February 6, 2025 • 28 mins
Discover the inspiring journey of Swan Ricco, the visionary behind Lifa Lab, as she reveals how her kitchen experiment blossomed into a flourishing enterprise transforming ancient herbs into modern marvels. Swan candidly shares the hurdles and triumphs encountered while scaling her business during the COVID-19 pandemic. From overcoming marketing challenges to transitioning from a home-based setup to partnering with contract manufacturers, Swan's story offers invaluable insights for every aspiring entrepreneur. Her experience highlights the delicate balance of maintaining transparency and trust, especially when dealing with unique, patent-protected products.
This episode is supported by CareSuper.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hello and welcome to the Canberra Business Podcast.
I'm Greg Harford, your hostfrom the Canberra Business
Chamber, and today I'm joined bySwan Rico, who is the founder
and chief executive of Lypha Lab, an award-winning family-owned
company that specialises innatural and organic products
made from exotic ancient spicesand herbs combined with modern
science, which all sounds veryexciting and mysterious.
(00:31):
Swan, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Let's begin by getting you to tell us a little
bit about Lifea Lab.
What do you do and how did youget started?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Sure, what do you do and how did you get started?
Sure, lifealab is a companythat I founded in 2019, where we
turn traditional remedies toproducts that are non-toxic and
they're basically a naturalalternative to products that are
currently in the market, mostlyin supplements and cosmetics.
(01:03):
I started the company because Icouldn't find products that are
purely natural.
Basically, I started it formyself, creating products for
myself, and then all my friendswanted it, because they all
wanted to know the secretsbehind my skin and my energy
(01:27):
level and everything else.
So that's how it started.
It's basically, it was from thekitchen bench and ended up to
be a big company.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Fantastic.
So that's a great success story.
And like, how's it going?
I mean, you've been going forwhat?
Five, five years or so.
What the growth is is workingout as you'd hoped.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It's.
It's ups and up.
It has its ups and downs,obviously it's especially.
When I started, it was 2019where COVID hit it was.
It was a crazy time for all ofus.
The first lockdown was reallyhard on everyone and for us
(02:15):
because we were new.
When you're new, you need to goout to the market, talk about
it.
It's not something like healthproducts are not something that
you can use social media toadvertise.
It's like there is especiallyat the time, it was like all
social media banned anything anyproducts that are that was
actually health related to beadvertised on metal or, like you
(02:39):
know, instagram and otherthings.
So it was mostly likeadvertisements like
mouth-to-mouth or people whowere referrals-based, which is
harder to scale up.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Particularly in those very early stages, because you
started your business inDecember of 2019, right just
before the madness hit.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Exactly exactly.
It was crazy Just before themadness hit.
Exactly exactly and it wascrazy.
But the good thing is, you know, when you have your friends
first to kind of test and tellyou to go ahead with this
business and we support you andwe want your product, it's a
(03:21):
great thing because they refersomeone else and then another
person refers it to anotherperson.
It's just mostly um life a labis based on the community.
So we created a familycommunity of people who wants
wellness differently and theywant clean products and they
(03:43):
really open to go back to theirroots and understand like as
humans we've been on the planetfor thousands of years, we
survived and how it happened.
It's all about the wisdom andall the knowledge passed on from
generation to generations andthat's how kind of during COVID,
(04:05):
we survived.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah, and just to be clear, you're selling direct to
consumers or are you awholesaler as well?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Wholesaler too, for export part of it, but we are
like an e-commerce brand.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Now I know for you it's not a full-time gig.
You've got other paidemployment to help keep you
going.
But how big is your team?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
We have a small team.
We had a bigger team before.
However, the second lockdown inCanberra pushed to the ages
that I could not keep everyoneon board, pushed to the edges
that I could not keep everyoneon board, and also I kind of
reshuffled and restructured thewhole company in a way that we
(04:53):
can automate things and it's ateam of four at the moment which
works for me and for them.
We do contract manufacturingand looking into taking business
overseas.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
So you've moved from your kitchen bench into contract
manufacturing.
How's that experience gone for?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
you that experience was really overwhelming, to be
honest, finding the rightcontract manufacturer,
especially because our productsare all trademarked and patented
and they're like secretremedies and it's really hard to
trust to find.
How can I say like people won'tcopy it or you know trustable,
(05:47):
reliable contract manufacturer?
And most of our products arefrom natural ingredients.
So when it comes topharmaceuticals, because of
those synthetic powders and allthe chemicals they have, their
machinery is different.
So ours is basically producedin the compound pharmacy and it
(06:15):
was really hard to find theright contract manufacturer,
even explain why our product isdifferent to others.
Because with our supplements,why are products different to
others?
