Skincare is in Judy Cheung-Wood’s blood. Judy’s grandfather was a chemist and manufacturer of natural skincare products in the 1950s. Almost 70 years later, Judy’s labour of love, SkinB5, has revolutionized effective skincare, not only in Australia, but around the world. The SkinB5 range is based around Vitamin B5 and includes a highly effective nutritional supplement formulations and skincare products to treat acne naturally and without side effects. Established in 2006, Judy initially partnered with a fellow acne sufferer to find a natural solution in preventing and eliminating acne. Super high doses of Vitamin B5 generated positive results but were not workable. Judy then embarked on a journey of intensive research and started experimenting with a combination of a reduced dosage of Vitamin B5 and other acne fighting nutrients that have the best scientific evidence to support their use on their acne treatment. In 2010, Judy took over the complete reigns of the business and continued to ensconce herself in the research, export and growth of SkinB5. The result was a world-first in creating a natural way in effectively treating acne in the long term, from the inside and out. Now celebrating its 10th anniversary, SkinB5 has carved out a solid presence in Australia and overseas as not only an e-commerce business but also in the retail and dermatology channels. SkinB5’s export journey has been a unique one, where the brand and first product were launch with the support of Austrade at Cosmoprof Hong Kong 2006 and started exporting products before launching in Australia. SkinB5 currently exports to South Korea, Singapore, Philippines, China, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Ukraine, USA and other countries (via its global e-Commerce platform). Like many other small businesses, SkinB5 has had its fair share of obstacles. According to Judy, it was the lack of unified vision from male business partners that proved the biggest challenge to overcome in the early days. “My ideas were often dismissed, and sometimes ridiculed which was very disheartening. I had to really fight and work hard to keep pushing SkinB5 in the right path and that meant, I had to steer the company away from the toxic environment and do it on my own,” she said. “With ten years under my belt, I am so proud of SkinB5’s ingenuity in the skincare space which is now gaining mainstream recognition. In the acne treatment industry, treating acne nutritionally is a completely new concept, and our innovative (a highly effective nutritional formulation to treat acne) is revolutionising the acne treatment industry and has a large global potential – the acne treatment market is a multibillion dollar industry worldwide.” Judy’s five tips in succeeding your own business
- Know thyself - search within to discover your own unique talents and abilities - you cannot apply your best self to maximise results and outcomes if you do not even know your own strengths and weaknesses. Do what you are good at and make it a mission to surround yourself with people who are good at doing what you are not good at!
- Develop a 'blind' faith to your own vision even when every single person around you question what you are doing, remember that only you can see your own vision, no one else can, but your conviction will start attracting people to follow and support you on your journey - others will starting seeing your vision once you have blazed a path and created something tangible to show the world.
- Do not doubt your intuition/gut feelings, particularly about people and situations - if they make you feel uncomfortable and feel uneasy, trust those negative feelings and walk away! And trust that you will be rewarded for your courage to do so.
- Be patient, and be tenacious, there is no such thing as overnight success - read any biography of hugely successful people, they have spent years and even decades laying down each brick to pave their own way to success.
- Listen to advice, but make your own judgment with confidence - when you are a business owner, you will attract a queue of consultants who all try to tell you what is best for your business, sometimes they are right, but most of the time they are wrong. Every business is unique and you are in your own journey writing your own story, so be confident and make decisions that make you feel good and feel excited about moving forward and upwards, and remember, good decisions do not require over-analysis which tend to happen if you listen to too much advice.
Judy is determined to continue to nurture SkinB5, firmly establishing the organization as a well respected leader in effective and safe acne treatment, in Australia and around the world. “I want to pioneer more highly effective natural acne treatment products that suit the wide range of lifestyles and life stages of customers, as well as expanding further to the rest of Asia and Europe. It is exciting times ahead.” SkinB5 is available online at www.skinb5.com and at Go Vita stores nationwide and selected pharmacies around Australia https://www.skinb5.com/en/store-locator
