must be interested. And so then we had the range review. That was really, really, um, positive as well. The buyer who we pitched to, she said. You know, I followed you for a very long time. I actually use your products. I love your products and so do a lot of my friends. So I was really excited for this and like, that's like such a amazing thing that you wanna hear from a category buyer.
Um, the pitch was very positive and then. Over that point from like the next like four months, we were like moving forward with it. So they sent us like, all of you gotta fill out like new line forms, which is like all the details of your product, all the barcodes essentially [00:27:00] preparing for launch. And the launch was meant to be the following march.
So this was kind of June, 2024 launch was meant to be. Um. Sorry. Actually, initially launch was meant to be October, 2024, so we had like three months. So here we were like, you know, really pushing, um, and communication was just like really delayed from their end. So we assumed, you know, okay, the launch wasn't wanting, wasn't going to go ahead in October.
And they finally told us that they got back to us in about September and said, look, um, dates have been pushed out. Let's do this in March next year. 'cause that's when our next, um, like. New rollout of new products into the stores happens. So we will lock you in for March. And we said, okay, no worries. We started planning, um, you know, marketing activations.
We took on a, a PR firm to start working with, um, influencers and, you know, prepping media outlets for like, Hey, this is gonna be happening. Um. We had invested a [00:28:00] lot and obviously we had invested in not only the stock for the launch, but other things as well. Staff, resources, pr, all, all types of things. Um, and also the time that goes into all of this.
Okay. And then it got to about, uh, it got to December and we thought, okay, let's just try and get some kind of confirmation before the year ends. And we never heard back. Got to January, never heard back, got to February. And they said, um, our, our strategy has changed in, in management, um, and we can no longer go ahead with this.
And we were like, sorry, what? Like, what do you mean we've got everything prepped and ready, we thought we were launching next month. Um, so yeah, it
Liz Nable: was way to treat a relationship and a small business knowing what you guys would've done to make that those preparations.
Acacia Clarke: Yeah, exactly. And I think the hard, the hard thing as well, like for anyone who I guess [00:29:00] hasn't, um, kind of had experience in the retail world, like what they, what they will get you to do.
Sorry, one second.
Sorry, this, I was just, um, they're talking upstairs. I wasn't sure if we could hear, um, but yeah, like big retailers, you know, what they'll get you to do is like, 'cause everyone kept, kept saying to us, didn't you sign a contract? Didn't you sign a contract? And like. No, because they don't give you the contract until they want the stock in their dc.
So pretty much they don't wanna have to outlay the cash on their end for that stock until they, they need it and they only want it in their distribution center, ready to center stores about four to six weeks before the launch, which meant that we had to have stock ready to go into their DC by Feb. Our lead times are about 12 weeks.
Yeah. So we had to outlay that cash, you know, months prior.
Liz Nable: How much just [00:30:00] do you mind me asking on your behalf, like hundreds of thousands of
Acacia Clarke: thousand five, 500,000. Half a million dollars. Yeah. Half a million dollars into stock. Um, so we, we had to move warehouses 'cause we didn't have enough room. We got a whole new warehouse.
Yeah. So half a million dollars in stock ready for a big retail launch, you know, a risk that we were willing to take. Um, and yeah, then they, then they changed their mind and people say like, well, why didn't you sign a contract? And it's like, when. You know, like, like we were saying before, we press record like big businesses, they know that they can do this to small businesses because we, we wanted the opportunity so bad.
This is what we've wanted since we launched. This is what we know is going to grow our business. But they call the shots ultimately, you know, we are just here going, what do you want us to do? And we'll do it. Yeah. And you know what they wanted us to do was have the stock ready for Feb. Okay. So we ordered the stock in September.
We outlaid that cash then. [00:31:00] In the hopes that, well, in the promise that, you know, it was gonna be a March launch and then they pulled the rug. Um, and so we had all that stock. And yes, we obviously sell online, but small businesses will know that like, you know, cashflow is everything to have half a million dollars sitting in stock and not in your bank account for growth.
Crazy.
Liz Nable: It's crazy. And it's, this is why I think as the years have gone on and my time in small business has sort of evolved. 'cause I had bricks and mortar stores in my first business and now I run mostly online business. Um, this is why I feel so passionate about sharing the stories of small business owners because.
If you don't have skin in the game, if you're not a small business owner, you've never started a business or scaled a business or, or put, put your, you know, money where your mouth is, it's really hard to understand what goes into trying to get a tiny little crack into, you know, an industry or an opportunity or on the shelves of Woolies or whatever these big chemists are like, [00:32:00] you really are David and Goliath, and.