Because with our supplements,you can actually see what's
inside the capsule through thelayers of ingredients and it's
like an art.
Actually it's like a sound thatsome people call magic pills
(06:37):
and art.
But it was purposely made thatway because I wanted to talk
about transparency in productsand how important it is.
What you put in your body isyour fuel.
It's very important.
So lots of pills we get, orcapsules or supplements we take,
(06:59):
they are just there to be there.
They don't even absorb in ourbody and the whole point of our
supplement line was to indicatethat transparency.
And it was hard to find theright contract manufacturer and
obviously it had to go up anddown, obviously it had to go up
(07:22):
and down and finally, after alllots of NDAs, signage and
finding a reliable one, we couldfind one.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, and how did you go about that?
I mean, is it as simple as kindof going out to contacts and
saying, hey, we need a contractmanufacturer, or is there a kind
of a matchmaking service thatyou use?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
How did it work?
I used first my friends, like abunch of friends that I made on
business journey, and I toldthem about like the plans and
like what I want to do, becauseI did never want to actually go
(08:03):
big or scale it up.
It was supposed to be a smallkind of company that I would
share my products with my familyand friends and just you know,
whomever is interested.
And then I got interest fromMiddle East and they suddenly
wanted 17,000 units each monthand I was like, oh my God, how
(08:31):
am I supposed to produce suchthing?
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Because, like it's a big scale-up right.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah, you can't do that in a compound pharmacy and
it requires like a time frame aswell.
So it was like you have threemonths to produce 72,000 units.
And then you know, and I had tofast thinking like like this is
a great gig, I need it, it's,it just put me in a different
(09:00):
map but also how I'm gonna do it.
So, tapped into my network ofbusiness friends and mentors and
people like you know, um camerainnovations and try to find
alloys in this.
And one of my friendsintroduced me a guy who was in
(09:24):
kind of like an association ofpharmacies and I kind of talked
to him and he sent me some lists.
None of those lists actuallyworked.
And he sent me some lists.
None of those lists actuallyworked.
So I was like Googling and likegoing through like all the
supplements in the pharmacy tosee who produced them and kind
of write their name and thensend an email and say, would you
(09:47):
be able to do manufacturing orcontract manufacturing this and
that?
And then they were like no, orhow many units do you?
Like no one actually took meseriously either, like at the
time, manufacturing this andthat.
And then they were like no, orhow many units?
They were like no one actuallytook me seriously either, like
at the time and um, and then,yeah, I kind of like I didn't
give up so a bit of tenacity isobviously really important at
getting um, getting things goingand and getting your product
(10:11):
out to market.
ultimately, at the end of theday, yeah, and I think you have
to be open to a change, like,when changes come, you have to
be open to it and just say, okay, this is an opportunity.
I can say no, but it's going toput me under pressure and let
(10:33):
it go.
Or just take it on board andlook at it as a as a kind of a
good challenge or something thatit will bring rewards to your
business, or a learning likebecause, um, by trade, I'm a
landscape architect and urbandesigner.
I'm so, um, so passionate aboutenvironment and sustainability.
(10:54):
So for me, lots of skillslearned through my business and
that was a great opportunity forme to test it.
Test that myself, but alsolearn and, yeah, I just took it
on board.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
And it's obviously delivered good things for your
business.
You won an export award, Ithink, a couple of years ago.
How significant is that exportmarket to you now?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
It is very important.
Export market is very importantand knowing your market is very
important.
I think like if I was goingback and start, wanted to
restart, I would look at it onlyfor export and wouldn't like
(11:44):
obviously, like you know, it wasa learning time four years or
five years.
However, export brings lots ofopportunity and helps you to
scale up, but also gives youbrand awareness and tap into
different markets.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
So that's a really interesting insight, because
many business people would bethinking well, I'll start small,
start local and then expand.
But actually you reckon itwould be better just to kind of
embrace those internationalmarkets to begin with.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
It's very dependent on your business and your
product.
If you have a dentistry or youneed to start local and then
kind of franchise it.
Or if you have a restaurantthat is actually something
special about it, you need tostart it local and then kind of
(12:35):
franchise it, Whereas, like ifyou have a particular product,
you need to see where theyactually want that product and
how big is that market.
So I think when you start abusiness you need to look at all
the possibilities If you wantto be successful in your
(12:56):
business and look into that.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And how did you get your first export orders then?
If that wasn't your focus, theyfound, you did they.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
So the one with the middle east they found me, but
mostly because we are ane-commerce brand people from
different countries, they wantedto buy the products.
And that was the first time,that was my first experience of,
(13:29):
you know, selling to Russia,selling to UK, selling to Canada
and America.
