Press Releases
LARISSA BRIGHT - Cosmetics Queen
City Life Magazine
January 2006
Larissa Bright is just that - bright. It is not just because she had the smarts and enthusiasm to build a multi-million dollar natural cosmetics company from a stove-top operation. Talking to the often-laughing Larissa is like stepping into a sunny room.
When Diva Cosmetics founder Larissa Bright started making soap on her kitchen stove, the research and development occasionally, and accidentally, involved burning holes in the carpet. Seven years later, Larissa is at the helm of a Townsvillegrown multi-million dollar company which moves hundreds of thousands of units of natural,
fruit and herb-based skin and body care products throughout Australia
and New Zealand, annually.
More than 300 consultants sell Larissa Bright Cosmetics products and the head office has a staff of 10.
These days, Larissa's research and development - far from burning holes in the carpet - consists of meetings in Asia with ylang ylang farmers, and discussions on how many rose petals are needed to make a quality tablespoon of essential oil (60,000 petals) before flying on to Milan or Barcelona to liaise with world-renowned chemists.
The cosmetics market is 'saturated' - Larissa's word - with products that all seem to promise eternal youth or are made in exotic European locales. How then, has a company, based in regional Queensland, made such an impact in this cut-throat industry? According to Larissa, it wasn't easy.
"For the first three years Larissa Bright barely drew a wage and I would do casual night work to support myself. My friends were traveling away on wonderful holidays and I'd be working 80 hour weeks. Some nights I'd just cry and wonder if I was truly mad," said Larissa.
Seven years ago, Larissa Bright had seven products. Now the company has 74, including a baby range and a men's line. "Just to release one product into the marketplace can incorporate liaising with 30 different people in a half a dozen different countries and subjecting the product to a myriad of meticulous tests," Larissa said.
This sort of rigorous testing and strict quality control is one of the most important factors in Larissa Bright's success."People make immediate judgments on a whole product range after using one cream so it is imperative our products are all of the highest quality. One unpleasant experience can lose a client for life.
"Larissa Bright Cosmetics are sold through in-home workshops and, at last count, there were more than 300 consultants selling Larissa Bright Cosmetics in Australia, New Zealand and, more recently, Norway.
All but one of the consultants are women and most of them have families. Larissa and partner Paco Parigi have two toddlers, Dolma, 2, and Jager, 3. "After my kids were born, I realized how important it was to have a career which worked around the children," Larissa explains. She would breastfeed during business meetings and clean projectile baby vomit during conference calls in her efforts to juggle work and family.
Preserving that balance between work and family is the reason Larissa Bright cosmetics are sold exclusively by consultants. Briefly, Larissa sold Larissa Bright products through Myer but decided against it because she preferred to see mums gaining confidence and making a living through the cosmetics.
"I love watching and helping people, particularly women with families, grow their businesses. Some of our best consultants are now making six-figures," said Larissa, who recently supplied company cars to her top-selling consultants. She also shouted her consultants a luxury, limousine-chaffeured 'pampering' holiday last year.
"I absolutely love the contact with people and, selling this way, our clientele gets personal and professional service and we get instant feedback on our products. That is one of the reasons why we are constantly being pushed forward; the make-up range is a good example of that.
"After three years of trial and error, experiments and research, Larissa Bright will launch a makeup range in 2006, created with plant-based ingredients, and free of animal by-products and petrochemicals.
Larissa has a long history in skincare. She worked in sales for Estee Lauder and Clinique in Sydney before settling in Townsville nine years ago, where she worked as a secretary for the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. She began making soaps and moisturisers with a friend because she couldn't find the sort of natural products for which she was looking. She took her products to the Showground markets and a loyal band of customers gradually grew into the thousands and spread across the country.
"I've always enjoyed doing my own thing and I guess I dream a lot. I love facing challenges on a daily basis," Larissa explains about the growth of her business.
"I think we are successful because our philosophy is to put people before profit. And it is the sort of things money can't buy - like happy, confident, successful people - that makes all the difference."