It just, it's just appalling at why there's not more support for small businesses in this space. But that's a totally, another podcast. But, but yeah. So, um, did you borrow that money or was that your cashflow or,
Acacia Clarke: so that, that was our cashflow. Yeah. So we,
Liz Nable: what did you do?
Acacia Clarke: Yeah. Well, that's when, so I actually connected with, um, Daniel Flynn.
He is the one of the founders of Thank you. Oh, good. Um, the enterprise. Yeah. So I followed him,
Liz Nable: um, shampoo, hand wash condition. Yeah. Yeah. Company.
Acacia Clarke: Yeah. So. Basically what happened is we made, the first video we made about, this was in April, 2025. Because by that point we were like, fuck, okay, we have, we literally haven't heard back from them.
Like, we know this is real now we have a warehouse, a new [00:33:00] warehouse full of like 25 pallets that we now have to, you know, move somehow. Um, and we really just need to lean on our community here and just. Ask for help? Pretty much. And I think, you know, that in itself is really hard because it's hard to sometimes admit that shit has hit the fan and hasn't gone to plan.
You know, you have this idea in your head, oh, we're gonna relaunch into retail. It's gonna be this big amazing launch, it's gonna be great. You know, you see these other businesses do it so well. And that's what you want for yourself. And then when it doesn't go to plan, you don't wanna say to the world, Hey, it, this is a shit storm.
You know? And, but sometimes you just gotta put your ego aside and be like. We need help. And that's exactly what we did. And we made this video asking our community to tag pharmacies in the comments below. Um, because we have this stock and we need it in pharmacy, like that's where it has to be in order to help more people in order for the brand's mission to succeed.
That's what we need to [00:34:00] do. And in the video, I, um. I called out Daniel Flynn and I said, when Daniel Flynn for, thank you, when they were trying to get into Coles and Woolworths, they flew a helicopter over their HQ to get their attention.
Liz Nable: Oh my God,
Acacia Clarke: that's, and I said that in the video, and then Daniel comments, and then he messages me on Instagram, gives me his phone number and calls me and says.
Let me help, like, let's chat about this because I understand your pain and like, that moment was amazing because just like us sitting here right now talking about this and understanding each other, like, I was on a call with this man who runs, what, like a $50 million social enterprise and he's like, I've been there and it, it fucking sucks.
So like, I get it and here's what you're gonna do. You are not gonna stay quiet. You're gonna lean on your community, and even if that retailer has ghosted you and doesn't come back, you are gonna find another one. And he gave us, um, he introduced us to the buyer of, um, another pharmacy. And yeah, just like the advice that he gave, [00:35:00] I was like, you know what, if anything, if nothing else comes out of this, and it, it was just that like.
That's gold Like this, you know this man so generously giving us so much of his time. I think he probably gave us like six hours of his time over the next like six weeks. He was just jumping on a call with us weekly, just saying, how you guys going? How's cash? How's life? How's business? What's happened?
Because like he's been there like even, you know, connecting with another business who this has happened to. I was like, well, one, thank God we're not alone, but two, how do they get away with this? Hmm. Like, you know, and it gave me reassurance that, thank you, you know, obviously now wildly successful when they were able to, they were able to have that breakthrough.
Um, but yeah, just a, a crazy experience. Um, a crazy experie and yeah, we basically just,
Liz Nable: sorry to interrupt you. I was gonna say a crazy experience, but isn't it so interesting? This sounds super. Cheesy, but [00:36:00] what has come out of probably one of the biggest adversities you've faced so far in your business journey is this massive outpouring of support from someone like the founder of Thank you, but also your community.
Like I can see like hundreds of comments. Yeah. On that video and subsequent videos tagging Terry White chemists tagging all these other kind of potential business opportunities for you. So what sort of became of that video and then subsequent videos explain to me a little bit about I followed. But I dunno if I followed exactly in the sequence, the right sequence.
Yeah. So explain to me in the listeners, like how, what's happening now and, and how did that happen?
Acacia Clarke: Yeah. So that initial video that I, that Dan, that got Daniel's attention, that was the first video. And then from there we were able to lock in some pitches. We pitched to, um, chemist Warehouse and we pitched to Terry White.
Mm-hmm.
Acacia Clarke: Um, and they were kind of the two that we had going. And we were like, we're gonna make this happen. And then. From there, we didn't really wanna say [00:37:00] anything while we were like pitching to them because it, it's like literally months of back and forth. They rarely ever give you just like a straight no.
They're like, yeah, we'll get back to you, blah, blah, blah. And then Terry White, um, they said, okay, come down to Melbourne and meet with us. And that was in August. 2025, I think so
Liz Nable: last year.