So they were like my firstsales and it was exciting.
So I could.
I remember when I wanted toenter to the export award and
then I was like I don't havethis big revenue and they were
(13:50):
like well, you're exporting,you're selling to Canada, you're
exporting to like.
Well, you're exporting, you'reselling to Canada, you're
exporting to like, doesn'tmatter.
And that was the first steptowards exporting and
understanding.
Actually my products are wellreceived overseas.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
And in terms of selling health products overseas
through e-commerce channels arethere particular complexities
around that border, rules aroundtherapeutic products and so
forth.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Oh, 100%, especially since the TGA kind of regulated
lots of supplements as well.
You have to be kind of alignedwith the regulations.
It is really hard, for anythinggoes to the capsules.
So it doesn't matter, likewhether you say any health
claims or not, you have to beregistered.
(14:44):
So we have the most restrictedregulation in Australia when it
comes to health products.
So, as Canada I mean not really, but like we are better.
But yeah, each country hastheir own laws and basically
(15:05):
when anyone wants to buyanything, we will tell them that
you have to.
You are responsible for yourkind of like your country law
when it comes to the healthproducts.
So if you still want to buy ourproducts, you can, we'll send
it to you.
But that part of it they haveto look after it and obviously
(15:26):
each country has their ownregulations.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Yeah, it must be very difficult to stay on top of 189
or 200 countries, or howevermany there are and what all the
rules might be?
Do you find there areparticular markets that are
interested in your product?
Is it mainly to Europe andNorth America?
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Very much.
So I would say Middle.
East is very interested in myproducts and because they kind
of known to, they understand thestory behind the products and
they're really into natural andorganic products and wellness is
(16:08):
a big buzz over there and theyunderstand like lots of products
that previously sold to theMiddle East under the countries
that were supposed to be goodcountries they weren't really
like doing good for the peopleover there and I don't name the
(16:34):
countries, but it was in theWest and now they kind of
understand they have to go backto their roots and the countries
that are actually honest andwith laws and regulations are
better for them.
(16:55):
They kind of want thoseproducts from those countries to
enter to their market.
And they're very muchinterested in LifeLab products
because of us being transparentand clean and knowing that all
our ingredients are organic andthey know the ingredient.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Now you talk about trade, secret ancient recipes
which have been followed andused by empires such as the
Asian, egyptian, roman, greekand Persian empires.
Now that really appeals to meas someone with an interest in
classical history.
But I have visions of youdigging up scrolls in a desert,
like Indiana Jones, to sort ofget to the heart of these
recipes.
But what does that really mean?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Or it can be queen of the deserts.
So I my grandmother.
She taught me all aboutNutri-Peddy and nature and all
the remedies, so I learn fromher.
She was an ushupa andculturally like this is
(18:05):
something in those cultures,like Egyptians, persians,
armenian and Greeks and all theMediterranean Middle Eastern
people, they have this wisdomwhich they learned from their
ancestors, their grandmas andtheir grandpas, at least till my
time, and they kept it assecrets in their families or
(18:28):
they shared it.
But basically, all theseremedies, most of the people are
known but it was secret at thetime and we kind of like tapped
into that and used it to kind ofmake our products so your
products have their origins,essentially and word of mouth,
(18:51):
recipes handed down from yourgrandma.
Yes, exactly, story so,basically, like what worked for
me, and I am sharing that withwith the rest of the world and I
feel like it's a calling thatGod put in my heart to share
that and knowing people need tobe aware of how they maintain
(19:11):
their health and wellnessthrough natural ingredients and
through simple things that is intheir pantry.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
How important is sustainability to your business
and how are you talking the talkand walking the walk to try and
save the planet?
Speaker 2 (19:26):
It's really important for us and I have to tell you
this because one of the reasonswe use natural ingredients,
organic ones, because they'renot pesticide, they're not
having any chemicals on them,but also, if you use products
(19:47):
and ingredients that are alreadyin nature, your carbon
footprints will be less.
So that's what we look at.
Are all our packagings are likeglass and aluminium and
recyclable, and we also, if weuse something that is like,
(20:10):
let's say, because they arehealth products, it has to be
specific in certain kind ofpackaging.
If they are made from compost,plastic or something, we make
sure we can make something outof it and recycle it.
And that's how we kind of goabout the work environment and
(20:34):
the packaging and everything,but also educating people as
well, like how can you kind ofuse this bottle and turn it to
like a drink bottle for drinkwater bottle or something else.
So it's very important for us.
It's like a main core ofLifeAlab.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Now I know you recently visited the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia to attend theAussie Expo.
Now Saudi historically, is notoften being visited by
Australians.
But what took you there and howdid it go?