Acacia Clarke: Yeah, August, 2025. Um, we went down there, we met them face to face, um, and like that was amazing. And they like, they really liked the brand.
They just had questions around, you know, like. Pricing, retail pricing. Um, also, like we haven't really seen anything like this on the shelves before. You know, we sell like Nature's Way and Blackmores at $20 a pop and like your product's, not that. And that's also the struggle too, because it never will be, you know, we're not billion dollar businesses with investors backing us.
We are just two ordinary people who started this brand and genuinely wanna [00:38:00] help people. So. Trying to sit in meetings with them for months and say, just take your bet on us. We, you know, we will show you what we can do. And then we went in, all in on Terry White. That was the one we wanted to make happen.
And from there they came back to us and they said, look. Can't do a nationwide rollout right now, which is obviously really disappointing. Um, but we have a new concept store opening in the Sunshine Coast in Noosa, and this concept store was essentially the same as all their other stores, but a store where they were going to be trying different products in there, a few different products in different categories, and just seeing how it goes.
So like a bit of a revamp. And they said we'd love to have you guys in there. Um, and obviously like we absolutely jumped at the opportunity, but then deep down, you know, you're disappointed that it wasn't that 400 store, um, rollout, massive launch that other brands get. And you know, now you've got this one store and you've kind of gotta prove yourself.
[00:39:00] Um, and from there I just thought, you know what? Like. Fuck it. I'm just gonna, I'm gonna really like, own this and I'm gonna say not getting 400 stores sucks, but we've got one and we're gonna make it happen. And we made a post on socials, uh, about a month ago when we launched into the concept store. And I said like, we need your guys' help to show them that this deserves to be on the shelves.
Like if you live in the area, go in the store. If you buy something, um, send us your receipt, we'll put you in the drawer to win a $500 Visa gift card. We gave someone a $500 Visa gift card. Um, we also said like, go into your local Terry White and tell them that you want us on the shelves. And then I had people voice messaging me saying, Hey, I'm the store manager.
Of Terry White in somewhere in Victoria, I can't remember the name. Um, and I help with buying the stock. I'd love to stock your products. Then I had someone else, a pharmacist who like travels around Australia, between Terry White stores [00:40:00] and she's like, um, yeah, every store I go to, I, I say They need to stock peer you.
Then I had customers going in and saying, oh, I almost cried to the staff attendant telling them how much pur use changed my life and that. You know, they need to stock the product like this. You know, it was like almost so overwhelming. I'm like, what is happening? It was like, I think, you know, and you stay quiet for so long because you are scared.
Like, as business owners, you know, we're scared of failing, we're scared of rejection. We are like, you don't, like, your whole life is on the line. Really. Yeah. Not just your money, but your livelihood. Um,
Liz Nable: and
doing
Liz Nable: it publicly that, that's the other thing. Yeah. Doing it publicly. 'cause deep down we all care what other people think, unfortunately.
And you don't wanna look. Yeah. Like a massive loser or a failure.
Acacia Clarke: Exactly.
Liz Nable: So
Acacia Clarke: exactly. I just got to a point where I'm like, you know what? Like if people think I'm a loser for this, that's on you. But I know that there's gonna be people that respect this, that get around us. And like, yeah, the response was, the response was crazy.
And like since [00:41:00] then we, like, we have a retail consultant who has a pretty good connection with Terry White and he's kind of helping us facilitate this.
Liz Nable: Yeah.
Acacia Clarke: Um, and I sent him an email straight away and was like. Uh, look at the response. This is one marketing activation type thing I've done for this store.
And like, look at this response.
Liz Nable: Yeah.
Acacia Clarke: And he was, he was blown away. He was like, what? And he got on the phone to the, the, the national buyer and he was so impressed. He was like, wow. Like, that's, that's amazing. And then he basically said, well, these stores that are reaching out and wanna stock them, like they can stock them, but, um, they like, they just have to make it happen.
Like, I can't. Pull strings internally yet and give them that kind of distribution. But if they can make it happen and then, you know, that ripple effect, then maybe in six months time, you know, we can look at like a bigger rollout.
Liz Nable: Mm-hmm.
Acacia Clarke: And so now I've like voice messaging every single store that reaches out.
I'm like, Hey, I'm the founder of Acacia. I'm the founder of [00:42:00] Peer U. My name's Acacia. Um, you know, someone tagged you in our post and it's
Liz Nable: crazy. If someone from Terry White is listening to this podcast, this is a massive opportunity for them to get good PR too, because they're supporting small business.
They've come to the rescue, they've given you guys an
Acacia Clarke: opportunity.
Liz Nable: Everybody talks about supporting small business. Um, there's, there's a lot of trust that's lost with big businesses at the moment. You know, credit card companies, banks, supermarkets, you know, all these big businesses are using small businesses and founders as their vehicle for telling good news.
Pr. This is a massive opportunity for Terry White to say, Hey, we wanna share your story about how we are supporting small businesses in our business. Um, so it's such a double win, like it really is. An authentic story. 'cause it's true of this second chance that is gonna potentially change the, the, you know, the forecast for your business.
So, um, from both ends, it's this incredibly human [00:43:00] story that, that's why it's done so well, because people resonate with you. Um, you know, they wanna support you. You've obviously got a, I mean a, a, a dedicated following of people who already love your products, who are willing to like. Take two seconds to tag a Terry White or whoever it is that you are calling out for support for.
So it's, it's, it's a, it's a great story, but it's also a no-brainer in terms of media and PR for both sides of the coin.
Acacia Clarke: Mm-hmm. Yeah, 100%. And I didn't actually think about it that way in terms of like for them because it's so true. Like, you know, I've seen get on the
Liz Nable: email to them this afternoon, Acacia.
Acacia Clarke: Yeah, I know.
Liz Nable: It's a GRU news story for, it really is. It's a great news story, and particularly in this climate right now. Of, um, struggle of small businesses, the cost of living, like how are we gonna continue to like, um, elevate and profile small businesses within that 'cause it's important. 'cause otherwise, if we don't support small businesses like yours, there are only two products on the shelf.
There's, what is it like, [00:44:00] um, black Malls and Nature's Way, or whatever the two big plays are. That's all that's left because everybody's given up. So support small business and it, it, it is an amazing, it's an amazing story.
Acacia Clarke: Mm. And it's like even just like, you know, not just having like community members reached out, but I've had other like business owners reach out and be like, this happened to me.
Or like, this almost happened to me. This is why I'm scared of retail. This is why I'm scared of doing that. And like that's the reality. Like it really is. And like we could have. Sat there and let that awful experience be like, all right, we're gonna give up on retail. But we were like, nah. Like we, you know, we know that this product deserves to be on shelves.
We know that it changes people's lives and people love it, and we have the community to back us. We just need someone to take a chance on us. And like, even though, you know, one big business has screwed us over. Like, I'm not gonna let them win. But it's scary. It [00:45:00] is because there's so much on the line and there's so much risk, like having to come in here every day and see the warehouse floor full of pallets that were meant to be in a retailer's distribution center was just like a constant reminder.
Of fuck like that happened, you know, how disappointing. But also what are we doing about it? You know?
Liz Nable: What would you say to, um, I guess anyone who's, a lot of the students who do my programs and courses as well as like listeners to the podcast, I get like a lot of dms like. Similar questions. Mm. Of a lot of women, particularly a lot of female founders, struggle to put themselves out there, um, to showcase themselves, you know, on social media as well as share their story in traditional media as well.
I think there's a, I think there's a real shift away from being seen as like a self-promoter or like cringey when you are telling that story authentically. Like, would you have any advice, I guess, for anyone. Not just in e-commerce, [00:46:00] but generally in in business themselves. 'cause you, you, again, the fear of failure and doing it publicly is paralyzing.
Acacia Clarke: Yeah, it's, yeah, it's tough because we, we get in our own heads and we get in our own way so much, and ultimately we are the only ones who can get out of our own way. But I think the thing that I've realized is that. Confidence comes from doing it. And you don't have to do it on a mass scale. You don't have to go and speak on live tv.
If that freaks you the fuck out and you've never even made an Instagram video, like just start there. You know, start small, do the reps, build your confidence. And I always tell myself, what is the worst thing that could happen? Like if I post a video? And it doesn't sit well, or people start hating on me, I can delete it if I really want to, or I can delete comments or I can block people.
But I also know that by being my authentic self and speaking my voice and saying the things that I wanna say, that's gonna be the only thing that attracts my people too. [00:47:00] So I can either stay quiet and avoid potential hate and trolls or whatever, or, or judgment. But I also avoid finding my people there.
There's no benefit in staying quiet, whereas there's so much benefit in being seen there. There is risk, absolutely, but your brain will, will make the risk seem like it's way bigger than it is because I guarantee you, you'll start putting yourself out there and only good things will come from it. It's very rare that you know, people like, yeah, there's trolls, but.
Like it's, you know, it's, it's silly shit and you can delete comments and honestly, I've, I've never really been trolled touch wood, and if I was, I'd just ignore it. Like, I'd just delete it. The, the, the positivity that you receive and the support that you receive outweighs that, like it really does. And I think I have always been blown away every time I put up, put, put myself out there or share our story really authentically.