Speaker 2 (21:12):
It's funny you mention that In 2000, I think
2020, I was a part of theprogram at ANU.
Anton Palmer took me to talkabout life a lot to a part of
the program at ANU.
Anton Pama introduced me, tookme to talk about life a lot to a
bunch of students over there.
They were like master degreesstudents and one of them was
(21:36):
from the Kingdom of Saudi and aspart of that program we've been
in touch and talk about and heloved my products as well and we
were supposed to take it toSaudi at the time.
So he sent me this wholeinformation about the expo ando
(22:04):
and I was like, okay, I don'tknow about it, but then again,
me knowing that like I need totake risks and kind of this is
an opportunity, or calling thatI have to follow, I was like I
give it a go.
And then I contacted thiscompany, trademark and the
(22:30):
Saudi-Australian businesscancelled that and they said to
me this is an expo, if you wantto come, this is it, this is the
way, and yeah, and then I went,uh for for 10 days and um, I
extended actually my stay, kindof um network with other people
(22:53):
and got to know the wholecountry.
It was in Riyadh and I loved itand I felt like it's a place
for business and it's actually aplace to expand, because they
understand again the demographic.
They kind of understand theproducts, they're keen and
(23:15):
they're open to it.
It's a great market to tap in,so um, so some real
opportunities there.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
And again through e-commerce, direct to consumers.
Is that the way you approachthe Saudi market?
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Probably not.
It's dealing with the MiddleEast, very different to dealing
with America, Australia andEurope.
It's the power of handshake andthat's I learned from the um,
one of the ministers in in saudiarabia, and um.
(23:50):
So it's all about who you knowand um, and it's about trust.
Trust and that relationship.
E-commerce will work definitelyin that region.
However, you need to have agood foundation over there and
(24:14):
support to guide you and thereis available, like there is help
there, like with the wholeAustralia and Saudi business
firm and council.
They provide all this to.
I think actually 400 businessesfor the last two years or three
(24:35):
years moved from Australia toSaudi Arabia.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
So that says there's huge growth opportunity there in
that market.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
It is 100%, 100%.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Now there will be some people listening to this
who say well, how was yourexperience in Saudi as a woman?
Was there anything particularlydifficult or challenging about
that?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
I would say, like, what you see in the news is not
what actually the experience ofeveryone I have as a woman.
I went there and I have to saythat actually I was so
comfortable there.
Obviously you have to followtradition and respect people
(25:22):
tradition, but the way theytreated me was like very
respectful.
I didn't feel uncomfortable, Ididn't feel less than anyone.
You know, sometimes in somesituations they don't consider
women in the room or when yousit on a table to talk about an
issue, they don't consider youin some situation, whereas over
(25:50):
there it was very engaging andthey were very open and my
experience was great.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Actually, I really felt respected to be honest,
that's really good to hear.
So what was your key learningfrom that trip?
Speaker 2 (26:05):
oh, I learned a lot.
First of all, I learned that um, don't judge the book by the
cover and don't necessarily umthink what you see is not what
your experience is.
Sometimes you have to go deepand experience and see whether
(26:29):
it's for you or not.
And that trip was veryeye-opening for me because if it
wasn't for the expo, I wouldn'tconsider going to Saudi Arabia.
Because I wasn't for the expo,I wouldn't consider going to
Saudi Arabia because I wasn'tfeeling comfortable.
Based on misinformation in themedia and the whole world.
(26:53):
We see things about the MiddleEast in general Like people
don't know about Middle East butthey easily judge it and they
think all around Middle Easteveryone's the same.
So I learned that, like, take achance on something and if you
(27:15):
feel you have to do somethingabout it, go for it.
And now I am starting a newadventure with Saudi Arabia, do
something about it, go for it.
And now I am starting a newadventure with Saudi Arabia and
starting a women council betweenAustralia and Saudi Arabian
women to exchange ideas and allworkshop things and learn from
(27:40):
each other and connect.
So that is what I took from thewhole trip a new adventure, a
new community, a new goal.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
That sounds really really positive and I hope it
goes really really well for you.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Swan Rico is the founder and chief executive of
Life a Lab and has been with metoday on the Canberra Business
Podcast.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
It's been fascinating to learnboth about your business and
your trip to Saudi, and I wishyou all the very best as you
keep growing and developing overtime.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
It's been a pleasure.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Thanks for joining us and just a reminder that this
episode of the Canberra BusinessPodcast has been brought to you
by the Canberra BusinessChamber with the support of
CareSuper, an industry superfund with competitive fees and
returns, exceptional service anda focus on real care.
You can find out more atcaresupercomau and don't forget
to follow us for more of theCanberra Business Podcast on
your favourite podcast platform.