Um, I'm always blown away [00:48:00] by the response, like, it, your, your brain will convince you, oh, no one's gonna reply. People are gonna judge me. And then the opposite happens, and that is the evidence that you need to do it again and do it again and do it again, and then, you know, that's how you build the confidence.
Liz Nable: It's so true. I think as a founder, if you're gonna go put your money where your mouth is, borrow money or leverage your home or whatever, and go all out, you have to also be willing to put yourself personally out there. In small business, particularly, we can't hide behind a brand name or a big corporate logo because you can't expect anyone else to do it for you if you're not willing to do it for yourself first.
Um, a hundred percent. And then also, I mean, there's a lot to be said for social media, right? There's a lot of negatives about social media, but in the small business world, or in e-commerce or in business generally speaking, it is this free platform where you can reach people. And so you need to use it, um, effectively and, and right now the algorithm is very much leaning in towards the kind of.
[00:49:00] Stories that you share. Authentic reel behind the scenes, not manufactured, not fancy reels with like, you spend hours and hours on, like back in the day you had to spend five hours chopping and, you know, cutting up a reel. The algorithm doesn't like that anymore. They love the reel, the raw, the behind the scenes and, and as humans, that's what we wanna see too, right?
We wanna see, yeah. I'm rooting for you when I've seen how hard it's been. I want you to win even more than before. I knew that because I feel invested in your story and I want you to win. And that's what happens when you share authentically, either in traditional media or online. People become emotionally invested in your journey and they want to see you succeed.
Acacia Clarke: Yeah. And so many opportunities come from it as well. Like, you know, even just this conversation, like you commented and then, and then I messaged or you messaged me. Yeah. And then now we're here. You know?
Liz Nable: I know. And this is how I get a lot of my podcast guests. 'cause I'm like, I love what you do. Even with journalists, I get on the show, I get really high profile journalists on this show, and I just reach out to them and say, I would love for you to share what you know.
And now I've never [00:50:00] had anyone say, no. It, it's amazing what happens when you just put yourself out there. Um, and I, yeah. I would be lying if I said I didn't care sometimes about what people think. But I have to be willing to back myself, otherwise I can't run a business with my name on it. It's just, it's just feasible this day and age.
So, um, it's, it's interesting. You've done so well. Um, congratulations. I've been loving all your content. I love what you're doing, and I love the support that you're getting. It's a really great, it's a great success story, but it's not a, it's, it's like a really. Genuine, like finding an opportunity from what must have been a really massively stressful challenge for you guys.
Um, you've done really well to turn it around.
Acacia Clarke: Thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah, no, I feel like that's like the biggest takeaway too for anyone listening. Like whether you've, you know, you're just starting out or you're in the, you're in the trenches. Like we were like just, you know, there, there always is like a light at the end of the tunnel.
You just have to look for it. And I think that's all I focused on. Like, you [00:51:00] can either focus on the shit and you can focus on what everything is going wrong and, oh, big business and blah, blah, blah. You know, like, and it sucks. It absolutely does recognize it. You know, cry about it, scream about it, and then find the light because like.
It, it's there, you know? And like as soon as you start looking for it, you'll see these opportunities and then you'll see that opportunity and then another opportunity arises and then, you know, I just think like focus on the good and more good will happen. Um, that's how I like to think about it anyway, because, you know, that's, we, we ultimately all want more of that in our world, you know?
So I choose to focus on that. Yeah, like great things have come from it. I mean, we're not in 500 stores yet, but I choose to believe, believe that we be. Yes,
Liz Nable: I have no doubt, Bob. Well, it's been an absolute wish to have you on the show. Thank you, Acaia, and it's called Pure You. And we'll put all the details of the business obviously to support small business in the show notes, um, and obviously tag you when the, [00:52:00] when the podcast goes live.
Acacia Clarke: Amazing. Thank you so much. Thank
Liz Nable: you. This episode of Media Magnet was brought to you by my signature group coaching program, the Media Masters Academy. The Media Masters Academy is a live online six week course taught by me and designed to teach you how to become your own publicist and give you exclusive access to pitch the country's top journalists and editors doors open just three times a year.
Check it out@liznabel.com, along with a ton of free resources to help you get started taking your business from best kept secret to household name. Right now, if you love this episode of Media Magnet, please share it with your business buddies or on social media and tag me at at Liz Naval. And if there's a specific guest you wanna hear from on the show or a topic or question you want to know more about, please tell me so I can make sure the show stays dedicated, [00:53:00] especially for you.