(28:37):
We'll catch you next time.
Hello and welcome to the Canberra Business Podcast.
I'm Greg Harford, your hostfrom the Canberra Business
Chamber, and today I'm joined bySwan Rico, who is the founder
and chief executive of Lypha Lab, an award-winning family-owned
company that specialises innatural and organic products
made from exotic ancient spicesand herbs combined with modern
science, which all sounds veryexciting and mysterious.
(00:31):
Swan, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Let's begin by getting you to tell us a little
bit about Lifea Lab.
What do you do and how did youget started?
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Sure, what do you do and how did you get started?
Sure, lifealab is a companythat I founded in 2019, where we
turn traditional remedies toproducts that are non-toxic and
they're basically a naturalalternative to products that are
currently in the market, mostlyin supplements and cosmetics.
(01:03):
I started the company because Icouldn't find products that are
purely natural.
Basically, I started it formyself, creating products for
myself, and then all my friendswanted it, because they all
wanted to know the secretsbehind my skin and my energy
(01:27):
level and everything else.
So that's how it started.
It's basically, it was from thekitchen bench and ended up to
be a big company.
Speaker 1 (01:41):
Fantastic.
So that's a great success story.
And like, how's it going?
I mean, you've been going forwhat?
Five, five years or so.
What the growth is is workingout as you'd hoped.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It's.
It's ups and up.
It has its ups and downs,obviously it's especially.
When I started, it was 2019where COVID hit it was.
It was a crazy time for all ofus.
The first lockdown was reallyhard on everyone and for us
(02:15):
because we were new.
When you're new, you need to goout to the market, talk about
it.
It's not something like healthproducts are not something that
you can use social media toadvertise.
It's like there is especiallyat the time, it was like all
social media banned anything anyproducts that are that was
actually health related to beadvertised on metal or, like you
(02:39):
know, instagram and otherthings.
So it was mostly likeadvertisements like
mouth-to-mouth or people whowere referrals-based, which is
harder to scale up.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Particularly in those very early stages, because you
started your business inDecember of 2019, right just
before the madness hit.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
Exactly exactly.
It was crazy Just before themadness hit.
Exactly exactly and it wascrazy.
But the good thing is, you know, when you have your friends
first to kind of test and tellyou to go ahead with this
business and we support you andwe want your product, it's a
(03:21):
great thing because they refersomeone else and then another
person refers it to anotherperson.
It's just mostly um life a labis based on the community.
So we created a familycommunity of people who wants
wellness differently and theywant clean products and they
(03:43):
really open to go back to theirroots and understand like as
humans we've been on the planetfor thousands of years, we
survived and how it happened.
It's all about the wisdom andall the knowledge passed on from
generation to generations andthat's how kind of during COVID,
(04:05):
we survived.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah, and just to be clear, you're selling direct to
consumers or are you awholesaler as well?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
Wholesaler too, for export part of it, but we are
like an e-commerce brand.
Speaker 1 (04:21):
Now I know for you it's not a full-time gig.
You've got other paidemployment to help keep you
going.
But how big is your team?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
We have a small team.
We had a bigger team before.
However, the second lockdown inCanberra pushed to the ages
that I could not keep everyoneon board, pushed to the edges
that I could not keep everyoneon board, and also I kind of
reshuffled and restructured thewhole company in a way that we
(04:53):
can automate things and it's ateam of four at the moment which
works for me and for them.
We do contract manufacturingand looking into taking business
overseas.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
So you've moved from your kitchen bench into contract
manufacturing.
How's that experience gone for?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
you that experience was really overwhelming, to be
honest, finding the rightcontract manufacturer,
especially because our productsare all trademarked and patented
and they're like secretremedies and it's really hard to
trust to find.
How can I say like people won'tcopy it or you know trustable,
(05:47):
reliable contract manufacturer?
And most of our products arefrom natural ingredients.
So when it comes topharmaceuticals, because of
those synthetic powders and allthe chemicals they have, their
machinery is different.
So ours is basically producedin the compound pharmacy and it
(06:15):
was really hard to find theright contract manufacturer,
even explain why our product isdifferent to others.
Because with our supplements,why are products different to
others?
Because with our supplements,you can actually see what's
inside the capsule through thelayers of ingredients and it's
like an art.
Actually it's like a sound thatsome people call magic pills
(06:37):
and art.
But it was purposely made thatway because I wanted to talk
about transparency in productsand how important it is.
What you put in your body isyour fuel.
It's very important.
So lots of pills we get, orcapsules or supplements we take,
(06:59):
they are just there to be there.
They don't even absorb in ourbody and the whole point of our
supplement line was to indicatethat transparency.
And it was hard to find theright contract manufacturer and
obviously it had to go up anddown, obviously it had to go up
(07:22):
and down and finally, after alllots of NDAs, signage and
finding a reliable one, we couldfind one.
Speaker 1 (07:30):
Yeah, and how did you go about that?
I mean, is it as simple as kindof going out to contacts and
saying, hey, we need a contractmanufacturer, or is there a kind
of a matchmaking service thatyou use?
Speaker 2 (07:43):
How did it work?
I used first my friends, like abunch of friends that I made on
business journey, and I toldthem about like the plans and
like what I want to do, becauseI did never want to actually go
(08:03):
big or scale it up.
It was supposed to be a smallkind of company that I would
share my products with my familyand friends and just you know,
whomever is interested.
And then I got interest fromMiddle East and they suddenly
wanted 17,000 units each monthand I was like, oh my God, how
(08:31):
am I supposed to produce suchthing?
Speaker 1 (08:33):
Because, like it's a big scale-up right.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
Yeah, you can't do that in a compound pharmacy and
it requires like a time frame aswell.
So it was like you have threemonths to produce 72,000 units.
And then you know, and I had tofast thinking like like this is
a great gig, I need it, it's,it just put me in a different
(09:00):
map but also how I'm gonna do it.
So, tapped into my network ofbusiness friends and mentors and
people like you know, um camerainnovations and try to find
alloys in this.
And one of my friendsintroduced me a guy who was in
(09:24):
kind of like an association ofpharmacies and I kind of talked
to him and he sent me some lists.
None of those lists actuallyworked.
And he sent me some lists.
None of those lists actuallyworked.
So I was like Googling and likegoing through like all the
supplements in the pharmacy tosee who produced them and kind
of write their name and thensend an email and say, would you
(09:47):
be able to do manufacturing orcontract manufacturing this and
that?
And then they were like no, orhow many units do you?
Like no one actually took meseriously either, like at the
time, manufacturing this andthat.
And then they were like no, orhow many units?
They were like no one actuallytook me seriously either, like
at the time and um, and then,yeah, I kind of like I didn't
give up so a bit of tenacity isobviously really important at
getting um, getting things goingand and getting your product
(10:11):
out to market.
ultimately, at the end of theday, yeah, and I think you have
to be open to a change, like,when changes come, you have to
be open to it and just say, okay, this is an opportunity.
I can say no, but it's going toput me under pressure and let
(10:33):
it go.
Or just take it on board andlook at it as a as a kind of a
good challenge or something thatit will bring rewards to your
business, or a learning likebecause, um, by trade, I'm a
landscape architect and urbandesigner.
I'm so, um, so passionate aboutenvironment and sustainability.
(10:54):
So for me, lots of skillslearned through my business and
that was a great opportunity forme to test it.
Test that myself, but alsolearn and, yeah, I just took it
on board.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
And it's obviously delivered good things for your
business.
You won an export award, Ithink, a couple of years ago.
How significant is that exportmarket to you now?
Speaker 2 (11:21):
It is very important.
Export market is very importantand knowing your market is very
important.
I think like if I was goingback and start, wanted to
restart, I would look at it onlyfor export and wouldn't like
(11:44):
obviously, like you know, it wasa learning time four years or
five years.
However, export brings lots ofopportunity and helps you to
scale up, but also gives youbrand awareness and tap into
different markets.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
So that's a really interesting insight, because
many business people would bethinking well, I'll start small,
start local and then expand.
But actually you reckon itwould be better just to kind of
embrace those internationalmarkets to begin with.
Speaker 2 (12:13):
It's very dependent on your business and your
product.
If you have a dentistry or youneed to start local and then
kind of franchise it.
Or if you have a restaurantthat is actually something
special about it, you need tostart it local and then kind of
(12:35):
franchise it, Whereas, like ifyou have a particular product,
you need to see where theyactually want that product and
how big is that market.
So I think when you start abusiness you need to look at all
the possibilities If you wantto be successful in your
(12:56):
business and look into that.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
And how did you get your first export orders then?
If that wasn't your focus, theyfound, you did they.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
So the one with the middle east they found me, but
mostly because we are ane-commerce brand people from
different countries, they wantedto buy the products.
And that was the first time,that was my first experience of,
(13:29):
you know, selling to Russia,selling to UK, selling to Canada
and America.
So they were like my firstsales and it was exciting.
So I could.
I remember when I wanted toenter to the export award and
then I was like I don't havethis big revenue and they were
(13:50):
like well, you're exporting,you're selling to Canada, you're
exporting to like.
Well, you're exporting, you'reselling to Canada, you're
exporting to like, doesn'tmatter.
And that was the first steptowards exporting and
understanding.
Actually my products are wellreceived overseas.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
And in terms of selling health products overseas
through e-commerce channels arethere particular complexities
around that border, rules aroundtherapeutic products and so
forth.
Speaker 2 (14:22):
Oh, 100%, especially since the TGA kind of regulated
lots of supplements as well.
You have to be kind of alignedwith the regulations.
It is really hard, for anythinggoes to the capsules.
So it doesn't matter, likewhether you say any health
claims or not, you have to beregistered.
(14:44):
So we have the most restrictedregulation in Australia when it
comes to health products.
So, as Canada I mean not really, but like we are better.
But yeah, each country hastheir own laws and basically
(15:05):
when anyone wants to buyanything, we will tell them that
you have to.
You are responsible for yourkind of like your country law
when it comes to the healthproducts.
So if you still want to buy ourproducts, you can, we'll send
it to you.
But that part of it they haveto look after it and obviously
(15:26):
each country has their ownregulations.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
Yeah, it must be very difficult to stay on top of 189
or 200 countries, or howevermany there are and what all the
rules might be?
Do you find there areparticular markets that are
interested in your product?
Is it mainly to Europe andNorth America?
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Very much.
So I would say Middle.
East is very interested in myproducts and because they kind
of known to, they understand thestory behind the products and
they're really into natural andorganic products and wellness is
(16:08):
a big buzz over there and theyunderstand like lots of products
that previously sold to theMiddle East under the countries
that were supposed to be goodcountries they weren't really
like doing good for the peopleover there and I don't name the
(16:34):
countries, but it was in theWest and now they kind of
understand they have to go backto their roots and the countries
that are actually honest andwith laws and regulations are
better for them.
(16:55):
They kind of want thoseproducts from those countries to
enter to their market.
And they're very muchinterested in LifeLab products
because of us being transparentand clean and knowing that all
our ingredients are organic andthey know the ingredient.
Speaker 1 (17:18):
Now you talk about trade, secret ancient recipes
which have been followed andused by empires such as the
Asian, egyptian, roman, greekand Persian empires.
Now that really appeals to meas someone with an interest in
classical history.
But I have visions of youdigging up scrolls in a desert,
like Indiana Jones, to sort ofget to the heart of these
recipes.
But what does that really mean?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
Or it can be queen of the deserts.
So I my grandmother.
She taught me all aboutNutri-Peddy and nature and all
the remedies, so I learn fromher.
She was an ushupa andculturally like this is
(18:05):
something in those cultures,like Egyptians, persians,
armenian and Greeks and all theMediterranean Middle Eastern
people, they have this wisdomwhich they learned from their
ancestors, their grandmas andtheir grandpas, at least till my
time, and they kept it assecrets in their families or
(18:28):
they shared it.
But basically, all theseremedies, most of the people are
known but it was secret at thetime and we kind of like tapped
into that and used it to kind ofmake our products so your
products have their origins,essentially and word of mouth,
(18:51):
recipes handed down from yourgrandma.
Yes, exactly, story so,basically, like what worked for
me, and I am sharing that withwith the rest of the world and I
feel like it's a calling thatGod put in my heart to share
that and knowing people need tobe aware of how they maintain
(19:11):
their health and wellnessthrough natural ingredients and
through simple things that is intheir pantry.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
How important is sustainability to your business
and how are you talking the talkand walking the walk to try and
save the planet?
Speaker 2 (19:26):
It's really important for us and I have to tell you
this because one of the reasonswe use natural ingredients,
organic ones, because they'renot pesticide, they're not
having any chemicals on them,but also, if you use products
(19:47):
and ingredients that are alreadyin nature, your carbon
footprints will be less.
So that's what we look at.
Are all our packagings are likeglass and aluminium and
recyclable, and we also, if weuse something that is like,
(20:10):
let's say, because they arehealth products, it has to be
specific in certain kind ofpackaging.
If they are made from compost,plastic or something, we make
sure we can make something outof it and recycle it.
And that's how we kind of goabout the work environment and
(20:34):
the packaging and everything,but also educating people as
well, like how can you kind ofuse this bottle and turn it to
like a drink bottle for drinkwater bottle or something else.
So it's very important for us.
It's like a main core ofLifeAlab.
Speaker 1 (20:59):
Now I know you recently visited the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia to attend theAussie Expo.
Now Saudi historically, is notoften being visited by
Australians.
But what took you there and howdid it go?
Speaker 2 (21:12):
It's funny you mention that In 2000, I think
2020, I was a part of theprogram at ANU.
Anton Palmer took me to talkabout life a lot to a part of
the program at ANU.
Anton Pama introduced me, tookme to talk about life a lot to a
bunch of students over there.
They were like master degreesstudents and one of them was
(21:36):
from the Kingdom of Saudi and aspart of that program we've been
in touch and talk about and heloved my products as well and we
were supposed to take it toSaudi at the time.
So he sent me this wholeinformation about the expo ando
(22:04):
and I was like, okay, I don'tknow about it, but then again,
me knowing that like I need totake risks and kind of this is
an opportunity, or calling thatI have to follow, I was like I
give it a go.
And then I contacted thiscompany, trademark and the
(22:30):
Saudi-Australian businesscancelled that and they said to
me this is an expo, if you wantto come, this is it, this is the
way, and yeah, and then I went,uh for for 10 days and um, I
extended actually my stay, kindof um network with other people
(22:53):
and got to know the wholecountry.
It was in Riyadh and I loved itand I felt like it's a place
for business and it's actually aplace to expand, because they
understand again the demographic.
They kind of understand theproducts, they're keen and
(23:15):
they're open to it.
It's a great market to tap in,so um, so some real
opportunities there.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
And again through e-commerce, direct to consumers.
Is that the way you approachthe Saudi market?
Speaker 2 (23:30):
Probably not.
It's dealing with the MiddleEast, very different to dealing
with America, Australia andEurope.
It's the power of handshake andthat's I learned from the um,
one of the ministers in in saudiarabia, and um.
(23:50):
So it's all about who you knowand um, and it's about trust.
Trust and that relationship.
E-commerce will work definitelyin that region.
However, you need to have agood foundation over there and
(24:14):
support to guide you and thereis available, like there is help
there, like with the wholeAustralia and Saudi business
firm and council.
They provide all this to.
I think actually 400 businessesfor the last two years or three
(24:35):
years moved from Australia toSaudi Arabia.
Speaker 1 (24:39):
So that says there's huge growth opportunity there in
that market.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
It is 100%, 100%.
Speaker 1 (24:44):
Now there will be some people listening to this
who say well, how was yourexperience in Saudi as a woman?
Was there anything particularlydifficult or challenging about
that?
Speaker 2 (25:00):
I would say, like, what you see in the news is not
what actually the experience ofeveryone I have as a woman.
I went there and I have to saythat actually I was so
comfortable there.
Obviously you have to followtradition and respect people
(25:22):
tradition, but the way theytreated me was like very
respectful.
I didn't feel uncomfortable, Ididn't feel less than anyone.
You know, sometimes in somesituations they don't consider
women in the room or when yousit on a table to talk about an
issue, they don't consider youin some situation, whereas over
(25:50):
there it was very engaging andthey were very open and my
experience was great.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Actually, I really felt respected to be honest,
that's really good to hear.
So what was your key learningfrom that trip?
Speaker 2 (26:05):
oh, I learned a lot.
First of all, I learned that um, don't judge the book by the
cover and don't necessarily umthink what you see is not what
your experience is.
Sometimes you have to go deepand experience and see whether
(26:29):
it's for you or not.
And that trip was veryeye-opening for me because if it
wasn't for the expo, I wouldn'tconsider going to Saudi Arabia.
Because I wasn't for the expo,I wouldn't consider going to
Saudi Arabia because I wasn'tfeeling comfortable.
Based on misinformation in themedia and the whole world.
(26:53):
We see things about the MiddleEast in general Like people
don't know about Middle East butthey easily judge it and they
think all around Middle Easteveryone's the same.
So I learned that, like, take achance on something and if you
(27:15):
feel you have to do somethingabout it, go for it.
And now I am starting a newadventure with Saudi Arabia, do
something about it, go for it.
And now I am starting a newadventure with Saudi Arabia and
starting a women council betweenAustralia and Saudi Arabian
women to exchange ideas and allworkshop things and learn from
(27:40):
each other and connect.
So that is what I took from thewhole trip a new adventure, a
new community, a new goal.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
That sounds really really positive and I hope it
goes really really well for you.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
Swan Rico is the founder and chief executive of
Life a Lab and has been with metoday on the Canberra Business
Podcast.
Thank you so much for joiningme.
It's been fascinating to learnboth about your business and
your trip to Saudi, and I wishyou all the very best as you
keep growing and developing overtime.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
It's been a pleasure.
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Thanks for joining us and just a reminder that this
episode of the Canberra BusinessPodcast has been brought to you
by the Canberra BusinessChamber with the support of
CareSuper, an industry superfund with competitive fees and
returns, exceptional service anda focus on real care.
You can find out more atcaresupercomau and don't forget
to follow us for more of theCanberra Business Podcast on
your favourite podcast platform.
(28:37):
We'll catch you next time.
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